Hello folks. First time poster with a quick question:

I've noticed that nearly all machines running GPUs only have one make/model of GPU listed in the details, but will often have multiple instances of that GPU. So, is there a downside to mixing and matching different GPUs on one machine? Say (1) GTX 1080, (1) GTX 1060, and (1) GTX 980. Will the SETI apps be able to recognize and use all three simultaneously, or is it best to keep all GPUs the same model on each machine as the details info seems to indicate?

Thanks,
Tony

Hello folks. First time poster with a quick question:

I've noticed that nearly all machines running GPUs only have one make/model of GPU listed in the details, but will often have multiple instances of that GPU. So, is there a downside to mixing and matching different GPUs on one machine? Say (1) GTX 1080, (1) GTX 1060, and (1) GTX 980. Will the SETI apps be able to recognize and use all three simultaneously, or is it best to keep all GPUs the same model on each machine as the details info seems to indicate?

Thanks,
Tony

BOINC only lists the most capable GPU in the host's account even if it has multiple gpus. Generally speaking, though it fails sometimes to pick up the most capable sometimes. Yes, you can use multiple types and vendors. You need to set <use_all_gpus>1</use_all_gpus> in cc_config.xml to use all gpus of varying capabilities. So with that set and all the necessary compute drivers loaded, BOINC will use all gpus.

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Seti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours

A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association)

Great. Thanks for the info, and good to know about the xml file! Probably saved me a few hours of head scratching.

Hello folks. First time poster with a quick question:

I've noticed that nearly all machines running GPUs only have one make/model of GPU listed in the details, but will often have multiple instances of that GPU. So, is there a downside to mixing and matching different GPUs on one machine? Say (1) GTX 1080, (1) GTX 1060, and (1) GTX 980. Will the SETI apps be able to recognize and use all three simultaneously, or is it best to keep all GPUs the same model on each machine as the details info seems to indicate?

Thanks,
Tony

It is more difficult (sometimes) to mix AMD and NVIDIA gpus on the same Windows machine. The open CL drivers have a tendency to install over each other.

It is also more difficult to mix very high end gpus and very low end gpus on the same computers.

That said it looks like you have many computers that could run one or many more gpus if you can find what you want. Linux may run some Nvidia gpus faster. Linux plus Tbars All-in-One will run anything from around a Nvidia gtx 750Ti on up much faster.

Tom

ps. You may be able to speed up your cpu tasks by only running 90% of your available threads under the BOINC manager.

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A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association).

Thanks for the info, Tom. I'll have to look up the Linux plus Tbars; hadn't heard of that before. Hopefully it plays well with Mint since I couldn't get Ubuntu or Ubuntu server to install properly on my hardware. It was a bit odd. I might try some other distros, but Mint is performing so well thus far that I'd be reluctant to change it unless I have to.

I've noticed how powerful and efficient the GPU computing seems to be with the SETI apps, so I recently purchased a second-hand GTX 980 and GTX 1060 to add one each to two of my servers, and planning on building out a separate machine to run 4-6 GTX 1060s here over the next month or two and possible scale that box up even more depending on performance. The 1060s seem to have a great balance of energy consumption relative to performance and price, but if folks know of a better alternative, I'm all ears. Unfortunately, it seems bitcoin is back on the rise a bit, so the bitcoin miners are starting to drive up the GPU prices again.

I'll probably have some more questions as I look to integrate more GPU capability, so thanks for all of the help!

Tony

My 2 rigs (older i5's w/ dual 1060's) do quite well running Linux Mint 19.1 with the all-in-one. ;-)

Cheers.

My 2 rigs (older i5's w/ dual 1060's) do quite well running Linux Mint 19.1 with the all-in-one. ;-)

Cheers.

Good to know! After a lot of searching through these message boards, I finally figured out what you guys meant by "all-in-one" and "Tbar," so I may be PMing you once I get the new hardware in if I hit any snags with the nuances of installing the all-in-one. Thanks in advance!

Tony