GPU or CPU

[LAURENU2]

I got a Visiontek HD4870 Video Card W/512MB memory, and with the Help from Bigred :hifi: alpha Got it to work WELL
I am doing a WU in 3:11 Min That one Card was doing the same amount of work that a Pharm of 400Ghz in size was doing.
I was so Impressed by that card did I got a 2nd one I give GPU's a 5 :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:

I went to get my 3rd card and there all gone from EVERYWHERE :hair: Darn X-Mass Bah humbug :lmao:

[alpha]

They're great, huh? :) It doesn't seem worth running a CPU on projects where ATI GPUs are supported.

I'm particularly interested to see what the new HD 5990 will be capable of. :firedevil:

[Bigred]

Time to add my 2 euro cents worth. GPU crunching comes in two flavors, Nvidia and ATI. Only a few projects support this method of doing WUs.

The Milkyway project currently supports both but to run The ATI version can be a pain in the butt. You have download and manually install an anonymous application. Getting the correct mix of drivers and application can seem like a nightmare. And then there are the dreaded VPU errors. I have two HD4890s I had to take off of it because they would get VPU errors about every 4 hours. The Nvidia application only requires the correct driver and enabling the GPU in the preferences.

Collatz supports both automatically. Just install the card, drivers and enable it in the preferrences.

GPUGrid is the oldest Boinc based GPU project and is very stable. It uses Cuda 2.3 and requires a high end Nvidia card. There are also problems with the GTX260 series cards causing errors.

Seti also supports GPUs but the last time I tried it, well it was Seti.

Einstien is also working on a Cuda application but the last time I looked it was not very effective.

Aqua had a Cuda application but they have stopped using it.

The following are some examples of what you could expect from different cards on diferent projects.

Milkyway HD4850 - 70,000 credits a day, GTX260 - 30,000 credits
Collatz HD4890 - 70,000 credits a day, GTX260 - 35,000 credits
GPUGrid GTX260 - 17,000 credits a day

The bottom line, a GPU can be a cost effective way to increase the amount of work completed.:Pokes::Pokes:

[Bigred]

They're great, huh? :) It doesn't seem worth running a CPU on projects where ATI GPUs are supported.

I'm particularly interested to see what the new HD 5990 will be capable of. :firedevil:

I run my ATIs on old single or dual core machines. If I try to run a CPU project on them at the same time I actually get less credit. So on those machines it's GPU projects only. My Nvidias are all running on quads and CPU projects don't seem to affect the output.

The HD5990 should be awesome but unless you run it on an I7 you may spend a lot of time waiting for work. Milkyway still limits you to only 6 WUs per CPU core.

[alpha]

I run my ATIs on old single or dual core machines. If I try to run a CPU project on them at the same time I actually get less credit. So on those machines it's GPU projects only. My Nvidias are all running on quads and CPU projects don't seem to affect the output.

Not sure why that is. I have a HD 4870 running in a Core 2 Duo processor machine. I run work full time on both cores of the CPU and it has virtually no effect on the production of the GPU.


The HD5990 should be awesome but unless you run it on an I7 you may spend a lot of time waiting for work. Milkyway still limits you to only 6 WUs per CPU core.Well, if the 5970 is anything to go by you'll also need to worry about the size of your case. :) That thing is 32cm long (12.5") and weighs over 1kg!

[LAURENU2]

I'm getting on Milkyway with the HD4870 - 95,000 credits a day
And I to have been running other Dc projects on the 2 cores

[Shish]

I run F@H on a ATI 4850 and no real problems runing Bonk and other projects except MilkyWay which wants to take over and hog everything. Prefer projects with some real, possible benefit to mankind as I'm no longer a stats whore. After IB left, it kinda made me think about retiring from full time DC cos budgets getting tighter and other priorities have arrived as well as electric power (as well as gas) has skyrocketed in price over here and I had to sell my incomplete solar and wind powered bungalow because of planning problems. Didn't really have to sell it, just got tired of fighting.

[LAURENU2]

I'm getting on Milkyway with the HD4870 - 95,000 credits a day
And I to have been running other Dc projects on the 2 cores
I will have to retract this as I have noticed that running DD@home did add 45 sec to the GPU WU's
But these are on X2's so that may be why I get so little drop in GPU output

[LAURENU2]

I'm no longer a stats whore. After IB left, it kinda made me think about retiring from full time DC cos budgets getting tighter and other priorities have arrived as well as electric power (as well as gas) has skyrocketed in price over here and I had to sell my incomplete solar and wind powered bungalow because of planning problems. Didn't really have to sell it, just got tired of fighting.
I am sure we all would say that you Like IB have Paid your DC Due's
So if you feel you have to move on it is OK we just ask that you just stay in touch every now and then:thumbs:

[Shish]

I'm doing some voluntary work when I can but I'll never be off the net or not answering email whatever is going on or wherever I am. Just getting some usefulness out of my brain in helping in the planning of and construction for a specialist college for the disabled which I got "co-opted" into after helping them get their IT and Cisco Academy kicked off as well as pointing them in the direction of "the right people to know" to get some hefty grants and sponsorship. Enough to build a complete IT block with full disabled facilities and some decent living accomodation for students who stay there as well as a facilities centre with fully heated and equipped pool and med centre. We now also have sponsorship from Cisco and Microsoft which will save millions and get real and decent equipment. So I'm going to be pretty busy (unpaid) even if I'm laid up in a bed cos they don't accept lying flat on your back as any excuse for doing nothing as we are going to be taking everybody from autistic and 95% physically disabled (computerised wheelchairs which one of our engineers designs individually) in an age range from 14 to 60 as well as accident and services disabled for the government back to work programs.
So I'll never actually leave you guys, just still contributing a computer or laptops worth instead of the tempting £7.9M of new gear we're getting in the near future as an interim re-equipment to go with the contributed stuff from places including A Free-Dc member who will be nameless (thank you Helix von Smellix :D where have you gone mate?).
Sorry for the usual bad habit of long posts and hi-jacking the thread but this is my only post until we get our heating and hot water fixed next week sometime so even with an eight core running in here, it's only 5C and I'm getting numb so heading for the caravan to warm up. My trusty old Elddis saved Xmas for us even though it's near 26 year old but the computer has to stay indoors (enjoying the cold and finally running 4.00ghz).
So thanks Lauren and see you guys around. Enjoy the peace and quiet or better still, have some barbecues to keep the winter DC blues away :thumbs:.

[LAURENU2]

I'm getting on Milkyway with the HD4870 - 95,000 credits a day
And I to have been running other Dc projects on the 2 cores
OK I see Bigred is Right :thumbs:
When running DD full out on the 2 CPU core it drops the GPU Daily total from 95K to 70K
:idea:I will try to cut it down to 1 CPU core and see if that helps improve the GPU load Output

[LAURENU2]

OK I see Bigred is Right :thumbs:
When running DD full out on the 2 CPU core it drops the GPU Daily total from 95K to 70K
:idea:I will try to cut it down to 1 CPU core and see if that helps improve the GPU load Output

Yes It does Leaving one core free is the trick
NO Decrease in output when you leave a core Free handle the GPU

[Bigred]

Milkyway now has an official ATI application available. To use it you need Boinc 6.10.13 or above and the ATI9.12 drivers. Just attach to the project and change your MW preferrences to reflect that you want to use the ATI GPU.:D

[outlnder]

Crashes within seconds on my 4770.

Might be because I have collatz running also.

[LAURENU2]

Crashes within seconds on my 4770.

Might be because I have collatz running also.

Must Be no crashes here on my 4870's 3:22 Min/sec per WU.

[outlnder]

My 4870 also took it up right away, even with collatz running.

There must be a big difference between the two cards.

[Bigred]

Crashes within seconds on my 4770.

Might be because I have collatz running also.

Both are running on mine with no problems.:D I suggest you take a look at your Collatz WUs. See if it says.

collatz 2.06 (ati13amd)

If it does then you need to update the drivers to the 9 series. I suggest 9.12.
The reason is that Collatz can determine which driver you use and download the correct application. Milkyway only has an application for the 9 series of drivers. There was a change in the names of some files with the series change.

[outlnder]

Updated to the latest drivers as soon as the crash occurred. Am waiting for the collatz WUs to complete until I try again. Collatz WUs say (ati13ati), I assume those are the most recent.

The 4770's has a special driver when I get them at the ATI site. All the others have a "series" driver. Maybe there is a specific problem with the 4770s.

[Shish]

Got 2 minutes to chime in while sorting millions of problems with other things so before my brain explodes this is relaxation and hopefully a plain answer.
Are the new Milky stuff better cos last time I tried, it took over most of bonk and comp as well as ATI 4850 (need to get something better from new series). So Collatz or MW instead of F@H on graphics card and comp? Also running 8 LLRNET windows/service and WCG on Bonk all on I7 (now well cooled) @3.6Ghz very easily. Mebbe go for new 57series ATI but not other newies cos the way too expensive.
Check in later guys cos I'm working (unpaid) from home for a few days so no real hurry for doing my little bit for Free-DC :thumbs::D

[Bigred]

The new MW app is working fine with Collatz running as a backup. Any of the cards will add an awsome amount of credit on a daily basis.:D

[Shish]

Try it when I get time after checking proj site etc.
Doing a lot of heavy duty brain work and phone just now so mebbe a couple days when I get an hour to spare/remember. Always checking in here,odd minutes
Cheers and beers mate. Later.
PS... Playing with (supplied) Google phone. It's good but poor camera and few other things. Otherwise early days but smacker of an interface from Google etc. Good on net anyway.

[LAURENU2]

Well I got a Diamond Multimedia Radeon HD5770 1024MB card today
I will work on fitting it in this weekend
I will make a tower just for GPU's
http://www.free-dc.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1134&d=1204686272

[outlnder]

I thought the 57xx series wasn't good because it didn't have double precision or somethin.

[Bigred]

I thought the 57xx series wasn't good because it didn't have double precision or somethin.

They work just fine on Collatz though.:D

[LAURENU2]

Well we will see how the 5770 compares to the 4870's

I wanted to get more of the 4870's there no where to be found
Even this 5770 was the Last one in stock:mad:

[Bigred]

The 57xx series of cards are single percision and won't work with Milkyway. The good news is that it will work with Collatz but Collatz give out less credit.

[LAURENU2]

D#!&!t Well what about Cosmology@Home
and how do you or I tell What Works Where :bang:

[Bigred]

D#!&!t Well what about Cosmology@Home
and how do you or I tell What Works Where :bang:

It seems to me that you have 2 choices. Either take the card back or run Collatz. The only other project that will use it is GPUGrid but that is with a beta application. I would return the card and wait for a 58xx series card.

To find out what works is mostly done by reading the message boards on the projects. First check to see if there is even an application (in this case ati) then read everything you can about it.:(

The alternative is to take the easy way out and just ask me.:rotfl:

[LAURENU2]

OK back it go glad I did not open it before you gave the Word:hifi:
So 48's and 58's are OK
I seen a few 4850's around should:hiya: I get them instead :rock:

[Bigred]

OK back it go glad I did not open it before you gave the Word:hifi:
So 48's and 58's are OK
I seen a few 4850's around should:hiya: I get them instead :rock:

4850s will get you about 50,000 a day on Milkyway but I would try to get 4890s. They are not much more expensive and use about the same power and they will get 90,000 to 100,000 credits a day each.
:machgun:

Actually it's 38s, 48s, and 58s at the monent. Here is a little known tidbit. If you are running old machines like some of mine that have an AGP slot, there is hope for you too. ATI makes an AGP version of its 3850 that will work too. Price about $100.
:guntotin:

[LAURENU2]

So lets see If I understand how these numbers work
From what I gather the first number 38,46,48, 57, 58 are like the chip series and the 50, 70, 90 are the chip speed
Boy I am a slow learner :bang:

[outlnder]

Lauren, great work!

But shouldn't you be doing Primegrid?

[LAURENU2]

:idea:Ya But first I have to retrofit my X2 fleet with the Latest GPU laser targeting systems
Or Bad things can Happen:lmao:
http://www.free-dc.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1219&d=1232494790

[Digital Parasite]

Have any of you ever gotten the message "ATI GPU has become unusable; disabling tasks". Then BOINC doesn't see the GPU any more and stops using it. If I reboot the computer it starts working fine again.

Anyone have this problem or know what is going on? Was working very well for a long time but this has been happening periodically in Collatz over the past couple of weeks.

[outlnder]

The GPU causes itself to "reset" because of some fault. Make sure you have the most resent BOINC and ATI drivers. If necessary, detach then re-attach after all new software has been installed.

[Bigred]

Have any of you ever gotten the message "ATI GPU has become unusable; disabling tasks". Then BOINC doesn't see the GPU any more and stops using it. If I reboot the computer it starts working fine again.

Anyone have this problem or know what is going on? Was working very well for a long time but this has been happening periodically in Collatz over the past couple of weeks.

What your getting is commonly called a VPU error. It just happens sometimes. To make the best of it try the Catalyst 9.12 drivers without the caralyst software. Also make sure there is not a screen saver that will run and that the monitor will not powerdown after so many minutes. The other thing I do is to reboot the systems every 3 days whether they need it or not.
:evil:

[Digital Parasite]

What your getting is commonly called a VPU error. It just happens sometimes. To make the best of it try the Catalyst 9.12 drivers without the caralyst software. Also make sure there is not a screen saver that will run and that the monitor will not powerdown after so many minutes. The other thing I do is to reboot the systems every 3 days whether they need it or not.

Thanks guys, I upgraded from 9.11 to 9.12+hotfix and so far it seems to be runny without an VPU errors. I don't have any screen savers but I did have the monitor set to power down which I left because I don't really want to use any more power than I have do since the GPU is doing enough of that. ;-)

Anyway, running fine so far.

[Bigred]

Well it's happened again. For the second time since I've been running GPUs, I've had a fan failure on an Nvidia GTX260.:firedevil: This one lasted for about 13 months. I can't stress enough how important a good warranty is. It is on its way back and I should have it again in 2 - 4 weeks.:hair: Ok Laurenu2 here is your chance to catch me.:evillaugh:

[LAURENU2]

Yes But I am still having trouble getting the Visiontek card I want

And there warranty is for life:Hugger:

[Bigred]

I got my card back today and it is chugging away again.:bigtrain:

I pulled my 2 4890s off of MW today. They were both getting almost constant VPU errors. So now they are working on Collatz.:guntotin:

[alpha]

Bigred, do you have any interest in putting some GPUs to work on RC5-72, or do you only work on BOINC-based projects?

The modern ATI cards *really* scream on that project. For instance, my HD 4870 is over 30 times more productive than my dual-core CPU.

[Bigred]

Bigred, do you have any interest in putting some GPUs to work on RC5-72, or do you only work on BOINC-based projects?

The modern ATI cards *really* scream on that project. For instance, my HD 4870 is over 30 times more productive than my dual-core CPU.

For now I think I'll stick with Boinc projects. I have one GTX260 on GPUGrid slowly bring it up to 25,000,000. I have three HD4850s (2 full time and 1 part time) on Milkyway to get it to 50,000,000. The rest, nine GTX260s and two HD4890s are on Collatz with no set goal except to make as much credit as possible.;)

[LAURENU2]

I got my 8th GPU online tonight :guntotin: Only 2 more to fill my Rack
:D I will be getting close to the Mil A Day Mark on MilkyWay@Home :D

[Bigred]

I got my 8th GPU online tonight :guntotin: Only 2 more to fill my Rack
:D I will be getting close to the Mil A Day Mark on MilkyWay@Home :D

So what exactly are you running now? I've got:
10 gtx260s
2 HD5850s
2 HD4890s (1 out for repair)
3 HD4850s (1 part time only)

[LAURENU2]

3x 4870
1x 4850
2x 5850
2 x 5830
you can see them here
http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/hosts_user.php

And I Got the 10 quads that burned up there PS back online:guntotin:
so I'm close to full power again:D
and I can start to search for # 9

[Bigred]

3x 4870
1x 4850
2x 5850
2 x 5830
you can see them here
http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/hosts_user.php

And I Got the 10 quads that burned up there PS back online:guntotin:
so I'm close to full power again:D
and I can start to search for # 9

I sure wish I had a bunch of these (http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/hd-5970/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-5970-specifications.aspx). Makes me wonder what kind of credit it would earn. Alas it is just a bit too pricey for me.

[LAURENU2]

Theres a thread at MW about them 2x 5970 CrossfireX Stuck wus
http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/forum_thread.php?id=1746#39616

[Bigred]

Theres a thread at MW about them 2x 5970 CrossfireX Stuck wus
http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/forum_thread.php?id=1746#39616

I can't afford them anyway.:(