BOINC@AUSTRALIA FORUM

Active BOINC projects => NUMBERFIELDS@HOME => Topic started by: Daniel on July 17, 2015, 01:05:59 AM

Title: Project Updates
Post by: Daniel on July 17, 2015, 01:05:59 AM
I just visited the NumberFields@home website and noticed a few changes since the Project Overview here was written ...

The project url is now ...
http://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/ (http://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/)

The list of applications has grown, and is now ...

Get Decic Fields
Microsoft Windows (98 or later) running on an Intel x86-compatible CPU
Microsoft Windows running on an AMD x86_64 or Intel EM64T CPU
Linux running on an Intel x86-compatible CPU
Linux running on an AMD x86_64 or Intel EM64T CPU
Intel 64-bit Mac OS 10.5 or later

Get Decics with Bounded Discriminant
Microsoft Windows (98 or later) running on an Intel x86-compatible CPU
Microsoft Windows running on an AMD x86_64 or Intel EM64T CPU
Linux running on an Intel x86-compatible CPU
Linux running on an AMD x86_64 or Intel EM64T CPU
Intel 64-bit Mac OS 10.5 or later

Some recent (22-Jun-2015) news for Mac users ...
For all Mac users: the NumberFields@home apps require Mac OS X version 12.0.0 or higher (Mountain Lion).
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Dingo on July 17, 2015, 04:46:55 AM
Updated the Team Page on the forum and added links to Stats and changed the image url at the top.
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Daniel on March 23, 2019, 10:05:25 AM
Some good news from Eric Driver at NumberFields@Home.
They now have a GPU application.
The application is a beta version for 64-bit Linux with Nvidia GPUs, but they plan on supporting other platforms and GPUs in the future.

More information can be found on their forum ..
https://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/forum_thread.php?id=362 (https://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/forum_thread.php?id=362)

Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Dataman on March 23, 2019, 12:36:18 PM
Quote from: Daniel on March 23, 2019, 10:05:25 AM
Some good news from Eric Driver at NumberFields@Home.
They now have a GPU application.
The application is a beta version for 64-bit Linux with Nvidia GPUs, but they plan on supporting other platforms and GPUs in the future.

More information can be found on their forum ..
https://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/forum_thread.php?id=362 (https://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/forum_thread.php?id=362)


Wahoo. Just so happens I have 1 remaining Linux machine with 1 1080 Ti in it. Will give it a whirl and see if I can snag some. ++++1
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Dataman on March 24, 2019, 01:20:57 AM
I did not get any wu's overnight. I looked at the log and each request shows no work needed. Guess I will have shut down the other GPU work and try to force one. Looking at their message board it appears the wu's are successful.
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: tazzduke on March 24, 2019, 02:22:53 AM
Yeah I tried to snag some as well, but was unsuccessful, so went back to Seti till they have more work in the pipeline.

Beta, so its still a work in progress.

Regards
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: tazzduke on March 24, 2019, 12:21:57 PM
Just snagged over 200 on my Linux box with a GTX 1060, smashing through them at the moment lol

I am using NVIDIA driver version 418.43

Regards
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Dingo on March 24, 2019, 12:25:38 PM
Quote from: tazzduke on March 24, 2019, 12:21:57 PM
Just snagged over 200 on my Linux box with a GTX 1060, smashing through them at the moment lol

I am using NVIDIA driver version 418.43

Regards

You are getting good credit there for the ones that are validated, about 59,950 per hour per work unit.   :yahoo:
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Dataman on March 25, 2019, 12:36:54 PM
Thanks Mark. I am on 390.77 on Ubuntu so that is probably why I did not get any. Think I will wait for the Win10 version. Impressive credits though.
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: tazzduke on March 25, 2019, 02:16:21 PM
Gday All, just imagine what damage I could do with Dingo's setup lol.

I thought they had a badge at 5 million and then I was going back to SetI.

But the next badge is at 10 million lol.

Cheers
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: chooka03 on March 25, 2019, 03:23:35 PM
Sucks to be a Radeon card holder at the moment. :thumbdown:
I'm sure they'll get around to the dev work eventually.
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: chooka03 on March 26, 2019, 07:33:09 PM
Aww...man!!! I spend many hours of CPU time racking up my 5Mil in Numberfields. My lead's all gone in a couple of days now with GPU WU's available  :cry

Oh well.
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: chooka03 on March 26, 2019, 07:36:25 PM
Gee..... Am I an elite BOINC cruncher when I start hiding my equipment?

:thumbdown:
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: tazzduke on March 26, 2019, 09:33:32 PM
Hi Chooka03

I may have a little moment of being number 1, but then when the AMD app comes out, well I will be dust in your mirrors.

But come on you have 72 cores lol.

Cheers
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: tazzduke on March 26, 2019, 11:46:51 PM
Well that was shortlived, they now have implemented Credit New (aka CreditScrew), its worse that SETI.

Oh well, I nearly got you Chooka03.

Cheers
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: chooka03 on March 27, 2019, 05:58:48 AM
LOL...morning mate  :wave:
I just saw that about the credits. You were lucky to be an early adopter  :thumbsup:
I'm not worried about being number one. If I was, I would have been putting more effort into Universe & NFS @ Home but I have other things I want to do :) It's all good.

I think I was more worried that I spent a bit of time to try get the team into the top 30, only to watch us slip out again and not really being able to help with non NVIDIA GPU's.I doubt my CPU's would have been enough to save us with the high credits being awarded for GPU work.

Guess we'll wait and see but they are certainly flipping and flopping all over the place in regards to credits. Sounds like Eric didn't put a whole lot of forethought into it before implementation.

:rocks
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: tazzduke on March 27, 2019, 08:00:54 AM
Morning Chooka

Well things are looking better, its a pity I cannot edit my last post, but Eric is still fine tuning the credit system, so now its moved from Credit New, to a more fair system.

Yeah just having a bit of a joke, currently our world position is 27 for Numberfields.

Cheers and have a beaut day :-)
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Dingo on March 27, 2019, 12:24:22 PM
Quote from: tazzduke on March 27, 2019, 08:00:54 AM
Morning Chooka

Well things are looking better, its a pity I cannot edit my last post, but Eric is still fine tuning the credit system, so now its moved from Credit New, to a more fair system.

Yeah just having a bit of a joke, currently our world position is 27 for Numberfields.

Cheers and have a beaut day :-)

You should be able to modify your own post. I had a look at the permissions and you have the same as everyone else. There should be a "modify" tab on the post on the top right?

EDIT:  I just checked my normal user login and the "Modify" tad was there on a post I created as that user.
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: tazzduke on March 27, 2019, 02:33:54 PM
HI Dingo

Thankyou for the info.
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: tazzduke on March 28, 2019, 07:44:56 AM
Greetings All

A further update is that the CPU credits have been adjusted for the time being, so at the moment this is how it is.

a CPU workunit - 8000 credits

a GPU workunit - 4000 credits

This may change again, once Eric has released an AMD (OpenCL) app.

Regards
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Dataman on March 28, 2019, 09:00:59 AM
Quote from: tazzduke on March 28, 2019, 07:44:56 AM
Greetings All

A further update is that the CPU credits have been adjusted for the time being, so at the moment this is how it is.

a CPU workunit - 8000 credits

a GPU workunit - 4000 credits

This may change again, once Eric has released an AMD (OpenCL) app.

Regards

Thanks!
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: chooka03 on March 28, 2019, 09:41:41 AM
Thanks for the update Tazzduke!
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: chooka03 on March 31, 2019, 09:43:18 AM
Ohhhh.... I only just noticed that the GPU tasks only work with Linux systems.  :thumbdown:
I hope when they roll out work for ATI cards that it's Windows supported.

It looks like Eric keeps changing the credits too. You may end up with a MASSIVE total Tazzduke for being an early adopter  :wink

I have too many other GPU challenges ahead of me anyway  :crazy
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: tazzduke on March 31, 2019, 11:21:08 AM
Greetings All

I have moved on to Primegrid now, as I got to my goal of 10 Million @ Numberfields.

They have adjusted the credits again at Numberfields, its now 800 per GPU workunit.

Not to sure on what CPUs are getting though.

Cheers
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Dataman on April 06, 2019, 12:36:23 PM
Adios GPU
From the project:

So there have been some new developments over the last week. It's both good and bad.

First of all, some history. The reason I waited so long to develop a GPU app is because the calculation was heavily dependent on multi-precision libraries (gmp) and number theoretic libraries (pari/gp). Both of these use dynamically allocated memory which is a big no-no in GPUs. I found a multi-precision library online that I could use by hard coding the precision to the maximum required (about 750 bits), thereby removing the dependence on memory allocations. The next piece of the puzzle was to code up a polynomial discriminant function. After doing this, I could finally compile a kernel for the GPU. That is the history for the current GPU app. It is about 20 to 30 times faster than the current cpu version (depends on WU and cpu/gpu speeds).

But then I got thinking... my GPU polynomial discriminant algorithm is different from the one in the PARI library (theirs works for any degree and mine is specialized to degree 10). So to do a true apples-to-apples comparison, I replaced the PARI algorithm with mine in the cpu version of the code. I was shocked by what I found... the cpu version was now about 10x faster than it used to be. I never thought I was capable of writing an algorithm that would be 10x faster than a well established library function. WTF? Now I'm kicking myself in the butt for not having done this sooner!

This brings mixed emotions. On one side, it is great that I now have a cpu version that is 10x faster. But it also means that my GPU code is total crap. With all the horsepower in a present day GPU I would expect it to be at least 10x faster than the equivalent cpu version. Compared with the new cpu version, the gpu is only 2 to 3 times faster. That is unacceptable.

So the new plan is as follows:
1. Deploy new cpu executables. Since it's 10x faster, I will need to drop the credit by a factor of 10. (Credits/hour will remain the same for the cpu but will obviously drop for the GPU)
2. Develop new and improved GPU kernels.

I don't blame the GPU users for jumping ship at this point. Frankly, the inefficiency of the current GPU app just makes it not worth it (for them or the project).

For what it's worth, I did have openCL versions built. Nvidia version works perfectly. The AMD version is buggy for some reason, as is the windows version. Since I will be changing the kernels anyways, there is no point in debugging them yet.


:wavey2:
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: chooka03 on April 06, 2019, 02:52:12 PM
Jesus. This has all been pretty haphazard.
Meh... I have plenty of other projects to crunch so no biggy.

Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Daniel on May 18, 2019, 09:11:41 PM
NumberFields has added some more beta GPU applications.
Earlier today I got some workunits for my Nvidia GPUs on Windows.

It looks like the new application is running ok.
Eric Driver (the project admin) posted ...

QuoteThe Nvidia windows version seems to be doing pretty well. Many successful results from multiple users. Only 2 compute errors.

Good news.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: JugNut on May 19, 2019, 12:09:08 AM
Yep they do work OK but..

A WU took 25 mins and received 35 cr on my gtx 970's.   The 970's may not be the most powerful of cards around these days but still that's pretty bad.  So at the moment there probably not worth it.

PS: If you'd like you can try this an app_config to utilize your GPU's better. The below app_config is for running 2 at once.
Run through a few before setting up the app_config as there are some big difference between how each WU behaves.  Some WU's hardly use the GPU at all but others use it heaps.

<app_config>

<app>
<name>GetDecics</name>
<gpu_versions>
<gpu_usage>0.5</gpu_usage>
<cpu_usage>0.5</cpu_usage>
</gpu_versions>
</app>

</app_config>



EDIT: I've packed it in as they don't seem worth it for now. 

How did it go for other team members?
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: chooka03 on May 19, 2019, 08:17:17 AM
Well I've only got Radeon cards AND I'm using Windows not Linux so no GPU work for me to try.
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: JugNut on May 19, 2019, 12:00:39 PM
Yea the version I tried was a Nvidia app for windows but so far there's no AMD version.  But they are working on it so it's possible the AMD cards will perform much better? But time will tell.
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: chooka03 on May 19, 2019, 06:22:02 PM
Quote from: JugNut on May 19, 2019, 12:00:39 PM
Yea the version I tried was a Nvidia app for windows but so far there's no AMD version.  But they are working on it so it's possible the AMD cards will perform much better? But time will tell.

Eric is working on it but only for Linux :thumbdown:
It's ok though. I have other agendas for my GPU's :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Daniel on May 19, 2019, 09:47:06 PM
Thanks for posting the app_config file JugNut.
That's just what I was looking for.
My GPU load was very low - only around 25% on the RTX 2070.

Even though the credits are low, I'll keep going for a while.
It's nice to have another project to use my GPUs on.
:greet
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: JugNut on May 21, 2019, 01:09:52 PM
No worries Daniel,  how did the new app work out for you? Did it run OK on your RTX 2070?
In general are you happy with the 2070 as a boinc crunching card?

Cheers  :cheers:

Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Daniel on May 21, 2019, 08:59:15 PM
Hi JugNut,

The new app is working fine on the RTX 2070 and on my other Nvidia GPUs.
Although, the credit is very low, as you mentioned.

I'm very happy with the RTX 2070, it's my best card and I haven't had any problems with it.

Actually, all my Nvidia cards have been good.
They have been very reliable - I haven't had any fail yet.

I also haven't had any problems with the drivers (but I don't update the drivers very often).
The temperatures are OK too.

I just wish Nvidia would release a GPU (that I can afford) with better Double Precision GFLOPS so that I could do better at Milkyway@Home.

Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: JugNut on May 22, 2019, 02:54:06 AM
Thanks for the info Daniel it's always good to hear first hand about how individual cards behave while crunching :thumbsup:  Yea same here no problems with any of my Nvidia cards.  But still I need a new card or two and i'm still trying to figure out best bang for buck for the latest round of cards.  One things is for sure one way or the other new cards won't be cheap.

Cheers  :wave:

Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: chooka03 on May 22, 2019, 04:50:43 AM
No Jugnut.... I'm a bit bitter about the pricing of new cards. A mid range card is now quite expensive. Ridiculous really. Top end consumer cards like the 2080Ti and just horrendously priced.
I think the 1660Ti looks like a good, efficient card and the 2070. DEFINITELY don't bother with the 1650. :thumbdown:
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: chooka03 on January 19, 2021, 06:02:14 AM
Anyone know what's going on with this project?
The website is down and I can see no one is generating any credits?
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Dingo on August 15, 2022, 05:55:15 PM
The Project is up and running and there are plenty of tasks.   BUT


Future of the Project
I've been procrastinating in sharing some news and I finally got around to doing it.

My old thesis advisor who has been backing this project retired in May. I don't actually work for the university, so this means the project has lost is primary benefactor.

The good news is that the university has allowed the project to continue. The bad news is that they will not be supporting any more hardware upgrades. This means when the current hardware fails the project will come to an end.

I'm hoping the current hardware can last several more years. One of the most critical parts is the hard drive, and we just got a new one about 1.5 years ago. Given that the previous hard drive lasted over 4 years, this is a positive.

This news has played into my reasoning on the order of the searches. Given that sf3 is practically guaranteed to be complete, I though it was prudent to use our finite time to first concentrate on sf7. The short term goal is to get sf7 to the same state that sf3 is currently in, which should take us into early next year. At that point, we can either spend the time to finish off sf3 and sf7, or continue on with sf6. Doing sf6 will allow us to find more fields in the finite time we have left, but finishing off sf3 and sf7 will allow us to say with 100% certainty that they are indeed complete. I am leaning towards finishing off sf3 and sf7, but that may change as time goes on.  Discussion thread here https://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/forum_thread.php?id=520 (https://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/forum_thread.php?id=520)

Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Abruraspingi on January 06, 2023, 01:39:23 AM
Just saw this update and it makes me want to crunch more. They have laid out the project milestones.

https://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/forum_thread.php?id=581#3442
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Dingo on January 02, 2024, 10:49:57 AM
Quote[NumberFields@home] 2023 Year End Summary
2023 was basically a good year. The main achievements were:
1. Competed 100% of subfield 3.
2. Got subfield 7 to the point where it is essentially complete.
3. Completed several rows of the subfield 6 table.

Going forward we will continue chipping away at subfield 6. Meanwhile, the last remnants of subfield 7 have been farmed out to Gerasim.

Thanks everyone for your contributions and have a wonderful New Year!

View article  (https://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/forum_thread.php?id=610#3624)· Mon, 1 Jan 2024 21:41:36 +0000
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Dingo on January 20, 2024, 05:28:49 PM
Quote[NumberFields@home] server maintenance

Just a heads up, the server was upgraded to the latest version of Ubuntu this morning.

The database seems to be crashing every so often with an error about exceeding max connections. Bear with me as we look into this.

View article  (https://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/forum_thread.php?id=611#3632)· Fri, 19 Jan 2024 23:40:14 +0000
Title: Re: Project Updates
Post by: Dingo on March 27, 2024, 04:15:09 PM
If you voted for BOINC or Climate prediction then you can't vote for this because they are both in section "AL C7. E-Science"

Quote[NumberFields@home] BOINC is a finalist for an notable award, and needs your vote (*by Sunday)
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is a United Nations-sponsored initiative aimed at harnessing the potential of information and communication technologies to build inclusive and equitable information societies worldwide. BOINC has been nominated for a prize at the 2024 forum, and has passed initial hurdles; the next and last step ("Phase 3") requires public votes. The award would be a very nice boost and validation for BOINC and all our projects; if we can get our communities to vote, we should have a decent shot at this point...

Voting is pretty simple, takes just a few minutes; instructions are here.

(*The deadline for votes is Sunday: 31 March 2024, 23:00 UTC+02:00)

View article  (https://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/forum_thread.php?id=626#3680)· Tue, 26 Mar 2024 15:49:23 +0000