Quote from: veebee on December 27, 2011, 09:25:47 AM
... how is all this POEM credit coming in so quickly ???....
Yes Windows POEM ATI on a HD 5870.
Needs BOINC 7.0.2 or 7.0.3 and an OpenCL Catalyst driver. Application is inefficient and only runs at 39% GPU load with my card/driver combo. So I run multiple tasks concurrently with an app_info.xml file. Maximum GPU load of 78% was reached at 4 concurrent tasks, I run 6 concurrently (<count>0.16</count>), it is about the same efficiency as 4 but a bit more rewarding under CreditNew. Currently 227K per day but dropping all the time.
If you want to give it a go here's an app_info.xml for 4 concurrent tasks, ncpus values may need increasing if you go above 4 concurrent:
<app_info>
<app>
<name>poemcl</name>
<user_friendly_name>POEM++ OpenCL</user_friendly_name>
</app>
<file_info>
<name>poemcl_0.1_windows_intelx86__opencl_ati_100</name>
<executable/>
</file_info>
<app_version>
<app_name>poemcl</app_name>
<version_num>1</version_num>
<plan_class>opencl_ati_100</plan_class>
<avg_ncpus>0.25</avg_ncpus>
<max_ncpus>1</max_ncpus>
<flops>2.1e10</flops>
<coproc>
<type>ATI</type>
<count>0.25</count>
</coproc>
<cmdline></cmdline>
<file_ref>
<file_name>poemcl_0.1_windows_intelx86__opencl_ati_100</file_name>
<main_program/>
</file_ref>
</app_version>
</app_info>
hmmm,
trying it out now on my i7 with 2 x 5850's, but there are only two WU's (Poem Open CL++) running - one per GPU ( 0.97 cpus + 1 GPU )
(just to be sure, the app_info.xml file DOES go in the BOINC directory in "Program data" folder ??? (though I put it in the Boinc folder in "Program files x86" as well after I noticed it wasn't working.)
I did shut down client abefore/ afetr adding the app_info file, I also did update boinc client to 7.x.x ....
Would like to work this out so I can run it on the 6950, 2 x 5850 and 1 x 4770...
EDIT: so as to not go "off topic" here, we can move this to PM if you want Kashi - thanks in advance..
EDIT: I moved them :)
Thanks for moving GPU info Dingo.
Fine tuning an app_info.xml file to suit your number of GPUs and how many CPU cores you have available to support GPU crunching gets easier with experience. With no <cmdline> parameters available for this application yet, there are only 3 values to experiment with:
1. <count></count> - This controls how many tasks are run on each GPU core.
Examples:
<count>1</count> - default one task per GPU core
<count>0.5</count> - 2 tasks per GPU core
<count>0.33</count> - 3 tasks per GPU core
2. <avg_ncpus></avg_ncpus> - This controls how much of a CPU core is available to support GPU crunching.
Examples:
<avg_ncpus>0.97</avg_ncpus> - POEM application default, 97% of a CPU core
<avg_ncpus>0.5</avg_ncpus> - 50% of a cpu core
<avg_ncpus>0.3</avg_ncpus> - 30% of a CPU core
3.<max_ncpus></max_ncpus> - This controls the total amount of CPU core(s) available to support GPU crunching. Usually for best performance it should represent the number of concurrent tasks specified in <count> value multiplied by the amount of CPU core available to support each task as specified in <avg_ncpus> value. Therefore for a single concurrent task <avg_ncpus> value and <max_ncpus> value is the same but <max_ncpus> value is a multiple when more than 1 task is run concurrently.
Example:
<count>0.25</count> multiplied by <avg_ncpus>0.25</avg_ncpus> equals <max_ncpus>1</max_ncpus>
4 concurrent tasks per GPU core with 25% of a CPU core available per task should have a total amount of CPU available of 1 full CPU core per GPU core.
The usual courtesy of aborting any unfinished tasks in your cache before installing an app_info.xml file does not apply to CreditNew projects lest you invoke the anti cherrypicker mechanism. Here's a copy of the PM I sent to veebee, in case anyone else wants to give the new POEM ATI GPU application a go:
"app_info.xml file should go in "C:\ProgramData\BOINC\projects\boinc.fzk.de_poem" folder. Then restart BOINC. If you have any tasks still in your cache, they will probably be deleted by BOINC when you restart, but it should then download new tasks.
Efficiency may vary with different Catalyst versions, model of GPUs and number of GPUs, so app_info.xml file may need to be slightly different for different configurations. With 2 GPUs you may need to change ncpus value but see how the sample one I posted goes first. That one specifies one quarter of a CPU core per GPU task so a single GPU running 4 tasks would use one full CPU core and 2 GPUs would use 2 full CPU cores.
Good luck."
Edit: POEM ATI OpenCL application has the ATI/AMD OpenCL "busy wait" bug on HD 5970s and will use a full CPU core per GPU core. At least it does with the Catalyst version I am using. Possibly may apply to HD 6990s too if anyone in the team has one of those. Usual workaround using Process Lasso should work if you can't spare the extra CPU core.
Thanks Kashi, much appreciated. Karma is well deserved.
Yep, thanks Kashi... finally got the machine with the 2 x 5850's going... crunching 4 WU's of goodness per GPU !!! (looks lovely - 8 ATI WU's ticking over at the same time !).
But this main rig, with 1 x 6950 and 1 x 4770, is having all sorts of problems, apart form having what seem to be connection issues (Facebook isn't the "normal page".. it is crappy looking typing text way over on left edge of screen (though B@A Forum etc is OK), Also, I cannot get onto my Credit union site (but can from the computer 10 metres away, and every second attempt of BOINC to get work etc, is greeted with a mesages about failure to contact the perr or smemthing (should have copie dit before resetting again).
Using client 7.0.3 on bath machines..
Now, even with all other projects suspended and "no new work", I cannot GET work from POEM by asking, and I cannot get POEM to ask for any work ITSELF .... wondering if THIS section of the event log at host startup has something to do with that... especially the bottom two lines -
28-Dec-11 1:36:05 AM | | ATI GPU 0: AMD Radeon HD 6900 series (Cayman) (CAL version 1.4.1385, 1024MB, 992MB available, 5914 GFLOPS peak)
28-Dec-11 1:36:05 AM | | ATI GPU 1: ATI Radeon HD 4700/4800 (RV740/RV770) (CAL version 1.4.1385, 512MB, 480MB available, 2150 GFLOPS peak)
28-Dec-11 1:36:05 AM | | OpenCL: ATI GPU 0: Cayman (driver version CAL 1.4.1385 (VM), device version OpenCL 1.1 AMD-APP-SDK-v2.5 (709.2), 2048MB)
28-Dec-11 1:36:05 AM | | OpenCL: ATI GPU 1: ATI RV770 (driver version CAL 1.4.1385, device version OpenCL 1.0 AMD-APP-SDK-v2.5 (709.2), 512MB)
28-Dec-11 1:36:05 AM | | ATI GPU is OpenCL-capable
28-Dec-11 1:36:05 AM | Poem@Home | Found app_info.xml; using anonymous platform
28-Dec-11 1:36:05 AM | Poem@Home | File referenced in app_info.xml does not exist: poemcl_0.1_windows_intelx86__opencl_ati_100
28-Dec-11 1:36:05 AM | Poem@Home | [error] State file error: missing application file poemcl_0.1_windows_intelx86__opencl_ati_100
EDIT: worked it out... somehow, the program file mustn't have downloaded... I did notice that POEM didnt go from the bottom of the projects up to it's normal place after "Initialization" ... sure enough.. there was nothing but the app_info file in the POEM project folder.... detached and re-attached and bingo !
Problem is, as I couldn't get POEM to ask for work before that, I noticed that WCG seemed to be "stuck" requesting an update... so I detached on this machine... now I cannot re-attch as "project is temporarily unavailable" !! GAAH !
But, thanks Kashi, ( a well deserved + 1 ) as POEM is cranking away now on these two machines ( 4 GPUS...x 4 WU's !!) .. now one final question (you DO seem to have vast amounts of knowledge on this stuff) - does POEM prefer high/er clock speeds ? high/er memory speed ? shader speed ?
Cheers,
VB
That's great, glad you have it running. :congrats You'll be zooming on POEM now! Team member Johnny8380 is also running 4 concurrent tasks now. I could have given him the info if he had asked here but he got it off the POEM forum anyway so no problem.
Quote from: veebee on December 28, 2011, 01:48:56 AM
.... now one final question (you DO seem to have vast amounts of knowledge on this stuff) - does POEM prefer high/er clock speeds ? high/er memory speed ? shader speed ?....
No, I just have lots of time to read what others discover. My app_info.xml fu is mainly trial and error, I couldn't even work out how to compile one correctly and just modified the one posted on a German team forum.
As for higher GPU clock speeds I'm not sure, you could try it yourself if you wished.
In the normal case of an efficient application a faster core clock speed would result in more work being done. However this application was probably developed on low or mid range cards and because of that it becomes less efficient (lower GPU load) on higher model GPUs as core clockspeed increases. It is throttled because of a mismatch between the speed of the OpenCL application and the speed the CPU polls the GPU. How do I know this? Because my HD 5970 at 725MHz took the same time to complete a single task as my HD 5870 at 870MHz. This is probably similar to what gamers call a configuration that is CPU bound. The application needs to be modified to more efficiently make use of the higher potential performance of faster GPUs. Either that or <cmdline> parameter options need to be provided to enable tuning the application to suit different hardware configurations and user preferences. Similar to the wait factor and kernel frequency parameters available to Collatz or the --gpu-polling-mode and --gpu-target-frequency parameters available in Milky.
The other thing that affects this is the efficiency varies a great deal depending on which Catalyst driver is used.
The same throttling at higher GPU core clock was evident when the Collatz GPU application was being developed. I had a HD 4890 and other people testing had HD 38xx, HD 4850 and HD 4870. I couldn't get my GPU load higher than 83-87% while people with slower cards were getting 95-99% load. I requested Andreas Przystawik provide me with an optimised application so that I could remedy this by adjusting the <cmdline> parameters and he agreed and Slicker kindly made it available to download.
As for memory speed I also don't know, I reduced my memory speed to 900MHz from the default 1250MHZ of my card, don't know if it makes a difference. I am running at the default 870MHz core clock of my HD 5870. It is a Vapor-X model so default is 20MHz faster than reference cards. At 78% GPU load it's only pulling about 24A on VDDC, so it is nowhere near as efficient as a CAL application such as MilkyWay or Moo! which pull over 70A at 99% load. Assuming default voltage is being used, higher current is usually a more reliable way to judge how completely the GPU hardware is being used (efficiency) than GPU load %. Lower current usage is great for keeping cards cooler and using less electricity though. My GPU core is running at only 57-59 °C on POEM, on Milky or Moo it would be at 70-75 °C.
I think increasing the core clock in theory should get you more credit however even if it doesn't increase efficiency. This is because CreditNew uses the reported GFLOPS peak value to compute granted credit. Well I think it does at least until it gets averaged, I don't really understand how CreditNew "works", don't have to understand the theory though to know that in practice it is inconsistent, unfair and totally unsuitable to GPU applications. In practice the slower you complete a task the more credit you get with CreditNew so there is not much real benefit credit wise in overclocking your card. If you can manage to increase the efficiency by increasing your GPU speed it may allow you to process a bit more science though.:thumbsup:
It is my hope that Timo introduces fixed credit that encourages efficiency rather than this inconsistent varying credit system that rewards and encourages inefficiency.
If you sort out your work fetch problems with BOINC 7.0.3. let me know how you did it please. I can get work but only a little each time and only when the cache is dry.
wow... that crazy credit rate didn't last long !!!
down to around 3000 per WU now.... :cry2: although must say I DID get a nice chunk of credit overnight from it.
3,000 per task should give you about 350K per day for your 2 5850s. Seems reasonably generous for an inefficient application, how does that compare to what your 5850s receive per day from MilkyWay, Collatz or PrimeGrid ATI GPU applications?
I'm currently getting 2,800-3,000 per task depending on the runtime. Except for a few super credit spiker tasks for the early adopters, the trend has generally been gradually downwards, although there was a little upward movement earlier today. Any movement in credit rate usually happens with each new batch of tasks downloaded. CreditNew adjusts the Estimated computation size seen in the task Properties according to how long you take to complete a task. As the Estimated Computation size increases with new each batch, the credit amount per task usually decreases. Depends on the average of other contributors too somehow, so more new contributors may slow the rate of credit decrease or sometimes it even increases a bit. Or something weird like that. ???
The big chunk of credit the other night was from a whole lot of Moo Wrapper credit that "went missing" the day before...
I think I was getting a fair bit more from Milkyway (per day), but work has been a bit rare at Milkyway lately.... too dangerous to just leave IT open and no other GPU project open for work (projects like Moo Wrapper always seem to take over my machines if left to their own devices !).
I was hoping to get a day of just POEM in so as to see what sort of output the 4 cards have, but managed to get Milkyway work this morning, so that little "project" will have to wait.
Milkyway GPU credit rate is based on SETI credit rate with a 2X multiplier for the extra hardware and processing necessary for double precision. POEM GPU application does not use double precision and has a maximum GPU load of 78% and a VDDC current draw of 25A on my card running multiple concurrent tasks. MilkyWay runs at 99% GPU load with a VDDC current draw of over 70A. At this time POEM GPU credit rate is a bit higher than MilkyWay credit rate on my HD 5870.
Default single task configuration of the POEM GPU application results in low GPU load, less heat, less electricity usage and less interference/sluggishness with GUI and other graphics applications which is good especially for those new to GPU processing. However there is a price to pay for OpenCL inefficiency though aside from the obvious one of less science being processed than with a more efficient GPU application.
High CPU usage with OpenCL GPU applications plus OpenCL System CPU overhead means less CPU resources available to use for CPU projects. Those with only quad core computers are more affected than those with 6 or 8 core computers. The effect is multiplied for those with multiple GPUs. Plus there's the OpenCL "busy wait" bug on dual ATI/AMD GPUs.
Sometimes GPU applications are developed on older or slower GPU hardware and suffer from incorrect GPU polling settings and/or chunk sizes when run on newer, faster GPU models. Even if the fastest hardware available at that time is used to develop the application, newer, faster GPU models can be introduced after the application has been released.
The availability of <cmdline> parameters to fine tune a GPU application to suit different models of GPU with varying performance is a useful courtesy which enables increased efficiency and is valued by keen GPU contributors. Those who purchase an expensive GPU expressly to contribute to a GPU project may be less than impressed with an OpenCL application that runs at 50% GPU load or less.
Such inefficiency can sometimes be partly overcome by running multiple concurrent GPU tasks but that uses much more CPU resources and may have other consequences too.
I enjoy WCG badge hunting but rewarding and encouraging inefficiency is irresponsible, whether it be with Runtime badges or with a variable credit system that has repeatedly shown that it is inconsistent, unfair and subject to wild spikes and dips. The "it should stabilise in a few days" mantra we have heard so many times now is a poor excuse for a system that is fundamentally flawed. Granting 62,666 credits for a single throttled task processed in 30 hours to one person and 2,000 credits or less to someone else for the same size task processed quickly is just wrong, there is no way to excuse it or justify it.
Well, for some reason I think that is it for POEM on the GPU on this main machine... yesterday, something went wrong and these warning dialoge boxes (small centre screen) kept popping up, something about POEM and an error of some sort (dont you just HATE it when people are too stupid to READ those messages properly when they are trying to fix the problem ??!! :hbang: ).
Anyway, SOMEhow, that manged to detach (apparently so - no longer in BM) POEM from the client/ manager, and I then had the same sort of problems as I did with WCG.
I made sure that Peerblock was off (now uninstalled) but still no louck - so I turned of Winsows firewall and it allowed me to reconnect with POEM.
After much backwards and forwards (or, to-ing and fro-ing) I finally repeated everything i did to get the GPU CL++ WU's going:
Boinc client version 7.0.3
Uninstalled and re-installed Catalyst
I awoke this morning to see (what I thought was heaps of completed POEM Wu's.. but they were computation errors.
When I try to get new work, I get THIS MESSAGE:
31-Dec-11 11:26:09 AM | Poem@Home | Message from server: Your app_info.xml file doesn't have a usable version of POEM++ OpenCL version.
31-Dec-11 11:26:09 AM | Poem@Home | Message from server: Your app_info.xml file doesn't have a usable version of POEM++.
So I went through it all again... and ended up with a machine that then wouldn't boot past the Windows 7 logo etc, so had to do a system restore.
Have done all the "prep work" again (as above):
- updated BOINC to Version 7.0.3
- shut down the client
- creted new app-info file and put in POEM project folder
-tried detaching and re-attaching to POEM
- restarted boinc (noted two lines for each card in event log at startup,:
* 31-Dec-11 11:33:15 AM | | ATI GPU 0: AMD Radeon HD 6900 series (Cayman) (CAL version 1.4.1385, 1024MB, 992MB available, 5914 GFLOPS peak)
* 31-Dec-11 11:33:15 AM | | ATI GPU 1: ATI Radeon HD 4700/4800 (RV740/RV770) (CAL version 1.4.1385, 512MB, 480MB available, 2150 GFLOPS peak)
* 31-Dec-11 11:33:15 AM | | OpenCL: ATI GPU 0: Cayman (driver version CAL 1.4.1385 (VM), device version OpenCL 1.1 AMD-APP-SDK-v2.5 (709.2), 2048MB)
*31-Dec-11 11:33:15 AM | | ATI GPU is OpenCL-capable
* 31-Dec-11 11:33:15 AM | | OpenCL: ATI GPU 1: ATI RV770 (driver version CAL 1.4.1385, device version OpenCL 1.0 AMD-APP-SDK-v2.5 (709.2), 512MB)
- and I STILL get that same message:
31-Dec-11 11:34:20 AM | Poem@Home | Message from server: Your app_info.xml file doesn't have a usable version of POEM++.
31-Dec-11 11:34:20 AM | Poem@Home | Message from server: Your app_info.xml file doesn't have a usable version of POEM++ OpenCL version.
31-Dec-11 11:34:20 AM | Poem@Home | This computer has finished a daily quota of 153 tasks
thought it might be about a new version of the open CL POEM , but the app versions at their web site still look the same as those in the app_info.xml file to me.
Have I missed something really simple ?? I have, haven't I ??...
EDIT: UNBELIEVABLE ! of course, it waits until I have clicked "post" (as I was going through EVERYTHING again as I typed it in...) and as soon as I have posted, I thought I will try de/ re-attaching one more time... and of course it STARTS UP !!!
As someone once said..."I could just scream ... :furious: )
Well.... it WAS working, but only 1 WU per GPU... so I realised I had forgotten to put the app_info file back in the project folder.... did it and of course I get that error message when it's trying to get work.. (and also, all the WU's which HAD downloaded were gone.)
One thing I noticed (though it seemed to work fine before..) is what looks to be a double underscore between "intelx86" and "opencl".. :
<file_info>
<name>poemcl_0.1_windows_intelx86__opencl_ati_100</name>
<executable/>
this is driving me crazy...
Well I can see why many of the later tasks errored. Because they had an earlier BOINC version 6.12.34 that is not compatible with the POEM OpenCL application. When you rolled back to a restore point it must have gone back to an earlier version of BOINC.
Don't know why the earlier ones ran for too long and/or errored though. Without knowing further details all I can think of off hand is using 2 different GPUs, so no crossfire and no dummy plug. With the dual monitor method there is a possibility that the powersaving features of the Catalyst drivers turns off one of the cards and/or reduces the clock and memory speed on the other when you turn off the monitors. This had me stumped for a long time until I started using a dummy plug and it still gave trouble on some projects.
When this happens, all kinds of weird stuff can occur, BOINC can create phantom GPUs so that you can have more than the number you have installed, any tasks running on the GPU that shuts down can start to run on the other one in addition to the tasks already allocated to the still running GPU, the low clock and memory speed of the powersaving GPU state can cause the tasks to virtually stall and take 6-8 hours to run instead of 1-2 hours, when you turn the screen back on everything can be so sluggish and slow that it results in a screen freeze or bluescreen error.
It's one of the reasons I always recommended the use of dummy plugs instead of the dual monitor method.
You may suspect that this may be the case if the problems only occur when the screens are turned off by Windows or yourself. I haven't used 2 separate screens myself but had both cards connected to the one screen with different connector types, so I don't know whether you would need to leave both monitors on or just one. Another way to test would be to remove the HD 4770. If the problem did not reoccur then it's likely to be related to using 2 GPUs that are not crossfired and the use of a dummy plug may be a possible relatively easy fix that could save you a lot of time troubleshooting.
May be just easier to use that computer on other GPU applications if it runs OK on them. Your computer with 2 5850s appears to perform well on POEM and 2 5850s running on POEM is still currently amongst the top ranking POEM hosts and users in daily output.
Double underscore is correct in the application executable. Look in your Task Manager > Processes tab on your other computer and you will see it working there with the double underscore. And you can double check in C:\ProgramData\BOINC\projects\boinc.fzk.de_poem folder if you wish.
Edit: If your GPU drops out for any reason (driver reset, etc.), when BOINC detects no GPU driver and hence no usable GPU it can spontaneously detach you from a GPU project. I had this happen to me a number of times on Collatz and once or twice on MilkyWay when I was using a HD 4890.
I think I will use it for other GPU work now (this machine).
It just seems strange that it was steaming along, both GPU's firing on all cylinders, but now they wont. (they crunch one WU each, but when I put the app_info.xml file in, I get those error messages).
Anyways, no problem, just wish Milkyway would have a steady supply of work - it is my favourite project of those with GPU apps.
Milkyway (when available) for that box, good idea, a mixture of two different ATI/AMD cards of different performance may not be ideal for the POEM GPU application.
The HD 4770 may not have sufficient resources to reliably run 4 tasks concurrently like your other cards. Although it works OK on one task at a time, the lesser amount of video memory and/or number of stream processors may not support processing 4 tasks at a time. If the 4770 is running at capacity on 4 concurrent tasks any little glitch or extra load could flip it into producing errors or slowing down unacceptably. You could try 2 at a time if you wished by changing the <count> value to 0.5 in the app_info.xml. With this initial POEM GPU application, running a single task on the Cayman part of that computer is just too inefficient for a keen cruncher.
Yes mucking around with app_info.xml files can be frustrating sometimes. Do anything wrong and whoosh, all the tasks in your cache disappear. If you lose too many tasks on the same platform and then detach and reattach, BOINC server software may flag your computer as unreliable and restrict the amount of work per day it will send until you return valid tasks. Just when you get it all working properly, you can't get a decent number of tasks to process.:hbang: It stops people with misconfigured computers trashing heaps of tasks day after day though.
Yes MilkyWay server has been notoriously unreliable for years and the tiny cache allowed compounds the issue. Fingers crossed that the new MilkyWay server will provide a more reliable supply of work in the future.
On my PC's I do not connect a monitor or have a dummy plug and hey work fine for BOINC. I just use the adaptor plug that comes with the video card and plug it into the video and that's all, no monitors at all ?? On the Duel HD video cards I just plug one of the adaptor plugs on one of the cards. Never had a problem :)
(http://users.tpg.com.au/gilesaj/plug.jpg)
Do you use Crossfire though on your multiple ATI/AMD GPU computers, Dingo? With Crossfire enabled I think you don't need a dummy plug. veebee can't use Crossfire on a HD 69xx and HD 4770 because they are from different GPU generations.
Yes I think they are, I would need to open the case to have a look I can't remember.
EDIT: Yes Crossfire is enabled, looked in Catalyst Control Centre
Does having crossfire "enabled" , but not having the cards hooked up to each other, allow BOINC to use both ?? ??
That will make a bit of room under the No2 machine's table...(2 x 5850)
EDIT:
@ Kashi... I just cannot work out why, despite having it set up ( and setting it all up in the same sequence etc) it worked a day ago (4 WU's on both the 6950 AND the 4770 cards), yet now, it wont run ANY on EITHER card, when the SAME app_info.xml is added..
not fiddled around with, just copied, pasted to wordpad, saved as app_info.xml into the POEM project folder - as I did the first time, after which it worked..
Anyway, with Moo paying double credits, I am having a feast on it for a while... at least until Sant fixes the credit "problem".
Don't know, I've never used a Crossfire cable. My HD 5970 has Crossfire enabled internally and it can't be turned off.
As for your POEM set up trouble, one possible problem is that you need to use Notepad to save or edit an app_info.xml file. If you use Wordpad it can sometimes insert formatting that will make the app_info.xml not work.
Has anyone heard of trouble with the Mobility 4xxx series running Poem?
All the tasks I get run for ~10 seconds then go back to 0, it loops for awhile before finally getting an error.
3/01/2012 12:33:59 PM | | ATI GPU 0: ATI Radeon HD 4600 series (R730) (CAL version 1.4.1646, 1024MB, 992MB available, 704 GFLOPS peak)
3/01/2012 12:33:59 PM | | OpenCL: ATI GPU 0: ATI RV730 (driver version CAL 1.4.1646, device version OpenCL 1.0 AMD-APP (831.4), 1024MB)
3/01/2012 12:33:59 PM | | ATI GPU is OpenCL-capable
3/01/2012 1:35:25 PM | Poem@Home | Task poempp_gpucrystal_1325497820_221880523_0 exited with zero status but no 'finished' file
3/01/2012 1:35:25 PM | Poem@Home | If this happens repeatedly you may need to reset the project.
3/01/2012 1:36:31 PM | Poem@Home | Computation for task poempp_gpucrystal_1325497820_221880523_0 finished
3/01/2012 1:36:31 PM | Poem@Home | Output file poempp_gpucrystal_1325497820_221880523_0_0 for task poempp_gpucrystal_1325497820_221880523_0 absent
I have the latest Boinc, drivers and I'm only trying to run one task. My antivirus (Comodo CIS) does cause similar things to happen when it sand boxes tasks, but I disabled it with no effect. I found someone with a 4770 with similar trouble at Seti Germany (http://www.seti-germany.de/forum/poem/5910-poem-go-gpu-3.html), makes me think its more the card that's causing trouble.
???
Afternoon All
I have a question, since I am doing some POEM ATI GPU work, I have not been able to get work for Albert, Seti or Seti Beta even Moo, what happens is once I attach, I get one work unit and then thats it, nothing. I have adjusted my work cache setting from 0.25 to 10 and nothing, just get the following
03-01-12 18:30:48 | Poem@Home | update requested by user
03-01-12 18:30:51 | Poem@Home | Sending scheduler request: Requested by user.
03-01-12 18:30:51 | Poem@Home | Not reporting or requesting tasks
03-01-12 18:30:56 | Poem@Home | Scheduler request completed
I am on the latest trunk of BOINC, that is required to run POEM and Albert (which as of now is shut down for maintenance) and have Catalyst 12.1, I was wondering if anyone else is having the same or is it just me.
Regards
tazzduke
Well I just answered my own bloody question, I have gone back to running Boinc 7.0.2, and I started to get more work when I did the update, anything after 7.0.2 just doesnt work
regards
tazzduke
Thanks for the information tazzduke. I'll give 7.0.2 a try in a day or so, I haven't used it before. 7.0.3 is awful for work fetch, won't get any tasks until the cache is totally dry for POEM GPU and almost dry for WCG. If it rains heavily my BOINCing could be cactus.;D
Sean I remember one or two people having trouble with Mobility 4xxx with the PrimeGrid ATI OpenCL application. They tried many different Catalyst driver versions but couldn't get it to work. It was supposed to have support or beta support but for OpenCL but nobody could get it working. From reading the POEM forum, I think the same thing is happening now at POEM with any 4xxx desktop card lower than the HD 4770.
Greetings All
Further update, on the 7.0.2 version of BOINC, work fetch is running smoothly, I have a cache of Collatz, Albert and POEM, all is running smoothly, with the occasional work fetch for MOO.
Happy crunching
Regards
tazzduke
Quote from: kashi on January 04, 2012, 12:22:14 AM
Sean I remember one or two people having trouble with Mobility 4xxx with the PrimeGrid ATI OpenCL application. They tried many different Catalyst driver versions but couldn't get it to work. It was supposed to have support or beta support but for OpenCL but nobody could get it working. From reading the POEM forum, I think the same thing is happening now at POEM with any 4xxx desktop card lower than the HD 4770.
I guess I have to just wait and hope that a fix comes along. I can run PrimeGrid PPS sieve at the moment, I'm not sure if that uses OpenCL though. PrimeGrid did stop working when I used Catalyst 11.6 but I just started using the latest 11.12 without trouble. I haven't finished a task yet but I think it's running quicker with the new drivers.
Yes ATI PPS sieve is OpenCL. Good that your card works on that, I can't remember the exact details of the people who couldn't get their Mobility 4xxx to run it, perhaps it was a different model to yours or they were using a different operating system.
I should try a newer Catalyst version on my 5870, some at POEM have reported higher GPU load % on more recent ones. I'm reluctant to change them for a while though as with old Catalyst 11.4 version my 5870 has zoomed my computer up 2,364 spots to 6th ranking POEM host with over 3 million credits.:thumbsup:
I'm just running my WCG cache down before I switch to BOINC 7.0.2. The mozzie project checkpoints are far apart and I don't like to lose already crunched work by stopping BOINC. I have already lost too much WCG crunching fiddling about with app_info.xml file when POEM GPU started.
Dingo has sent some of his hot weather up here today. It's 31.8 already and it's only noon. Bloke over the road has a home weather station and says on days like today it's usually at least 2 degrees hotter here than what is reported because the Narara AWS is miles away in a slightly cooler location. I believe it too, I just went outside to bring in my clothes and I had to hurry so I didn't get scorched. Could feel it burning almost immediately, need a lead suit to go outside here near midday on days like these. At least my clothes dried super fast.;D
Well on a further note, I now am pulling work, for Seti, Seti Beta, Albert, Primegrid, Moo, Milkyway and Primegrid all on 7.0.2, hd 5850 and cat 11.12 on win 7 x64, that should keep the card happy, have set up POEM, Seti and Seti Beta, to run two jobs at once, sometimes though, seti and poem or seti and seti beta are running, as long as the work is done I am not worried.
Had a massive lightning storm pass through here in the early hours of today (Perth WA), was lucky no blackouts where I and the family live. Kept us awake for awhile, constant flash of light from the lightning strikes (too many to count) and then we zoomed up to 36 for today.
Rigs running okay, around the 55 degrees,
Okay catch ya all later.
Regards
tazzduke
I downgraded to BOINC 7.0.2. :thumbsup:
Now I can get tasks at any time not just when the cache is dry. Will only download a single batch automatically, I have to click update to fill the cache to the level set but at least I can do it now not like the annoying work fetch limitations of version 7.0.3.
I updated to the latest Catalyst 12.1a Preview recently which almost doubled the performance of my HD 5870. I thought the credit per task would decrease in line with the reduction in Runtime and it did. What I didn't expect is that it would gradually recover to the previous amount, so now absolutely flying in POEM.
:boom:
POEM GPU needs lots of room to breathe for maximum performance, I have set BOINC at 75% of processors or 6 cores. WCG runs on 4 cores, 2 cores are used to support 4 concurrent POEM GPU tasks. The other 2 cores not assigned to BOINC run 1 core of the SkyNet and half a core of OpenCL system overhead. Total CPU load is 91-95%, GPU load is 88%.
Créditos gigante available for a while if you have a fast ATI card and are willing to spare the CPU resources.:thumbsup:
Thought I would give POEM another whirl as you are talking about such good credit Kashi.
there have been 4 WU's running all day on my 6950... they are at 13 hrs and the progress percentage is around 0.02 to 0.05 on all 4....
Is this normal ? I am not sure if it was ar POEM or another project where iread of "short', "Long", "Really Long" etc WU's (official description n the homepage !) but this seems excessively long.
I am downloading catalyst 12.1a preview... is there checkpointing in these poem WU's so that those 12 hrs wont be wasted (unless they already are ..)?
Hopefully the driver update will make a difference.
Answered your PM but for the benefit of others yes POEM GPU has checkpointing. And 13 hrs is much too long, it is a reoccurrence of the problem you had before associated with your 4770 not being recognised by BOINC. If it is not recognised by BOINC it will possibly again cause trouble even if you get tasks running on your 6950 for a short time. Either use a dummy plug or remove it is all I can again suggest.
All seems to be running fine now - and I was inrending to remove the 4770 as BOINC wasn't recognising it for some reason (although MSI afterburner etc saw it fine).
Just did some fiddling with another project (Test4Theory - keeps/ kept errorring out after 1 minute) and shut down client and restarted..
VOILA ! :yahoo: both the 6950 AND the 4770 are now crunching away... 4 WU's at a time each. :greet
Will be intereting to see how much one of the 4770's puts out... as there is another PCIe slot sitting there... waiting ....
Well... all WAS running fine.. but now both cards in both machines are sitting there idle - with POEM, Primegrid, SETI and Moo! all open for tasks... but none are fetching anything and when I click update, they are "not requesting new tasks"...
anyone got any ideas on what might be happpening here ?
Are you running the Recommended version of BOINC or a Development version ? Have you tried to stop the client then start it again? Have you returned invalid work to these projects ?
I really don't know what is wrong but just grasping at straws :boom:
Not running BOINC 7.0.3 are you? Both tazzduke and I had trouble with work fetch with 7.0.3 and tazzduke discovered that BOINC 7.0.2 worked better, so I switched back to 7.0.2 too. It's mentioned earlier in this thread.
I'm still humming along nicely in POEM, my computer is now the top host there.:crazy
Unfortuneately,not 7.0.2 for Windows ...
Unfortunately not what? I don't understand what you are trying to say.
Download:BOINC - Windows 64 - 7.0.2 (http://boinc.berkeley.edu/dl/boinc_7.0.2_windows_x86_64.exe)
Quote from: kashi on January 16, 2012, 04:24:51 PM
Unfortunately not what? I don't understand what you are trying to say.
Download:BOINC - Windows 64 - 7.0.2 (http://boinc.berkeley.edu/dl/boinc_7.0.2_windows_x86_64.exe)
Thanks Mate - downloading now - but 7.0.2 is still not there at Berkely (at least
I cannot see it on their downloads page).. and 7.0.3 is no longer the latest beta version... 7.0.8 is...
At Berkeley? You mean the BOINC download webpage I assume. I wouldn't know what is there, I rarely go there. I always download new BOINC versions from http://boinc.berkeley.edu/dl/?C=M;O=D (http://boinc.berkeley.edu/dl/?C=M;O=D)
Usually wait until someone else has tried a new version first though, sometimes the beta versions are very buggy and get withdrawn.
Just a handy hint with version 7.0.2. Unlike other versions of BOINC I have used it will still download tasks when you have some of them suspended. If you have lots of temporarily suspended CPU project tasks in order to do reissued tasks first or for other reasons, if you click Update you can end up downloading more than your cache is set to.
Hmmm, never seen that download directory before.. thanks, +1 !
so are all the Windows versions there "stable" or tested yet ? as I am still having work fetch issues with these computers at times, with POEM gpu WU's.
Another strange issue, is that seeing as I cannot get POEM work at times (even when the servers say there is work) I will open Moo! up... the first WU will download, and then sit there ! it wont run...
veebee your non running Moo wu's may be something to do with running a development version of boinc. it runs fine on 6.12.34 but you may require an app-info file to run it on higher versions.
Quote from: kashi on January 16, 2012, 05:40:00 PMJust a handy hint with version 7.0.2. Unlike other versions of BOINC I have used it will still download tasks when you have some of them suspended. If you have lots of temporarily suspended CPU project tasks in order to do reissued tasks first or for other reasons, if you click Update you can end up downloading more than your cache is set to.
Can you elaborate on that at all? Does it download more for the suspended project or the unsuspended one? If the former, that sounds broken (unless you're just suspending particular tasks rather than the project as a whole), but if the latter, that happens for me and I'm still on 6.10.60 (ie, if I suspend one project, other projects will have tasks downloaded to fill the 'empty' cache).
VeeBee. What version of BOINC are you running and on what platform? I'm talking about MOO in general and the machine that downloads a WU and then stops processing in particular.
@ LawryB: Version 7.0.2 on Windows 7 Ultimate x64.
It doesn't so much "stop" processing.. it simply doesn't START ! and this is on BOTH machines of same configuration...
VeeBee. Had the same problem, same config, platform until I put in an app_info.xml file. Then all was rosy. I did a bit of a study of XML elements and now have to do a little tickling here and there, mainly regarding some of the figures shown in the app_info.xml file I downloaded from the Moo forum.
Got to look at flops, api version and gpu ram and set them for my PC and think (?) I have located them in the client_state.xml file in the BOINC/data directory.
I would be interested to know the content of your app_info.xml file should you be using one for MOO. Maybe your could PM me with it?
Quote from: Scott T on January 25, 2012, 01:20:06 PM
Quote from: kashi on January 16, 2012, 05:40:00 PMJust a handy hint with version 7.0.2. Unlike other versions of BOINC I have used it will still download tasks when you have some of them suspended. If you have lots of temporarily suspended CPU project tasks in order to do reissued tasks first or for other reasons, if you click Update you can end up downloading more than your cache is set to.
Can you elaborate on that at all? Does it download more for the suspended project or the unsuspended one? If the former, that sounds broken (unless you're just suspending particular tasks rather than the project as a whole), but if the latter, that happens for me and I'm still on 6.10.60 (ie, if I suspend one project, other projects will have tasks downloaded to fill the 'empty' cache).
No it's project specific, for example if I have some WCG tasks suspended, BOINC 7.0.2 will still download more WCG tasks. With previous BOINC versions I used if you had some tasks suspended for a project, BOINC would not download any new tasks for that project.
Quote from: veebee on January 25, 2012, 07:59:45 AM
Hmmm, never seen that download directory before.. thanks, +1 !
so are all the Windows versions there "stable" or tested yet ? as I am still having work fetch issues with these computers at times, with POEM gpu WU's.....
No definitely not all stable versions, versions get posted there as soon as they are released for testing. That's why I said "Usually wait until someone else has tried a new version first though, sometimes the beta versions are very buggy and get withdrawn."
As for the work fetch issues I worked out the trick with the new BOINC 7.x.x versions. It goes on your "Connect about every x.xx days" setting now. In other words if you leave that value at zero as was previously recommended for an always on connection BOINC will not fetch any tasks until your cache is dry, no matter how high you set your "Additional work buffer" setting.
So because of the current trickle feed of the POEM server, I have set "Connect about every" to 9 days and "Additional work buffer" to 10 days. I have also set <report_results_immediately>1</report_results_immediately> in a cc_config.xml file. So now BOINC asks for new POEM tasks every time one completes. It causes all my running GPU and CPU tasks to go into "High Priority" mode, but none are starting out of order so far so no harm done there. I have to put the values back to 1 day once a day and resume work fetch for WCG to keep a 1-2 day cache there. DNA@Home is self limiting to 4 tasks per CPU so that is no trouble when/if work becomes available again. If they ever fix up the POEM server BOINC will download a day's quota of tasks, probably 500-600 but that won't matter as my GPU will gobble that many up in about 4 days and there's no quorum so I won't hold anyone up.:thumbsup:
I have Moo! running fine on this machine (with 6950/4770 cards) by going back to version 6.12.34, so no real problem there - though i would rather run POEM , both for the credit and the science.
My other i7 is still running 7.0.2 and I just modified the cc_config file as per Kashi's post (added the "report_results_immediately" line) , did a restart of the client and suddenly there were 3 POEM Wu's crunching, though I think they were hidden in there somewhere.. somehow, as they were all at different run-times...
have suspended Primegrid on that machine until I see if POEM will send down some more work..
I have given the machine running client 7.0.2 well over 24 hours now but it only downloads 1 POEM WU at a time.. and THEN, it doesn't even report it straight away.. I am not sure how long it takes to go and report it, but I end up doing it pretty much every time.
I edited the cc-config file as per your advice Kashi, in the hope that THAT was why I was not getting work, yet when I get the BOINC client to "read config file", the event log gives me a worrying "no config file found, using defaults". It is in the correct BOINC directory...cannot work out why it is doing it.
I read your post/ reply to someone on POEM's site regarding the "your app_info file doesn't not conatain..." and noted what you said about that meaning that there were no work units to "get", but how is it that with pretty much the same settings you are making a killing there at POEM and I cannot get any work ?
Also have the app_info.xml file in the POEM folder....
nothing is working anymore, so I am going back to 6.12.34 I think... and run Moo!... sadly, it is not the type of project i would prefer to run, but there is pretty limited choice for GPU's.
VeeBee. In the DATA Directory
Yes for Windows 7, cc_config.xml goes in C:\ProgramData\BOINC.
I know what you mean about getting work though, even with report results immediately it is hard to keep a cache in POEM for my single GPU. For those with multiple fast GPUs it would be worse. It may not get any better soon either, I was hoping the application would be improved so that it was not necessary to run multiple concurrent tasks to get higher than 50% GPU load, but the main developer of the GPU version has just announced he is leaving.
If you are reporting completed tasks immediately and thus requesting new work frequently you have a much greater chance of picking up resends though. Without resends and/or the occasional loosening of the severe trickle setting there is currently no way to avoid almost constantly running out of POEM tasks other than wearing out your update finger unless you're an officer and command your .batman to do it for you.
Resends bypass the trickle setting of the POEM server so instead of only getting 1 or 2 tasks each request you can get up to 33 at once. As the resends get sent out in batches if you snag some early in the batch you can get more on the next request. So you sometimes get 50-60 resent tasks in a few requests.
It might not make much difference now as the trickle feed seems to be further reduced today. Previously BOINC would make another work request when it successfully got work but hadn't yet reached the minimum cache setting, but today it's not doing that. With a server throttled that heavily the only contributors remaining will be mainly those running a script. Much fairer to limit the total tasks in progress to a smaller number per GPU like MilkyWay does. Then it annoys everyone equally not just some.;D
Of course it also disbars anyone with an intermittent internet connection from contributing at all, but it seems as if BOINC/projects have chosen to abandon those people anyway for many GPU projects.
I got fed up with MilkyWay's unreliable server a fair while ago. I've had a good little run on POEM but just about had enough of fiddling with user unfriendly BOINC development versions now, so if POEM continues to not have enough work for much longer I will detach there also. Same goes for WCG GPU when they get it going, if they don't have enough work then I'll probably have a little dabble then give it a miss.
maybe a batch file (is that the right name??) where you can make the project keep "updating" every X minutes ?
but, every time I hit update, it says "not requesting new tasks" ANYWAY, so what is the point ?
I have gone over to Moo! with both machines now (and back to 6.12.34 client) but am looking forward to WCG having a go at GPU applications !!
Quote from: veebee on February 02, 2012, 12:18:22 AM
maybe a batch file (is that the right name??) where you can make the project keep "updating" every X minutes ?
Yep a batch file is denoted by the file type ending .bat. It's the ".batman" I was cryptically alluding to, the "command" referred to the BOINC command tool boinccmd.exe, the program that is called. It is also the "script" that I referred to later that is being used by many of the current top POEM hosts.
Quote from: veebee on February 02, 2012, 12:18:22 AM
but, every time I hit update, it says "not requesting new tasks" ANYWAY, so what is the point ?
It's caused by a combination of the BOINC 7.0.xx work fetch policy working with the POEM server trickle settings. Needs high "Connect about every" setting as a workaround and even with that it often only requests ATI work every 2nd server contact.
Quote from: veebee on February 02, 2012, 12:18:22 AM
I have gone over to Moo! with both machines now (and back to 6.12.34 client) but am looking forward to WCG having a go at GPU applications !!
Many others have also quickly moved to other GPU projects or stopped GPU crunching when they discovered an unreliable supply of work after they attached. I'm only using report results immediately and I've got about 1.5 days cache left but it's gradually dropping. If I don't snag a few decent size batches of resends in the next few days I'll be out of work and detaching too.
With new projects, CreditNew initial spikes and the potential of a reduced credit rate in the future prompt some to attempt to make hay while the sun shines. Very hard to move up the rankings later if the credit rate gets reduced to a half or a quarter of what it is now. In a way I'd like to use a script to get to 20 million but it's unfair on others struggling to get any work at all. Besides, it's a bit silly anyway, why use electricity on a project that already has more contributor GPU resources than it can handle. Better for me to turn off GPU processing, reduce my electricity bill and start up a few more CPU cores on GO Fight Against Malaria or DNA@Home when there is more work. Have to keep Travis busy to stop him freezing in North Dakota.;D
Sometimes it appears the different projects do not share their knowledge and experience about the methods of dealing with the high load placed on project servers by GPU processing. Unless the servers are really heavy duty, server load needs to be reduced by sending out longer running GPU tasks. If you have tasks that run for 1 minute like MilkyWay or under 10 minutes average like POEM, it's not really surprising that the servers are put under heavy load. Also need sufficient capacity to store, and sufficient staff resources to analyse the large amount of data returned by even a relatively small number of fast GPUs.
I wonder if this has something to do with it all. Found this on the MOO forum posted by Mikey.
The version 7 series of Boinc handles work requests MUCH different that the older version of Boinc, they are almost totally different!! Under Network Usage there are two setting...one for "connect about every" and one for "additional work buffer". They are NOT treated as they say, they treated as hard count numbers now!! So if you put 1.25 in the 2nd one, "additional work buffer" you are telling Boinc to NOT connect to a project for 1.25 days! It is a learning curve and you MUST work with it to get it working like you want it to. Remember programmers think they KNOW what you want and give it to you whether you really want it or not! They also have stuff they are working towards that the rest of us have no clue about.
I guess it are trial versions after all.
Greetings All
Due to the rarity of the POEM GPU tasks, I have got the HD 5850 crunching on other ATI GPU projects, and have upgraded to BOINC 7.0.12 (x64), still tweaking it to suit my setup, well I am attached to 8 ATI GPU projects and all are processing and getting new workunits bar POEM.
Just gotta watch out the cache does not get to big, also what might work for some projects doesnt necessarily work for other projects, ie grabbing 10 workunits on one project and the other project grabs 50 workunit on the same setting.
Work in progress, but at least I am crunching away.
Happy Crunching to all
Tazzduke
Which are the eight projects you are running? I know Milkyway, Primegrid, Collatz, Poem, Moo and DNETC, but what are the other two? ???
Quote from: Sean on February 03, 2012, 10:28:57 PM
Which are the eight projects you are running? I know Milkyway, Primegrid, Collatz, Poem, Moo and DNETC, but what are the other two? ???
... even then, DnetC isn't "active" any more.. and I cannot think of 8 projects for ATI either !?
Hi Sean
Milkyway, Primegrid, Collatz, POEM, Moo, there is also
Albert
I also run SETI and SETI Beta using the lunatics app.
DNETC is now offline.
Regards
Tazzduke
Thanks Tazzduke, I will look into those two tomorrow if I get time. The idea of running Seti on a gpu is appealing. :drool:
Hiya Sean
That how I got my seti past 100K, now I just gotta get SETI Beta upto 100K, also ALBERT@Home is the beta for EINSTEIN and is testing ATI GPU at the moment, so that they can put it up at EINSTEIN once its all bug free, albeit they pay a fixed rate of 500 a workunit
Regards
Tazzduke
There's currently some POEM tasks available. Only had 50 left in cache last night and when I woke up 400 had downloaded, so I'm fuelled for 3 days. :thumbsup:
I'm still moving up the POEM ranks, but as we all know it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock 'n roll. :crazy
Edit: Looks like all the tasks are gone now, more computers must have woken from their backoff times and gobbled them all up.
Quote from: tazzduke on February 03, 2012, 11:42:14 PM
Hiya Sean
That how I got my seti past 100K, now I just gotta get SETI Beta upto 100K, also ALBERT@Home is the beta for EINSTEIN and is testing ATI GPU at the moment, so that they can put it up at EINSTEIN once its all bug free, albeit they pay a fixed rate of 500 a workunit
Regards
Tazzduke
I downloaded the GPU-only AstroPulse application and extracted it with Winrar. But when I click the .exe file a console window flashes up then disappears followed by nothing. I am downloading SDK at the moment, is that needed to run the executable?
Hi Sean
Have sent you a PM regarding Seti and Seti Beta
Regards
tazzduke
Mad Matt is sure crunching up a storm over here on Poem. Well done and +1 karma :congrats :congrats http://boinc.fzk.de/poem/show_user.php?userid=21782
That is a Category 5 cyclone. Well done Matt. Karma as well. :thumbsup:
Some mighty powerful crunching Matt :thumbsup:
Now if you'd just leave a couple for the rest of us... :wink
Mmmm 2 machines crunching air, no Poem gpu's WU's. Back up project Prime Grid both server & site down mmm. Next i'll check Boinc Stats "what the" it's down too.. It's a flippen conspiracy I tells ya...
EDIT: Well at least Boinc Stats & PG is back!! Sheesh what next..
Damn, that is impressive! :shock Plus one if I can find you matt.
I am happy you like it. I completely forgot until Pete told me it's of course the hottest time of the year for you, so hopefully I could help you a little bit over that heat-steaming period.
I have been working for months on optimization of POEM with a bunch of nice guys at SUSA, so if I can offer some knowledge to you, I will be happy doing so. Though I have to say basically since AMD's 12.11 'Never Settle' beta it's all easy on AMD and does not need a lot more than an app_info. But still there are some tips how to make it scream, both for AMD and NV... ;)
:penguin:
Quote from: Mad Matt on December 23, 2012, 04:56:03 AM
I am happy you like it. I completely forgot until Pete told me it's of course the hottest time of the year for you, so hopefully I could help you a little bit over that heat-steaming period.
I have been working for months on optimization of POEM with a bunch of nice guys at SUSA, so if I can offer some knowledge to you, I will be happy doing so. Though I have to say basically since AMD's 12.11 'Never Settle' beta it's all easy on AMD and does not need a lot more than an app_info. But still there are some tips how to make it scream, both for AMD and NV... ;)
:penguin:
Thanks Matt. You are a legend. I have been using your app_info and compared to others I found they certainly doing a great job. Previously, I could not get my HD 2xHD7970's going. What are the tips to make it screem, and is there any way to run the CPU apps at the same time, that so far has escaped me and can not do.. In the New Year, I intend to put all on Pogs though and not POEM and beat Terminal* for third spot. I love breaking sici's run and hold. At least they won't be abl;e to say we hold first, second and third places. :worship
Cheers, Pete. :wavey2:
Some of my favourite tips are:
Get Process Lasso from www.bitsum.com. Set standard core affinity for all POEM cores (ideally you have one CPU per WU) and for CPU-project cores if you have any left. Next set POEM to standard priority high and standard I/O priority high.
Try to get as many PCIe lanes as possible, x16 is best and has a significant impact. If possible PCIe 3.0x16 for any capable card.
Put NV cards on old CPUs, in relation they perform better (except for the 6xx cards that really live up with highly-clocking CPUs and PCIe 3.0). CPU load is high for NV, but you can safely clock GPU and Video-RAM to extreme levels.
For AMDs use highly clocked CPUs (best i7 using HT) and try using your fastest CPU-RAM on good OC timings (look for OC references on the web to avoid crunching errors). You can usually get to extreme clocks since CPU load and temps will be extremely low. However, clocking V-RAM has little effect. On 5870s, you can downclock RAM to cut temps.
For AMDs 12.11 beta is a must. I found several rigs show great run times on Win 8 (especially the 7970). But if you want to work with your rigs, Win 8 is a risk and at best in public-beta stage...beware of Windows update. :P
:cheers:
What a coincidence, I just updated to 12.11 beta an hour before reading this thread. It really makes a big difference. Running 4 POEM tasks on my HD 5870 with 4 POGS tasks also running, GPU load has increased from 91% to 96%. The previous highest GPU load I could get was 95% by running no CPU tasks but now I prefer to do some POGS as well. First batch of 4 have just completed and are about 12% faster than before.;D
Thanks for your tips Matt, I'll give ProcessLasso a whirl later today, I've previously used it to speed up BOINC projects so it is already installed and I'm familiar with using it.
I can only run POEM for intervals due to heat and noise concerns but I'm enjoying giving it lash again. You're certainly going to town on POEM, always good to see someone getting really stuck into a project.:thumbsup:
Quote from: Cruncher Pete on December 23, 2012, 07:53:10 AM
and is there any way to run the CPU apps at the same time, that so far has escaped me and can not do..
It certainly could be done, but I have in total 7 cores left on 6 rigs running POEM, everything else goes into GPU feeding. So I never considered doing so and happily kept my poor CPU output for other projects.
Quote from: kashi on December 23, 2012, 12:01:15 PM
You're certainly going to town on POEM, always good to see someone getting really stuck into a project.:thumbsup:
Cheers, I am really loving it. It's one of the first times (almost completely missed the great days at MW) a science project offers real return for investing a little effort. So the choice was easy for me. :dance: