Big-little configuration and Boinc setup

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Message 94569 - Posted: 28 Dec 2019, 7:01:21 UTC
Last modified: 28 Dec 2019, 7:03:59 UTC

Is the following statement true on all (8 core) Big-Little configurations:

"Boinc will only use 4 cores out of the 8. The little cores just push their jobs to the big ones. Using more than 4 cores will cause the big cores to be throttled by running more than 1 project per core)."

Or:
"Boinc can only use the little cores, not the big ones; as the big cores are used by Android"?

Seems weird that Android would use the big cores, and not the little ones.
How else are Big-little configurations running mobile games so well?
The OS only uses little CPU, most programs need more CPU.

Or are there situations in which a Big-little configuration does eg: ~75% of the work on the 4 big cores, and ~25% on the 4 little cores?
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Profile Joseph Stateson
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Message 94625 - Posted: 31 Dec 2019, 21:27:44 UTC - in response to Message 94569.  

Thanks for posting this. I was unware of the big little terminology and went and read up on it here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_big.LITTLE

My take: Intel extends battery life by reducing the clock speed when cpu not being used much.
ARM has the potential of switching to a core that has fewer transistors in addition to reducing the clock speed.
However, the OS has to implement the strategy and the applications needs to be tailored.
The article indicates that if one app needs a big core than all switch and vice-versa but better operating systems and better tailored apps can be more efficient.

I remember running a boinc app on a blackberry, forget what the Android version was but it made for a really good hand warmer when crunching.
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Message boards : Questions and problems : Big-little configuration and Boinc setup

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