Posts by darwincollins

1) Message boards : Projects : project list - for windows 64bit, lots of ram and high bandwidth (Message 34980)
Posted 27 Sep 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
I went thru the project list, and was abit turned off on the number of links to project sites that failed.

What would be a good suggestion for boxes with lots of ram, multi processor, and network bandwidth on a 64bit platform. (in this case, Windows 2008 r2)

Thanks


2) Message boards : Questions and problems : Cores vs Threads ? (hyperthread matter?) (Message 34979)
Posted 27 Sep 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
I have heard similar ideas over on GPUGrid.

3) Message boards : Questions and problems : Methods to Cool CPU (Message 34978)
Posted 27 Sep 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
You did say: F right?
Well, for me, coretemp says I run about 80 C across the cores in 1 system. (I don't know why but the 2nd processor is hottest)

Yea, add airflow will help. Lower ambient room temperature would help too.



4) Message boards : Questions and problems : Best way to reduce heat(boinc usage) on multicore systems? (Message 34027)
Posted 2 Aug 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
Thanks for the responses..

I can't do anything more about the airflow.

Hmm, it moves it around to reduce hotspots? I guess, thats why caches are shared among cores.(to an extent)

5) Message boards : Questions and problems : Best way to reduce heat(boinc usage) on multicore systems? (Message 34023)
Posted 1 Aug 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
I need to reduce heat/power consumption on a multicore system.
What is the suggested way to do it?

"On multiprocessor systems, use at most:" X " % of the processors."

or

"Use at most " X " % CPU time"


I tried the first option, which meant that it would reduce the number of tasks running. Looking at PerfMon, the workunits seem to be scattered among all the cores, which I then wondered if the cpu l2 caches were effectively used.



Overall... what is the suggested method of using less boinc resources?

(reducing the number of cores, or, decreasing the max % of cpu used?)


Thanks



6) Message boards : Questions and problems : article: Suit Over Faulty Computers Highlights Dell’s Decline (Message 33601)
Posted 30 Jun 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
see full article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/technology/29dell.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

"After the math department at the University of Texas noticed some of its Dell computers failing, Dell examined the machines. The company came up with an unusual reason for the computers’ demise: the school had overtaxed the machines by making them perform difficult math calculations. "

so, basically, the article means to me that it is not suggested to run cpu intensive projects on Dell machines.

Now, to me, this is kinda amusing since I was helping a coworker over the weekend with a Dell XPS M1330. One issue was the dreaded yet common “Dell AC power adapter type cannot be determined” error.

Perhaps, Dell deserves the negative publicity, or perhaps they don't.


Is there a suggested manufacturers(hardware) list for boinc volunteers?
7) Message boards : Questions and problems : Why is Boinc sometimes lazy? (Message 33471)
Posted 20 Jun 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
I had a similar issue that went away when I updated to the latest boinc.

Basically, I had a mix of projects on the server (wgc, rosetta, aqua), and I caught it with idle cores from time to time even though that there was plenty of work that was marked 'ready to start'.
8) Message boards : Questions and problems : Cores vs Threads ? (hyperthread matter?) (Message 33469)
Posted 20 Jun 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
The serious number stat crunchers can give a much better answer, but, my 'really rough' comparisons looking at the WGC project stats seem to indicate that HT may help 20% over non-HT. (well, its comparing I7 enabled HT to non-HT harpertowns so my comparison weak)

ps. I do appreciate reading your responses. The IT folks at work can't even fathom apps that normally run at 100% of the cpu except parrot that they must be badly written.


9) Message boards : Questions and problems : Cores vs Threads ? (hyperthread matter?) (Message 33434)
Posted 18 Jun 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
I looked around based on Netburst/etc words, and found:

Hyper-Threading on vSphere
http://vpivot.com/2010/03/06/hyper-threading-on-vsphere/

(summary: suggests to enable HT. slight 10% to 24% increase)
thought, the comments point to some debate
http://vpivot.com/2010/03/17/vsphere-4-0-hyper-threading-and-terminal-services/

Intel engineers stage CPU coup (2yr old article)
http://www.techworld.com.au/article/257165/intel_engineers_stage_cpu_coup


so, my guess, is that HT is good. Further, that I should think of a 4core/8thread pc as being upto 30% faster than a 4core/4thread pc. ?

10) Message boards : Questions and problems : Screen Saver - Windows 7 (Message 33389)
Posted 16 Jun 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
Do you really need the BOINC screensaver enabled? I run boinc 24/7.

I just set the screensaver to all blank.(which I have to remember everytime I update boinc)

That way, I don't waste any cpu % on a screen saver.
11) Message boards : Questions and problems : Boinc.NET Crunch Farm Monitoring App (Message 33388)
Posted 16 Jun 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
I wish I had those temp ranges. Dang, to me, normal is 84c.

12) Message boards : Questions and problems : Cores vs Threads ? (hyperthread matter?) (Message 33387)
Posted 16 Jun 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
For Boinc projects (since they are computationally intensive), does having hyperthreading matter?

For example,

a computer with 4 cores/4 threads,
vs
a computer with 2 cores/4threads (due to HT)


i think the 4core/4thread will get more work done, but, at what percentage will it get work done over a 2core/4thread system?





13) Message boards : News : AQUA@home deploys first OpenCL application on BOINC (Message 32961)
Posted 23 May 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
Please link to something on Aqua that talks about this new app. Thanks
14) Message boards : Questions and problems : Monitor bus bandwidth or best tools for boinc? (Message 31604)
Posted 15 Mar 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
I was asked on what my best tool was to monitor bus bandwidth. Well, for us here, its all very CPU intensive and not bandwidth, so my best tool is CORETEMP. (and I am sure that there is a similar tool for the GPUs)

What are the best tools to do this work?

15) Message boards : Projects : Same work unit sent to how many clients? (Message 30700)
Posted 27 Jan 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
I like double entry. I like ECC memory too.

However, an excess duplication of work also means that the code is as 'unknown' as the computers that they run on. right?

Hopefully, there are some really smart math/process guys optimizing these schedules, and its not micromanaged by researchers. grin

I did not have much luck on following the links to see what the settings the various projects use. Well, ok, found the roseta stats. Dang... lots of stats.

Oh I did see a compute error had occurred, but, also saw that another computer had the same client error on the wu. cool
16) Message boards : Projects : Same work unit sent to how many clients? (Message 30664)
Posted 25 Jan 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
I have read messages about the same work unit being sent to mulitple clients, and using a quorum of 3 in order to validate the result.
Here is one of the threads that I read:
http://aqua.dwavesys.com/forum_thread.php?id=72

The message is several years old, but, i imagine even in these modern times, you probably have x initial replications and need a x for a validated results.

Is it the same for each project? How can we find out how much of our work is duplicated on other accounts just to come to the same conclusion?

Or is boinc smarter now so that we don't waste time working the same work unit that x other computers had already completed and was accepted.
17) Message boards : Questions and problems : For Boinc, do I want better CPU or GPU ? (Message 30570)
Posted 17 Jan 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
Lets say I want to squeeze as much work (work units) as I can from a new computer.

Is it better to spend more money on more/better CPUs, or, more towards the GPU?


18) Message boards : Questions and problems : run boinc and folding@home on same computer? (Message 30468)
Posted 9 Jan 2010 by darwincollins
Post:
Intel Core 2 Duo computer. Vista 32bit.

Is it a bad idea running a Uniprocessor Client (qty 1) Folder@home (cpu) AND Boinc on the same computer?

Using default settings, who would get most of the idle time... or, is just really a bad idea?

(note: I am actually doing this on 3 pcs of different configurations)



Copyright © 2024 University of California.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.