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Thread: DistrRTgen app_info file

  1. #1
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    DistrRTgen app_info file

    I recently put in a new CUDA card, and put it on DistrRTgen to get to my 1M there. As I was futzing with it, I noticed how horrifically inefficient the app is. So, I spent a bit of time getting an app_info file running for the project - it is running the stock app, but has set the CPU priority to high and runs 2 WUs at once.

    This is working on Win7x64, 6.10.58. Here it is, if anyone is interested:

    Code:
    <app_info>
     <app>
     <name>distrrtgen</name>
     </app>
     <file_info>
      <name>distrrtgen_3.20_windows_intelx86__cuda23.exe</name>
      <executable/>
     </file_info>
      <file_info>
      <name>cudart.dll</name>
      <executable/>
     </file_info>
      <file_info>
      <name>charset.txt</name>
     </file_info>
    
     <app_version>
      <app_name>distrrtgen</app_name>
      <version_num>320</version_num>
      <plan_class>cuda</plan_class>
      <avg_ncpus>0.75</avg_ncpus>
      <max_ncpus>1</max_ncpus>
     <flops>1.0e11</flops> 
      <coproc>
       <type>CUDA</type>
       <count>0.5</count>
       </coproc>
       <cmdline>p3 b-1</cmdline>
      <file_ref>
       <file_name>distrrtgen_3.20_windows_intelx86__cuda23.exe</file_name>
       <main_program/>
      </file_ref>
       <file_ref>
       <file_name>cudart.dll</file_name>
       <copy_file/>
      </file_ref>
       <file_ref>
       <file_name>charset.txt</file_name>
       <copy_file/>
      </file_ref>
      </app_version>
    </app_info>

  2. #2
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    Re: DistrRTgen app_info file

    How much does it improve performance?
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  3. #3
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    Re: DistrRTgen app_info file

    Quote Originally Posted by zombie67 View Post
    How much does it improve performance?
    I didn't get much of a baseline in terms of credits (pending, impatience, etc). But I'm watching the GPU load. Running one at a time, the typical load was about 50% - now it's >95%. Completion times have not noticeably increased, either. I'll post my credit total at the end of the day.

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    Re: DistrRTgen app_info file

    I only have a handful of tasks validated so far, but this is what I found:

    GTX 580:
    o Normal: Run time averaged 70 seconds and pay averaged 51. That works out to about 63,330/day.
    o With app_info: Run time averaged 133 seconds and pay averaged 61. That works out to about 78,865/day.

    GTX 295:
    o Normal: Run time averaged 352 seconds and pay averaged 1231. That works out to about 30,234/day.
    o With app_info: Run time averaged 524 seconds and pay averaged 61. That works out to about 40.057/day.

    The odd bit is around the credits awarded. Normally, they vary between 48 to 54 per task on the 580. But with the app_info, they are all awarded the exact same 60.74 credits. Similar situation with the 295, all exactly 60.74.
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  5. #5
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    Re: DistrRTgen app_info file

    That's really interesting - I am not seeing the same behavior. I'm seeing huge variation in the number of credits awarded, from ~40 to ~142, with an average of 60.79 (damn close to your fixed value).

    Since you did it, I went in and calculated numbers, and I'm seeing a similar gain. My number of normal WUs is fairly small, but I was getting 48k/day on a 570 normal, and 59k/day with the app_info file.

  6. #6
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    Re: DistrRTgen app_info file

    Just curious, why did you pick .75 CPU per? With my GTX 295, that is taking 3 of my 4 CPUs...not leaving much for crunching. Can this be lowered at all, without impacting the performance? Anyone feel like doing some experiments?
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  7. #7
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    Re: DistrRTgen app_info file

    I used 0.75 because the default was 0.85, and 0.75 seemed rounder - completely arbitrary, but I wanted to stick close.

    For the record: At exactly 06:00 UTC 27 March 2011, I changed it over to 0.25. Anything reported after that time has the new app_info system...

  8. #8
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    Re: DistrRTgen app_info file

    Quote Originally Posted by Maxwell View Post
    I used 0.75 because the default was 0.85, and 0.75 seemed rounder - completely arbitrary, but I wanted to stick close.

    For the record: At exactly 06:00 UTC 27 March 2011, I changed it over to 0.25. Anything reported after that time has the new app_info system...

    I think the "default" is based on the stats of the GPU. The faster the GPU, the higher the percentage of CPU required (to keep up, I assume). For example, the default of my 295 is .69, and for my 9500GT PCI is .27.
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  9. #9
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    Re: DistrRTgen app_info file

    After dropping the CPU usage down to 0.25, I haven't seen a difference. I'm calculating around 58k/day now, well within the margin of error for the number of WUs I've run.

  10. #10
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    Re: DistrRTgen app_info file

    Quote Originally Posted by Maxwell View Post
    After dropping the CPU usage down to 0.25, I haven't seen a difference. I'm calculating around 58k/day now, well within the margin of error for the number of WUs I've run.
    I think you're wrong, Maxwell...

    After running it for a while at 0.25, I was noticing a severe lack of GPU loading on average - it was hovering around 55% on average. I changed it back up to 0.50 CPU/WU, and (running two WUs) this leaves 1 core dedicated to feeding the GPU. Since I made this change, my GPU load is above 95% on average. Yay!

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