Looking for Multi CPU and Multi GPU projects...

[DrPop]

It is as I remember then. All projects favor one architecture over another. For example, AQUA favored Intel a bit, and Primaboinca seems to favor AMD a little. Collatz crunches faster on AMD, but PrimeGrid pretty massively favors NVIDIA. DiRT is the best NVIDIA credits now that PG has dropped theirs.
DNETC is gone, so Moo! is the best paying AMD project, followed by MilkyWay and then Collatz. If you factor in all the downtime MilkyWay has, and the fact that Slicker has almost no down time with Collatz, you will probably come out about even points wise.

[Beerdrinker]

Back in the days - ABC@home was king of the hill on CPU´s running x64 OS. As I remember it...ABC had very little downtime to.

[DAD]

ya for most any projects that use or req DP math... nvidia wins hands down... ati rocks the world in sp math though... For a time, one company always outshines the other, or has some pros and cons... then the other company responds and makes something better.. never ending cycle.


1) At the moment, nv rocks the socks off ATI for DP math boinc projects
2) At the moment, more projects support nvidia/cuda vs ATI (open_cl). open_cl to me is like open_gl... it's open.. and easier to cross platforms, but it's slower and not as efficient. IMO ATI needs to have some sort of "thing" like cuda (maybe they do, but I'm not an ATI fan lol). Using open_cl is really wasting a lot of GPU performance imo.
3) more and more boinc gpu WUs are moving from SP to DP math
4) If you are a fan of ATI or Nvidia is to stick with the cards you like - especially if the rig is used for gaming. If it's just a crunching rig ONLY, then I'd go with the best performing card for DP math

[DrPop]

ATI had stream, which was way more efficient than OpenCL. I do not know why they are dropping it to go OpenCL, because like you said, it is way less efficient. Look at PG GPU appear for an example. The CUDA app is very efficient and rocks. The ATI app not so much, because it's a port of the CUDA code to OpenCL and then run on an ATI GPU, which is very inefficient. ATI boards like the 5970 are amazing what they can put out. Even my 5870 is pretty sweet GFLOPS...but the code has to be efficient or the credit sucks.

[Fire$torm]

ATI had stream, which was way more efficient than OpenCL. I do not know why they are dropping it to go OpenCL, because like you said, it is way less efficient. Look at PG GPU appear for an example. The CUDA app is very efficient and rocks. The ATI app not so much, because it's a port of the CUDA code to OpenCL and then run on an ATI GPU, which is very inefficient. ATI boards like the 5970 are amazing what they can put out. Even my 5870 is pretty sweet GFLOPS...but the code has to be efficient or the credit sucks.

Well OpenCL was ATI's way of conceding to nVidia's CUDA. Stream never attracted the attention CUDA received. Unfortunately OpenCL was very poorly conceived and was rushed into production. They should be able to improve OpenCL considerably but that depends entirely on R&D funding. I don't know if AMD is committed to being OpenCL's primary benefactor. Time will tell.

[DrPop]

So if AMD is dropping Stream, if they don't back OpenCL, then what have they got? I mean, they're kind of stuck being the promoter now, right? Or maybe I'm missing something?

[Fire$torm]

So if AMD is dropping Stream, if they don't back OpenCL, then what have they got? I mean, they're kind of stuck being the promoter now, right? Or maybe I'm missing something?

Nope, that's it alright. Notice that AMD still isn't promoting Multi-GPU solutions for R&D the way nVidia is. OpenCL might look like a monster sinkhole to them. Also notice how much they ARE promoting Fusion!

I might be completely wrong but to me it looks like AMD wants to kill the Add-on GPU market. Doing so would put them way ahead of nVidia & Intel in the on-chip GPU segment. If they were to succeed that would relegate PCIe GPU's to the $1,000+ units for the esoteric markets.

[DrPop]

Oh. Does that mean my 5870 is going to be a paper weight someday? Or is that waaaaaay in the distant future when nothing supports Stream or OpenCL and by then I'll have way better GPUs?

[Fire$torm]

Oh. Does that mean my 5870 is going to be a paper weight someday? Or is that waaaaaay in the distant future when nothing supports Stream or OpenCL and by then I'll have way better GPUs?

It will not affect the immediate future of the GPU market. I see it as a slow, long term movement. Also keep in mind that the primary driving force for high end GPUs are gamers. And that segment of the market has seen major declines in numbers. The mod'ing/high end gamer generation is fragmenting due to the economy, waning interest and the realization that the increase in game performance for each new generation of GPU had reached the point of diminishing returns.

[DAD]

I would not be a fan of moving to an integrated GPU. The whole point of GPUs being an "add in" card is that you can upgrade them. CPU upgrades are usually rare due to socket changes by intel, or the bios of the mobo only supporting certain CPUs.

I REALLY don't want the GPU market going that way, and TBH, I don't think it will. I think lower end systems will keep with the integrated GPUs, but mid-high end need add in GPU cards for better gaming, science, cad, video and photo editing, etc

If ATI tries to "kill" the add on GPU market, IMO, that will harm them to no end as people would FLOCK to buy nvidia cards.