KWSN Orbiting Fortress

JerWA · Prince Joined: 01 Jan 2007 Posts: 1497 Location: WA, USA

Why are you giving so much CPU time to MW, have you noticed it being CPU bound? Each WU only needs about 2 seconds of CPU time total on my machine and has had no problems getting it even though all 4 cores are pegged. The only problem I've had is with scheduling because MW isn't recognized as a GPU app because it's not using the CUDA stuff I think. They'll get that sorted out eventually, and so far 6.4.7 is running strong. (You can look through your task list at MWs site to see the full output like I have below which includes all sorts of interesting info...)

Likewise, the # of WUs to run simultaneously is 3 by default but I didn't see an advantage personally. I ran default settings the first 24 hrs, and watched the actual time-per-unit increase between 98%-102% for each WU running. I.e. 1 minute with 1 running, 2 minutes with 2 running, 3 minutes with 3. I've since set it manually to n1 (only 1 actually using resources at a time) as has the author of the optimized app himself. Food for thought. Cool

Oh, and according to CCC 1 WU running is in the mid 80% range for load but temps on the card are higher than I've ever seen them outside of MW work. So, in theory, you should gain some throughput with at least 2 WUs running I just don't see it, maybe because my card is only 512MB of RAM? Something worth looking into when I get a new card which will for sure be 1GB or more.

KWSN - Sir Brian C....... · Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:44 pm Post subject:

one of the reasons I give it two cores is fact I have a large WU cache... the sceduler seems to get fussy when I run it with 7 ABCWUs and stops requesting milky work.... 6 cores seems to run just fine and keeps the cache maxed out

KWSN imcrazynow · Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:45 pm Post subject:

That's exactly why I suggested earlier in another thread (it think) that you spend a little extra and go for the 1G card. Of course you had that one already so it doesn't matter. Just for future refrence.
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4870 GPU

JerWA · Prince Joined: 01 Jan 2007 Posts: 1497 Location: WA, USA

That's odd about the work. I think that's a 6.6.31 bug actually. You may want to try 6.4.7, that's what I'm having the most luck with right now. I run a ton of projects on it, always have all 4 cores loaded, set to 0 connection timer and 2 day queue and I saw MW run down to only a handful of units once today but it's averaging about 20 waiting. It shouldn't need even 1 fully dedicated core, because each WU is only going to use about 3 seconds of CPU and that's not full load. There's enough leeway that with all 4 of mine showing 100% usage the MW project has not stopped once since I switched to 6.4.7.

As for the card: Yeah, I bought it not long after they came out. There was no 1GB card when I got mine, there were only 512MB reference cards hehe. For my next one I'm seriously considering a pre-setup water cooled card to go with the rest of my system. Prying off a stock heatsink scares the hell out of me, so it may just be worth the outrageous cost increase to have it done for me. Something like this.

Here's my TASKS and PROJECTS. (Images are kinda big so I didn't want to just IMG tag 'em)
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KWSN imcrazynow · Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:26 pm Post subject:

Damn, that's alot of cash for a card!
Mine are on air in a Antec 900 case (@109.00). Running 4 MW at a time the're doing 80C with 97% activity and 73% fan speed.
Maybe you just need another case instead?
Of course the 900 case is set up for H2O cooling as well.
#ni-1

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And a few that won't update for some reason.

4870 GPU

Adam Alexander · Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:38 pm Post subject:

JerWA · Prince Joined: 01 Jan 2007 Posts: 1497 Location: WA, USA

Actually my case is fine it's just that to air cool my setup requires a LOT of air. I'm running a TRUE Black CPU cooler with a 133cfm 3krpm 120mm fan on it, with another similar fan (Scythe Kama if you care lol) for case exhaust, along with the stock 120mm intake fan and stock 80mm side intake blowing right into the graphics card intake. (There's a pic in my Photobucket folder showing what happened when I stuck my finger in one of these fans, it wasn't pretty)

CPU is running at 48/48/63/54C, GPU is running at 66/73/74C (IO, Mem, Shader). Motherboard is at 45C. Ambient is only 21C.

Here's a pic (click for huge size):

My next system is going to be pushed even further, and will be built accordingly. I could do air again, but it's hard to get as big of an overclock on air. I was originally planning a HAF932 build for air, but am now debating water in the same case. I may do partial, like water for CPU only, and since the case has so many options I may add a separate loop for graphics later.

As for why the card is so much, that waterblock is a giant chunk of copper. The cheapest one I could find by itself is $90 and you need connectors still. Given that the cheapest HD4890 is almost exactly $100 less (before the mail in rebate anyways) it isn't costing me much extra to have them install it. Like I mentioned, the idea of prying off the stock heatsink does not fill me with warm fuzzies.
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KWSN imcrazynow · Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:23 pm Post subject:

Very nice system! Now I understand.
#ni-1

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And a few that won't update for some reason.

4870 GPU

KWSN Im Not Dead · Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:25 pm Post subject:

nice computer
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KWSNImNotDead - "I don't want to go on the cart!". It is spelled LooNies.

JerWA · Prince Joined: 01 Jan 2007 Posts: 1497 Location: WA, USA

Thanks. I like it, and it's holding up fairly well. Main problem now is I waited too long to upgrade, so my CPU options are kinda limited. I can definitely upgrade it though, so I may do that as a first step. It would also give me a chance to change to water on just the CPU to see what I think hehe.
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KWSN - Sir Brian C....... · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:04 pm Post subject: Re: incoming...

Al Dente · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:07 pm Post subject:

Why, thanks.

I'm trying (not very successfully) to outrun AA, but I think I'm going to have to give him best, at least for the moment. Twisted Evil

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Adam Alexander · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:33 pm Post subject:

John Galt 007 · Prince Joined: 31 Dec 2007 Posts: 1206 Location: Wisconsin

Adam Alexander · Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:47 am Post subject:

Al Dente · Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:33 am Post subject:

Next Monday, I'm going to be faced with a choice between:

a. two reasonable cases of wine

b. one case of wine + a 4850

c. a 4870 + a 650W PSU

Watch my RAC to see which one I choose. Laughing

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Adam Alexander · Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:48 am Post subject:

John Galt 007 · Prince Joined: 31 Dec 2007 Posts: 1206 Location: Wisconsin

John Galt 007 · Prince Joined: 31 Dec 2007 Posts: 1206 Location: Wisconsin

Adam Alexander · Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:57 am Post subject: