Hey Everybody,

Going to copy some quotes over from this thread in order to start a new thread (this one) and not derail that thread.

First is the Probelm:

Anybody tried multi-gpu on 6.3.14 yet? I'm having issues on my 2x GPU rig. It runs F@H GPU2 fine. My other 2 rigs are single GPU and I'm using the cc_config file and not having any issues.

On the multi-GPU rig:

Vista x64
2x XFX 8800GS

Same effect whether I use the cc_config file or not. I start Boinc (I run WCG and GpuGrid) and it will start running 4 of the WCG WUs and 2 of the GpuGrid WUs, but after a few minutes....sometimes 10-15mins....it will kick both of the GpuGrid WUs into "Waiting to run" mode. The 4 WCG WUs will continue on...and it will not start any other WUs to replace the GpuGrid WUs. For some reason its kicking them out. This doesn't happen on either of my single GPU rigs. And as state before: this is with or w/o the cc_config file, and it doesn't seem to matter what the ncpus is set to when the file is used. Yes, I rebooted. Desktop is extended via vga-dvi dummy. I tried them OCed and at stock.

Driver should be 177.92

All 3 rigs are running Vista x64.

Kinda lost atm...just wondering if anyone else has tried multi-gpu with this version.....?

Ok, this isn't going to make much sense, but things actually run Better! with both of the F@H GPU2 clients going.

The GG WUs show 7-9% cpu usage in task manager, flops go up into the Gflops...according to Boincview.

Yes, it still kicks the GpuGrid WUs into "waiting to run" mode after ~10mins, but this is not making any sense what-so-ever.....

BTW, Flops are all over from Kflops, Mflops, Gflops....

Also, in the screenshot above...the 2 GG WUs on Farm1 and Farm2 are also Yellow--which means that they are "Running Slow" according to Boincview. Don't know why, but I just learned that (why they were yellow) a little bit ago.

A couple of screenshot--these are from Farm1 which is a single GPU rig. Trying to make sense of this stuff, but....this doesn't make any sense to me:


With the F@H GPU2 client paused (--it works the same w/o the client even started). Date, time and paused F@H GPU2 client at bottom right:




F@H GPU2 client restarted and GG WU flops go up about 6x:




Cpu useage changes also. This make any sense to anybody?

Tried actually hooking up a 2nd monitor--no change. With the F@H GPU2 clients running the Flops of the GG WUs goes up 6x....but it goes down on 3 out of 4 WCG WUs. Cpu usage increases on the GG WUs and decreases on 3 out of 4 WCG WUs. So, its just robbing cpu from the WCG WUs....


Been running these GPUs at stock since last night. Just shutdown Rivatuner 2.10--doesn't appear to be any change. I restarted Boinc with RT shutdown....


Not sure what to try next. I'm pretty lost.....

How does BoincView determine the GFlops? Does it know anything about the GPU-client? If it tries to judge GFlops by the BOINC benchmark and CPU time it will get things totally wrong. So this "6x increase" from 200 MFlops to ~1 GFlop doesn't tell you much. A 8800GT is capable of ~500 GFlops, so in practice it should achieve at least tens of GFlops, if not 100+.

MrS

I started assuming what You are getting at: ...

You're right. And I'm sorry I can't help you with your actual problem.

MrS

EDIT 3: Just wanted to add a thought/note: The WCG WUs are "Running", the GG WUs are "Running, high priority". In the F@H GPU2 config it is necessary to select:

"Core Priority: Slightly higher {use if other distributed computing applications are stopping F@H}".

My guess is: The "High Priority" given to the GG WUs because of the dealine is what's causing things to work properly, and that this "Slightly Higher" priority needs to be built into either the WUs or the GG client.....

"Running, high priority" does only mean that the BOINC scheduler is giving the running task a higher priority to meet the deadline and it does not obey the resource share until the project which is running in high priority has computed the task which is in a deadline trouble.

It has nothing to do with the priority settings for Windows tasks.
Therefore it has also nothing to do with the setting in the FAH GPU2 client.

We have made some test a few days ago where we tried to set a higher priority for GPUGRID tasks than for normal BOINC tasks. There wasn't any difference if they ran with normal priority or with the lowest...
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"Running, high priority" does only mean that the BOINC scheduler is giving the running task a higher priority to meet the deadline and it does not obey the resource share until the project which is running in high priority has computed the task which is in a deadline trouble.

It has nothing to do with the priority settings for Windows tasks.
Therefore it has also nothing to do with the setting in the FAH GPU2 client.

We have made some test a few days ago where we tried to set a higher priority for GPUGRID tasks than for normal BOINC tasks. There wasn't any difference if they ran with normal priority or with the lowest...

Note, there is some new intended behavior in 6.3 clients.

This case will occur when there are CPU tasks in deadline trouble "High Priority", it will run those in addition to a CPU/CUDA task in order to keep the GPU in full use too.

"High Prioirity" only means they are on top of the boinc to do list, so they get done first, and can be done outside of your resource share, things will balance out in the long run, giving this project more time now to complete before deadline, and less time later to even the resource shares back out. It has nothing to do with the system priority like Low,Normal,High,etc.

Everyone should read this new wiki note which expalins the new behavior of 6.3 clients

The new behavior will be to make max use of CPUs and GPUs, even if it means sometimes using more CPU than you physically have or have allocated.

Ok, well its working like its supposed to on all 3 rigs (=2x 1GPU = 1x 2GPU). I have no idea what changed on this multi-GPU rig, but its working. The 2 High priority WUs completed and each time it started a new GG WU and is running them in regular running mode.

Hoping it lasts....