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Message boards : Graphics cards (GPUs) : Never ending WU

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Message 8032 - Posted: 1 Apr 2009 | 11:17:31 UTC

I have a new laptop with a 9300M G and I'm trying to run GPUGRID. But whenever I get a new WU, time to completion increases as elapsed time increases.
Right now I have a WU with:
Elapsed Time 13:08:12
Time to completion: 44:44:25 ( started with 26 hrs +/- )
Fraction done: 7.360%
I've tried new drivers for 9300M. But I'm thinking of downgrading ( or better...upgrading ) the os to XP SP2.
Does anyone have an idea what the problem could be and, of course, what the solution would be??

Thanx
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Message 8034 - Posted: 1 Apr 2009 | 12:33:28 UTC - in response to Message 8032.
Last modified: 1 Apr 2009 | 12:42:00 UTC

Short answer: your GPU is too slow to process GPUGRID work units.

According to the data at this page, http://www.gpugrid.net/forum_thread.php?id=867, the 9300M, although capable of doing the processing required for GPUGRID, is too slow to reliably complete the WUs in time. Extrapolating using the GFLOPS ratings in that table and the performance of my GPU, I expect a 9300M G to take 8 to 10 days to complete one WU. Even with the recent increase in the deadline to 5 days, I don't think there's any way you can complete these WUs in time. That's based on extrapolated numbers, however, so actual performance may be very different.

Also, the first WU in any project is always going to have inaccurate time estimates because BOINC doesn't have an accurate correction factor with which to compute the expected run time. That will improve once a WU is completed successfully.

My advice is to let one WU run to completion (or until it misses the deadline) to get an accurate measure of how long it actually takes. If you miss the deadline, your only two options are to crunch a different project (SETI has short WUs for Nvidia GPUs) or not run GPU applications on that laptop.

FWIW, only a handful of the fastest, newest, mobile GPUs appear to be able to run GPUGRID workunits fast enough to meet these deadlines. This project has huge work units and short deadlines. (Compared to SETI, GPUGRID's work units are about 50 times as long and the deadlines are 5 times shorter!) My family has six computers in total, and only one is capable of running GPUGRID. None of my laptops can.

Mike

Edit: P.S. I just looked at the specs on your two computers. Your desktop's video card is about 20 times faster than the 9300M G in your laptop.
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Message 8035 - Posted: 1 Apr 2009 | 13:55:34 UTC - in response to Message 8034.

So there's the problem. Ok, thanx very much.
That was very nice of you. Have a nice day!

All the best
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Message boards : Graphics cards (GPUs) : Never ending WU

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