Hi everybody,

my computer cruches when i use GPU computation. First i want to say that it is bad whe i use it that the PC slows down, can i set the max GPU Usage like the CPU (not more than 70% i.e. )
Then when the PC goes to the Screensaver (BOINC) he shows nothing and if i move the mouse nothing happens.

I think the GPU uses too much ressources and it kills the machine. Is there anything to solve this problem. I really like to use the GPU but i can not work with the PC cause the mouse strats to lag. I need to set the much GPU usage to something like 70 or 80%.

My System is a Intel Q6600 @ 3GhZ
ATI Radeon HD 5850 =)

hope someone can help.

Thanks in advance

PS: Sorry for my bad english.

1. The default setting for GPU calculations in BOINC is to not use the GPU when the computer is in use. This is because the GPU, the graphics processing unit on your videocard will slow the computer down when it is being used by projects to do calculations. So perhaps change the setting back to "Use GPU only when computer is not in use" / "Suspend GPU work while computer is in use?". (depending on whether you use the local advanced preferences, or the online web preferences).

2. Since you're using the GPU for calculations, you cannot show a difficult screen saver at the same time. This can be done on Nvidia CUDA cards with plenty of memory on board (1GB and above) and it can be done on some projects using OpenCL, but not when using CAL/Brook+. You could show 2D screen savers, but best not OpenGL or other 3D versions as those use the same processing units inside the GPU that you use to do the calculations with.

3. To throttle the GPU, you have to throttle the CPU, since the CPU takes care of translating the contents of the task to something that the GPU can understand plus transporting of this content to the videocard's memory, then after the GPU's done with the calculations, the CPU picks up the result from the videocard's memory, translates it back to something the humans can understand and writes it to disk.

If you then throttle the CPU, you will slow this process down, since throttling in BOINC-land means that you suspend and resume the task. E.g. 70% CPU time means that per 10 seconds the application is active for 7 seconds and sleeps for 3 seconds.

The GPU cannot be throttled as the CPU. It'll either use all the stream processors inside the GPU, or it won't use them. Well, perhaps by temperature. See Tthrottle for that.

4. You don't say which Windows you run, how much total memory the computer has, which projects you run, if you also run projects on the CPUs and how much memory those take up... But those aren't really necessary, unless you want to continue using your GPU while your computer is in use.

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You don't say what GPU projects you're running, some GPU apps can be configured by using command parameter's in an app_info to make the app less laggy, ask at your GPU projects for info,

Claggy

It Milkyway i use.

And If i set to compute only the system will not use the GPU.

Windows 7 or Vista?
Is Boinctray.exe running? Check in Windows Task Manager.
Boinctray.exe is the BOINC idle tracking program for Windows 7 and Vista. Without it it won't know when you left the keyboard and stopped fiddling with the mouse. The program is not started when BOINC starts, only at Windows log on.

So if you install a new BOINC version on top of another, Boinctray.exe will be exited and not restarted. It'll only restart at a reboot of the system, or a log-off/log-on of the user.

I suspect that your Boinctray.exe is not running. If it isn't, then start it.
To do so, go to your BOINC programs directory (default on Windows 32bit at C:\Program Files (x86)\BOINC\ or 64bit at C:\Program Files\BOINC\) and (double-)click on boinctray.exe to start it. It won't show a window or anything, you have to check through Windows task manager that it's running.

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This is Win 7 64bit.

Boinc.exe is started and will work when the computer is in use with 75% Usage and 66% of CPUcores.

Can i control the GPU usage like the CPU usage?

I think everything is running correctly.

Have you not read my earlier post, specifically point 3?

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That will not workt. CPU is limited to 75% and GPU is at 98% thats my problem

What will not work?
Throttling the CPU, thus throttling the GPU?
Or using Ttrhottle to throttle the GPU based on its temperature?

As I said in the earlier post, you cannot use only part of the stream processors inside the GPU. You can only use all of them, or none of them. What is so difficult to follow about that?

Or do you think that because you see a load of 98%, that 98% of the stream processors in the GPU are being used? That's not the case. Even with a load of, e.g. 50% on the GPU, all stream processors in the GPU are being used, just not as heavy as they can be at another project. It all depends on what the actual work is that needs to be calculated.

Even a CPU just has two load stages, on or off. When on, your computer is powered on. When off, your computer is powered off. The system load is just a measure of the amount of work that a computer system performs, not whether it's on or off.

And further, did you check that boinctray.exe is running? Not boinc.exe, not boincmgr.exe, but boinctray.exe, that's what the idle tracking program is called.

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According to this post on the milkyway forums the command parameter to reduce the display lag on the milkyway GPU apps is:

Try this command in your app_info.xml:

<cmdline>--gpu-target-frequency 55 </cmdline>

Increase the number for less graphics lag. Default is 35.

Claggy

Sorry im too stupid, why i didn't have an app_info.xml file?

Sorry im too stupid, why i didn't have an app_info.xml file?

You won't have one, you have to make it yourself, see Anonymous_platform

Best ask at Milkyway for help constructing an app_info.xml suitable for your host.

Claggy

arg im too stupid for this i think, BOINC says the syntax is wrong and milkyway_separation_0.82_windows_x86_64__ati14.exe was not found.

<app_info>
<app>
<name>setiathome_enhanced</name>
</app>
<file_info>
<name>milkyway_separation_0.82_windows_x86_64__mt.exe</name>
<executable/>
</file_info>
<file_info>
<name>milkyway_separation_0.82_windows_x86_64__ati14.exe</name>
<executable/>
</file_info>
<app_version>
<app_name>setiathome_enhanced</app_name>
<version_num>660</version_num>
<api_version>6.1.0</api_version>
[
<coproc>
<type>CUDA</type>
<count>1</count>
</coproc>
]
[ <plan_class>cuda</plan_class> ]
[ <flops>X</flops> ]
[ <avg_ncpus>X</avg_ncpus> ]
[ <max_ncpus>X</max_ncpus> ]
[ <cmdline>args</cmdline> ]
[ <cmdline>--gpu-target-frequency 55 </cmdline> ]
<file_ref>
<file_name>milkyway_separation_0.82_windows_x86_64__mt.exe</file_name>
<main_program/>
</file_ref>
<file_ref>
<file_name>milkyway_separation_0.82_windows_x86_64__ati14.exe</file_name>
<open_name>graphics_app</open_name>
</file_ref>
</app_version>
</app_info>


Whats wrong ? :D

<app>
<name>setiathome_enhanced</name>
</app>
<app_name>setiathome_enhanced</app_name>

Outside that these two should show Milkway's application name, whatever that is, you also need the actual application downloaded onto your system, in the %BOINC_DATA_dir%\projects\milkyway.cs.rpi.edu\ directory.

With the anonymous platform file you tell BOINC what it should use, thus you should get all files and applications yourself. They won't be downloaded automatically, as they would when you do not use an app_info.xml file.

So ask on Milkyway's forums for help on what this app's name should be in those two places, and from where you can download the actual application. They ought to know that, it's their project.

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Its still says "file not found" -.-

And? I take it you changed the name of the application in the app_info.xml file?
But did you actually download the correct file(s) from Milkyay? Did you save them in the correct directory? Did you do that while BOINC was not running (as else these files will be deleted again)?

May I please remind you that we do not see anything that you see? That you will have to explain in detail what you did, what you see, what you expect etc. ? That without all that information we'll be asking a lot of questions, and that it's becoming very uncivil of you to ignore most questions, to never answer them?

Step 1. Exit BOINC fully.
BOINC Manager->File->Exit, check "Stop running science applications on Manager exit?" when unchecked->OK.

Step 2. Navigate to the BOINC Data directory.
Normally found at C:\ProgramData\BOINC\ under Windows 7 and Vista.

Step 3. Edit the app_info.xml file.
Navigate further to C:\ProgramData\BOINC\projects\milkyway.cs.rpi.edu\
Edit app_info.xml with Notepad to something like this:

<app_info>
<app>
<name>milkyway</name>
</app>
<file_info>
<name>milkyway_nbody_0.66_windows_x86_64__mt.exe</name>
<executable/>
</file_info>
<file_info>
<name>milkyway_separation_0.82_windows_x86_64__ati14.exe</name>
<executable/>
</file_info>
<app_version>
<app_name>milkyway</app_name>
<version_num>82</version_num>
<api_version>6.12.0</api_version>
<file_ref>
<file_name>milkyway_nbody_0.66_windows_x86_64__mt.exe</file_name>
<main_program/>
</file_ref>
<coproc>
<type>ati</type>
<count>1</count>
</coproc>
<plan_class>ati14</plan_class>
<flops>1.10e11</flops>
<avg_ncpus>0.05</avg_ncpus>
<max_ncpus>0.05</max_ncpus>
<cmdline>--gpu-target-frequency 35</cmdline>
<file_ref>
<file_name>milkyway_separation_0.82_windows_x86_64__ati14.exe</file_name>
<open_name>graphics_app</open_name>
</file_ref>
</app_version>
</app_info>

When you're absolutely sure you have all information therein now correctly, only then save the file.

Step 4. Downloading of the application.
Open a browser and type in the address-bar the following line: http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/download/milkyway_separation_0.82_windows_x86_64__ati14.exe, then save it to C:\ProgramData\BOINC\projects\milkyway.cs.rpi.edu\

We do the same for http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/download/milkyway_nbody_0.66_windows_x86_64__mt.exe

Step 5. Check, check, recheck.
Check that everything is now in place. Close directories you don't need anymore.

Step 6. Restart BOINC.
Windows Start button->All Program->BOINC->BOINC Manager.


The above should get you going.

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Ok Thank you that was helping me. I Copy pasted your Posted app_info and changed the folliwong parts :

[..]<file_info>
<name>milkyway_separation_0.64_windows_x86_64__mt.exe</name>
<executable/>
</file_info>
<file_info>
<name>milkyway_separation_0.82_windows_x86_64__ati14.exe</name>
[..]

milkyway_separation_0.82_windows_x86_64__mt.exe did not exist on the download page, i took this version (?).

The problem is still that boinc says:
The advised file of app_info.xml did not exist: milkyway_separation_0.64_windows_x86_64_mt.exe
(This was retranslated from german to english but the sense should be clear :])

Any further ideas ?

Thanks a lot

Ah, that's because the application is called differently.

I have changed the app_info.xml & the second application link in http://boinc.berkeley.edu/dev/forum_thread.php?id=6786&nowrap=true#39474.

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Ok now the error is gone.

What can u say about some calculation errors ? the system aborted the computing for milkyway with this error since i've changed the app_data.xml

For explanations of calculation errors you will have to ask at the Milkyway Number Crunching forums how to interpret them.

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