How important is the GPU double precision performance for E@H?

TheHoosh
TheHoosh
Joined: 3 Dec 12
Posts: 3
Credit: 20230244
RAC: 0
Topic 197801

Hi folks,

I'm currently considering buying a 3rd rig for crunching E@H and other projects.
I'm wondering how important the GPU double precision performance is when crunching E@H WUs.

I've read that a lot of projects are still solely based on single precision operations, whereas others, such as Milkyway@Home for example utilize DP applications.

How is the current situation with E@H in this regard?

Gavin
Gavin
Joined: 21 Sep 10
Posts: 191
Credit: 40644337738
RAC: 0

How important is the GPU double precision performance for E@H?

I will soon be corrected if I'm wrong but E@H does not require cards capable of double precision.
Most NVidia or AMD cards and their respective drivers are catered for here.

Edit: Besides, unless you are intending to go ultra budget with your card choice, most modern cards are DP capable to some degree or other...

ExtraTerrestrial Apes
ExtraTerrestria...
Joined: 10 Nov 04
Posts: 770
Credit: 579956855
RAC: 201598

RE: I've read that a lot of

Quote:
I've read that a lot of projects are still solely based on single precision operations


Gavin is right: only single precision (SP) and GPU memory bandwidth matter for E@H, and to a lesser extent PCIe bandwidth.

And a remark regarding the quote above: I think the "still" is misleading in that sentence. It implies some trend, which would be expected to occur over time. But that's nto the case with SP / DP. If you need DP for higher precision you have to pay a price in slower performance and higher power consumption. If you can do it in SP, by all means do so. It's just not possible for all work loads / algorithms.

You could just as well have meant it as "E@H was using SP in the past, is this still the case?" But not every reader might understand it this way.

MrS

Scanning for our furry friends since Jan 2002

TheHoosh
TheHoosh
Joined: 3 Dec 12
Posts: 3
Credit: 20230244
RAC: 0

Thanks for the info, both of

Thanks for the info, both of you! :)

Bill592
Bill592
Joined: 25 Feb 05
Posts: 786
Credit: 70825065
RAC: 0

OpenCL version of the

OpenCL version of the Gravitational Wave search ("S6CasA") application
requires Double Precision in Hardware.

Maybe they are done with those by now. I haven't ran any for awhile.

Bill

Holmis
Joined: 4 Jan 05
Posts: 1118
Credit: 1055935564
RAC: 0

The S6CasA search is done, it

The S6CasA search is done, it will be follow by a search called "Gravitational Wave S6 Follow-up", it's unclear if there will be any GPU apps for this search but this message from Bernd outlines the development priorities from the project.
In short, get the CPU app working as intended and then develop for GPUs.

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.