"Rob" wrote in news:go6iqf$hp1$1
@south.jnrs.ja.net:
"Skywise" wrote in message
...
"Rob" wrote in
:
Powerful graphics cards may be useful in the future, when special
software will be able to use their massive GPU power for non-graphics
number-crunching, but are only useful if you also want to play the
very latest games at this time. They won't help a jot with the
applications we use as astronomers.
Seti@home uses CUDA on Nvidia GPU's. My GeForce 9800 GTX+ is
crunching workunits as fast or faster than the Core 2 Quad
3.0 Ghz Q9650 that it's installed with.
That's powerful number crunching and it's astronomy, sort of.
Good point, Brian. I used to run seti@home, but didn't know
they'd added this excellent feature to the new version. I must admit
to still getting emails from them, but have not bothered to re-install
for a year or two now. Time to re-join and put my nVidia GPU
to work, too!
Thanks for the info.,
You're welcome. But be careful. I'm using a beta version of the
BOINC manager as the current release caused CUDA to crash the GPU
on my system. Seems everyone has some issue unique to their
system. It is still beta in my opinion but is improving.
If you want to try CUDA, be prepared to babysit it until you are
sure you have a working setup. I had to do a LOT of reading in
the support forums.
Oh, and be sure your system is cool. With my quad running full
speed plus the Nvidia card, air flow is VERY VERY important. My
exhaust air temp on my machine has been as high as 95 degrees F.
I've been making mods to my case with ducting designed to bring
fresh air directly to the CPU and GPU fans. Now I'm working on
a DIY air cooling system.
I am not an overclocker, though, otherwise I'd just go liquid
cooling.
I'm proud of my contribution to Seti@home. May 19th will be my
10 year anniversary. There's a lot of folks way ahead of me in
number of credits, but I am in the 99 percentile.
Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ:
http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions":
http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
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