Asteroids@home - new to me! Whose crunching it?

[networkman]

Assimilator1: According to the Asteroids project, the processor is:

Genuine Intel Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 2.80GHz [Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 8]
(4 processors)

It's an older Dell 470 workstation with 6 gig of ram. Since the bulk of the work units being submitted to the Einstein project are being done by the GPU in my other rig, I'll probably switch the Xeon rig to 100% Asteroids (from 50%).

 

[biodoc]

We've moved up to 49th place and passed the team 2 million milestone.

 

[Sunny129]

way to go TeAm! i wish i could say that i've contributed, but i've got too much going on with other DC projects right now. my intentions are to work Asteroids@Home into the mix as soon as an optimized application becomes available (and official i guess)...

...and speaking of optimized applications, we've gotten a few responses in the optimized app inquiry thread i started on the A@H forum recently. according to project co-founder and system admin Kyong, he's got approx. 1-2 weeks of testing left do to with his optimized app...how soon the official release will follow i don't know. he also mentioned that the AVX version of the app is going through further optimization right now, and will be even faster than the current AVX testing version.

 

[Bradtech519]

I dropped out a couple of days and got started again. Electric bill was 250 bucks last month. AC has been running quite a bit. Passed 200k earlier today. Core a Core 2 Duo and my FX 8350 going. I won't be doing any Asteroids@home during the upcoming PrimeGrid and SETI@home events. I haven't been donig anything with my GTX 580 to save on electricity. About to unleash it for two weeks straight. I wish they had these events in winter!

 

[zzuupp]

hmm...so perhaps it isn't AVX at work here. nevertheless, it appears that all the hosts we've discovered so far to be running an optimized app are also running intel CPUs...so i remain optimistic that i'll be able to utilize one of these optimized apps for A@H once my 3770K arrives...

The standard app has been updated. AVX halves the time on an intel 64win7.

 

[Sunny129]

progress is good...

...but i'd still like to know what's going on with the even-further optimized apps that require the anonymous platform mechanism (the use of an app_info.xml file), and are allowing some of the top hosts to crunch A@H tasks in ~1000 seconds. also, i noticed the first Haswell CPU-powered on the top hosts list today, and he is finishing tasks in only ~650 seconds! AVX2 optimizations perhaps?

 

[Bradtech519]

I went from 2hr 20min- 2 hr 30 min- down to 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes per project on my FX 8350 also.

The standard app has been updated. AVX halves the time on an intel 64win7.

 

[networkman]

I did switch the Xeon over to 100% Asteroids. I just bought a used 1 Gig Diamond 6770 card from a guy on the FS/T forums here -- got it installed last night and it's crunching for the Einstein project.

If Asteroids made use of an ATI GPU, I'd run it on this project instead, but alas they don't. :/

 

[Bradtech519]

Would be nice if it was made available to the public to download. Until then I just have to overlook everyone using it and pay attention to those who aren't to compare my progress.

progress is good...

...but i'd still like to know what's going on with the even-further optimized apps that require the anonymous platform mechanism (the use of an app_info.xml file), and are allowing some of the top hosts to crunch A@H tasks in ~1000 seconds. also, i noticed the first Haswell CPU-powered on the top hosts list today, and he is finishing tasks in only ~650 seconds! AVX2 optimizations perhaps?

 

[Philippart]

I joined the fun, let's see how this project runs!

 

[salvorhardin]

Just started running this project yesterday, will probably run it until simap gets more work. Also, they just released a ss3 optimized version. The new version has cut my run times by half on my 3770k. It now takes about 37 minutes per workunit.

 

[Sunny129]

they've got an AVX-optimized app in the works as well, so expect run times to get even shorter on our 3770K's!

 

[biodoc]

Just started running this project yesterday, will probably run it until simap gets more work. Also, they just released a ss3 optimized version. The new version has cut my run times by half on my 3770k. It now takes about 37 minutes per workunit.

At 120 points per WU, that's about 37,000 ppd!

I moved my 2600K back to the project and am seeing 40 min /WU.

 

[biodoc]

They are talking about extending the length of WUs rather than reduce the points awarded once they've finished app optimization, so if you want to go for personal milestones and rack up some serious points, now is the time to do it. :whiste:

EDIT: here's the link: http://asteroidsathome.net/boinc/forum_thread.php?id=169#1498

Thanks for the heads up salvorhardin on the sse3 optimized app!

 

[Sunny129]

Just started running this project yesterday, will probably run it until simap gets more work. Also, they just released a ss3 optimized version. The new version has cut my run times by half on my 3770k. It now takes about 37 minutes per workunit.

i managed to complete a WU in only 27:45 on my 3770K last night...whats your clock frequency (mine is at 4.3GHz)? and what else are you doing with your 3770K? while crunching the Asteriods@Home WU, my 3770K was also concurrently running 3 LHC@Home CPU tasks and servicing 8 Einstein@Home GPU tasks.

 

[GLeeM]

CPUZ shows that my i7 920 has SSE3 but I only get the 101.10 app?

I get the following line from the "Event Log ..." when BOINC Manager starts:

8/13/2013 9:11:01 AM | | Processor features: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss htt tm pni ssse3 cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 syscall nx lm vmx tm2 popcnt pbe

I don't see SSE3, is that why I'm not getting the 100.00 (sse3) app?

 

[Sunny129]

CPUZ shows that my i7 920 has SSE3 but I only get the 101.10 app?

8/13/2013 9:11:01 AM | | Processor features: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss htt tm pni ssse3 cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 syscall nx lm vmx tm2 popcnt pbe

I get the following line from the "Event Log ..." when BOINC Manager starts:


I don't see SSE3, is that why I'm not getting the 100.00 (sse3) app?

yes, there certainly appears to be a problem w/ BOINC recognizing that your CPU has the SSE3 instruction set. normally i would suggest resetting the project, or detaching and reattaching your host to the project, as both seem to be common methods of getting a stubborn host to download and start using an updated app...but common sense says that this won't solve a thing so long as BOINC continues to fail to recognize that your CPU has SSE3. i did notice that you're running a slightly outdated version of BOINC (v7.0.44) - is there a specific reason for this (i.e. do you need an older version of BOINC in order for a certain project or projects to run on your GTX 560 Ti)? or are you just using it b/c its worked fine for you for a long time, and you don't want to change what you know works? if you aren't married to v7.0.44, my suggestion is to update to the latest release candidate, v7.0.64, and see if that doesn't fix BOINC's failure to recognize all of your CPU's instruction sets.

 

[salvorhardin]

sunny129: I'm running it at stock speeds and all 8 cores are doing asteroids. It's still too hot here to be using my gpu.
GLeem: they are still sending workunits out that use the old app, I received about 16 last night. I think ssse3 is the name used in boinc because I also just see that and it's running the app. When you download the updated app it won't crunch the workunits in your queue with it until you download new workunits. I aborted the workunits I had so I could receive new units that would use the new app, I also lowered my cache to a day in case the avx version comes out soon. I checked on the status on some of my aborted units and they were resent to other computers with the new app.

 

[biodoc]

CPUZ shows that my i7 920 has SSE3 but I only get the 101.10 app?

I get the following line from the "Event Log ..." when BOINC Manager starts:


I don't see SSE3, is that why I'm not getting the 100.00 (sse3) app?

I'm seeing WUs for both the optimized and SSE3 optimized apps. The first batch was all sse3 but now I'm seeing a mixture. Maybe a bunch of people are aborting the old WUs to get new SSE3 WUs and now the server is sending them out again??

I would think the SSE3 app could crunch all WUs. Weird.

 

[salvorhardin]

Just did some searching and under boinc sse3 under boinc shows up as pni (prescott new instructions), ssse3 is a different instruction set. I would upgrade to 7.0.64 since it's the latest release and there probably has been a lot of fixes for gpus and cahce management. I double checked some of my cancelled workunits they have been resent with sse3 apps.

 

[Sunny129]

sunny129: I'm running it at stock speeds and all 8 cores are doing asteroids. It's still too hot here to be using my gpu.

i feel ya...where are you located? i'm in Hell...i mean Sarasota, FL, so i know all about the heat. fortunately when my A/C died 2 years ago, i got it replaced with a 14 SEER unit that's capable of cooling a space much larger than the actual square footage of my condo. i just have to set the thermostat at 75°F, and the ambient room temp drops to 69-71°F depending on the exact location inside my condo. that said, despite my not having a problem keeping the place cool even during the hottest months of the year, it does run quite often to compensate for my multiple GPUs lol, and my electric bill definitely suffers a bit.

 

[GLeeM]

Thank you - Sunny129, Salvorhardin & biodoc

I aborted the 101.10 app WUs. And the new WUs are 100.00 (sse3) app

95 minutes vs 51 minutes!

The last WUs I did in February took 180 minutes for 120 points.

 

[biodoc]

Good news GLeeM! Let the points roll in!

 

[zzuupp]

I'm seeing WUs for both the optimized and SSE3 optimized apps. The first batch was all sse3 but now I'm seeing a mixture. Maybe a bunch of people are aborting the old WUs to get new SSE3 WUs and now the server is sending them out again??

I would think the SSE3 app could crunch all WUs. Weird.

The old units I've received have all be re-sends: errors and aborts.

 

[salvorhardin]

i feel ya...where are you located? i'm in Hell...i mean Sarasota, FL, so i know all about the heat. fortunately when my A/C died 2 years ago, i got it replaced with a 14 SEER unit that's capable of cooling a space much larger than the actual square footage of my condo. i just have to set the thermostat at 75°F, and the ambient room temp drops to 69-71°F depending on the exact location inside my condo. that said, despite my not having a problem keeping the place cool even during the hottest months of the year, it does run quite often to compensate for my multiple GPUs lol, and my electric bill definitely suffers a bit.

I'm in Victorville, CA, I don't run the a/c because of the added cost. I usually open up the house at night to let it cool off and close everything down before it heats up. Even then, the room with my i7 gets into the low to mid 90s with just the cpu running.