My First OC'ing adventure : Phenom I x4 9650

[trents]

So what does CUDA stand for, anyway?

 

[QuietIce]

Compute Unified Device Architecture - but I had to look it up! (The acronym and application sticks, the break-down doesn't. ) CUDA uses the GPU to crunch SETI work units instead of using the CPU (though it does use just a little CPU time as well). CUDA processes work units much more quickly than the CPU but there are some work units CUDA can't process, while a CPU can process any work. So a quad-core machine with, say, two GPUs can process a total of six work units at a time, with one of the CPU processes a little slower because one core still needs to "feed" the GPU's - they can't access everything on their own like the CPU can. It's also interesting to note that two nVidia cards can run on an ATi chipset just fine as CUDA units since they operate independently of each other.

CUDA can also be used for computing applications other than SETI ...

 

[trents]

Okay, what is SETI? I've seen that term used around here but never new what it is. Thanks for the CUDA explanation. AMD has some proprietary term for that, dont' they? Fusion or something like that?

 

[QuietIce]

Okay, what is SETI? I've seen that term used around here but never new what it is. Thanks for the CUDA explanation. AMD has some proprietary term for that, dont' they? Fusion or something like that?

I think Fusion (motherboard) has to do with combing (normally) unmatched graphics cards for video.

The "other" fusion, and what you're probably talking about, is putting a GPU core on the CPU die (not to be confused with the on-board graphics they're also experimenting with for mobile processors). Fusion is very much like CUDA - utilizing the parallel processing power of GPU architecture for normal computing.


Ever see the movie Contact? That's SETI - the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. But nowadays SETI encompasses so much more than that. Part of our work is in radio astronomy (as well as searching for intelligent signals) and SETI as a science community includes exo-biology (think Mars exploration and organic compounds from meteorites), encryption/decryption, and communications.

((Edit: Here's the front page article I wrote about SETI: http://www.overclockers.com/overclockers-seti-news-and-announcements/))

Here's a little history of SETI and a summary of SETI@Home ...

 

[dennisdietz]

Thanks for the interesting discussion here guys (I'll assume here)! I think that SETI, FOLDING, and all the other background community projects are super cool. I'd like to participate one day but currently, I don't run my computer 24/7 as often, days go by when I do not use it at all. I also have a horrible ATT AirCard internet connection with limited bandwidth and its slow as.....

How well does SETI work in the background if you don't have a GPU aside from the IGP on the chipset?

Anyway, posted a question over in teh MotherBoard (AMD) forum regarding my board, MoSFET temps, its OC abilities and BIOS updates. Thanks Trents for chiming in there also and in the interest of cross-referencing (I believe it makes the internet a better place when you can follow related things to their "conclusion") here is a cross-reference to that thead: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=652642

 

[QuietIce]

How well does SETI work in the background if you don't have a GPU aside from the IGP on the chipset?

SETI runs just fine in the background. In fact, I run it almost all the time on my sig rig dual-core and you never know it's running unless you're really pushing the system. SETI (in fact, any BOINC project) sets itself to low priority so everything else overrides it ...

 

[dennisdietz]

What if you turn you computer off frequently? Sometimes my computer is on for 15 hrs, others its on only for 2, sometimes not on for 3 days.

 

[QuietIce]

Doesn't matter how often you run it. About half our members crunch part-time, there's nothing wrong with that at all. Startup and shutdown takes a hair longer, one to initialize the program and the other to store (intermediate) results but that's all you'll notice ...

 

[dennisdietz]

Cool! I'll look into downloading that.

 

[haroonlaghari]

I tried some of your settings my computer didnt start and video card red led's started blinking, Can i have some simple settings to OC my system.

System Specs:
Amd Phenom 9650 not Black Edition with simple heatsink and fan
M3A78-CM
Hynix DDR2 800 4*1G
Powercolor Radeon HD 4870 512
PSU 650 WATT
No Special cooling system