Message boards : Number crunching : Dedicated 3.2GHz HT P4 with 25.25 RAC?
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student_ Send message Joined: 24 Sep 05 Posts: 34 Credit: 4,987,096 RAC: 4,241 |
I've got a dedicated 3.2GHz HT P4 getting only 25.25 recent average credit. The number of decoys and resulting credit seem abnormally low. In August this particular could average about 250-300 credits per day. Any idea what the problem may be? Results: https://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/results.php?hostid=142508 Computer summary: https://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/show_host_detail.php?hostid=142508 |
Tom Philippart Send message Joined: 29 May 06 Posts: 183 Credit: 834,667 RAC: 0 |
please check the task manager if there's another process using a huge percentage of your cpu power. If no application is running, rosetta should use about 100%. Furthermore try to install the current version of boinc, your version is outdated. I hope this helps. |
Mats Petersson Send message Joined: 29 Sep 05 Posts: 225 Credit: 951,788 RAC: 0 |
I agree that it seems to run slow. Not sure why - there could be any number of reasons... Check first of all that there isn't any other process eating a lot of CPU-time (or memory). Benchmarks look within the reasonable range for the processor, so the processor isn't running slow all the time... I would also suggest that you set a slightly longer WU-time, like 8 or 24 hours, rather than the default 3 hour time - not that it will actually change how your machine behaves for this problem, but with a longer time, workunits that take a long time to compute one decoy, will be able to do a few more in that time... -- Mats |
anders n Send message Joined: 19 Sep 05 Posts: 403 Credit: 537,991 RAC: 0 |
One more thing to check is for heat problems. Check fans so the CPU runns on full spead. Good luck Anders n |
Mats Petersson Send message Joined: 29 Sep 05 Posts: 225 Credit: 951,788 RAC: 0 |
One more thing to check is for heat problems. Good point: Many motherboards have "clock-throttling" mechanisms where they slow the processor down when it gets too hot. So it could either be that the fans aren't working right, or that some setting (in the BIOS for example) that says "This processor is only allowed to get to xx'C" so it runs slow for that reason. -- Mats |
Seventh Serenity Send message Joined: 30 Nov 05 Posts: 18 Credit: 87,811 RAC: 0 |
Actually, the Pentium 4s (especially the 3GHZ and up series) have their own thermal throttling that's far faster than the motherboard (Tom's Hardware Guide ran a test by removing the heatsink under full load - didn't burn up, didn't damage the CPU & mobo and didn't even crash!). That P4s RAC is extremely low however, my Northwood Extreme Edition @ 3.2GHZ gets 350-450 credit a day. "In the beginning the universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry and is widely considered as a bad move." - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy |
BennyRop Send message Joined: 17 Dec 05 Posts: 555 Credit: 140,800 RAC: 0 |
Since it's getting about 1/10th of what it used to - I'd check for the system going into hibernation mode after 2 hours. Right click on the desktop, choose "properties", choose screen saver, choose advanced, and make sure the hard drive shutdown and system hibernation is set to "never". |
student_ Send message Joined: 24 Sep 05 Posts: 34 Credit: 4,987,096 RAC: 4,241 |
I think the problem is a BIOS setting limiting CPU usage. The computer, a laptop, got pretty hot during dedicated usage in August so it got a detachable fanning station put onto the bottom of it. I think my dad went another step and underclocked it in the BIOS. So instead of getting 1400/2000 Whetstone/Dhrystone, it's getting 464/436. Since I only have VNC access from my dorm I'll have to set the clockrate to a more reasonable level when I go home. Sometime this weekend I'll install a CPU temperature monitoring program (anyone know of good freeware?). |
FluffyChicken Send message Joined: 1 Nov 05 Posts: 1260 Credit: 369,635 RAC: 0 |
I think the problem is a BIOS setting limiting CPU usage. The computer, a laptop, got pretty hot during dedicated usage in August so it got a detachable fanning station put onto the bottom of it. I think my dad went another step and underclocked it in the BIOS. So instead of getting 1400/2000 Whetstone/Dhrystone, it's getting 464/436. Since I only have VNC access from my dorm I'll have to set the clockrate to a more reasonable level when I go home. Sometime this weekend I'll install a CPU temperature monitoring program (anyone know of good freeware?). You should be able to check the clock speed via VNC, either look in system properties or put a MHz speed program on there. This program will tell you everything you need to know and if it throttling etc. http://cpu.rightmark.org/products/rmclock.shtml Team mauisun.org |
River~~ Send message Joined: 15 Dec 05 Posts: 761 Credit: 285,578 RAC: 0 |
It can't be the entire problem, but do check that you have the right number of cpus set in your prefs. A one-core intel HT chip counts as two cpus for BOINC purposes, and a dual core HT counts as 4 cpus. You will not get a 2x (or 4x) increase in speed tho - which is why this cannot be enough to account for the whole problem Also as it is a laptop, check that the MB does not think it is running on battery - I had one that stopped recognising the AC power and therefore permanently throttled down to save battery life, even tho the battery was charging in fact. I caught that because I spotted the battery charge level going up in the systray battery icon! Good luck! R~~ |
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Number crunching :
Dedicated 3.2GHz HT P4 with 25.25 RAC?
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