XS PrimeGrid team (CUDA and ATi supported!)

[lkiller123]

Welcome to the official XtremeSystems PrimeGrid Team Thread!

From this thread, you will be able find bits of information regarding on running PrimeGrid with your GPU.

PrimeGrid:

We will start with some general information on this project...

About:

PrimeGrid's primary goal is to bring the excitement of prime finding to the "everyday" computer user. By simply downloading and installing BOINC and attaching to the PrimeGrid project, participants can choose from a variety of prime forms to search. With a little patience, you may find a large or even record breaking prime and enter into Chris Caldwell's The Largest Known Primes Database as a Titan!

PrimeGrid's secondary goal is to provide relevant educational materials about primes. Additionally, we wish to contribute to the field of mathematics.

Lastly, primes play a central role in the cryptographic systems which are used for computer security. Through the study of prime numbers it can be shown how much processing is required to crack an encryption code and thus to determine whether current security schemes are sufficiently secure.


Sub-projects:

• 321 Prime Search: searching for mega primes of the form 3·2n±1.
• Cullen-Woodall Search: searching for mega primes of forms n·2n+1 and n·2n−1.
• Prime Sierpinski Project: helping Prime Sierpinski Project solve the prime Sierpinski Problem.
• Proth Prime Search: searching for primes of the form k·2n+1.(The only sub-project that supports GPU crunching, and we will focus a bit more on this.)
• Seventeen or Bust: helping to solve the Sierpinski Problem.
• Sophie Germain Prime Search: searching for primes p and 2p+1.
• The Riesel problem: helping to solve the Riesel Problem.

[lkiller123]

What you'll need:

Because of the short WUs and the high points/run time ratio, PrimeGrid is a project that gives out lots of BOINC points.

If you have GPUs that are not able to crunch our other major projects (GPUGrid and Milkyway@Home), or you are simply looking for a project that gives you a bunch BOINC points, then this is the place for you!

What kind of GPUs you'll need:

Any CUDA-compatible NVIDIA card (8 series onwards) and any ATi cards that are compatible with ATi-APP SDK (4000 series onwards.)?

Average work-unit completion times (all cards are stock-clocked unless stated otherwise):

NVIDIA---------------------------------------------------------------------

   Fermi------------------------------------------

      GTX 580        330s (5:30) 
      GTX 480        400s (6:40) 
      GTX 470        515s (8:35) 
      GTX 460        829s (13:49) 
      GTS 450        983s (16:23)      (1776 shader)


   GT 3xx-----------------------------------------

      GT 330M        7500s (2:05:00)


   GTX 2xx, GTS 2xx, GT 2xx-----------------------

      GTX 275        1150s (19:10)
      GTX 285        1161s (19:21)
      GTX 280        1360s (22:40) 
      GTX 260-216    1500s (25:00) 
      GTS 250        2118s (35:18) 
      GT 240         3105s (51:48)


   9xxx-------------------------------------------

      9800GTX+       1924s (32:06)  
      9600GSO        2332s (38:54)     (1750 shader)
      9700M GTS      6600s (1:50:00) 
      9600GS         6897s (1:54:57) 
      9500GT         6962s (1:56:02)   (1750 shader)
      9400GT-32      9354s (2:35:54) 
      9400GT         17000s (4:43:20)
      9300           22900s (6:21:40) 


   8xxx-------------------------------------------

      8800GT         2070s (34:30) : 
      8800GS         2664s (44:24)     (1530 shader)
      8600GT         9460s (2:37:40)  
      8400GS         27262s (7:34:22) (1014 shader)
      8400M GS       30082s (8:21:22) 


   Other------------------------------------------

      NVIDIA ION LE       25400s (7:03:20) 


ATI------------------------------------------------------------------------

   HD5xxx-----------------------------------------

      HD5870         950s (15:50) 
      HD5850         1480s (24:40) 
      HD5770         1989s (33:09) 


   HD4xxx-----------------------------------------

      HD4870         1800s (30:00) 
      HD4770         3800s (1:03:20) 
      HD4670         7552s (2:05:52) 

[lkiller123]

Don't know where to start?

Setting up for Primegrid

Nvidia

First, download the latest CUDA drivers. (This is step is optional if you have the latest drivers.)
Scroll down for "Developer Drivers for *your operating system*," or if you have a notebook, look for "Notebook Developer Drivers for *your operating system*."



After you have the drivers installed, you would need to download .NET Framework 3.5 in order for PrimeGrid to work.



Scroll down to download the Redistributable Package to speed up the process


Now you are ready for action!


ATi

If you are going to use ATi cards for PrimeGrid, you'd need APP drivers instead of the regular drivers.

Here is a link to the drivers: http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloa...downloads.aspx

First, choose your OS from the list.


Then scroll down to download the Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) drivers.




Now you are ready to go!

[lkiller123]

Joining PrimeGrid the Easy Way

Okay, now you got all the drivers ready for PrimeGrid. It is time for the fun stuff!

First off, you will need to download the BOINC client.
For Windows: 32-bit or 64-bit
Linux: 64-bit

When download is finished, click next and agree with the terms.

When you reach this page, click "Advanced."


Then, make sure you uncheck "Protected Application Execution," and check "Allow all users on this computer to control BOINC." Click next to for installation.


When installation is completed, you'll see this. Click "Add Project."


Click next until you rach this page. Now they are asking to choose a project to add. Find PrimeGrid from the list, then click "Next."


Then you will need to set up a new account on PrimeGrid.
Select "No, New User."
Fill out your Email Address and Password, those will be used as your account in the project.


Okay, now you've successfully attached to PrimeGrid. You'll need to get your account set up.
First go to PrimeGrid, then click "Your Account" on the left side of the page.

Now, you will be asked to set a Nickname and a Country to represent. Pick a name you would like to be displayed on the stats, and your favorite country.


Don't forget to join the mighty team XS.
On the left side of the page, click "Create or Join a Team."
You would need to find the team. On the "Key Words" space, enter "xtremesystems."


Our team will pop up in a second. Click our team name.


Then, the team page will pop up. Click "Join this team."


You are done. to XtremeSystems!



FAQ

I didn't receive any tasks, and gets "No GPU found." What's wrong?
If you have a Nvidia GPU, make sure that you have the latest CUDA-compatible driver. For ATi GPU, you'll have to get the latest APP drivers for BOINC to recognize your GPU. The links to the drivers are on the previous post.
If you have the latest drivers, but things are still not working right, then you will need to reinstall BOINC. Follow the steps above and everything will do fine.

The WUs on my computer keeps erroring out, what's happening?
There are many factors if you work unit errors out.

The overclock on your video cards might be unstable. This project uses almost 100% of your video card, loading lots of stress. Try to dial down the overclocking on your video card.

If you have a Nvidia card, then you might need to install the .NET 3.5 in order for it to work. Refer to the previous post for details.


If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask in this thread.

CRUNCH ON!

[lkiller123]

Stats.

Team XtremeSystems ------ PrimeGrid Summary


Most recent members, !


Top 10 producers of today .


Members of the XtremeSystems PrimeGrid Team:

[skycrane]

also, for NVIDA, you need to download the .NET framework 3.5 in order for primegrid to work
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/e...displaylang=en
scroll down to the bottom, to get the redistributable package so you only have to download once instead of the bootstrap one the top link sends.

for ATI you need the APP drivers, instead of the regular catalyst drivers
http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloa...downloads.aspx
just choose your OS, and scroll down to get the Accelerated Parallel Processing [APP] drivers.

[lkiller123]

Awesome, I've been waiting for you to post this since I can't find anything on the Primegrid page.
I'll add this to the third post.

[jeremyshaw]

How well would a HD5770 fare in this? Does PrimeGrid need Double Precision or Single Precision?

[lkiller123]

How well would a HD5770 fare in this? Does PrimeGrid need Double Precision or Single Precision?

Primegrid supports both single and double precision.
The 5770 can do around 100k a day. Ask Skycrane, I think he has a couple of them up and running.

[jeremyshaw]

EDIT: oops :o


Thank you!!

[lkiller123]

No problem, come here and join the fun!!

[jeremyshaw]

Well, as far as my HD5770 goes, about 88k ppd is about right I'll have to take down my HD5770 after today is finished about 8 more WU or so) so I can rebuild my mATX system (HD5550+ HD5770) into twin mITX builds, but my HD5550 has yet to complete a WU, lol...)

And with about 35min a WU (for a HD5770 at stock), I really like this project

[jeremyshaw]

c'mon... I made it to the top ten with a part time HD5770... I wanna be forced to make upgrades!!

[lkiller123]

Nvidia cards perform better in PrimeGrid than ATis. My GTX260 makes more than 150k per day, I have two running the project right now.

[jeremyshaw]

Nvidia cards perform better in PrimeGrid than ATis. My GTX260 makes more than 150k per day, I have two running the project right now.

Yeah, that list has a GTS450 hanging with a HD5870

[lkiller123]

Whew, finally finished with the page!

If you guys believe that more infos should be added up on there, please ask so.

[Snow Crash]

I'll have some numbers for a GTX295 later today ... IIRC they run @ 25m each (stock shaders 1242) ... (did I actually post that I was running stock )
I've noticed that while the app is extremely efficient, using 99% GPU, the important thing is that @99% you are going to run very HOT. The app seems to be fairly lightweight in that I can run it at higher shaders with lower volts than any other project but it's tough trying to keep the damn GPU from thermal shutdown, especially if you are only air cooled! I have been testing undervolting and overclocking to try and keep the heat under control. GPU and Memory settings don't seem to make any difference at all so those settings have been turned down. I'm still dialing in on the best shader strap/ volts/ temps

<update>
Win7 x64, i7-920, @3.8 GHZ, HT ON, 7 CPU threads WCG, 1 CPU thread free
GTX295 1038 mV, shaders @1242 average runtime = 23 minutes 45 seconds. (stock)
GTX295 1038 mV, shaders @1512 average runtime = 19 minutes 30 seconds.

</update>

[skycrane]

ikiller, the only other thing i can thik of is when the install boinc, to have them go into preferences and change the " use gpu" and the" suspend boinc if over 25" set that to 0

[lkiller123]

I'll have some numbers for a GTX295 later today ... IIRC they run @ 25m each (stock shaders 1242) ... (did I actually post that I was running stock )
I've noticed that while the app is extremely efficient, using 99% GPU, the important thing is that @99% you are going to run very HOT. The app seems to be fairly lightweight in that I can run it at higher shaders with lower volts than any other project but it's tough trying to keep the damn GPU from thermal shutdown, especially if you are only air cooled! I have been testing undervolting and overclocking to try and keep the heat under control. GPU and Memory settings don't seem to make any difference at all so those settings have been turned down. I'm still dialing in on the best shader strap/ volts/ temps

<update>
Win7 x64, i7-920, @3.8 GHZ, HT ON, 7 CPU threads WCG, 1 CPU thread free
GTX295 1038 mV, shaders @1242 average runtime = 23 minutes 45 seconds. (stock)
GTX295 1038 mV, shaders @1512 average runtime = 19 minutes 30 seconds.

</update>

Yeah, that thing heats up my cards like no tomorrow. Sometimes the cards will hit almost up to 90 degrees.

Also, with the efficiency of the project, do you notice a bad lag when PrimeGrid is running? Both of my rigs lag like crazy, especially the Windows Aero and watching Videos...

[lkiller123]

ikiller, the only other thing i can thik of is when the install boinc, to have them go into preferences and change the " use gpu" and the" suspend boinc if over 25" set that to 0

Yeah I will get more screenies onto that.

[jeremyshaw]

Mine is fine under use. HD5770 + i7 920 both stock. Latest Catalyst, most windows updates installed (no MSE, since I still haven't gotten around to that...).

[lkiller123]

Hmm that's odd. Maybe it's because you are using an ATi card.

My Nvidia rigs lags like crazy in Windows 7...

[jeremyshaw]

Change drivers? My only nvidia system is my work laptop, which goes via optimus, lol...

[lkiller123]

Change drivers? My only nvidia system is my work laptop, which goes via optimus, lol...

I don't know about that.. I just posted a new thread over at PrimeGrid forums asking for that.

It is pretty annoying since most of the time my brother is using the computer, he pauses the GPU crunching, and he uses the computer for most of the day.

[lkiller123]

XtremeSystems: 780,565

Not as much as usual, kick it up everyone!