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XandresSend message
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Hello,
i want to restrict the GPU utilization in %.
Since there is a SWAN_SYNC=0 command, i hopped there is a command to say: Just 60% utilization of the GPU
Main reason: Volume Control of the Gigabyte GTX 570 OC
Second reason: Summer is comming :) |
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 skgivenVolunteer moderator
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Welcome to the forum.
I'm not aware of any way to restrict this through Boinc, but in theory it could be done on a shader basis (perhaps per block; CC2.0 32, CC2.1 48, CC3.0 192). This might have to be done either through Boinc or a GPU tool, but possibly via the GPUGrid app?
If you are concerned about heat (summer is coming), then I suggest you downclock, both your GPU (say 10% GPU/20% shaders) and CPU (which on a performance basis uses way more power than a GPU). Also running fewer CPU tasks reduces power and heat, but on Intels this has to be done on a per core basis, and downclocking reduces the power much more. Turning turbo off is an easy fix.
In Win7 you can configure the Power profile to downclock the CPU.
Turbo can be turned off in the Bios, and you can downclock there too.
MSI afterburner (or similar) can be used to downclock the GPU.
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If you're in for a little experimenting:
1st: lower your GPU voltage, there's always some safety margin built into the chips. Use MSI Afterburner, EVGA Precision or any of the usual suspects. Going too low will cause instability, though, so you must take some care to find the proper values. Doing this reduces power consumption and thereby running cost, heat generation and noise of your card.
2nd: if this isn't enough, lower your GPU clock. This reduces performance, but also reduces power consumption further. Doing so will give you additional room to further lower the GPU voltage.
Lowering clocks without touching voltage is much less efficient. Same for the CPU: making it dump less heat into the case should help the GPU somewhat. However, your i7 has tons of reserves. So disable Turbo and go for ~1.0 V or less at stock clocks first. This will help more than pure downclocking.
BTW: are you using SWAN_SYNC = 0? If yes, simply turn it off. The GPU will get less CPU support and idle more often. Performance will drop somewhat, but so will power consumption and noise. It's not making your hardware more efficient (like voltage lowering does), but there's no need for stability tests here.
MrS
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XandresSend message
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First of all - Thanks for the fast Response
Where should i begin ...
1) The summer is comming... I have it explained to short/wrong way.
With summer i meant the hot ambient temperature, and with this a hotter System who has to be even louder than before to cool itself. My GTX 570 OC is under heavy load* .... lets say its a very silent vacum cleaner ;)
*Note: GPU Utlisation is Only around 80% with >72% Fan and around 77°C/171°F @ ambiente <23°C/<74°F (GPU Limit 97°C/206°F) And the SWAN_SYNC = 0 command is not activatet!!!
You see, i have a little issue here :)
2)Downclock the CPU... No Option, since im happy with the noise level and heat because of 3)
3) My ASUS Mainboard has a nice feature called ASUS EPU - a Power controll IC for the whole System. It controls even my CPU Voltage (if activated) to a good minimum needed. 0% Load:0,840V - 100% Load 1,128V
So the "Power saving" Energy Managment option is not needed.
4) To bad there is no command for it under Boinc - future feature maybe ?
5) Downclock the GPU... Well, last option, so right now im doing experiments with Nvidia Inspector. Its good with the tunning shortcuts for the autostart :)
6) In addition to 5) im playing with the tought of adding the SWAN_SYNC = 0 command after Downclock the GPU ... good Idea??? |
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There is an easier way to keep your video card cool. Remove the side panel from your desktop tower (assume your computer is a tower). Buy a small electric fan and set it up next to the tower to blow air into the case. Also, be sure to clean the dust out of your computer, periodically. |
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5potSend message
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I just cut those small vent holes out of my case and attach a 120mm case fan. But yes, cleaning is necessary. Those vent holes wreck airflow. On cheap cases anyways. Both back top and side vents. On my good cases I cut the top back out for better airflow to my radiator. |
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MarkJ  Volunteer moderator
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You could use Tthrottle to control the temps. Written by the author of BOINCtasks.
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Tthrottle only works for CPUs, doesn't it? And his CPU temperatures are not the problem, as I understand it.
@Xandres:
Re 3: that sounds like the normal speed step feature of any half-recent Intel CPU. Voltages are set according to what Intel fused into the chip (-> generous safety margin. A power control chip can't change these voltages, because it can't know which lower values would still be stable.
Re 4: GPU computing is still a very individual thing. Without some global task scheduler, like for CPUs, BOINC can't do this. It can not know how the individual GPU apps work. The only way which would make sense may be to require GPU apps to accept certain settings from BOINC.
Re 5 & 6: without changing case cooling drastically or replacing the stock cooler on your GPU, I think that's the most promising way. Lower voltage, downclock, lower voltage even more (shoot for about 0.9 V) and switch off SWAN_SYNC to make up for the speed loss. I can't guarantee you it's going to be silent enough, but that will be the most efficient way. Works together with improved cooling, anyway.
MrS
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XandresSend message
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Well, i do have a good case - http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1277&ID=1404
But unfortunately i do not want all Fans on the run, since they produce too much "base noise" - even with 7V Mod
So the best solution between silent and cooling was for me till now:
1x 120mm Front Fan on HDD @ 7V
1x 80mm PWM Fan on my old 9800 GT - http://www.quietpc.com/products/discontinued/msi-nx9800gt-zilent
1x 92mm PWM Fan on my i7 2600K - http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/cpu/3/freezer-13.html?c=2181
1x 140mm PWM Fan on my PSU - http://enermax.com/home.php?fn=eng/product_a1_1_1&lv0=1&lv1=25&no=68
The HDD Fan pulls air in the Case, CPU & GPU uses the air inside, the PSU push the air out
HDD Fan lowest point, GPU, CPU, PSU Fan is highest Point
And i do cleaning. At last twice a month around the case, at last twice a year inside
So in conclusion i say: Before i add more "base noise" with more Fans on Work, i rather downclock the GPU. Right now it seems like a downclock by -10,3% seems good enough for spring weather (23-26°C/73-79°F)
Clock/Shader/Memory
Vendor - http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3895
780Mhz/1560Mhz/1900Mhz @1,000V (+6,5% Nvidia Original Clock)
Nvidia Original Clock
732Mhz/1464Mhz/1900Mhz (-6,5% Vendor)
Spring downclock
700Mhz/1400Mhz/1900Mhz @0,950V (-10,3% Vendor/-4,5% Nvidia Original Clock)
Note: Still working on finding lowest Voltage
Idea for Summer downclock
650Mhz/1300Mhz/1900Mhz @0,913V (-16,7% Vendor/-11,2% Nvidia Original Clock)
Note: I can't go below 0,913V (he don't aceppt it)
And now i have a funny change: At the Vendor Clock my GPU Usage was around 80%. But at the Spring downclock my GPU Usage is now around 90%. Reason ?
I think of not optimised code or adjusted code for 100% Usage of weakest 500er Card (550 Ti?) and so stronger cards are less used and need the SWAN_SYNC = 0 command for full use.
@ExtraTerrestrial Apes
Your right *thumbs up* My CPU is optimized enough for me. The CPU is around 65°C/149°F on 100% Load alone without GPU. The problem lies here with the change of GPU.
If im not happy with the performance of the downclock, maybe i activate again my 200mm side Fan @ 7V to pull air in the Case and/or i add again a 120mm fan @7V on the back to push the air out. (With my old System of Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 and Nvidia 7500GT i have needed them)
PS: It's going Off Topic here - is it a problem here in this Forum ? |
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I think we're still well on topic. We're not exactly limiting the GPU use, but we're trying another software solution to achieve the same thing. And maybe some hardware modifications to help it further. People looking for a similar solution would be interested in reading how it worked out for you :)
Not getting below 0.913 V sounds OK. It's not going to work at any setting much below this anyway (which is why I suggested ~0.9). For summe it may be best to find the highest clock speed possible at 0.913 V. It's between 650 and 700 MHz, so you're almost there.
And since your GPU features a massive "open air" cooler, which blows the hot air into the case, I suggest you increase case cooling (if you're not happy with the temperature). If the heat is removed, the fans can spin as high as they want, it's not going to be pretty. The 120 mm fan at the back side is a good point to start, although that 200 mm bad boy may also do wonders. Generally: several fans at low speeds are more silent & comfortable than few at higher speeds.
That GPU usage increases as the GPU speed drops is normal.. although 80 to 90% for just a 10% downclock is suprisingly large.
I think of not optimised code or adjusted code for 100% Usage of weakest 500er Card (550 Ti?)
No. The reason is that GPU-Grid tries not to use a full cpu core (which is exactly what SWAN_SYNC=0 does), since many don't like this. However, the smaller the time intervals are, at which the GPU needs CPU support (i.e. the faster the GPU), the less precise GPU-Grid gets CPU time allocated by the OS at just the requested time. If the CPU is to late, the GPU runs is idle for a brief moment.. which adds up.
MrS
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XandresSend message
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Now a funny thing happend.
First of all i was still experimenting the lowest voltage for the Spring downclock in combination with furmark. The problem came up: When do i khnow that the Voltage is to low for correct opperation but high enough to not crash the card? (Computing Error)
Since furmark just renders a model without watching the results (artifacts) i decided to put the colcks of the GPU back to Vendor level an then switch the Voltage to the possiblest minimum the card would accept (from 1,000V to 0,913V)to watch a crash happen. So i would khnow "Hey, this was too much." or at last i would watch the artfacts on furmark.
Now the funny thing is - Nothing happend :( Neither artifact or crashes. Not after 1 minute, not after 5 or 10. I waited 3 hours on furmark - but nothing.
After watchin the log from GPU-Z, i could see that the temprature has gone down from 83°C/181°F to 75°C/167°F on the same clocks. The Fan level has gone down too :) From 90%/4600rpm down to 70%/3700rpm and so of coure the noise level by at last half. No wonder since with reduction of the Voltage by -8,7% the power consumption was reduced by 27W(-12,3%).
Im sure there is more room for improvement (more clock) but, right now im happy the way it is with the noise level. If needed later, i would add the two other fans. So right know im at:
Vendor - http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3895
780Mhz/1560Mhz/1900Mhz @0,913V (+6,5% Nvidia Original Clock/-8,7% vendor Voltage)
Conclusion: Before playing with the clock, reduce the voltage to the minimum! |
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That's good to hear :)
MrS
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