Optimizing AstroPulse v6 6.02 Tasks for the iMac ...

I recently joined SETIhome@Enhanced several weeks ago. During that time I was assigned tasks for SETI@home Enhanced 6.05. The time to complete the tasks ranged from a little over 1 hour, to 3 to 4 hours. I was able to complete the tasks before the assigned deadline. Each task was completed successfully.

Then, several days ago, I was assigned two AstroPulse v6 6.02 tasks. The time to complete for each task was estimated at over 173 hours. Wow!!! That’s 7.028 days and the deadline was April 29th. I had no idea of how I was going to complete these two tasks by the assigned deadline as I do not run my iMac 24/7. So I started to do some research.

I found information about CUDA for my iMac GPU. I’m running an iMac 2.93 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3. My GPU is a NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 with 512 MB VRAM.

After learning more about CUDA I accessed the NVIDIA website and learned that CUDA for my GPU is a “parallel computing architecture that enables dramatic increases in computing performance by harnessing the power of the GPU to speed up the most demanding tasks you run on your PC.” What’s in quotes is from NVIDIA’s website. As an aside note, with 25 years of providing computer support, I would only download and install CUDA from NVIDIA, not a secondary provider that claims to optimize my GeForce GT 130.

The website address where I obtained CUDA for my GPU is http://developer.nvidia.com/. On that webpage, click “CUDA GPUs” QUICKLINKS to find the GeForce CUDA software for your iMac.

I installed the CUDA software for my GPU. Did it make a difference? DID IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE? WOW! The first task was estimated to take 173 hours. It only took 25 hours and 30 minutes to complete. The task completed successfully. On several occasions I suspended the task and then resumed, as I said, because I do not run my iMac 24/7. There were no errors or glitches.

At the website I displayed the “Specifications” to learn more about the GPU, especially the thermal and power specifications. The Thermal and Power Specs are: Maximum GPU Temperature (in C) @ 105C, Maximum Graphics Card Power @ 75W and Minimum System Power Requirement @ 350W. I monitor the heat using a widget from iStatPro. The widget is free and is available at http://www.islayer.com/apps/. The website at GeForce also provides the GPU Engine Specs, Memory Specs, Feature Support, Display Support and Standard Graphics Card Dimensions.

Hope you find this information helpful.

Regard,

Jim Minor
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I forgot to add to my post "Optimizing AstroPulse v6 6.02 Tasks for the iMac ..." that I'm running Mac OSX 10.6.8.

Regards,

Jim Minor
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