Maybe we're simply using the wrong discriminant to choose which priority to set.
You note that some GPU apps perform poorly at idle priority. But at present we're determining their GPU-ness, not directly, but indirectly by their fractional CPU assignment. There are other GPU apps, apart from the POEM example, where a full 1.00 CPU assignment makes a significant difference in processing time - the Einstein@Home OpenCL application for imtel_gpu is a case in point. Would it not be possible to determine the required priority directly from the 'use GPU' definition instead, and ignore the CPU fraction? >________________________________ > From: David Anderson <[email protected]> >To: Jacob Klein <[email protected]> >Cc: BOINC Development <[email protected]> >Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2015 8:42 PM >Subject: Re: [boinc_dev] set app priority > > >Jacob: >BOINC runs CPU jobs at idle priority to avoid impacting >the performance of non-BOINC programs. >The rationale for running jobs that use < 1 CPU at higher priority is that >- because they use little CPU time, running them at higher priority > won't have much impact on other programs >- some apps (like QCN, and GPU apps) perform poorly if run at idle priority > >We could change the policy to run coprocessor apps at higher priority, >regardless of how much CPU they use. >But that would impact system performance in some cases. >I'd hesitate to make this the default. >Maybe it could be a cc_config.xml option. > >-- David > >On 26-Jan-2015 2:23 PM, Jacob Klein wrote: >> Hi David, >> >> I've been running POEM@Home GPU tasks, with an app_config.xml file, with >> <cpu_usage> >> set to 1.000, since each of their GPU tasks uses a full core, and I want to >> appropriately budget resources on my system. >> >> However, when I do that, the task's process runs at Idle priority, instead >> of Below >> Normal. >> >> Martin (a dev at Poem@Home) is researching the issue, here: >> http://boinc.fzk.de/poem/forum_thread.php?id=1105&postid=10200 >> And I replied here: >> http://boinc.fzk.de/poem/forum_thread.php?id=1105&postid=10201 >> >> ... but I think it's being caused by your changes below. >> Is your logic below, possibly incorrect? I mean, to my knowledge, there are >> some GPU >> apps (especially OpenCL) which require a full CPU core, and we'd still want >> their >> priorities to be kept at Below Normal, to keep the GPU fed with kernels, as a >> priority over other CPU jobs. I could even imagine non-GPU coprocessor jobs >> that >> would also require a full CPU core. >> >> Thoughts? >> >> Thanks, >> Jacob Klein >> >> >> >> >> > Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 14:49:49 -0700 >> > From: [email protected] >> > To: [email protected]; [email protected] >> > Subject: Re: [boinc_dev] set app priority >> > >> > Currently, when the client runs an app: >> > >> > - if the app version uses < 1 CPU or has the is_wrapper flag set, >> > set the priority to BELOW_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS >> > - otherwise set the priority to IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS >> > >> > So GPU apps (if they use < 1 CPU), non-CPU-intensive apps, and wrappers >> > are run at Below Normal. >> > >> > When the BOINC wrapper runs an app: >> > >> > - if <no_priority_change/> is set in the job description file, >> > the process inherits the priority of the wrapper >> > (normally BELOW_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS) >> > - otherwise set the priority to IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS >> > >> > There's no provision for anything other than Idle and Below Normal. >> > >> > (The above is Windows, of course; it's analogous on Unix). >> > >> > -- David >> > >> > On 09-Oct-2014 1:26 PM, Jacob Klein wrote: >> > > Does this support running the task's process at a priority that is >>neither Normal >> > > (8) nor Idle (4)? >> > > GPU apps, for instance, are best run at Below Normal (6) (which GPUGrid >>somehow >> > > does)... and I feel that ASIC apps also should run at Below Normal (6). >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > > Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:38:16 -0700 >> > > > From: [email protected] >> > > > To: [email protected] >> > > > Subject: Re: [boinc_dev] set app priority >> > > > >> > > > To address this problem, I added a <no_priority_change/> option >> > > > in the wrapper's job description file: >> > > > http://boinc.berkeley.edu/trac/wiki/WrapperApp >> > > > >> > > > This tells the wrapper to not lower the priority of the tasks' >>process. >> > > > >> > > > -- David >> > > > >> > > > On 09-Oct-2014 1:45 AM, Rebirther wrote: >> > > > > The <is_wrapper/> option doesnt work for me, the wrapper is still >>in normal >> > > > > priority as before and the app in lowest priority running BOINC >>client 7.4.22 >> > > > > >> > > > > -Reb _______________________________________________ boinc_dev >>mailing list >> > > > > [email protected] >> > > > > http://lists.ssl.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/boinc_dev To >>unsubscribe, visit >> > > > > the above URL and (near bottom of page) enter your email address. >> > > > > >> > > > _______________________________________________ >> > > > boinc_dev mailing list >> > > > [email protected] >> > > > http://lists.ssl.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/boinc_dev >> > > > To unsubscribe, visit the above URL and >> > > > (near bottom of page) enter your email address. >_______________________________________________ >boinc_dev mailing list >[email protected] >http://lists.ssl.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/boinc_dev >To unsubscribe, visit the above URL and >(near bottom of page) enter your email address. > > > _______________________________________________ boinc_dev mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ssl.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/boinc_dev To unsubscribe, visit the above URL and (near bottom of page) enter your email address.
