Newbie question about current users hardware running GIMPS

JonRussell · 2017-03-03, 15:39

Hi,

I've been running GIMPS on a second desktop for a few months. I was interested to see how far up the the top producers list I'd be.

What hardware are the top producers running ? Dedicated super computers / GPUs ? or collections of individual machines ?

If my fag packet maths is right ... the top two individuals CurtisC & AirSquirrels (both 4.6M GHz days per year) are running about 4,000 cores ? (4,583,923 GHZ days / 365 days / 3 GHz per core avg) ?

To get in to the top 500, I would need to run 10 x 3GHz cores for a year to reach 10,000 GHZ days per year ??

I have a huge pile of old laptops that were destined for a skip at work. I set them up as a Beowulf cluster, but couldn't find anything worthwhile to run on them. So, I intend to try and set them up as a GIMPS cluster ... I hope to get 40 x 3 GHz cores running, if I can find somewhere suitable to keep them powered on :-)

Regards,

Jon.

CRGreathouse · 2017-03-03, 15:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonRussell

What hardware are the top producers running ? Dedicated super computers / GPUs ? or collections of individual machines ?

If my fag packet maths is right ... the top two individuals CurtisC & AirSquirrels (both 4.6M GHz days per year) are running about 4,000 cores ? (4,583,923 GHZ days / 365 days / 3 GHz per core avg) ?

Collections of individual computers. CurtisC is at a university and has most (?) of the uni PCs on GIMPS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonRussell

To get in to the top 500, I would need to run 10 x 3GHz cores for a year to reach 10,000 GHZ days per year ?

That sounds like the right order of magnitude.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonRussell

I have a huge pile of old laptops that were destined for a skip at work. I set them up as a Beowulf cluster, but couldn't find anything worthwhile to run on them. So, I intend to try and set them up as a GIMPS cluster ... I hope to get 40 x 3 GHz cores running, if I can find somewhere suitable to keep them powered on :-)

Good luck!

kladner · 2017-03-03, 15:59

Be aware that laptops can run into cooling problems running Prime95. Prolonged operation at 100% CPU generates a lot more heat than typical usage.

Of the top producers, Curtis Cooper is a professor at a Missouri university. As many as a thousand computers on campus run GIMPS.

Air Squirrels, like Madpoo, Chalsall, and others here are what I call "server farmers." They have many high end (Xeon) CPUs at their disposal.

Welcome to the project!

axn · 2017-03-03, 16:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonRussell

To get in to the top 500, I would need to run 10 x 3GHz cores for a year to reach 10,000 GHZ days per year ??

It depends on the processor. GHz-day is computed based on a Core 2 processor which is a really old architecture. Modern AVX2 processors can crank out much more. For reference my Skylake i3 with 2 cores (4 HT cores) can crank out 28 GHz-day / day (@ 3.6 GHz). Anything Haswell or newer will really crank out those credits.

Personally, I would advise against running P95 on laptops if you can't ensure adequate cooling. At the very least dust them out and keep them in a "pyramid position" if you're not going to be using them. What processors are they?

JonRussell · 2017-03-03, 16:25

Thanks.

Most of the laptops are 5 year old Dell E6320's. I have quite a few ... ;-)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8lf3wosij7...28.25.jpg?dl=0

They are Intel Core i5-2520M @ 2.50GHz with 4GB RAM.

I've had one running GIMPS for 24 hours so far, and its seems to be thermally stable. They do have thermal shutdown protection. So if they get too hot, they'll just turn off.

The one I have running, gets "warm" but as long as the fan keeps spinning it should be ok. I've got it stood up on its side, so the exhaust port it pointing up. Unfortunately they suck in air from the bottom, so I will need to space them far apart. If this stays running for a week, I'll spin up another 10, and grow from there.

But they are pretty worthless. They have very little second hand value. At least they can be put to good use before their final trip to the recyclers ...

Regards,

Jon.

asejevu · 2017-03-03, 17:11

I am also quite new, but from what I have found is that good GHz-D farm is using your graphics. My laptop ran mfakto last year and with the TF speed of cca. 36 GHz-D/D its around 15 000 GHz-D , which was ultimately enough to get me to TOP 500... just by donating one GPU power to the project.

Good luck and see ya in the TOP 500 :)

ATH · 2017-03-03, 17:33

It depends on which category you want to be in Top 500 in. If you just mean total overall over the last 365 days, then 1 highend Nvidia graphic card from the last 3-4 years running trialfactoring with mfaktc will get you in Top 500. Like Geforce GTX 750 or better will do probably.

Mark Rose · 2017-03-03, 17:47

Running anything earlier than Haswell/Zen is very inefficient from a watts/throughput perspective.

If you are paying for electricity and are going to run the laptops for more than a year, it may in fact pay to buy new hardware instead, at least for computing purposes.

Your 83 laptops will add up though, especially if you can run both cores without thermal throttling below the 2.5 GHz base clock. They're equivalent to about 20 new quad core desktops with fast RAM.

Have you benchmarked total throughput between 1 and 2 workers using 1 core each? Using only 1 core may be faster if you can use the turbo boost and have less memory contention, especially if they're running RAM speeds below 1333 MHz.

Mark Rose · 2017-03-08, 19:04

How is your cluster going?

De Wandelaar · 2017-08-27, 06:51

Hi,
Feedback from another newbie.

Quote:

It depends on which category you want to be in Top 500 in. If you just mean total overall over the last 365 days, then 1 highend Nvidia graphic card from the last 3-4 years running trialfactoring with mfaktc will get you in Top 500. Like Geforce GTX 750 or better will do probably

It's actually possible to reach the top 200 Total Overall in less than 90 days with a modern nVidia card, in my case, a GTX 1070 for laptop. I'm running mfaktc on the GPU and LL/DC on the CPU (i7-7700HQ).
This configuration crunches a little bit more than 700 GHz/day.

Regards,

Yves

ATH · 2017-08-27, 11:42

Cool, gratz!

That is #180 overall during the last 365 days. Then you just need roughly 2 months more at the same pace to reach top 500 lifetime. #500 is currently at 53,355 Ghz-Days compared to your 32,603:
https://www.mersenne.org/report_top_...1-01&end_date=

2017-03-03, 15:59	#3
kladner "Kieren" Jul 2011 In My Own Galaxy! 2×3×1,693 Posts	Be aware that laptops can run into cooling problems running Prime95. Prolonged operation at 100% CPU generates a lot more heat than typical usage. Of the top producers, Curtis Cooper is a professor at a Missouri university. As many as a thousand computers on campus run GIMPS. Air Squirrels, like Madpoo, Chalsall, and others here are what I call "server farmers." They have many high end (Xeon) CPUs at their disposal. Welcome to the project! Last fiddled with by kladner on 2017-03-03 at 16:01

2017-03-03, 17:11	#6
asejevu Apr 2016 7 Posts	I am also quite new, but from what I have found is that good GHz-D farm is using your graphics. My laptop ran mfakto last year and with the TF speed of cca. 36 GHz-D/D its around 15 000 GHz-D , which was ultimately enough to get me to TOP 500... just by donating one GPU power to the project. Good luck and see ya in the TOP 500 :) Last fiddled with by asejevu on 2017-03-03 at 17:13

2017-03-03, 17:33	#7
ATH Einyen Dec 2003 Denmark 3452₁₀ Posts	It depends on which category you want to be in Top 500 in. If you just mean total overall over the last 365 days, then 1 highend Nvidia graphic card from the last 3-4 years running trialfactoring with mfaktc will get you in Top 500. Like Geforce GTX 750 or better will do probably. Last fiddled with by ATH on 2017-03-03 at 17:34

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2017-03-03, 15:39	#1
JonRussell Mar 2017 9₁₆ Posts	Newbie question about current users hardware running GIMPS Hi, I've been running GIMPS on a second desktop for a few months. I was interested to see how far up the the top producers list I'd be. What hardware are the top producers running ? Dedicated super computers / GPUs ? or collections of individual machines ? If my fag packet maths is right ... the top two individuals CurtisC & AirSquirrels (both 4.6M GHz days per year) are running about 4,000 cores ? (4,583,923 GHZ days / 365 days / 3 GHz per core avg) ? To get in to the top 500, I would need to run 10 x 3GHz cores for a year to reach 10,000 GHZ days per year ?? I have a huge pile of old laptops that were destined for a skip at work. I set them up as a Beowulf cluster, but couldn't find anything worthwhile to run on them. So, I intend to try and set them up as a GIMPS cluster ... I hope to get 40 x 3 GHz cores running, if I can find somewhere suitable to keep them powered on :-) Regards, Jon.

2017-03-03, 16:25	#5
JonRussell Mar 2017 9₁₆ Posts	Thanks. Most of the laptops are 5 year old Dell E6320's. I have quite a few ... ;-) https://www.dropbox.com/s/8lf3wosij7...28.25.jpg?dl=0 They are Intel Core i5-2520M @ 2.50GHz with 4GB RAM. I've had one running GIMPS for 24 hours so far, and its seems to be thermally stable. They do have thermal shutdown protection. So if they get too hot, they'll just turn off. The one I have running, gets "warm" but as long as the fan keeps spinning it should be ok. I've got it stood up on its side, so the exhaust port it pointing up. Unfortunately they suck in air from the bottom, so I will need to space them far apart. If this stays running for a week, I'll spin up another 10, and grow from there. But they are pretty worthless. They have very little second hand value. At least they can be put to good use before their final trip to the recyclers ... Regards, Jon.

2017-03-03, 17:47	#8
Mark Rose "/X\(‘-‘)/X\" Jan 2013 https://pedan.tech/ C70₁₆ Posts	Running anything earlier than Haswell/Zen is very inefficient from a watts/throughput perspective. If you are paying for electricity and are going to run the laptops for more than a year, it may in fact pay to buy new hardware instead, at least for computing purposes. Your 83 laptops will add up though, especially if you can run both cores without thermal throttling below the 2.5 GHz base clock. They're equivalent to about 20 new quad core desktops with fast RAM. Have you benchmarked total throughput between 1 and 2 workers using 1 core each? Using only 1 core may be faster if you can use the turbo boost and have less memory contention, especially if they're running RAM speeds below 1333 MHz.

2017-03-08, 19:04	#9
Mark Rose "/X\(‘-‘)/X\" Jan 2013 https://pedan.tech/ 2⁴×199 Posts	How is your cluster going?

2017-08-27, 11:42	#11
ATH Einyen Dec 2003 Denmark 2²·863 Posts	Cool, gratz! That is #180 overall during the last 365 days. Then you just need roughly 2 months more at the same pace to reach top 500 lifetime. #500 is currently at 53,355 Ghz-Days compared to your 32,603: https://www.mersenne.org/report_top_...1-01&end_date=