[Beowulf] crunch per kilowatt: GPU vs. CPU

[Nifty Tom Mitchell]

On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 03:36:18PM -0400, Gus Correa wrote:
> Joe Landman wrote:
>> Nifty Tom Mitchell wrote:
>>> On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 01:35:43PM -0400, Joe Landman wrote:
>>>> David Mathog wrote:
>>>>> Although the folks now using CUDA are likely most interested in crunch
.....
>>
>> ... the cost benefit analysis just keeps getting better ... *if* your  
>> code can use it.  There is no guarantee on this, but it is worth  
>> considering.
>>
> Hi Joe, Tom, list
>
> Assuming the code is CUDA-friendly,
> is it worth the investment ( $GPU_card + $power_supply)
> to GPU-revamp a 2-3 year old system,
> keeping a motherboard with PCIe 1.0 slots and bus?

I might add that there are also clusters assembled from users desktops
that light up after hours.  For these desktop users their eight hours
at a desk could be improved by quicker GFX and perhaps higher quality
displays. After hours the queue wakes up and runs the boxes all night
long.  Some of us from Silicon Valley have traveled to Germany to be
surprized when the work force vanishes on the clock partly because of
the law.  These office environments are ideal for this.  And, in the
off peak hours AC cooling and power can be less expensive.


As others said --
> Assuming the code is CUDA-friendly,

-- 
	T o m  M i t c h e l l 
	Found me a new hat, now what?