Graphics computing

[Malibu]

Read an article (http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2008/06/gpu_power) about graphics processors and was wondering what they were talking about. Is this the same thing as a graphics card. Is this article talking about the CPU using graphics in a parallel way like the cards?

[Patonb]

Yes/no.
What they mean is that with the new setups of graphic cards... tri-sli, basically 3 cards acting as 1. and the new cards themseelves... almost a gighertz. So when you combine the crazy CPUs with the crazy gpu cards, youre getting system clock speeds like 10Ghz.. Which are what mild super computers are.

**There are cpus on graphic cards.***

To add more, Folding at home, actually does take advantage of ATI gpu processors to do wprk.

[mr_coffee]

yep, but for gaming, sli/tri/quad sli scales horriable, not worth the money at all.

Even just 2 graphics card isn't much of a difference because hardly any games support it. But tri/quad is really really not worth it.

Also the new x280 graphics card performs worse on almost all of the game tests compared to the 9800gx2, and yet its ~150 dollars more!

[Patonb]

Yha... But if you start pumping to a 42" screen, tris would help........ Or anything to do with pr0n.

The article though was about network computing using the CPU and all 3 GPUs to data crunch.

[Malibu]

So does the main cpu and gpu divide the instruction of 1's and 0's between them and therefore makes computing faster or what? This would depend on software then to assembly language it, right. still can't get a schematic picture of the cpu and gpu relationship. Here's a link [click] (http://www.howstuffworks.com/graphics-card.htm) I need to read up on from how stuff works. Skimming over it says that the gpu is the interpreter (compiler maybe?) Any other links to show are welcomed. Thanks

[Patonb]

Right now, your first article doesnt really exist... It was more of a "what could be" article.

I'm not up on how each part works either, so..............

[mattblan]

Yha... But if you start pumping to a 42" screen, tris would help........ Or anything to do with pr0n.

The article though was about network computing using the CPU and all 3 GPUs to data crunch.

It's about 106 degrees in California right now so I could be seeing things, but did you just say that SLI is better for watching porno?

[Patonb]

It's about 106 degrees in California right now so I could be seeing things, but did you just say that SLI is better for watching porno?

Hells yes................ Gotta fill all the sluts, er slots;)

[mattblan]

Haha, Patonb I am used to your posts being so technical and reserved!

[mr_coffee]

hah nice pat.

But actually 2/3/4 graphics cards even for that big a montior isn't needed if you just buy 1 graphics card with 1 gig of vram. With 1 gig of vram you can go as high as you want on max resolutions and not have any issues with today's games.

But on the other hand if you plan on running more than 1 54" monitor than yes the sli will come in handy

[Steven Edwards]

So does the main cpu and gpu divide the instruction of 1's and 0's between them and therefore makes computing faster or what? Not yet. General purpose code will have to be written to take advantage of the GPU, similar to the way games have to be written to take advantage of DirectX, OpenGL, and SDL.

A few links:

Future Graphics Architectures
GPUs continue to evolve rapidly, but toward what? (http://acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=533)

GPUs: A Closer Look
As the line between GPUs and CPUs begins to blur, it's important to understand what makes GPUs tick (http://acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=531)

Data-Parallel Computing
Data parallelism is a key concept in leveraging the power of today's manycore GPUs. (http://acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=530)

[Patonb]

hah nice pat.

But on the other hand if you plan on running more than 1 54" monitor than yes the sli will come in handy

Actually, Dual screens on SLI isnt that easy I guess. Yha, SLI/Crossfire was a great way to bump performance, but with the new supercards, you don't need it now.

Save the extra slot for an aftermarket cooler and OC the biotch. My 8800GT can't go above 710/1020 without heat lockup. But gets me a 14,430 3dmark score at 3.0Ghz.

[mr_coffee]

I saw some guy having 3 of the new x280's from nivida and it required two powersupplies, 1200W and a 1000W to run 3. They consume an absurd amount of power.

I have my 8800gt at:
725/1816/2000 on stock cooling, but I did adjust the fan speed to be constantly at 100% which is loud as hell but worth it, I think without doing a manual adjust with some software the default fan speed is onlky 30%

[Patonb]

Yha it is. Speedfan adjusts it.. played with it, but just a little.