future-proofing Prime95

ixfd64 · 2011-09-23, 22:44

As some of you probably know, Prime95 used to be limited to 32 cores. This was an issue for a couple of users until George added support for up to 64 cores in version 26.4. However, newer versions of Windows can support up to 256 logical cores by using a feature called "processor groups."

These two links may provide some insight:

http://software.intel.com/en-us/blog...cessor-groups/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...8VS.85%29.aspx

Would it be very hard to have Prime95 take advantage of this feature?

This reminds me, the user interface should also be updated to make having lots of cores less awkward: http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=14279

Of course, not everyone has an HPC cluster in their basement, and it'll probably be quite a few years before the number of cores per chip increases significantly. However, it shouldn't hurt to add some future-proofing to Prime95 right now.

ixfd64 · 2011-11-02, 22:26

It looks like Microsoft is also trying to future-proof Windows 8: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2...rocessors.aspx

Man, I would love to run Prime95 on a 640-core system.

Hey, I can dream, right?

Christenson · 2011-11-02, 23:35

I don't see this as worthwhile for P95 until someone actually has more than 32 cores....and somehow I don't think that person will be running an OS that won't let him run multiple instances. P95 will, in the mean time, find a few more improvements for CPU work, and most of us will happily upgrade.

Windows, on the other hand, has a problem where Win7 is basically no obvious improvement over WinXP, so an awful lot of us curmudgeons have simply refused to upgrade and still run XP! Also, there's considerable face value to running on high-performance computers, and Windows is basically trying to break into that market. I don't wish Microsoft luck.

Dubslow · 2011-11-02, 23:44

If only the meant 640!. That would have been awesome.

How many workers can Prime95 run simultaneously, and could run one multiple P95 instances to exceed that limit? How easy is it to scale that limit?

Dubslow · 2011-11-02, 23:46

Also,

Quote:

so we made sure the OS would do a great job taking care of this for you. It is hard to do better than the sophisticated algorithms that Windows uses to automatically manage which processes are allocated to each logical processor based on hardware capability and topology.

lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololol

ixfd64 · 2011-11-03, 00:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dubslow

If only the meant 640!. That would have been awesome.

How many workers can Prime95 run simultaneously, and could run one multiple P95 instances to exceed that limit? How easy is it to scale that limit?

The 64-bit version of Prime95 can have up to 64 threads. I believe the answer to your second question is "yes." However, I could be wrong, so don't quote me on this.

LaurV · 2011-11-03, 01:36

Give me the system with 640 cores... I would know how to put it to sweat. Sun's (Oracle's) VirtualBox and plenty of little winXP would do all the trick.

ixfd64 · 2011-11-03, 01:52

So would Crysis at medium settings. :P

Christenson · 2011-11-03, 02:30

I'll just knock out 640 LL tests at a time...at 2 weeks each, that'll be around 16,000 LL tests per year...take me 15 months to knock out the next million range in LLDs all by myself!

science_man_88 · 2011-11-03, 11:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by ixfd64

As some of you probably know, Prime95 used to be limited to 32 cores. This was an issue for a couple of users until George added support for up to 64 cores in version 26.4. However, newer versions of Windows can support up to 256 logical cores by using a feature called "processor groups."

These two links may provide some insight:

http://software.intel.com/en-us/blog...cessor-groups/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...8VS.85%29.aspx

Would it be very hard to have Prime95 take advantage of this feature?

This reminds me, the user interface should also be updated to make having lots of cores less awkward: http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=14279

Of course, not everyone has an HPC cluster in their basement, and it'll probably be quite a few years before the number of cores per chip increases significantly. However, it shouldn't hurt to add some future-proofing to Prime95 right now.

could it not be as simple as run 10 instances each handling 64 cores ?

2011-09-23, 22:44	#1
ixfd64 Bemusing Prompter "Danny" Dec 2002 California 100101100001₂ Posts	future-proofing Prime95 As some of you probably know, Prime95 used to be limited to 32 cores. This was an issue for a couple of users until George added support for up to 64 cores in version 26.4. However, newer versions of Windows can support up to 256 logical cores by using a feature called "processor groups." These two links may provide some insight: http://software.intel.com/en-us/blog...cessor-groups/ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...8VS.85%29.aspx Would it be very hard to have Prime95 take advantage of this feature? This reminds me, the user interface should also be updated to make having lots of cores less awkward: http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=14279 Of course, not everyone has an HPC cluster in their basement, and it'll probably be quite a few years before the number of cores per chip increases significantly. However, it shouldn't hurt to add some future-proofing to Prime95 right now.

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2011-11-02, 22:26	#2
ixfd64 Bemusing Prompter "Danny" Dec 2002 California 4541₈ Posts	It looks like Microsoft is also trying to future-proof Windows 8: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2...rocessors.aspx Man, I would love to run Prime95 on a 640-core system. Hey, I can dream, right?

2011-11-02, 23:35	#3
Christenson Dec 2010 Monticello 703₁₆ Posts	I don't see this as worthwhile for P95 until someone actually has more than 32 cores....and somehow I don't think that person will be running an OS that won't let him run multiple instances. P95 will, in the mean time, find a few more improvements for CPU work, and most of us will happily upgrade. Windows, on the other hand, has a problem where Win7 is basically no obvious improvement over WinXP, so an awful lot of us curmudgeons have simply refused to upgrade and still run XP! Also, there's considerable face value to running on high-performance computers, and Windows is basically trying to break into that market. I don't wish Microsoft luck.

2011-11-02, 23:44	#4
Dubslow Basketry That Evening! "Bunslow the Bold" Jun 2011 40<A<43 -89<O<-88 3·29·83 Posts	If only the meant 640!. That would have been awesome. How many workers can Prime95 run simultaneously, and could run one multiple P95 instances to exceed that limit? How easy is it to scale that limit?

2011-11-03, 01:36	#7
LaurV Romulan Interpreter Jun 2011 Thailand 2⁶×151 Posts	Give me the system with 640 cores... I would know how to put it to sweat. Sun's (Oracle's) VirtualBox and plenty of little winXP would do all the trick.

2011-11-03, 01:52	#8
ixfd64 Bemusing Prompter "Danny" Dec 2002 California 7⁴ Posts	So would Crysis at medium settings. :P

2011-11-03, 02:30	#9
Christenson Dec 2010 Monticello 5×359 Posts	I'll just knock out 640 LL tests at a time...at 2 weeks each, that'll be around 16,000 LL tests per year...take me 15 months to knock out the next million range in LLDs all by myself!