Hi Marek,
> I have just two quick technical questions
>
> Am I right that contrary to gaiming/graphical applications, SLI is not
> actually so important for
> Amber parallel GPU calculations ( just deducing from this contribution
> http://archive.ambermd.org/201106/0005.html )
>
> Or Am I wrong ?
Correct. There is no way to use SLI for CUDA. Effectively SLI just allows
two GPUs to rending in the same frame buffer - e.g. one GPU renders the top
half of the screen and one renders the bottom. There is no way to send
actual useful computing data over this link so it makes no difference
whatsoever for general purpose computation.
> Another thing.
>
> If one thinks also about AMD alternative to build multi-GPU system (
> for
> example "MSI 990FXA-GD80 - AMD 990FX" + 3 x GPU)
> is it worth to wait a little for new AMD FX "Bulldozers" ? Based on
> several discussions here I think, that speaking just
> about Amber GPU calculations, difference in using "AMD Phenom II X6
> 1100T
> Black Edition" or new 6 or 8 cores Bulldozer
> will be negligible. So only in case, that the machine will be used also
> for non-GPU calculations ( for example MM-PBSA
> analyses ) one can obtain some interesting gain using new AMD FXs so in
> such a case it is worth to wait some last weeks ( hopefully :))
> ) for these nice 32nm guys.
>
> Am I right ?
Yes. Very well put. You are pretty much spot on. There may be some small
improvement in parallel GPU runs if the CPU memory bandwidth is higher with
the new Bulldozers but I have not looked at the actual specs for AMD chips
in a while. Plus I have not actually tried any AMBER GPU calculations on
machines powered with AMD chips - maybe others here have tried.
So yes the real help is if you want this to be a total general purpose
machine and want to run CPU calcs as well as GPU ones.
All the best
Ross
/\
\/
|\oss Walker
---------------------------------------------------------
| Assistant Research Professor |
| San Diego Supercomputer Center |
| Adjunct Assistant Professor |
| Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry |
| University of California San Diego |
| NVIDIA Fellow |
|
http://www.rosswalker.co.uk |
http://www.wmd-lab.org/ |
| Tel: +1 858 822 0854 | EMail:- ross.rosswalker.co.uk |
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Received on Thu Sep 15 2011 - 11:00:03 PDT
