The Scottish Boinc Team

I have been looking at the performance difference between Windows and Linux on Einstein. I was just browsing through some results on the Einstein site. I noticed a big difference in the time taken for Windows machines compared to Linux. As an example I had a look at my results against Megacrunchers(for computer ID 1211402). Below are the results. Both computers are Q6600, mine isn't over clocked. Over 8 results it looks like an 38% performance improvement for Linux,

I also over the weekend switched to Ubuntu 8.04 64 bit from Fedora you can also see about an 8% improvement again.

Windows

Success Done 26874.56 236.71 236.71
Success Done 27653.45 236.71 236.71
Success Done 26579.09 236.71 236.71
Success Done 27509.86 236.71 236.71
Success Done 26401.36 236.71 236.71
Success Done 27487.09 236.71 236.71
Success Done 26405.58 236.71 236.71
Success Done 27345.98 236.71 236.71
Total 216256.97
Average 27032.12125

fedora

Success Done 20694 236.92 236.92
Success Done 20411.44 236.92 236.92
Success Done 20073.55 236.92 236.92
Success Done 20238.65 236.92 236.92
Success Done 17948.15 236.92 236.92
Success Done 19060.18 236.92 236.92
Success Done 19728.54 236.92 236.92
Success Done 19903.45 236.92 236.92
Total 158057.96
Average 19757.245

ubuntu

Success Done 18755.55 237.27 pending
Success Done 18096.57 237.27 237.27
Success Done 17997.69 237.27 237.27
Success Done 17613.92 237.27 237.27
Success Done 18063.42 237.27 pending
Success Done 18629.11 237.27 237.27
Success Done 18373.86 237.27 237.27
Success Done 17758.07 237.27 237.27
Total 145288.19
Average 18161.02375


Any comments? Or am i just a sad person who had too much time this morning? Had a quick look at some other projects and there doesn't seem to be as big a difference but if anyone thinks it is worth investigating more I don't mind doing some more work.

Certainly from these results I say it is only worth running Einstein on a 64bit Linux box.

Just switched my machines over to do a bit of Einstein again, will compare my 64 bit Vista versus the same machine with 64 bit Ubuntu.

My Windows installation is knackered just now but was going to reinstall it then I can compare a few tasks on my hardware to verify any differences.

Get yourself over to ABC@Home its well worth running on Linux

Far too much time on your hands. But very well spent.

Until your post I had thought that the Q6600 running Einstein was doing not too badly with a consistent return of about 3000 per day (try getting that from Rosetta or WCG :) ) which is also what your figures give for what, compared with yours, turns out to be a total loser of a Quad. [FWIW this machine is running 32 bit Vista and has a rather meagre 1GB of Ram.]

By my calculations your Q6600 on 64 bit Ubuntu is managing 4500 which is right up with 64 bit ABC!

So even as I type I'm downloading Ubuntu 8.04 64 bit and will install it on the same Quad. This will give us a proper controlled crossover trial.

At the same time I'm going to run some Einstein on the 2 Quads running 64 bit Vista to see how that compares.

Watch this thread.

PS I would disagree heartily with the statement

it is only worth running Einstein on a 64bit Linux box.

It may, or may not be (I'll tell you soon) more worthwhile doing it on Linux (if you have the choice - just try installing Ubuntu on your work PC ) but 3000 credits per day is a healthy output by any standard, even for a Quad.

I tried my own quick test last night. On 32 bit XP I starting running 4 Einstein tasks. After 48mins it had only done 10%, which looked like it was going to take 8 hours. I didn't want to leave PC on all night crunching so slow so switched back to Linux.

I recently got a new cooler for my Quad an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler, only cost £17 what a bargain. Before my CPU temp hovered about about 68, with the new cooler it dropped to 49. That low that I tried an overclock during the night. Went to 3GHz(9x333) it seemed to sit about at a temp of about 60. Ran it through the night with no probs.

It ran two Einstein task in 14781 and 14855 secs. At this rate it would do about 5600 credits per day, not bad. Just not sure I want to run overclocked 24hrs a day but the temps are much lower that running at 2.4Ghz on stock cooler. So might go half way and run at 2.66Ghz.

Hmmm, this is catching my attention 8)

Looking on the Einstein site, they appear to have the same client available for both 32bit and 64bit platforms, so it seems rather odd (but, from the evidence so far presented, true) that it pays so much.

So, to add a little extra twist into the equation, I'll switch a 64bit quad 50/50 between ABC and Einstein for a week or so and see what gives. My Einstein stats could do with a boost anyway

/edit

this is cool!

Boinc Manager shows 4% done after just 13.5 minutes. At that rate, the box should achieve around 42 credits per hour per core. This is pretty startling since it is crunching 32-bit and is very much on a par with 64bit ABC on the same box

P.S. this box is currently running at stock after a power dip nearly destroyed it over the winter.

Okay, :drumroll: one of my Vista 64 Quads has returned some Einstein WUs...
And frankly I'm not that impressed

31,020.55 -> 236.74
29,408.61 -> 236.74
29,426.33 -> 236.74
29,441.35 -> 236.74
Average= 8.28hrs per WU = 2744Cr/day

(not bad cf other projects but compared to the Vista 32 Quads 3,000Cr/day pretty much the same once you take into make allownce for the 32bit one's 2.4GHz to 2.7GHz overclock).

This is really interesting.

The quad I put on last night completed 2 WU. They are still pending, but on took 5.4hrs and the other 5.2hrs. The credit is fixed at 236, so assuming they validate, that equates to 44 credits per hour per core, or 4274 per day running 100%.

This is only 2 WU, but if replicated across others, it matches what the box can achieve on 64bit ABC.

Click here for a link to the box. Running stock 2.4GHz FC6 64Bit.

/edit

and it seems to be broadly the same on the next two WU too: around 5.5hrs for 236 credits


8)

Finally, a way guilt free way that we can chase maximum individual credits while working towards team goals. Einstein credit used to be excellent then they became meagre in the extreme. Now it's excellent again, but for how long?

99th place is a little too close to the edge so it makes sense to use the current bonanza to get ourselves into a rather safer position.

Guilt Free???? ......but I like finding triples: they're cool, and sexy and......and worth a lot

...but seriously folks, this looks pretty solid, so I've just set that quad to fetch no new tasks on ABC. In a couple of days it should be 100% Einstein. I'll run the same experiment on the other ABC linux boxes and make dispositions as appropriate.

Looks like Einstein could be in for a wee boost 8)

I installed Ubuntu on my AMD 6000+ last night. I ran Einstein and got a great heap of computation errors. After a reset it started running stabily. The first has not long uploaded. It took 14.5 hrs and I've got the usual 237Credits pending. So with both cores working flat out that will be a very poor 770 Credits/day on what is a very fast PC. It was doing 10%better under Windows XP.

I'm in the process of putting Ubuntu on to the vista Q6600. Hopefully it will do a little better.

That's odd. Looking at the box it seems to have been seriously under performing.

OK, so the Boinc benchmarks are not exactly a full picture, but these are your's from the AMD 6000+.

Ubuntu
Measured floating point speed 872.64 million ops/sec
Measured integer speed 2726.61 million ops/sec

Windows XP
Measured floating point speed 1826.19 million ops/sec
Measured integer speed 4098.18 million ops/sec

and these are mine from an o/c'd E4300.

Fedora FC6-64
Measured floating point speed 2657.57 million ops/sec
Measured integer speed 7684.2 million ops/sec

Your 6000+ should beat the pant's of my E4300 even if mine is overclocked. So it appears that something is not right.

That's odd. ... it appears that something is not right.

Oh dear. Any idea what?

And to make it worse I can't get Ubuntu to install on the Q6600. It doesn't seem able to find the hard drive. I remember I had the same problem with version 7 of Ubuntu & this machine but I rather hoped it would be fixed for 8.

Oh dear. Any idea what?

hmmm, the obvious things are other processes. Open a command prompt and run top. It should tell you there are two WU's running consuming pretty much all your CPU resource. Anything else substantial is bad.

The other thing is to look into why so many WU errors. I looked at one or two that you had on that box and found error code 255, but couldn't find a real world meaning for that. Strange it should suddenly start working though. Is this a 64 bit ubuntu distro or 32bit.....if 64bit, do you ia32libs installed?

Maybe try Fedora and see if that makes a difference. Also, is the Boinc client pre-installed on Ububtu8? Maybe try a clean install by downloading from Berkeley?

And to make it worse I can't get Ubuntu to install on the Q6600. It doesn't seem able to find the hard drive

Sounds like drivers. Is it a Sata Drive? I recall problems with 7.04 recognising a Sata drive here once. Sorry, can't recall the work around - time for a Fedora download?

Aha....just found this thread on the Einstein boards:

http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu//forum_thr ... 609&sort=6

Looks like Ubuntu/Kubuntu might be throttling your CPU. Maybe try the fix they suggest or switch to another distro.

Could be, although I've got all that "cool n quiet" nonsense disabled at Bios level.

Anyhoo the 6000+ is going to be retired as soon as it's finished its current windows and linux workload. The weather is getting hotter and it's up to 30degC in the Boinc greenhouse already. I'll sell the 6000+ and maybe one of the E6600s (The 4 quads and the phenome, Jo's E6600 (overdue an upgrade methinks) and the 2 laptops will just have to do over summer :) )

A bigger worry is not being able to install Linux on the Q6600. I'll try Fedora & see if that works.

Nope, Fedora didn't work. Like Ubuntu it couldn't find the hard disk to install it on. Strange. Oh well it's not as if Einstein really needs extra help from me to keep afloat. :)

Hi,
It sounds like it may be a SATA drive not being rcognised when the controller goes into native mode. Have you tried (is there a setting on your BIOS) setting it to legacy mode in the BIOS. It may not run as quickly without the SATA native advantages, but should allow you to install it.
There is a similar problem installing windows when the SATA controller is in native (AHCI) mode. It will boot off the CD, look like it is going to install, then quit with a 7B blue screen error.

Hope this is useful.

Ian

Thanks, I'll have a look tomorrow. I didn't have any problem installing vista on this machine with the SATA drives but oddly enough it couldn't find IDE ones (which the BIOS reported accurately).