Seti@Home optimized science apps and information
Optimized Seti@Home apps => Windows => Topic started by: CElliott on 05 May 2008, 08:09:22 am
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On my Q6700 machine I am getting about a 38% speed increase with the new optimized apps, from about 86 minutess per WU to about 53 minutes. "Thanks" seems underwhelming for what is almost a miracle. Is there any way we could see how this huge improvement was achieved, such as source code, an explanation of how the gains were made, etc.?
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Hi there,
The sources (modified from Alex's version 8 source) are available in the downloads section, under seti@Home modified source section. I appreciate that doesn't document the process of how the port was accomplished, but can say:
- Many small changes to fundamental data types were required to convert to Windows from Mac Code
- A few key library functions had to be researched for suitable alternatives and changed to different vendor libraries
- A small bug, that caused no problems on Macs, but Crashed Windows version was found and fixed.
- Extensive exploration if Alex's intended functionality had to be explored, and tried several combinations of settings and optimisation techniques, and incorporated ones learnt form Lunatics development also.
- A new dedicated profile guided optimisation regime was developed and refined
-Windows builds were extensively tested, compared, refined and selectively promoted to release.
I hope that gives some idea, the real process, of course, spans quite a while and with several main contributors.
Jason
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so is it just different math or change how cache is used?
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Both those things, data alignment related processing optimisations, and the interaction of all these things on a microarchitectural level.