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> Since I'm still interested in contributing CPU power, if nothing else,
> to the IMP, is there a way to join your BOINC team? (I tried the way
> your project page at http://impfarm.imp.org/boinc/ states, but it gave
> me an error. I either need an invite code, or you need to accept public
> applications again).
>
The project started as Renderfarm@Home. Reached like 1000 users. But
after a few months I lost my free hosting (the friend who was hosting it
had to reduce his ISP plan). Then I sort of revived it on IMP server.
The plan was just testing it for a start, and then moving Renderfarm
database there, but it never happened (lack of time, motivation... busy
in *other* time wasters...). So currently it's in a state of having an
even more hackish backend than the original Renderfarm@Home, and with
less users.
Plan now is somehow merging both databases (if a user was on both
projects, his credits would get added, for example), but that's
something else I haven't got around to. I don't want to open account
creation and watch the user list grow again... The less users, the
easier it will be to merge (but I have to do it!).
Not to mention the big changes I'll have to do on my wrapper when POV
3.7 is out. More like a rewrite. I'm interested in many of the 3.7
changes, and multithreading isn't one of them! Mainly: the new state
file for resuming renders, and the cleaned-up internals that would make
my modifications less "invasive".
Lately I have been busy making a screensaver for PrimeGrid (another
BOINC project), and I may even get paid for it, so I try not to get too
distracted :)
PS. this became somewhat on-topic about POV, which is off-topic for
.off-topic. Should we move to povray.general?
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are you sure you're able to simultaneously browse the web, read the mail, edit a
game map and tweak povray renders?
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nemesis wrote:
> are you sure you're able to simultaneously browse the web, read the mail, edit a
> game map and tweak povray renders?
Well, Firefox and Thunderbird just run in the background, and every few
minutes I check them to see if anything interesting has been added :)
The POV renders are, as I said, animations that will probably run for
several more hours. As each one finishes, it'll make more CPU time
available for the others, so they should finish faster, et cetera.
Likewise, CloneDVD (which has now finished) and Handbrake (which has
not) are background tasks.
So, that leaves UT3Ed, which was nearly unusable. So, I took a break
from it to give Handbrake a chance to finish encoding, and played some
flash games on the web (which I found were almost as CPU intensive as UT3!)
--
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com
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> So, that leaves UT3Ed, which was nearly unusable. So, I took a break
> from it to give Handbrake a chance to finish encoding, and played some
> flash games on the web (which I found were almost as CPU intensive as UT3!)
I'm still in the look for a good game to play while waiting for renders.
Playing a CPu-hog game while waiting for a render to finish is
counter-productive. My biggest problem isn't intensive games... but
games that always use 100%. Doesn't matter how fast your CPU is, always
100%. It's clear they have some busy loop (polling instead of blocking
for events, for example).
Bejeweled 2 is great but eats 100% CPU (well, only one core). I can't
figure out why... If I use it in windowed mode, I notice it doesn't use
CPU while the window is unfocused. However, mouse hover effects still
work while window is unfocused, and CPU usage isn't very significant, so
it's not the graphics. Busy loop on the sound handling?
I remember a Sega emulator that used 100% CPU, unless sound was disabled
and VSync enabled. So, sound was eating all CPU, and video was rendering
as fast as it could instead of keeping a constant framerate (VSync would
keep its framerate locked at your monitor refresh rate).
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it seems to me it is your PC who is in need of a less CPU-intensive user. :P
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Chambers wrote:
> Currently running:
> POV-Ray (5 instances, each rendering part of an animation)
> Firefox & Thunderbird
> Handbrake
> CloneDVD
> UT3 Editor
>
> My poor dual core can't keep up :(
>
> I think I'm one of the few home users who could get some real use out of
> an 8 core machine :)
>
Ben, you definitely need an 8 core machine. You can tell your wife I
said so.
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hey, there's always minesweep! ;)
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Jim Charter wrote:
> Chambers wrote:
>> Currently running:
>> POV-Ray (5 instances, each rendering part of an animation)
>> Firefox & Thunderbird
>> Handbrake
>> CloneDVD
>> UT3 Editor
>>
>> My poor dual core can't keep up :(
>>
>> I think I'm one of the few home users who could get some real use out
>> of an 8 core machine :)
>>
> Ben, you definitely need an 8 core machine. You can tell your wife I
> said so.
Well, thanks! Since the fact that they cost >$2k doesn't matter at all
to us, the only thing holding me up was her permission - but that'll be
easy to get with you backing me up :)
--
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com
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Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
>> So, that leaves UT3Ed, which was nearly unusable. So, I took a break
>> from it to give Handbrake a chance to finish encoding, and played some
>> flash games on the web (which I found were almost as CPU intensive as
>> UT3!)
>
> I'm still in the look for a good game to play while waiting for renders.
> Playing a CPu-hog game while waiting for a render to finish is
> counter-productive. My biggest problem isn't intensive games... but
> games that always use 100%. Doesn't matter how fast your CPU is, always
> 100%. It's clear they have some busy loop (polling instead of blocking
> for events, for example).
>
> Bejeweled 2 is great but eats 100% CPU (well, only one core). I can't
> figure out why... If I use it in windowed mode, I notice it doesn't use
> CPU while the window is unfocused. However, mouse hover effects still
> work while window is unfocused, and CPU usage isn't very significant, so
> it's not the graphics. Busy loop on the sound handling?
Did you try enforcing VSync in the video driver? If its rendering at,
say, 200 fps, this should limit it to ~33% CPU usage.
--
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com
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> Did you try enforcing VSync in the video driver? If its rendering at,
> say, 200 fps, this should limit it to ~33% CPU usage.
>
It's probably not video. While the window is unfocused but visible, it
still renders, since mouse hover effects work. But CPU usage is barely
noticeable.
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