I just installed a new gtx 570 (evga factory superclocked edition) and am trying to get the most from it.

After putting an app_info.xml as described above in D:\boinc\data\projects\www.gpugrid.net (D:\boinc\data is my data dir)

I am no longer getting any work units and
I get the following strange entries in my log (see code snippet below).

What am I doing wrong?

1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM		NVIDIA GPU 0: GeForce GTX 570 (driver version 26309, CUDA version 3020, compute capability 2.0, 1248MB, 1530 GFLOPS peak)
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM	GPUGRID	Found app_info.xml; using anonymous platform
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM	GPUGRID	[error] State file error: missing application acemd2
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM	GPUGRID	[error] Can't handle workunit in state file
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM	GPUGRID	[error] State file error: missing application acemd2
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM	GPUGRID	[error] Can't handle workunit in state file
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM	GPUGRID	[error] State file error: missing task 8-IBUCH_smdwt_EGFR_110112-0-2-RND6116
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM	GPUGRID	[error] Can't link task 8-IBUCH_smdwt_EGFR_110112-0-2-RND6116_1 in state file
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM	GPUGRID	[error] State file error: missing task 83-KASHIF_HIVPR_n1_unbound_so_ba2-61-100-RND8936
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM	GPUGRID	[error] Can't link task 83-KASHIF_HIVPR_n1_unbound_so_ba2-61-100-RND8936_0 in state file
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM	GPUGRID	[error] State file error: result 8-IBUCH_smdwt_EGFR_110112-0-2-RND6116_1 not found for task
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM	rosetta@home	URL http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/; Computer ID 1401747; resource share 100
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM	GPUGRID	URL http://www.gpugrid.net/; Computer ID 91162; resource share 100
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM		No general preferences found - using BOINC defaults
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM		Reading preferences override file
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM		Preferences:
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM		   max memory usage when active: 8190.26MB
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM		   max memory usage when idle: 14742.47MB
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM		   max disk usage: 10.00GB
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM		   don't use GPU while active
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM		   suspend work if non-BOINC CPU load exceeds 25 %
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM		   (to change preferences, visit the web site of an attached project, or select Preferences in the Manager)
1/12/2011 7:35:35 PM		Not using a proxy

Close Boinc and delete the app_info.xml file. You would have needed to include additional details about the apps to use.

Running multiple tasks on the one GPU is not recommended; it only speeds up running some task types, and these are being phased out.

Content yourself with using the following optimizations:

Creating the swan_sync environmental variable and setting it to zero (0).
Freeing up one CPU core/thread per GPU; use 99% CPU's for one GPU.
Configure the cc_config.xml file to report tasks immediately.
Keep a low Boinc cache.

Increasing the CPU and GPU speeds modestly can increase performance, but avoid overclocking to the point of getting failures as this will reduce overall turnover. Overclocking the GPU a lot can actually increase run times, so make sure your OC is working by comparing completion times of same task types WU's with the same credit. It is usually not worth increasing the voltage, as this will increase power usage, heat, noise and reduce the MTF. Increasing fan speed is always recommended for GPU crunching.

must put 99% in the preferences of boinc manager to release a CPU, right?

because I tried with swan_sync and I do not see much difference ....!

(you have rebooted after changing the variable swan_sync?)

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(boinc since 1/04/09), Alliance Francophone
GA-P55A-UD5, i7 860 2.8 Ghz, Win 7 64 bits, 8 g DDR3 de ram, 2 To DD + 750 ext, boitier Haf 922 + 2 ventilo 120 noctua, ventirad noctua NH-U12P SE2, GTX 470 zotac amp edition, écran 25"

Yes. You need to use SWAN_SYNC and free a CPU core/thread as well.

How to stop tasks switching:
Keep a low cache and set set the processor usage to switch between applications every 999sec.
In theory this might affect the running of a long task when a shorter task then downloads, or when you crunch for more than 1 GPU project.

On Vista and Win7 change the NVidia power scheme from adaptive to max performance.

There are four 'processor usage' local Boinc settings that could cause the GPU to suspend and resume frequently. Boinc Manager (Advanced view), Tools, Computing Preferences, Processor Usage tab,
Computing allowed,

While computer is in use (when not ticked)
Use GPU while computer is in use (when not Ticked)
While processor usage is less than (anything other than zero)
Use at most % CPU time (anything other than 100%)

In particular,
- less than 100% CPU time is bad
Also,
- Using TThrottle can cause tasks to stop and start hundreds of times
- if a Kepler GPU with boost gets too hot / loud / expensive: reduce the power target, as this makes the chip run more efficiently
See this and subsequent posts.

SLI is not recommended for GPUGrid.

Only one task can be run on one card, not one task across 3 cards simultaneously (Might change in the future).

While you could run 2 tasks on one card, by configuring an app_info.xml or app_config.xml file, this is generally not recommended; tasks tend to run at >90% GPU Utilization here, so there is no benefit. You could also run out of GDDR memory.

If you experience GPU downclocking open NVidia control panel/Xserver and
change the PowerMizer from "Adaptive" mode to Max Performance if it's available (not always there on XP, but usually is on Vista, Win7 and some Linux systems). Ubuntu 12, 11.04 and 11.10 versions (and others) do not save your performance selection, so you will need to reselect it each time you restart! This often prevents the GPU from down-clocking. If it still downclocks you should try restarting your system, check your temperatures, configure fan controlling software and try reducing your GDDR frequency if need be.

Linux - GPU not found:
One off fix (restart the Boinc client),

sudo /etc/init.d/boinc-client restart

Permanent fix (prevent Boinc starting before the drivers are loaded),

sudo update-rc.d -f boinc-client remove
sudo update-rc.d boinc-client defaults 99

or,

sudo gedit /etc/init.d/boinc-client

Ref, add sleep time

See this Manual Fan Control Guide for setting the fan speed under Gentoo Linux. You can also follow these steps to setup fan control for Ubuntu 11.10 (and similar). Restart to apply the setting.

It is recommended to Not use a screen saver at all. Better to manually turn the monitor off. Behaviour varies from driver to driver with downclocking and crashing common.
See Jacob Klein's post here on the Win7+DVI+295/296 driver issue.

Disabling Aero and visual effects (or not installing) increases GPU utilization (Win7 and Vista).

Remember to choose short or long tasks according to your GPU's performance and the amount of time it runs GPUGrid tasks.
You can do this from Your account, GPUGRID preferences
For those crunching Long tasks only, I suggest selecting to accepting normal tasks if no long tasks are available,

If no work for selected applications is available, accept work from other applications? yes

It is not recommended to run multiple GPU projects on the same system. However if you decide to do this it is recommended that you keep a low cache and configure Boinc Manager to "switch between applications every" to a high number (999)minutes. If you have more than one GPU it's better to specify which GPU to use for which project.

Remote desktop - Don't use it! RDP uses a default windows video driver and causes problems with work units.

Multiple GPU setups.
It is best to use GPU's of similar Compute Capability. Mixing CC1.3 and CC2.0 cards, for example, might result in some errors (mostly for the CC1.3 GPU). Fermi's only differ by being CC2.0 or CC2.1, but even this could be a problem depending on drivers.

If you're using Ubuntu 12.x and are missing libs open a terminal try,
sudo apt-get install openssh-server+ gdebi+ libwxgtk2.8-0+ libXss1+ freeglut3+ gnome-applets+ cpufrequtils+ ia32-libs+
(Thanks to Steve and Zombie for this)

Power Settings - If Sleep is enabled computation will stop after the period you set to sleep after. Also note that PCIE and Network power settings in Linux, Vista (especially), W7 and potentially W8 might cause performance/communication issues. I recommend setting these power options to full power (energy ways there is little to be gained from a built in Network card going to sleep).

Adding <use_all_gpus>1</use_all_gpus> to a cc_config.xml file is recommended for systems with more than one usable GPU.
Although the GPUGrid server asks for the tasks to be returned immediately, earlier clients do not respond. So you might want to use <report_tasks_immediately>1</report_tasks_immediately>
Not needed for Boinc versions 7.0.2x onwards.

When installing new drivers, exit Boinc (and close running tasks), install the driver (clean install preferred), and then restart the system.

It's better to use the latest recommended version of Boinc, but if you are a tester you can download the latest version from http://boinc.berkeley.edu/dl/?C=M;O=D

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