[IFLY2HIGH]

Is SETI alti-vec compatable?

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- Eric

SETI is not optimized for AltiVec, but because of a faster math unit in the G4 the client runs somewhat faster on a G4 than on a G3 with similar clock speeds.

[gumby5647]

lets play the "what if" game shall we?

WHAT IF...Seti WAS optimized for Altivec? AND for Dual CPU's

anybody wanna take a stab at how long it would take to finish a unit?

[cwasko]

Originally posted by gumby5647:
lets play the "what if" game shall we?

WHAT IF...Seti WAS optimized for Altivec? AND for Dual CPU's

anybody wanna take a stab at how long it would take to finish a unit?

I'lll take a guess... A L O T faster than they do now!!!

Well, an AltiVec optimization for this kind of app would get a speed factor of around 300%. An average time of 4 hours would be possible. When using multiple CPU:s the SETI client for other platform reports the time used by all CPU:s, meaning a unit on a dual G4 would finish in 2 hours but would report 4 hours of CPU time.

[Scotttheking]

SETI would (hypothetically) get a boost of much higher then 300% on the 7450, because it has 4 altivec units, up from 1.
SETI would just be screaming.
If it was optimized for a G4, I'd buy one that day, instead of waiting until July, when I'm gonna get me a dual 733, unless something faster is out.

[Todd Madson]

I read an article that for the initial G4 rollout (when they first made
their appearance), that Apple demonstrated a special version of Seti 1.0
that rendered blocks in one hour on a G4/500.

Someone with connections apparently made the build just for the rollout.

This build apparently never found its way to the public.

But face it - Seti @ Home as a project doesn't want people to render faster - they want it slower - they don't have the bandwidth or the
work units to give to people.

My G4/400 used to render 4-6 hours consistently with the 2.4 client.

Now with 3.03, it takes eons longer.

If you want an Altivec optimized distributing client, see www.distributed.net and try that - it's wicked fast, but for a
different purpose.

[brock76]

I run RC5 on my G4, and it just tears the client apart. I'm taking a break from Seti for awhile, and decided to run dnetc's RC5 project. A low end G4 can beat most other midrange to high chip. The Athlon Tbirds are a good to equal match though. Here is a link to see how the clients' speeds are.
http://n0cgi.distributed.net/speed/

You'll see the true power of altivec there.

br0ck

aka. KWSN - br0ck
http://www.kwsn.net/seti

[Frogger]

Not too familiar with G4 Altivec... is it similar to Intel's MMX? Does AMD have similar technology to Altivec?