GPU set-up guide

GPU cards come into play with the simulation of 2D meshes in InfoWorks ICM. The biggest
speed gain is when the majority of mesh elements are wet. As the mesh dries out, the
influence of the 2D calculations becomes less significant in the overall simulation, thus
reducing the effect of the GPU card.
When an ICM simulation starts on a PC with a compatible GPU card, all the 2D calculations
are pushed onto the GPU. We have developed the Simulation Engine so it will work with all
nVidia GPU cards that support CUDA technology and have a Compute Level of 2.0 or
higher. A list of current nVidia GPU cards can be found at ->
http://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-gpus
Because of the vast range of cards available, we cant be 100% sure that the whole range of
Compute Level 2.0 GPU cards from nVidia do actually work with InfoWorks ICM, or indeed
what speed gains they offer. However, we have
conducted tests using TESLA C2050 and C2075,
Quadro 4000 and GeForce GTX580,
GTX560Ti, GTX460M and GT440 cards, so we know
for sure that they all work with InfoWorks ICM v2 or
later.
Its the speed, memory bandwidth and number of cores
the device has which determines how quickly your 2D
simulation will complete on the GPU. The Tesla family
is more thoroughly quality-controlled by NVIDIA and allows use of the Tesla Compute
Cluster (TCC) driver which runs ~20% faster than other drivers and allows the Simulation
Agent to be run as a Windows Service, but
correspondingly is more expensive per
processor/FLOP. The GeForce family is at the
lower/gaming end so has undergone less stringent quality
control, but is far cheaper than Tesla and has equally
powerful cards at its upper end. The Quadro family sits
between Tesla and GeForce.
We dont currently support any of the ATi GPU cards.
It's very important to note that the GPU card plays no part
at all in regular 1D calculations. Also, these cards give no
advantage for 2D calculations in InfoWorks CS or RS and
we will not be updating either of these applications to
detect or utilise GPU technology.
Configuring a TESLA GPU Card for maximum numerical efficiency
For appropriate cards (i.e. Tesla class, and possibly some Quadro cards), the GPU can be
run in Tesla Compute Cluster (TCC) mode which runs calculations faster than in non-TCC
mode and allows the Simulation Agent to be run as a System Service as standard (rather
than having to manually run as a Process from the command line).
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Note: in TCC mode the Tesla card cannot be used to drive any monitor connected to the
computer. The monitor should be connected to another NVIDIA graphics card.
How to enable TCC
Run a cmd window as Administrator
Type cd C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\NVSMI"
To obtain the identification number for each GPU, type nvidia-smi.exe -L
To enable TCC mode for the Tesla card, type nvidia-smi.exe -i N -dm 1
(replacing "N" with the GPU number of the Tesla card as reported in the previous step. It
will probably be 0 or 1, depending on how many GPUs you have in your PC (e.g. GPU
0: Tesla C2050 (S/N: 0321410032348))
We recommend you then type nvidia-smi.exe -q which gives full GPU configuration
information to confirm TCC has been enabled.
Finally reboot your system for the change to take effect (unless you are going to also
disable ECC as described below, in which case do that first).
Error Code Correction (ECC) checks the integrity of memory transfers on the GPU. Our
tests have indicated it is unnecessary for accurate simulation and therefore could be
switched off for further speed enhancements.
How to disable ECC
Open a cmd window and change to the NVSMI directory as described above.
Type nvidia-smi.exe -i N -e 0 where "N" is the GPU number as described
above.
We recommend you then type nvidia-smi.exe -q which gives full GPU configuration
information to confirm ECC has been disabled.
Finally reboot your system for the change to take effect.
The NVIDIA provides monitoring information through a System Management Interface. A
summary of these pages can be viewed by typing nvidia-smi.exe h
NVIDIA GPU Drivers
The GPU engine in InfoWorks ICM has been built so that it can utilise the latest NVIDIA
drivers. For cards like the TESLA range, the latest NVIDIA Drivers will allow the device to be
run at peak performance as a dedicated System Service. This means the CUDA based 2D
Simulation Engine in InfoWorks ICM will run at its very fastest.
Windows Drivers for all NVIDIA GPU cards can be found here:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/cuda_home_new.html
Look for the Drivers menu, which can be found top left of the screen.

Copyright 2012 Innovyze

Innovyze Ltd
Kestrel House, Howbery Park,
WALLINGFORD, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BA, UK

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Sales: Tel: +44 (0) 1491 821400,

Support: Tel +44 (0) 1491 821460

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