OpenCL SDK 2.4 Improved OpenCL runtime performance

[BOARBEAR]

Download:
http://developer.amd.com/gpu/AMDAPPSDK/downloads/Pages/default.aspx
Info:
http://developer.amd.com/gpu/AMDAPPSDK/Pages/default.aspx

What’s New in AMD APP SDK V2.4

Improved OpenCL runtime performance:
Zero copy transfer of data between CPU and GPU for APUs (Windows only)
Improved PCIe transfer speed
Improved kernel launch times
Support for AMD A-series devices
Support for:
AMD C-30 Accelerated Processor with AMD Radeon™ HD 6250 graphics card
AMD C-50 Accelerated Processor with AMD Radeon™ HD 6250 graphics card
AMD E-240 Accelerated Processor with AMD Radeon™ HD 6310 graphics card
AMD E-350 Accelerated Processor with AMD Radeon™ HD 6310 graphics card
AMD Radeon™ HD 6670 graphics card
AMD Radeon™ HD 6570 graphics card
AMD Radeon™ HD 6450 graphics card
Support for CPU/x86 images (Enables the support for image formats, as described in the Khronos OpenCL Specification, to be run on the x86 CPU)
Support for cl_khr_fp64 on the CPU.
Cached reads (-fno-alias)
Binary image format improvements
DXVA buffer sharing
FFT performance improvements
Uninstallation of SDK 2.4 or its components is now done through the Catalyst Install Manager (CIM). See the Installation Notes for a description of the procedure.
For the AMD APP Profiler v2.2:
Support for OpenCL™ application summary
Support for profiling with AMD Radeon™ HD6900 series GPUs (requires AMD APP SDK v2.4 and AMD Catalyst 11.2 or newer)
Improved Session List Explorer
Improved user documentation (now also accessible online in Documentation)
For the AMD APP KernelAnalyzer v1.8:
Support for AMD Catalyst 11.1 – 11.3
Support for setting the OpenCL compiler build options
Improved analysis for AMD Radeon™ HD 6970 graphics cards
Support for displaying x86 assembly code
Commencing with Catalyst 11.3, the AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) OpenCL runtime is included in the GPU drivers. More frequent updates to the run-time may be obtained by updating the drivers.

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[SmokeTooMuch]

Actually it seems a bit slower on hd4870 @ win7 64.

[JWU42]

Under the "Tested Drivers" it shows only 11.4...

Are you running the 11.4 Pre drivers?

[EPiSKiNG]

 Have better performance on 6xxx series, but so far I've heard worse performance for 5xxx cards.

[mrjones]

On my 5970 on 64-bit Windows 7, there is no difference performance-wise (higher or lower) compared to 2.2.

However, I also upgraded my drivers from 11.2 to 11.4 at the same time.  There is one noticeable difference and that is that the fan noise is TERRIBLY louder than it used to be.  The temperature is now pegged at 88 degrees C when it used to be pegged at 89.

[JWU42]

I am hoping for better performance on the 6XXX series!

EDIT - No change for me going from 11.4 Pre.  I think that had this 2.4 APP in it...

[allinvain]

On my 5970 on 64-bit Windows 7, there is no difference performance-wise (higher or lower) compared to 2.2.

However, I also upgraded my drivers from 11.2 to 11.4 at the same time.  There is one noticeable difference and that is that the fan noise is TERRIBLY louder than it used to be.  The temperature is now pegged at 88 degrees C when it used to be pegged at 89.

Ah I see, but you can always manually set the fan at a certain percentage. 11.4 is beta no?

[SmokeTooMuch]

Under the "Tested Drivers" it shows only 11.4...

Are you running the 11.4 Pre drivers?

I'm running 11.2, maybe thats why it is slower. I'll wait for the 11.4 final before installing it.

[mrjones]

Ah I see, but you can always manually set the fan at a certain percentage. 11.4 is beta no?

Yes, 11.4 is beta.  I do believe you can manually set the fan speed by creating custom profiles (editing them yourself or with a tool), but it's not a feature provided in the standard Catalyst Control Panel, and since I'm just doing this for fun, I don't really want to mess with something that might result in my card bursting into flames.  :-)

Having run 11.4 for about 24 hours now, I can now update my previous observation.  The fan isn't always louder.  It seems to be loud for an hour or so at a time and then can be quiet for many hours, then eventually gets loud again.  Not sure what is up with that.

I'd imagine there is probably some sort of tool I could use to monitor and record the fan RPM and the GPU temperatures.  However, I won't be going back to an older version of the drivers (since I'm upgrading to a 6990 on Monday), so this data would be in isolation as I wouldn't be able to collect similar data using the old drivers to see what the difference is.

Another difference is that the ambient temperature may be changing, since the weather is also starting to get warmer.  So it may not be due to 11.4 but because we've had a 10°C change in the outdoor temperature over the past three days.  The computer is in my basement, where the temperature should be relatively constant, but perhaps even a couple degrees would make enough of a difference to bring the fan to the next higher speed.  Who knows.  All I know is I can hear it upstairs, whereas I didn't used to be able to.

[allinvain]

Ah I see, but you can always manually set the fan at a certain percentage. 11.4 is beta no?

Yes, 11.4 is beta.  I do believe you can manually set the fan speed by creating custom profiles (editing them yourself or with a tool), but it's not a feature provided in the standard Catalyst Control Panel, and since I'm just doing this for fun, I don't really want to mess with something that might result in my card bursting into flames.  :-)

Having run 11.4 for about 24 hours now, I can now update my previous observation.  The fan isn't always louder.  It seems to be loud for an hour or so at a time and then can be quiet for many hours, then eventually gets loud again.  Not sure what is up with that.

I'd imagine there is probably some sort of tool I could use to monitor and record the fan RPM and the GPU temperatures.  However, I won't be going back to an older version of the drivers (since I'm upgrading to a 6990 on Monday), so this data would be in isolation as I wouldn't be able to collect similar data using the old drivers to see what the difference is.

Another difference is that the ambient temperature may be changing, since the weather is also starting to get warmer.  So it may not be due to 11.4 but because we've had a 10°C change in the outdoor temperature over the past three days.  The computer is in my basement, where the temperature should be relatively constant, but perhaps even a couple degrees would make enough of a difference to bring the fan to the next higher speed.  Who knows.  All I know is I can hear it upstairs, whereas I didn't used to be able to.

Yes you can manually set the speed in Catalyst Control Panel but you can't build profiles there as far as I know - at least not in windows and with 11.3 that I'm using. To build custom fan profiles and overclocking profiles I recommend MSI Afterburner. Btw, changing the fan speed won't cause your card to burst into flames unless you set the fan speed to low for extended period of time - but even then the card will throttle down its clock speed if it overheats.

I think what's happening with the fan getting loud and quieting down for many hours is that it has a certain thermal max target and once the temps reach that it sets the fan to super high which cools the card sufficiently to keep it steady below that thermal threshold for a while. That seems quite annoying though. I would much prefer it to be at a constant value.

Hmm, yeah that may be the case (regarding the ambient temps). You may want to make sure that there is ample air circulation in the room - ie basement. It could be that be ramping up the speed because what's happening is that the ambient air temp in your basement has been going up steadily. In other words it needs some fresh cold air - the poor thing