INF5063 - nVIDIA GeForce GPU Resources & FAQ
Page for resources and frequently asked questions for the GPU machines. If you have any other questions, please send an email to inf5063@ifi.uio.no
The following table gives an overview of the status of the nVIDIA GPU machines in the lab at Simula. All modern GPUs from Nvidia both for desktop and laptop supports CUDA, and it is therefore possible to use your own hardware.
Remember that you have to SSH into oslo.simula.no to access the lab-net here at Simula. Username and password has been provided to all groups:
| Computer | GPU | GPU Core | Multiprocessors (CUDA Cores) | Compute Capability | Status |
| mpg-2014-13.ndlab.net | GeForce GTX 750 | GM107 | 4 (512) | 5.0 | Operational |
| mpg-2014-14.ndlab.net | GeForce GTX 750 | GM107 | 4 (512) | 5.0 | Operational |
| mpg-2014-15.ndlab.net | GeForce GTX 750 | GM107 | 4 (512) | 5.0 | Operational |
| mpg-2014-16.ndlab.net | GeForce GTX 750 | GM107 | 4 (512) | 5.0 | Operational |
| mpg-2014-17.ndlab.net | GeForce GTX 750 | GM107 | 4 (512) | 5.0 | Operational |
| mpg-2014-18.ndlab.net | GeForce GTX 750 | GM107 | 4 (512) | 5.0 | Operational |
| mpg-2014-19.ndlab.net | GeForce GTX 750 | GM107 | 4 (512) | 5.0 | Operational |
| mpg-2014-20.ndlab.net | GeForce GTX 750 | GM107 | 4 (512) | 5.0 | Operational |
Please note that only one person in a group may reserve a timeslot (max 4 hours) at a time! The reason for this is to allow other user access to the GPU machines as well. We have a reservation system in place for the GPU machines here at Simula:
The login to open the page is the same you use to access the Home Exams. Remember to log into the calendar with the username and password provided to your group.
GPU Programming Resources
Paper on optimizing the Motion JPEG encoder for Cell and GPU
nVIDIA CUDA Toolkit 6.5 Documentation
Simple Motion JPEG Encoder with 2D-DCT offloaded to CUDA (2009-Edition)
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I use my own GPU?
A: Yes, you can! However, we do not recommend using a GPU with "Compute Version" lower than 2.0. So all GeForce 400/500/600/700/800/900-series GPU's from nVIDIA should be ok. Make sure that your program works on lab-machines! We will compile and test your application on a Maxwell GPU ("Compute Version 5.0").
Q: What software do I need if I want to run on my own GPU?
A: Here at Simula, we are running Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (64-bit) with CUDA 6.5 from nVIDIA. You have to download both a CUDA-certified driver, and CUDA 6.5 toolkit from nVIDIA. The CUDA SDK is optional, but it contains several useful functions.
Q: Can you give us an example of a GPU program?
A: Yes. We can! We have made available a simple version of the Motion JPEG encoder with only DCT offloaded to the GPU. Note that this implementation uses a different DCT algorithm (2D-DCT) compared to the Home Exam which uses a 1D-DCT implementation. You can find the encoder HERE.