Go Back   IceInSpace > Equipment > Software and Computers

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread
  #1  
Old 01-10-2020, 07:21 AM
garymck (Gary)
Registered User

garymck is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Geelong
Posts: 788
Video card for Starnet++/Pixinsight?

Hi,
anyone have any idea of the lowest cost Nvidia card that supports Starnet acceleration in Pixinsight? I have a fast PC, but my old video card does not support a compatible version of Cuda. Most of the cards I've seen people using are around $400 and up - not something a humble pensioner can afford !! any suggestions for lower cost cards (sub$200???) that provide a significant speed boost?
cheers
Gary

Last edited by garymck; 01-10-2020 at 07:48 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 01-10-2020, 08:52 AM
sunslayr (David)
Registered User

sunslayr is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Perth
Posts: 209
The only thing I can think of for that price would be a used gtx 1060 or better yet 1070.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 01-10-2020, 01:11 PM
garymck (Gary)
Registered User

garymck is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Geelong
Posts: 788
Ah well, might have to forgo the use of Starnet. too slow to use productively....

thanks
Gary
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 02-10-2020, 10:04 AM
Camelopardalis's Avatar
Camelopardalis (Dunk)
Drifting from the pole

Camelopardalis is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 5,425
Gary, in the latest release of PixInsight it is pretty sprightly on CPU alone.

The other day I went away to make a cup of coffee having fired it off on a 16MP image only to return to my computer with it claiming it had completed in 46 seconds

Not exactly preview speed, but it’s streets ahead of where it used to be.

Btw, this is on my Intel NUC with i5-8259U, so not exactly a speed demon
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 02-10-2020, 02:45 PM
multiweb's Avatar
multiweb (Marc)
ze frogginator

multiweb is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Sydney
Posts: 22,060
You guys should talk to Ivo here on IIS. He's pretty switched on with hardware and anything to do with GPUs. He's the dev of Startools.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 02-10-2020, 03:58 PM
garymck (Gary)
Registered User

garymck is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Geelong
Posts: 788
Quote:
Originally Posted by Camelopardalis View Post
Gary, in the latest release of PixInsight it is pretty sprightly on CPU alone.

The other day I went away to make a cup of coffee having fired it off on a 16MP image only to return to my computer with it claiming it had completed in 46 seconds

Not exactly preview speed, but it’s streets ahead of where it used to be.

Btw, this is on my Intel NUC with i5-8259U, so not exactly a speed demon
Interesting,my Ryzen 1700 / 16gb based pc took 2 minutes and 25 seconds to do an image from my ASI533MC Pro. Wonder why it was so slow compared to your i5. It's lightning fast on everything else.....

Gary
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 03-10-2020, 10:45 AM
Camelopardalis's Avatar
Camelopardalis (Dunk)
Drifting from the pole

Camelopardalis is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 5,425
Pure speculation...it could be the way Starnet is compiled and what CPU features it supports? I’m clutching at straws really as it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.

Btw, I’m using macOS and PixInsight 1.8.8-6.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 03-10-2020, 11:48 AM
rustigsmed's Avatar
rustigsmed (Russell)
Registered User

rustigsmed is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Mornington Peninsula, Australia
Posts: 3,950
starnet+ uses avx (heavy on the cpu)
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 04-10-2020, 03:11 PM
rbronca
Registered User

rbronca is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 53
I have an AMD 1700 (OC to 3.7Ghz all 8 cores) and an Nvidia 1060 6GB. The GPU completes Starnet++ in around 1/4 of the time of CPU only. I expect a 1050 ($220 to 250 AU) should fit the bill.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 04-10-2020, 07:12 PM
irwjager's Avatar
irwjager (Ivo)
Registered User

irwjager is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 532
For a cheap solution check out this post on the ST forums.
In short, it's a ~70 AUD solution (ex-mining) you can use alongside your current display adapter that performs somewhere in between a 1050Ti and a 1060 3GB (they're slightly cut-down 1060 3GB cards w/o display output). I'm currently using one in my development system.


Other than that, there are currently deals going for 1650 Super cards that perform very well for the price. Many deals can be had at the moment as new cards will be announced in the next few weeks and months (both AMD and Nvidia), though AMD obviously don't have the proprietary CUDA cores.


Hope this helps!


EDIT: I should also mention that there are some scam-GPUs out there (essentially re-flashed old GPUs to change the way they identify themselves in the OS). They are easily identified by the display output configuration on the back; they will usually still have a VGA output - no current GPU has those.

Last edited by irwjager; 04-10-2020 at 07:26 PM.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 03:31 PM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement