User control to suspend BOINC GPU while otherwise in use

[Richard Haselgrove]

Forwarding a suggestion from user HeatSurge? at SETI:

​http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=51814

Add additional controls to suspend only GPU apps (CUDA for now, but should be generic), so user can choose to use full power of GPU while 3-D intensive applications are in foreground (whether work or gaming), but leave BOINC free to run on CPU only.

Two controls are suggested:

1) User interface in system tray, similar to current 'suspend' or 'snooze' (but acting on GPU processes only)

2) "exclusive_GPU_app" tag for cc_config.xml, analogous to existing "exclusive_app" (implies exclusive use of CPU) - allows automatic suspend/resume of GPU tasks while specified user applications are running.

[Richard Haselgrove]

Third suggestion from the same SETI thread:

Just generalise the whole "Suspend GPU" idea to match the existing "Suspend BOINC" options - specifically in the context of "Suspend while the computer is in use".

[Yellow Horror]

Another suggestion: an option to suspeng GPU operations while a fullscreen application (other than screensaver) is running.

[davea]

Currently, there's a preference to not do GPU computing while the computer is in use, and a config option to not do any computing while particular applications are running. That's about it for now; I don't know of a way to find out if another graphics-intensive app is running.

[Richard Haselgrove]

Isn't that an argument in favour of the additional user controls originally requested? If you (i.e. BOINC) can't find out if other graphics-intensive apps are running, let the user do so instead.

[Yellow Horror]

Replying to davea:

Currently, there's a preference to not do GPU computing while the computer is in use, and a config option to not do any computing while particular applications are running. That's about it for now; I don't know of a way to find out if another graphics-intensive app is running.

It isn't a sense if an application is graphics-intensive or not. The Seti CUDA processing can cause lags even in console applications screen refresh!

The "Use GPU while conputer is in use" option works well in most situations, but there are some user applications that do not need often user input (that is what the option looking for). I mean mediaplayers mainly and some weird games. Most (if not all) such applications are executed if fullscreen mode so i suggest to detect this. Other applications can do it (Outpost Firewall for example) so it is possible.

[Ageless]

[19573] adds the <exclusive_gpu_app> option to cc_config.xml