I had read that the #xeonphi threads within each core weren't all equivalent.
I don't know if that's true, but I tried the 7zip benchmark with 122 threads and got a score (36000) pretty close to the score (40000) I got with all 244.
Maybe this version of 7zip isn't optimized for this many cores. Who knows?
My searching for details about the #xeonphi has turned up this gem of an article about the design and construction of the QPACE2 supercomputer from 2016.
https://www.codeproject.com/articles/Construction-of-a-Supercomputer-Architecture-and-D
I copied neofetch over to the #xeonphi from the hyfetch github.
And for whatever reason, it works fine.
I couldn't build it before without Bash 4.4 and UTF support. Edit: Looking at the readme, it looks like this version only requires Bash 3.2.
It's cool to see all 244 cores listed.
I wouldn't even know where to start.
But it's not bee terribly difficult to set up a working #xeonphi
The co-processor cards themselves are extremely cheap in the US at $75 for the actively-cooled version, which is close to what I paid for a passively cooled card and a third-party cooling shroud and fan.
@lymenzies #xeonphi could be an interesting NetBSD platform. Just need the intersection of someone with the hardware, time and inclination to make the port :-p
Assuming it would be a custom kernel for NetBSD/i386, similar to Xen...
Finally, success with running #htop on #xeonphi
Following Aidan Crowther's instructions (and thanks to archive.org) I was able to cross-compile ncurses, but I couldn't get the htop configure file to find the ncurses k1om library.
But I did manage to copy over the htop source code to the Phi and build it there. And it works!
Back to the #xeonphi trying to build some kind of #top to show all threads. I found Aidan Crowther's htop, but it segfaults.
But it turns out regular top will make an attempt to show each thread if you press the i key. I kept getting terminal too small notices until I set the font at 6pt and zoomed all the way out.
Here are a couple of examples. The tiny version doesn't have enough pixels to make it readable.
Top crashed displaying the 205th (or is it 206th) of the 244 in the coprocessor.
Here's the cooling shroud and fan for the #xeonphi
The design seems to be intended to be low profile so the fan is at an odd angle. Nonetheless, it works and keeps the card cool enough to remain working indefinitely. It was very hot to the touch before, probably at risk of burns if holding, but now, slightly warm.
Since the fan runs full speed it sounds like a server now
Also here's my bodge to keep the card upright in the slot. I know I can flip it around, but I wanted to show this version
A few weeks ago I asked a question about which architectures #netbsd doesn't support.
Now that I have a working #xeonphi setup, I think it would be interesting if NetBSD were available.
On the one hand, it was a short-lived and obscure platform, but you can say the same about some of the other supported platforms like the DEC shark or the Sun 2 and 3.
lymenzies
lymenzies
abs(in)the