What is GPU Boost?
GPU Boost is a new user controllable feature to change theprocessor clock speed on the Tesla K40 GPU. NVIDIA is currentlysupporting 4 selectable Stream Processor clock speeds and twoselectable Memory Clock Speeds on the K40.
GPU Boost is useful as not all applications have the same powerprofile. The K40 has a maximum 235W power capacity. For example, anapplication that runs at an average power consumption of 180W atthe base frequency will have a 55W power headroom. By increasingthe clock frequency, the application theoretically can takeadvantage of the full 235W capacity.
Enabling GPU Boost
GPU Boost is controlled using NVIDIA’s System ManagementInterface utility (nvidia-smi
) with the followingcommands:
Command | Explanation |
---|---|
nvidia-smi –q –dSUPPORTED_CLOCKS | Show Supported ClockFrequencies |
nvidia-smi –ac | Set the Memory and Graphics ClockFrequency |
nvidia-smi –q –dCLOCK | Shows current mode |
nvidia-smi –rac | Resets all clocks |
nvidia-smi –acp0 | Allows non-root to changeclocks |
On the K40, an nvidia-smi
query to find thesupported clock frequencies gives the following output:
[srahim@corsair3 ~]$ nvidia-smi -q -dSUPPORTED_CLOCKS
==============NVSMI LOG==============
Timestamp
DriverVersion
AttachedGPUs
GPU 0000:05:00.0
GPU 0000:42:00.0
To set the clock speed to 666MHz, run
[srahim@corsair3 ~]$ sudo nvidia-smi –ac3004,666
Applications clocks set to "(MEM 3004, SM 666)" for GPU0000:05:00.0
All done.
If you try to set an unsupported clock speed, nvidia-smi shows ahelpful message.
[srahim@corsair3 ~]$ sudo nvidia-smi -ac 3004,888
Specified clock combination "(MEM 3004, SM 888)" is not supportedfor GPU 0000:05:00.0. Run 'nvidia-smi -q -d SUPPORTED_CLOCKS' tosee list of supported clock combinations
Terminating early due to previous errors.
The current clock speed is checked with the followingcommand:
[srahim@corsair3 ~]$ nvidia-smi -q -d CLOCK
==============NVSMI LOG==============
Timestamp
DriverVersion
AttachedGPUs
GPU 0000:05:00.0
The GPU Boost settings are not persistent between reboots ordriver unloads and should be scripted if persistence is desired.Unless the NVIDIA driver persistence mode is set withnvidia-smi –pm 1
, the driver may unload when the GPUis idle.
Unlike Intel’s Turbo Boost, GPU Boost is not on by default. Thisputs the impetus on the end user or system administrator to takeadvantage of this feature. An application can programmaticallychange the Boost clock with NVML if run with appropriate permissions. Runnvidia-smi –acp 0
to grant non-root users permissionto change clocks. Two caveats on the uses of GPU Boost from thedocument “NVIDIA GPU Boost for Tesla” are:
- An important point to remember is that no matter which clocksthe end user selects, if at any time the power monitoring algorithmdetects that the application may exceed the 235 W, the GPU comesdown to a lower clock level as a precaution. Once the power fallsbelow 235 W the GPU will raise its core clock to the selectedclock. This happens automatically and the Tesla K40 does have a fewclock levels below the base clock to handle any powerdigressions.
- If the workload runs on multiple GPUs and is sensitive to allGPUs running at the same clock, the user may need to try out whichparticular clock works best for all GPUs.
If you are not running on multiple GPUs or multiple nodes, youshould crank up the GPU clock speed to the maximum frequency. Keepthe GPU clock at the default value of 745MHz or lower only if thereare power consumption concerns.
GPU Boost is a relatively simple way to increase performance byup to 30%. It is certainly easier than optimizing a CUDA kernel.Unless you are doing some crazy multi-node MPI application, alwaysboost your clock speed for higher performance!