Using cards for processing

[samullin]

Bottom line: can video/physics/sound cards be configured to help cpu calculations for purposes of engineering applications (simulation, optimization, etc.)


I keep up with HardOCP quite a bit, but it's been a long time since I've bought a new computer. I just finished an undergraduate degree in engineering, and am moving towards further education at this time. I've seen a lot of press about physics cards, video cards, etc and heard the talk of using them interchangeably and intelligently to maximize the processing capability for specific computing tasks (specifically gaming). I'm looking at building a computer and would like to know if the resources of the graphics or other cards can be used towards computing tasks. I know it's a long shot, but I would like to be able to have a computer to use generally, including video, games, etc. but would also like to divert as much computing power as possible when doing simulation and optimization work (extremely cpu intensive).

I believe that should all work in theory, but I also realize that programs would have to be specially designed, and card drivers are not intended for such use. However, managing the computer resources in such a way would be great, and I'd like to know of the potential.

Any enlightenment would be appreciated!

 

[Tutelary]

best bet would be a quad core system or dual core/dual processor setup. a physics ppu would be a good bet as well, but you would likely have to write your own programs for this kind of thing.

You might want to check with major universities and research centers and determine what the availability of mac to windows software/hardware is like for your specific purposes. macs are widely used for a lot of that kind of thing. (the new power macs are hot shit)