CUDA on WP 64Bit? Is CUDA operational under WIN XP 64Bits?

Accelerated Computing CUDA CUDA Programming and Performance
1

Hi there.

Does anyone know if one can install and use CUDA in a Windows XP 64 Bit environment?

Thx
MetalMan

2

No, 64-bit OSs are not supported in the current release, but soon.

3

-two more guys here waiting for this - running XP 64. ;)

monks

4

++guys;

if guys > 2

releaseCUDAwin_x64();

:D

5

Waiting for x64 as well, can’t do much without it…

6

I am using it on WinXP x64, and I don’t see any problems so far. The CUDA samples all compile and seem to run without any problems. Maybe I just haven’t come up with nasty enough code yet that will crash the GPU system or expose some flaws…but I’m not there yet.

7

I’d also really appreciate full support for Windows XP x64.
Thanks.

8

What driver did you use for this, Steven? 97.73? I tried using 97.67 from the developer site with a Quadro 5600 and the CUDA samples tell me “No device”. My understanding was that 97.67 was the only driver that supported the 5600 for XP-64… Does 97.73 work with XP-64? Are you using a 8800GT(S|X) or a 5600?

I can deal with, say, running 32-bit applications on my XP-64 system to do initial development, switching to full 64-bit applications once the 64-bit CUDA is available. But I really don’t want to have to install a 32-bit OS in a separate partition and keep it up to date, etc.

9

Dual boot with XP x64 and regular XP is what I’m using until official x64 support is available. You don’t need to change any VS project settings between the boots.

A heads up to anyone installing XP after XP x64.
The setup process waxes a couple of critical files from the x64 partition and won’t let your x64 boot any more.
The fix is simple, just copy ‘NTDETECT.COM’ and ‘NTLDR’ from your original XP x64 disc’s ‘i386’ directory over the ones that have been replaced on your x64 partition. Then your x64 will be happy again.

10

Hi Wingman,

I also have a 64 bit machine (running Intel Xeon which is capable of running 32 bit software directly - no emulation).

If I understand correctly, you use XP(32 bits) to do your CUDA development and run the programs.

What is the XP64 used for? Is XP 64 any use for developping and testing with CUDA? or is it completely useless?

Can anyone clarify?

Shane

11

Shane,

If you install Visual Studio on both XP(32 bit) and XP64 you can develop your CUDA program using the exact same VS project in both XPs, which is very handy.

(Your partitions will need to have the same drive letters between boots. I didn’t have to modify mine though, this was done automatically for me)

On XP 64, you can code and build and do everything except for the execution of the compiled code on the G80 card itself.

You can run your kernels in emulation mode though which uses your normal CPU.

I only boot into XP 32 bit when I want to see that my code works on the G80 just the same as was emulated. The emulation mode isn’t a quantum level simulation so it can’t be 100% accurate, but it is pretty good.

Hope this helps

12

Thanks Wingman.

Does anyone know why Nvidia drivers can’t be executed on the XP64? i.e. What’s the reason?

I know that 64 bit Itanium processors can’t run 32 bit without Emulation, which means that any drivers compiled for 32 bit won’t run as fast as possible, or maybe won’t run at all.

However, Xeon 64 bit processors don’t have that problem. They can run both 64 or 32 bit code natively, without emulation.

AMD processor behave like the Xeon as well.

So, for those of you that have a Xeon or AMD processor, running XP64, it would seem at least possible to run the Nvidia 32 bit drivers with no emulation. i.e. be able to execute the CUDA directly on XP64.

For those of you that have 64 bit architectures that can’t handle 32bit code without emulation, then the Nvidia 32 bit code will never run without emulation no matter if you install XP or XP64.

Now, I assume that Wingman has a machine capable of running 32 or 64 bit code without emulation (i.e. Xeon or AMD processor), and that XP64 is the culprit in that:

  1. either its not able to run the Nvidia driver without emulation

  2. or, it is capable running 32 bit code without emulation, but the driver has some incompatibility.

Cheers

Shane

13

XP x64 can run 32-bit Windows programs under emulation, however, x64 does require 64-bit drivers for all connected hardware and can’t fall back to 32-bit drivers.

NVIDIA haven’t yet made available a 64-bit Windows driver for the 8800 that supports CUDA, but it’s on their list to support in a future driver release. :)