Unpredictable shutdown of computer

Accelerated Computing CUDA CUDA Programming and Performance
1

Hi all,

I’ve written a CUDA application using version 2.3 and have some rather annoying behavior. The computer just shuts down
unpredictably. Sometimes, the program can be used all day without any problems, while on another occasion it may shut
down the computer on the first call or at any point, say the tenth call. This happens on the single precision version but has not happened on the double precision version. I would usually hear a noise like an electric spark and then everything would shut down and the computer be left with an orange flashing light on the power indicator, a bit like an electric fault.

I’m not using cutil.h, should I perhaps? I’ve tried with and without __syncthreads() - no difference. I’ve carefully checked for
memory leaks but cannot find any.

Have other people experienced a similar behavior? How can this be stopped?

Looking forward to your answers and best wishes!

2

A psu with active PFC will shut down when overloaded
or faulty. May be worth looking into.

3

Yeah, this is not a problem with your code (though it would be impressive if a memory access violation could trip a circuit breaker!). Your program is making the card ramp up to its peak power usage for long periods of time, revealing some kind of problem with your power supply, as was mentioned. What parts are in your computer?

4

Hi Mr Scary, Seibert,

this is all very useful. By the sounds of it, I may need a bigger power supply. I’m not really a computer freak and usually don’t open the PC to see what’s inside but leave this to our computer group. So will take this route for now. Fingers crossed!

Thanks again!