Posts by Ncard00

1) Message boards : Number crunching : Request for Native Windows ARM64 support - Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (Message 4305) Posted 5 Jun 2026 by Ncard00 Post: Update: I am writing to report on my attempt to build the GetDecics application for native Windows ARM64 support. While I have managed to set up the build environment using the provided MinGW toolchain, the compilation process for the GetDecics.o object file consistently fails due to invalid assembly constraints. It appears the project's PARI dependency is heavily reliant on x86-specific kernel headers that cannot be easily bypassed with standard cross-compilation flags. I would appreciate any insight from the project developers on how to properly build this application for ARM64 or if there are plans to update the build system to support non-x86 architectures. This level of hardware optimization is necessary to realize the performance potential of new ARM-based chips in distributed computing.
2) Message boards : Number crunching : Request for Native Windows ARM64 support - Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (Message 4303) Posted 26 May 2026 by Ncard00 Post: Android ARM64 is a different beast compared to Windows ARM64 primarily due to the Bionic libc and the NDK requirements. It would definitely require a dedicated effort using the Android NDK to handle those specific library linkages and system-level API differences. I am focused on the Windows ARM64 target right now to get that native efficiency established first. Once we confirm the Windows build is solid, I would be more than happy to dive into an Android port. Do you have any existing notes or specific roadblocks from your attempt 5 years ago that I should look out for?
3) Message boards : Number crunching : Request for Native Windows ARM64 support - Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (Message 4299) Posted 25 May 2026 by Ncard00 Post: Thanks for the input, Eric. That llvm-mingw approach looks like exactly the right path to bypass the complexity of the native Windows toolchains. I understand that maintaining a new architecture adds overhead to your workload. Since I have the hardware (Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme) and the desire to see this project run efficiently on it, I’m happy to take the heavy lifting off your plate. If I can get a build environment running on my Linux partition (or via WSL), I’ll attempt to cross-compile the GetDecics binary using the llvm-mingw method you outlined. A couple of quick questions to ensure I’m not heading down a blind alley: Is there a specific version of the PARI/GMP libraries that the project currently relies on, or should I just target the latest stable releases? If I successfully produce a stable ARM64 binary, are you open to me hosting it for testing, or would you prefer I submit a PR/patch to your repository so you can verify the build process yourself? I’m happy to document the build process for others if we get this working. My goal is just to get these 18 cores crunching at full efficiency rather than struggling through x86 emulation. Also, PrimeGrid just got official Adreno iGPU support, on top of Native ARM64 CPU tasks, for the applications Genefer 16-21! I’ve already successfully implemented this on the Asteroids@home project (thread #9485), where we hit full native stability on the Snapdragon X2 Elite using an MSVC build. I’m seeing ~45-minute task completion times with excellent thermal efficiency, and I’m ready to replicate that exact success here for NumberFields. Regarding hardware acceleration: I noticed you have OpenCL support for various GPUs. While I understand Adreno/ARM iGPUs may have FP64 limitations for this specific application, my testing on Asteroids showed that the raw throughput of the Snapdragon's native CPU-side compute is so efficient that it easily outruns the x86-emulated tasks, effectively serving as a high-performance alternative to GPU-offloading for these specific workloads. Looking forward to your guidance on the build dependencies.
4) Message boards : Number crunching : Request for Native Windows ARM64 support - Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (Message 4279) Posted 24 Apr 2026 by Ncard00 Post: Subject: Benchmarks ready from other projects - Looking for native GetDecics Windows ARM64 binary Thanks for the source link, Stiwi. I’ve been testing native Windows ARM64 builds on other projects with my 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme. On Asteroids@home, I’m seeing runtimes of ~45 minutes for 18 concurrent tasks at only 25-30W CPU power—massively outperforming x86 emulation. The build process for GetDecics seems straightforward but requires pre-building PARI and GMP. Since I have the hardware ready for 24/7 testing and benchmarking, would anyone (perhaps @ahorek if you're reading this) be interested in providing a native MSVC or Clang build for Windows ARM64? I can provide immediate feedback on SIMD performance and stability on the Oryon architecture. If a binary is made available, I’ll deploy it right away and post the performance delta here.
5) Message boards : Number crunching : Request for Native Windows ARM64 support - Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (Message 4273) Posted 22 Apr 2026 by Ncard00 Post: Just got a new X2 Elite Extreme Snapdragon laptop. The CPU single and multi core speed is insane. Performance could be much better with native ARM64 support. x86 emulation hits these chips harder than Apple Silicon on MacOS. Please consider adding native Windows ARM64 support. I would be happy to test this out. I can also do the work myself if I get access to relevant project files. My 18-core setup is ready for testing. Data shows native apps run much faster than emulated ones on Oryon. Let me know what you need from me.
6) Message boards : Number crunching : Ending the M-Series Exclusion: Why NumberFields needs Apple Silicon iGPU support in 2026 (Message 4169) Posted 20 Jan 2026 by Ncard00 Post: Thank you for the quick and transparent response, Eric. I completely understand the time constraints involved in maintaining a project of this scale. Having the source code link is a huge step forward. I will take this to the broader BOINC and Mac-specific developer communities (including the LTT forums) to see if we can find a volunteer with the Metal or OpenCL expertise to help with the port. With the M4 now providing significant high-bandwidth compute at very low power, I think there is a lot of interest in getting these decic field searches running on Apple Silicon iGPUs. I’ll be sure to keep you updated if we manage to get a working build or if a developer steps up to take a stab at it. Thanks again for opening the door to this!
7) Message boards : Number crunching : Ending the M-Series Exclusion: Why NumberFields needs Apple Silicon iGPU support in 2026 (Message 4165) Posted 19 Jan 2026 by Ncard00 Post: NumberFields@home has done an incredible job supporting NVIDIA, AMD, and even the newer Intel Arc GPUs. However, there is a massive "Green" elephant in the room: Apple Silicon. For years, the exclusion of the Mac iGPU was blamed on a lack of native FP64 or 64-bit integer efficiency. But as of 2026, the success of Einstein@Home and PrimeGrid has completely debunked this. If PrimeGrid can run complex number theory searches on the M-series iGPU with 100% stability, there is no technical reason NumberFields cannot do the same. On my M4 Mac Mini, I am currently running 10 concurrent tasks on the iGPU for other projects. The unified memory architecture provides a massive bandwidth advantage that traditionally bottlenecked GPUs struggle with. By ignoring Apple Silicon, NumberFields is missing out on thousands of high-efficiency nodes that could significantly speed up our search for decic fields. We have the hardware. We have the proof of concept from other projects. It’s time to move past the "Metal vs. OpenCL" legacy excuses and bring NumberFields into the modern Apple Silicon era. When can we expect an experimental arm64-apple-darwin GPU plan?
8) Message boards : Number crunching : Preparing for Intel 18A / Panther Lake Xe3 iGPU Support (Message 4157) Posted 17 Jan 2026 by Ncard00 Post: Hi Eric, Thanks for the clarification! I've gone ahead and enabled "test applications" in my project preferences to make sure the Panther Lake iGPU is ready to pull tasks as soon as it's online. I'll be sure to post the initial clinfo logs and some early performance data once the system is stable in February. It will be interesting to see how the Xe3 architecture handles these specific number theory workloads compared to previous generations. Looking forward to sharing the results!
9) Message boards : Number crunching : Preparing for Intel 18A / Panther Lake Xe3 iGPU Support (Message 4154) Posted 16 Jan 2026 by Ncard00 Post: Hi everyone, I’m currently mapping out an upgrade to a high-TDP (80W) Intel Panther Lake Mini PC, which I expect to have running by early February. I’m very interested in how the Xe3 architecture (Arc B390) performs on the NumberFields@home GPU app. With the restored hardware-native FP64 support and the move to the 18A node, I'm expecting a significant increase in efficiency and PPD over previous Intel iGPU generations. I’ll be running 64GB of DDR5-9600 to ensure the GPU tasks have a massive VRAM buffer and high memory bandwidth. I’m happy to share my initial clinfo logs and benchmarks once the hardware arrives in Denmark. Is there anything specific the science team needs to see to ensure these new chips are properly utilized and whitelisted?
10) Message boards : Number crunching : Low Nvidia GPU utilization (Message 3881) Posted 24 Jun 2025 by Ncard00 Post: Only running WU's on my RTX 3060 Nvidia GPU, but the utilization is often not at or close to 100%, being all over the place, over 90%, then 70 or 60, or even down to 20's or 30's sometimes. Can this be improved?
11) Message boards : Number crunching : Windows 11 ARM support (Message 3838) Posted 25 Apr 2025 by Ncard00 Post: Ok, thanks for the response. I'm planning on getting one of the new snapdragon Windows 11 ARM laptops for testing at some point, why I would love to have some working BOINC projects to test as well :)
12) Message boards : Number crunching : Android support? (Message 3837) Posted 25 Apr 2025 by Ncard00 Post: Thanks for the response. There are currently only 3 working projects on Android, and none of them math projects, so would love to have this project added to Android :)
13) Message boards : Number crunching : Android support? (Message 3834) Posted 19 Apr 2025 by Ncard00 Post: When will this project get Android support?
14) Message boards : Number crunching : Website bug (Message 3812) Posted 27 Feb 2025 by Ncard00 Post: https://numberfields.asu.edu/NumberFields/host_stats.php On the page linked above, the first half of the page is just the following error/warning repeated over and over again: "Warning: Undefined variable $v in /home/boincadm/projects/NumberFields/html/user/host_stats.php on line 94" What's going on here?
15) Message boards : Number crunching : MacOS Apple Silicon ARM support? (Message 3807) Posted 22 Feb 2025 by Ncard00 Post: I'm not sure, but these are the results I'm getting, that the project works on my M4 Mac mini, and that's what I wanted to share. I'm not a developer nor IT expert, I'm just testing all the projects and providing feedback on the results :)
16) Message boards : Number crunching : MacOS Apple Silicon ARM support? (Message 3805) Posted 22 Feb 2025 by Ncard00 Post: To answer the first thing, that's totally fair, it's just cause I've seen other projects where it said Intel and ARM Macs, even though this was also Rosetta 2, or where the Apple Silicon Mac got both ARM and x86 tasks, with no option to choose which tasks to get. And no, I didn't do anything "extra", just selected the project, entered my login info, and the tasks downloaded :)
17) Message boards : Number crunching : MacOS Apple Silicon ARM support? (Message 3802) Posted 22 Feb 2025 by Ncard00 Post: Update: Just tried this project anyway on my M4 Mac mini, and I immediately got 10 concurrent CPU tasks, one for each of my 10 CPU cores. These were running under Rosetta 2 though, so not native, but still, it works, which means you can add MacOS ARM to the Applications page :)
18) Message boards : Number crunching : Windows 11 ARM support (Message 3801) Posted 22 Feb 2025 by Ncard00 Post: Does this project have native Windows 11 ARM support, for devices with the new Snapdragon plus and X elite chips?
19) Message boards : Number crunching : MacOS Apple Silicon ARM support? (Message 3761) Posted 9 Nov 2024 by Ncard00 Post: Ok, thanks for the response. I don't have neither the time, knowledge, nor even a Mac, yet, to port this, but I just now, that many people are getting the new M4 Macs, cause they're so powerful, great value, and power efficient, so I'm sure there would be demand for it, if the project was ported. But again, thanks for the response.
20) Message boards : Number crunching : MacOS Apple Silicon ARM support? (Message 3759) Posted 6 Nov 2024 by Ncard00 Post: When will this project get Apple Silicon ARM support? Currently, it only supports MacOS Intel devices.