Houdini 1.03a is available
Post by Robert Houdart
Houdini 1.03a is now available from
http://www.cruxis.com/chess/houdini.htm .
:gal4: This version contains a bug-fix for the multi-PV analysis hanging in some positions. Even if you don't use multi-PV analysis it is recommended that you replace your existing 1.03 installations with the new build.
:gal4: here's the download link for the 8_CPU version compiled with lockless hash table access ("Hyatt hashing"):
http://www.cruxis.com/chess/download/Ho ... S_8CPU.zip
It may or may not solve the performance problem on the x5355 hardware, please keep me updated about success or failure. :gal4:
I apologize for the inconvenience.
Robert
Tuning the Split_Depth parameter on 4-core and 8-core hardware
The Split_Depth parameter defines the minimum depth at which work will be split between cores. This parameter can impact the speed of the engine (nodes per second) and should be fine-tuned if you're serious about getting the best performance out of your hardware.
The default value 10 is tuned for a Core i5-750 @2.66 GHz, but on other systems it may be advantageous to increase this to 12 or 13.
To select the best Split_Depth for your system you should analyze some positions for a fixed duration (e.g. 30 seconds) and measure the average nodes/second. Do this for all values of Split_Depth between 10 and 14, and keep the value that produces the highest average node speed.
Using large memory pages in 64-bit Windows Vista/7
In 64-bit Windows Vista/7 Houdini can benefit from so-called large memory pages. Depending on the hash table size the speed improvement may be between 5% and 20%.
To enable this feature, you need to modify the Group Policy for your account on your computer:
1. Run: gpedit.msc (or search for "Group Policy")
2. Under "Computer Configuration", "Windows Settings", "Security Settings", "Local Policies" click on "User Rights Assignment"
3. In the right pane double-click the option "Lock Pages in Memory"
4. Click on "Add User or Group" and add your account or "Everyone"
5. You may have to logoff or reboot for the change to take effect
Run your chess GUI with administrative rights ("Run as Administrator"), and check the "Large_Pages" UCI option for Houdini.
Note: If memory is fragmented the Large Page allocation may fail and Houdini will fall back to standard memory page usage.
