Evaluation of Two Parallel Finite Element Implementations of the Time-Dependent Advection Diffusion Problem: GPU versus Cluster Considering Time and Energy Consumption

摘要

We analyze two parallel finite element implementations of the 2D time-dependent advection diffusion problem, one for multi-core clusters and one for CUDA-enabled GPUs, and compare their performances in terms of time and energy consumption. The parallel CUDA-enabled GPU implementation was derived from the multi-core cluster version. Our experimental results show that a desktop machine with a single CUDA-enabled GPU can achieve performance higher than a 24-machine (96 cores) cluster in this class of finite element problems. Also, the CUDA-enabled GPU implementation consumes less than one twentieth of the energy (Joules) consumed by the multi-core cluster implementation while solving a whole instance of the finite element problem.