GETTING STARTED WITH CUDA
SAMPLES
DA-05723-001_v5.0 | October 2012
Application Note
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter1.Getting Started with CUDA Samples........................................................... 1
1.1 Before You Begin......................................................................................... 1
1.2 Getting Started........................................................................................... 1
1.2.1 Getting Started Samples........................................................................... 2
1.2.2 Simple CUDA Samples.............................................................................. 2
1.2.3CUDA + Graphics Interoperability................................................................ 5
1.2.4 Multi-GPU Programming............................................................................ 6
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Chapter 1.
GETTING STARTED WITH CUDA SAMPLES
NVIDIA CUDA is a general purpose parallel computing architecture introduced
by NVIDIA. It includes the CUDA Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) and the parallel
compute engine in the GPU.
This document is intended to introduce to you a set of samples that can be run as an
introduction to CUDA. Most of these samples use the CUDA runtime API except for
ones explicitly noted that are CUDA Driver API.
To run these samples, you should have experience with C and/or C++. It is not required
that you have any parallel programming experience to start out.
The CUDA C samples listed in this document are found in both the C and
7_CUDALibraries default directories in the following folders:
Windows
ProgramData\NVIDIA Corporation\CUDA Samples\v5.0
Linux
~/NVIDIA_CUDA-5.0_Samples
Mac OSX
/Developer/NVIDIA/CUDA-5.0/Samples
1.1BEFORE YOU BEGIN
This document assumes you have installed CUDA on your system. CUDA runs
on Windows, Mac, and Linux environments. To install CUDA, refer to the CUDA
Getting Started Guide available with the SDK and on the CUDA web site at http://
www.nvidia.com/cuda
1.2GETTING STARTED
The list of samples is divided up into three categories:
Getting started samples. If you are new to CUDA, these are the best samples to begin
with.
Simple CUDA samples
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Getting Started with CUDA Samples
Samples that demonstrate CUDA + Graphics interoperability
There are some overlaps between the three categories.
1.2.1Getting Started Samples
matrixMul, matrixMulCUBLAS
This sample implements matrix multiplication as a CUDA kernel. It has been written
for clarity of exposition to illustrate various CUDA programming principles, but not
with the goal of providing the best performance kernel for matrix multiplication. For
performance, this sample also uses the CUBLAS library to show high-performance matrix
multiplication.
simpleTemplates
This sample is a templatized version of the template project. It also shows how to
correctly templatize dynamically-allocated shared memory arrays.
template
This sample is a basic template project that can be used as a starting point for creating
new CUDA projects.
template_runtime
This is a simple template project that can be used as a starting point to create a new
CUDA project that does not use the cutil library.
1.2.2Simple CUDA Samples
BandwidthTest
This is a test program to measure the memory copy bandwidth of the GPU. It currently
is capable of measuring device-to-device copy bandwidth, host-to-device copy
bandwidth for pageable and page-locked memory, and device-to-host copy bandwidth
for pageable and page-locked memory.
Clock
This example shows how to use the clock function in CUDA kernels to measure the
performance within a kernel accurately.
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cudaOpenMP
This is a sample application demonstrating how to use the OpenMP API for launching
workloads across multiple GPUs. The binaries for this sample are not pre-built with the
Windows installer.
deviceQuery, deviceQueryDrv
These two samples show how to enumerate properties of the CUDA devices present in
the system (using the CUDA runtime API). The *Drv version has the same functions as
the runtime sample, but uses the CUDA Driver API.
Ptxjit
This sample demonstrates JIT compilation of PTX code. This sample uses a PTX program
embedded in a string array. The CUDA Driver API calls are used to compile and run a
PTX program.
simpleAtomicIntrinsics
This is a simple demonstration of global memory atomic instructions. This sample
requires Compute Capability 1.1 or higher.
simpleCUBLAS
This is a basic example demonstrating how to use the CUBLAS (CUDA Basic Linear
Algebra) library. This sample can be found within the 7_CUDALibraries folder.
For more details on how to use the CUBLAS Library, refer to the CUBLAS Library
Programming Guide included with the CUDA Toolkit.
simpleCUFFT
This is a basic example demonstrating how to use the CUFFT (CUDA Fast Fourier
Transform) Library. In this sample, CUFFT is used to compute the 1D-convolution of a
signal. The signal is transformed to the frequency domain, multiplied together with a
filter kernel, and then the signal is transformed back to time domain. This sample can be
found within the 7_CUDALibraries folder.
For more details on how to use the CUFFT Library, refer to the CUBLAS Library
Programming Guide included with the CUDA Toolkit.
simpleMPI
This demonstrates how to use MPI in combination with CUDA to demonstrate how to
launch workloads across multiple systems that have a GPU. This sample generates some
random numbers on one node, dispatches to all nodes, then computes the square root on
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Getting Started with CUDA Samples
each nodes GPU. Then the average results of the results are computed. The binary is not
pre-built with the installer.
simpleMultiCopy
Since Compute Capability 1.1, it is possible to overlap compute with one memcopy to/
from the host. Compute Capability 2.0 with a Tesla or Quadro GPU improves on this by
enabling a second parallel copy operation in the opposite direction at full speed (PCIe is
symmetric). This sample illustrates the usage of CUDA streams to achieve overlapping
of kernel execution with copying data to and from the device.
simpleMultiGPU
This application demonstrates how to use the CUDA API launch workloads across
multiple GPUs. Starting with CUDA 4.0, there is a new API for CUDA context
management and multi-threaded access. This greatly simplifies the way that CUDA
kernels can be launched across multiple GPUs.
For more details, refer to Portable Memory, Mapped Memory, and Multi-Device-System in
the CUDA C Programming Guide and to the CUDA_4.0_Readiness_Tech_Brief.pdf about the
new multi-device programming model.
simplePitchLinearTexture
This sample demonstrates how to use 1D Pitch Linear Textures in a CUDA program.
simplePrintf
This CUDA Runtime API sample is a very basic sample that implements how to use the
printf function in the device code. Specifically, for devices with compute capability
less than 2.0, the function cuPrintf is called; otherwise, printf can be used directly.
For more details, refer to Assertion in the CUDA C Programming Guide included with the
CUDA Toolkit.
simpleStreams
This sample uses CUDA streams to overlap kernel executions with memcopies between
the device and the host. Starting with CUDA 4.0, this sample adds support to pin of
generic host memory. This sample requires Compute Capability 1.1 or higher.
For more details, refer to Streams in the CUDA C Programming Guide and to the
CUDA_4.0_Readiness_Tech_Brief.pdf included with the CUDA Toolkit.
simpleSurfaceWrite
This sample demonstrates the use of surface references, thus enabling write-to-texture.
This sample requires a Fermi-based GPU (Compute Capability 2.0).
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simpleTemplates
This sample is a templatized version of the template project. It also shows how to
correctly templatize dynamically-allocated shared memory arrays.
simpleTexture, simpleTextureDrv
This sample demonstrates how to use textures with CUDA (Runtime API and the Driver
API versions).
simpleVoteIntrinsics
This is a simple program that demonstrates how to use the Vote (any, all) intrinsic
instruction in a CUDA kernel. This sample requires Compute Capability 1.2 or higher.
simpleZeroCopy
This sample illustrates how to use Zero Memory Copy. Kernels can read directly from
and write directly to pinned system memory. This sample requires GPUs that support this
feature (MCP79, GT200, Fermi based GPUs).
Refer to Parallel Libraries in the CUDA C Best Practices Guide for more details.
template
This sample is a basic template project that can be used as a starting point for creating
new CUDA projects.
template_runtime
This is a simple template project that can be used as a starting point to create a new
CUDA project that does not use the cutil library.
1.2.3CUDA + Graphics Interoperability
These SDK samples demonstrate interoperability between CUDA and graphics.
simpleD3D9
This program demonstrates the interoperability between CUDA and Direct3D9. The
program modifies vertex positions with CUDA and uses Direct3D9 to render the
geometry. A Direct3D capable device is required.
simpleD3D9texture
This program demonstrates Direct3D9 texture interoperability with CUDA. The
program creates a number of D3D9 textures (2D, 3D, and CubeMap) which are written
to/from CUDA kernels. Direct3D then renders the results on the screen. A Direct3D
capable device is required.
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simpleD3D10
This program demonstrates the interoperability between CUDA and Direct3D10. The
program modifies vertex positions with CUDA and uses Direct3D10 to render the
geometry. A Direct3D Capable device is required.
simpleD3D10Texture
This program demonstrates Direct3D10 texture interoperability with CUDA. The
program creates a number of D3D10 textures (2D, 3D, and CubeMap) which are written
to from CUDA kernels. Direct3D then renders the results on the screen. A Direct3D
Capable device is required.
simpleD3D11Texture
This program demonstrates Direct3D11 texture interoperability with CUDA. The
program creates a number of D3D11 textures (2D, 3D, and CubeMap) which are written
to from CUDA kernels. Direct3D then renders the results on the screen. A Direct3D
Capable device is required.
simpleGL
This program demonstrates interoperability between CUDA and OpenGL. The program
modifies vertex positions with CUDA and uses OpenGL to render the geometry.
simpleTexture3D
This program demonstrates the use of 3D textures in CUDA.
1.2.4Multi-GPU Programming
simpleP2P
This sample demonstrates how to use a new feature in CUDA 4.0 API for multi-device
programming with UVA (Unified Virtual Addressing) and GPU Direct 2.0 peer to peer
communications (copying of data and memory addressing). This sample requires two
GPUs with peer to peer capability based on GF100 or GF110 or newer.
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