GPU Computing with Python: Performance, Energy Efficiency and Usability

Abstract: In this work, we examine the performance, energy efficiency and usability when using Python for developing HPC codes running on the GPU. We investigate the portability of performance and energy efficiency between CUDA and OpenCL; between GPU generations; and between low-end, mid-range and high-end GPUs. Our findings show that the impact of using Python is negligible for our applications, and furthermore, CUDA and OpenCL applications tuned to an equivalent level can in many cases obtain the same computational performance. Our experiments show that performance in general varies more between different GPUs than between using CUDA and OpenCL. We also show that tuning for performance is a good way of tuning for energy efficiency, but that specific tuning is needed to obtain optimal energy efficiency.