There is a new repository available with CUDA enabled programs in package format. This contains programs that have been linked to CUDA libraries or have CUDA support enabled. At the moment this is available only on Fedora 21, if there is sufficient feedback I will enable it also for other distributions.
The repository is available here.
At the moment of writing, the repository contains the following:
- Nvidia Encoder (NVENC) enabled FFMpeg
- CUDA and FFMpeg enabled Blender
- ccminer (multi cryptocoin miner)
Please keep in mind that these packages update already available packages that are in Fedora and RPMFusion, so you might step into other dependency issues if you have tons of other programs using these libraries on your system.
Also, CUDA 6.5 works only on fairly recent GPUs, so your old models might not be compatible. Follow this Nvidia link to check if your GPU is CUDA capable. Basically, anything with Compute Capability >= 2.0 is ok. Also the Wikipedia article on CUDA has all the Compute Capability information available.
The Blender build looks for libcuda and the Nvidia Unified Video Memory module on the system to enable CUDA support. By installing the Nvidia driver from my repository with CUDA support, you should have a working Blender installation that is able to use your GPU for rendering.
As you can see from the picture, I only have the basic Nvidia driver plus CUDA support installed, there is no need to install the full CUDA stack. The runtime is required only for additional specific libraries (like ccminer that uses some specific CUDA math libraries).
This build of Blender looks for libcuda.so.1; so if you are using the official Blender build from blender.org, you also need to have the full nvidia-driver-devel package installed as it contains also the libcuda.so symlink.
To recap, this is what is required to have a fully working Blender with CUDA and FFMpeg support enabled on Fedora 21:
# yum-config-manager --add-repo=https://negativo17.org/repos/fedora-cuda-programs.repo
# yum-config-manager --add-repo=https://negativo17.org/repos/fedora-nvidia.repo
# yum install kernel-devel akmod-nvidia nvidia-driver nvidia-driver-cuda blender
Then reboot, and make sure the nvidia-uvm.ko module is loaded.
Could you let me know how to make it run on Fedora 24?
Is there a dnf command for it?
Can’t seem to make Blender find my 980 Ti, although NVIDIA drivers are installed.
Yes it works with Fedora 24. Instructions for Blender (almost at the end):
http://negativo17.org/handbrake/
Instructions for checking if you have enabled CUDA in the drivers:
http://negativo17.org/nvidia-driver/
Hey,
Is your GTX 860M the Maxwell variant (GM107) or the Kepler – based part?
Would be interesting to see how the Maxwell and Kepler parts performance comparison in CUDA pans out.
Before I had a laptop with a Quadro NVS 5200 as the second GPU, now I have a Lenovo with this:
Yes, that is a Maxwell Gen 1 part.
Runs CUDA extremely well.