4 ms·
Cost to train the model (which can be used for many images, and images can be upscaled using AI): $10000 * 2500days / 5yr = $15000 hardware cost 200W * 2500da
by gowld 6y ago
Cost to train the model (which can be used for many images, and images can be upscaled using AI):
$10000 * 2500days / 5yr = $15000 hardware cost
200W * 2500day * (0.10 USD / Whr) = $1.2M in electricity
- indiandennis 6y agoElectricity rates are kWh, so I think it would be 120k for electricity, not 1.2 mil.
- Scaevolus 6y ago$1200, off by a factor of 1000.
- sillysaurusx 6y agoI’ll have to do a writeup sometime explaining why these numbers aren’t as surprising as they seem. They’re also not as wasteful as they seem. Roughly, the boxes would be turned on anyway. Might as well put them to work. And yeah, it draws more power when in use (by a lot). But the data center probably isn’t paying a huge premium on top of what they would already pay for electricity. So all that’s left is feeling generally queasy about using so much electricity, rather than a practical feeling of “this is bad because it costs a lot.” Economies of scale have some dramatic effects at the high ends: I doubt the datacenter’s costs are anywhere near linear for the amount of Whr they’re consuming. And even if they are, it’s still a rounding error considering the profitability of GoogSoftBook.
- tinco 6y agoAt some point it becomes linear though, there is a base cost to electricity. Google builds datacenters near coal power plants specifically to get (literally) dirt cheap electricity.
- sillysaurusx 6y agoThis is true. But researchers are divorced from those realities. The day-to-day researchers almost never have to think like "If I run this, will it cost a ton?" Those kinds of agreements are usually made on a company basis, i.e. there's no cost to just leave a model running and see what happens. (Which is a huge advantage, by the way.)
- boulos 6y agoJust a correction here: we build datacenters near large sources of renewable / hydro plants (I consider hydro a borderline case). We buy renewable credits for everything and are even trying to timeshift load now to match renewable generation peaks. tl;dr: not coal plants :).
- tinco 6y agoIs it just a coincidence that the Eemshaven (eu-west4) datacenter is close to a coal plant then? I'm pretty sure we're going to close that plant soon though.
- nl 6y ago> Is it just a coincidence that the Eemshaven (eu-west4) datacenter is close to a coal plant then? Presumably, since: "Our data center in Eemshaven was the first to be powered by 100% renewable energy from day one." https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/eemshaven/ https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/eemshaven...
- tinco 6y agoI appreciate them buying credits, but as nice as those windmills and solar panels are, when the sun doesn't shine, and the wind doesn't blow, what gets burned is coal. Anyway I suppose that's more a policy issue of The Netherlands, I think it's quite shameful we still have coal plants. Those credits hide the real cost of renewable energy.
- slavik81 6y agoIf electricity cost $0.1/Whr, a cup of tea would cost ~$10 just to run the kettle. You've overestimated the cost of electricity by roughly a thousand-fold. Residential electricity prices in California are more like 0.19 USD/kWh, which is 0.00019 USD/Wh.
- gowld 6y ago$.1 for KWhr not When, so $1200 electricity. Good use of units makes it easy to spot and fix the mistake.