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archaeology
09-22-2004, 03:26 PM
Does anyone know if the Maya software rendered supports the Itanium processor efficiently? The reason I ask is because we're up against a deadline, and we're running out of rendering resources. Another department on campus has an 1.3 Ghz Itanium cluster and is willing to let us use it, but it is my understanding that unless software is specifically written for 64bit processors, 32 bit software generally runs much slower on 64 bit machines than on 32bit machines.

However, I found this quote on a UK website about Maya and Itaniums:
"Alias has improved Maya’s rendering too. The IPR (interactive photorealistic renderer) is now multithreaded, and Alias has enhanced the program to take advantage of Pentium III Itanium processors in specific areas."
http://www.digitmag.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?ReviewID=7

Would anyone know if this means that the Maya software renderer will actually function as a 64bit application?

If anyone has some advice on this, it is greatly appreciated.

Aaron
BillSpradlin
09-22-2004, 05:29 PM
It's not going to "function" persay as a 64-bit application, but the general rule is that the more computers rendering the better. I haven't had any experience with Itaniums as I think they are way overpriced for what they offer, but I have had first hand experience with the 64-bit AMD Opterons and they run Maya and rendering extremely well. The 2.4ghz Opterons smoke the 3.4ghz 64-bit Xeons in Maya rendering. But again, the Itaniums should perform in a similar manner, I'm just not sure how better or not they will be. The only real way is to test and find out.
gga
09-22-2004, 05:34 PM
Would anyone know if this means that the Maya software renderer will actually function as a 64bit application?


No. Maya will run as a 32-bit application. There's currently no 64-bit maya on sale yet.
Itanium machines can run 32-bit applications, but very, very, very, very slowly, unlike AMD Opteron machines.
Unless you have a lot of Itanium machines, you may find it may not be worth the hassle.
enygma
09-22-2004, 05:42 PM
Generally, as far as I can recall, the Itanium processors are indeed 64bit. However, they aren't an x86 based architecture, unlike the AMD64 processors which are based on the x86 architecture. Itaniums are an Intel specific architecture (IA64 I believe) where as AMD is x86_64. Just an x86 architecture with 64 bit extensions. Now, whether Maya rendering can be done or not on IA64 is all in the code of Maya itself. I believe it actually has to be compiled to run on an Itanium processor. Regardless of 32 or 64 bit operation, as the Itanium is a 64bit ONLY processor, unlike the AMD counterparts, the Athlon64 and Opterons.

Of course, I may be wrong, but I am more knowledgable on the AMD64 side of things than the Itanium side of things.
Castiglion
09-22-2004, 07:41 PM
For what it's worth, this is what the Maya hardware qualification chart (Sept 04) says about 64 bit and Itaniums.

Maya 6.0 is currently Qualified on the following 64-bit systems:

Opteron:
Windows XP Professional (SP1)


Maya 6.0 is currently Untested on the following 64-bit systems:

Athlon 64:
Windows XP Professional (SP1)

Athlon 64:
Windows XP x64 Edition

Opteron:
Windows XP x64 Edition


Maya 6.0 is currently Unsupported on the following 64-bit systems:

Itanium:
Windows XP x64 Edition


http://www.alias.com/eng/support/maya/qualified_hardware/QUAL/maya_60_win.html
gmask
09-22-2004, 07:57 PM
It seems like Opteron would be the more cost effective route.. those systems seem to kick some arse on rendering.
mthemelis
09-23-2004, 03:01 PM
does anybody know when should we expect maya 64-bit?
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