AMD: Quad-core in 2007

[JDex]

Well... I can't wait! Wowsa.

[GrM]

Time to start saving my lunch money... :scream:

[BillSpradlin]

Hopefully we'll see a licensing change amongst some of the top renderers to a node based licensing scheme rather than per CPU. I can't imagine paying for 8 licenses of PRmab or mental ray just for one node (dual quad-core).

[ssalo]

Hopefully we'll see a licensing change amongst some of the top renderers to a node based licensing scheme rather than per CPU. I can't imagine paying for 8 licenses of PRmab or mental ray just for one node (dual quad-core).


i don't know about Renderman but Mental ray treats one dual-core CPU as one CPU (license wise) and one could assume it treats same quad-core as well.

[3DDave]

That is a tough spot to be in, on one hand they need to sell licences to stay in business and on the other hand faster processors and dual/quad cores means fewer licenses needed.

[CupOWonton]

Its not realy a tough spot at all. Its not like people ARENT buying more computers, they are, tons of them, I have about 10 in my house. And people will still need a lisences for each box *for those companies that lisence nodes per computer rather than processor*. So theyre still going to make tons of money, they'd just make MORE money if they stuck to selling a lisence per core rather than box.

[ssalo]

more powerfull processors = more stuff you throw to them = more computers you need ;)

[Para]

I've already convinced myself to hold back my next computer upgrade until I can get a 32-core system...AMD really seems to want my money ;)

[tuna]

That is a tough spot to be in, on one hand they need to sell licences to stay in business and on the other hand faster processors and dual/quad cores means fewer licenses needed.

Not really. CPU's are always going to be getting faster and faster, this is just how they're progressing at the moment since we hit a bit of a plateau in other areas. You'd think you need less nodes if we have more cpu cores (or faster cpu's in general), but we'll always want to crank up the quality of the renders themselves, or do more renders or cut deadlines.

[alexentremont]

Hopefully we'll see a licensing change amongst some of the top renderers to a node based licensing scheme rather than per CPU. I can't imagine paying for 8 licenses of PRmab or mental ray just for one node (dual quad-core).
This is already the case for Renderman for Maya: the node-locked version allows to render on an unlimited number of processors (on one machine of course).

[BillSpradlin]

Renderman for Maya is fine for home users, however it's not useful in a large production environment.

And I'm not so sure that mental ray stand alone recognizes a dual core cpu as one cpu. There were several issues with the opterons that people had posted on the mental images list in regards to the dual core opterons not using all cores. Mental ray for Maya/Max/XSI shouldn't be a problem as they all come with at least 4 licenses for mental ray.

[Beamtracer]

Hopefully we'll see a licensing change amongst some of the top renderers to a node based licensing scheme rather than per CPU. I can't imagine paying for 8 licenses of PRmab or mental ray just for one node (dual quad-core).
When buying 3D software, many people don't look at the licensing agreement that comes with it. I've found that not all vendors are the same. Some license the software to the CPU, while others license the software to the person (so it doesn't matter how many CPUs you have).

I hope in the future that more software vendors move to a "person" licensing scheme, as it's ridiculous to charge people more just because they are running multiple CPUs.

AMD:
AMD is creating some really great processors. I hope they can maintain their lead. AMD is forcing its competition to work much harder.

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