2CPU or not 2CPU, that is the question.

[singularity2006]

I'm not exactly sure, but I think u would be better off getting a P4 w/ hyper threading as opposed to a dual CPU like AMD or something. From what I remember hearing, you will have better luck running a P4 w/ hyper threading because a lot of applications are not programmed to take advantage of a second CPU ... but I've never used Maya or any of those 3D programs (I'm a photoshop type of guy), so I'm not sure how those will respond to a dual CPU.

[imashination]

If a program doesnt use a second CPU, then it won't gain any real benefit from Hyperthreading either.

[singularity2006]

yah, very true. do research on the applications that you want to use. Look @ their publisher websites too to see if upcoming editions will support either hyperthreading or dual CPU's, then make your decision accordingly. At the moment, you may be better off getting a nice budget board and CPU ($300 or less), that will last you a good couple years and then when the dual CPU's and hyperthreadings have a bit more time to proliferate, then you may consider a hyperthreader or dual solution for your apps.

Personally speaking, I do not think hyperthreading or dual CPU's have been out long enough for applications to make adjustments. Save your money and get a single Athlon XP Thoroughbred or if you really want, a Barton. Or Maybe if u want a P4 that would be okay too. I'm not too clear about the performance differences because it really depends on other hardware too so yeah, whatevers.

[GregHess]

I do not think hyperthreading or dual CPU's have been out long enough for applications to make adjustments.

Singularity...you should do some research before making statements like this.

[Nem]

3d rendering utilizes the second cpu, 50% speed increase or something?
multitasking, gotta love 2 cpus for that

[elvis]

Originally posted by GregHess
I do not think hyperthreading or dual CPU's have been out long enough for applications to make adjustments.

Singularity...you should do some research before making statements like this.
or switch your brain on at least. :p

[singularity2006]

ooops .... :rolleyes:

but i really think that hyperthreading and dual CPU's are not mainstream enough. most of the people i know still are on a single CPU.

[GregHess]

ut i really think that hyperthreading and dual CPU's are not mainstream enough

You know what else isn't mainstream? Digital Graphics...how bout animation? Texturing? Cg? Rendering? How bout global illumination?

Walk in the bar and ask for someone to tell you the difference between raytraced, area, and shadowmapped shadows.

Just because PC World doesn't talk about Dual processor systems alot, or our grandparents don't have them, doesn't mean they aren't completely viable, if not recommended solutions for the 3d industry.

[Nem]

i think singularity means duallies arent as popular as single processors when looking at the grand scheme of things :)

[singularity2006]

ok ok u made ur point. -.-"

[jscott]

i think singularity means duallies arent as popular as single processors when looking at the grand scheme of things

Umm...what grand scheme are you talking about? The scheme of having applications that can use 2 processors or the grand scheme of people who just simply can't afford a dual processor machine? All but one of the new Apple Power Macs are dual processor.

I have been using Dual Processor PC's for over 5 years in the engineering and visualization field. Even some aspects of Photoshop can take advantage of a dual processor system.

If you can afford it I think it's generally preferred to have a dual processor workstation. I know I prefer it.

peace,
-jscott

[Nem]

im talking about usage of computers throughout the world, im sure if u look at every computer in the world, the majority will be single processors

[AmateurOne]

My CG program will be Maya 5. So if my second CPU is in a second box is it a pain in the butt to pseudo background render there instead of on a second CPU in the same box?

And please, can anyone, with actual experience recommend an input device switch box? Oh, pretty please with bottom quarks on top!

[Joel Hooks]

There is plenty of good KMV switches out there ranging from $40-$300+

KVM Switches on Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=kvm+switch&searchdepa=0&Order=priceD)

I think Belkin is a good solid brand for these sorts of peripherals in general.

As for Dual CPUs. You can't go wrong if you are in the Digital Content creation field. Most proffesional painting, rendering, and compositing applications make use of dual CPUs.

"im talking about usage of computers throughout the world, im sure if u look at every computer in the world, the majority will be single processors"

That's both obvious and unconstructive. Most computers in the world are used to email, surf, and download porno. This is a Hardware forum for Computer Graphics, not for a reccomendation on which e-machine to buy your grandmother so she can email recipes to her friends.

"but i really think that hyperthreading and dual CPU's are not mainstream enough."

I really think you should refrain from offering advice on subjects that you are not really well versed in. When you throw out wild comments here, you are affecting peoples multiple thousand dollar purchases.

"c) I hope to use the Maya 5.0 hardware render engine. "

Get dual CPUs. There is absolutely no reason not to if you can afford the price kick. They make working with graphics applications very pleasing, the response time is wonderful, and you essentially get an extra render station at a fraction of the cost of two single CPU workstations.

[Joel Hooks]

Originally posted by Nem
3d rendering utilizes the second cpu, 50% speed increase or something?
multitasking, gotta love 2 cpus for that

I notice about 80-90% increase on average. Almost double the frames when rendering is concerned.

[TCLee]

My CG program will be Maya 5. So if my second CPU is in a second box is it a pain in the butt to pseudo background render there instead of on a second CPU in the same box?

I know if I was on a budget, I'd prefer to get 2 machines, both single processors and use one as the rendering machine and the other as the workhorse. You can also save on the graphics card on the rendering machine as its being used only to render.

That will free up your work machine so that you won't have to wait for the render to finish etc before you can start on another scene. Just gives you more options and flexibility. Of course each machine won't be as fast as 1 dual, but I find it a more productive method of utilizing my time in a production environment.

I've got a dual Xeon at work as the render, and a Athlon at home. My work machine is the M50. Seems to work nicely.

My 2 cents.

cheers.

[GregHess]

I concur with lowdown on the % increase.

3rd party renderers tend to have even a greater % increase in speed due to the effeciency of bucket based rendering systems. (Each cpu, and each hyperthreaded cpu is assigned a bucket. [Aka a Dual Xeon would have 4 buckets rendering]).

Ex of 3rd party renderers (Vray, Brazil, MR, etc...)

[X3M]

My current setup is dual Xeon and I love it. Each cpu has 2 pipes, four virtual CPUs all together. The main program packages I use are Maya and Combustion. They utillize both of the CPUs.

When it comes to a switch box, take a look at Belkin SOHO (http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=200305&pcount=&Product_Id=122102). You can use the buttons on it or hot keys to switch between the systems. That is what I had got for my systems and I love it.

[AmateurOne]

Sincere thanks for all the input. I conclude from what has been said that the primary advantage of the 2nd CPU is for background rendering. Am I wrong? Is the evaluation code of Maya's data graph mutithreaded, for example? Since I am most interested in hardware rendering (hopeful, but haven't seen npr shaders or vector hardware renders on Maya 5 yet) it is not clear that a second CPU would be more useful than a second 1 cpu machine with a good graphics card. Any thoughts on this particular case?

[GregHess]

Since hardware rendering is in its infancy, I doubt it will be viable for production work as of yet. In which case, dual cpu's will continue to reign supreme as the premiere single workstation solution for cg/video applications.

You really can't describe the abilities of a multiprocessor system until you try it...its alot like Dual-Head, once you've got two cpu's/two monitors, everything else is just slow and inefficent.

[Joel Hooks]

"primary advantage of the 2nd CPU is for background rendering."

It's also great for digital video, photoshop, and general multitasking. Like Greg says, once you go with 2 processors, everything else just feels slugish.

[mdcorp]

yes that's right. until november last year i had a dual pentium 3 500. now i have an amd athlon 1800+. ok it's very fast. but sometimes i recognize (when many programs are opened and run in background) that switching between the programs "colapses" the speed.
and that wasn't so with the dual machine. ok it was in general slower but the speed was more continious and didn't have any "collapse".

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