B. Ludin Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Soon it will be time to replace our "mobile workstations". Since we do all of our IC work on these, we need fairly powerful machines. On the other hand, we don't like to waste money on expensive stuff that doesn't really provide a clear advantage. So there are a few key decisions to make. Your comments are highly appreciated. - XP64 - Vista64 - Win7 Do you think Win7 is already stable enough? We'd prefer to skip Vista and we don't like the idea to do a complete re-install a few months from now to migrate to Win7. - Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 (2.8GHz) - Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100 (3.06GHz) - Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad Core QX9300 (2.53GHz) Are the Extreme CPUs much faster than the Duos? Will IC profit from a quad-core CPU in the next 2 years or will it run faster on a higher-GHz duo-core? - NVIDIA Quadro FX2700M (512MB, 48 cores) - NVIDIA Quadro FX3700M (1GB, 128 cores) Will IC really profit from the FX3700? Cheers, Beat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Twining Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 - Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 (2.8GHz) - Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100 (3.06GHz) - Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad Core QX9300 (2.53GHz) Are the Extreme CPUs much faster than the Duos? 25290[/snapback] I would not spend my money on an "Extreme" processor for IC work (but I don't do much rendering). The "Extreme" line has a bunch more on-board cache and so it can chew through CPU intensive tasks a bit faster, but I would consider IC more memory (RAM) intensive than CPU intensive. Of course, if you are doing a lot of rendering of realistic images, you will be using more CPU cycles that if you are modeling or creating drawings. That being said, I think the multiple cores will provide you with sufficient power to work IC while you are rendering an image. I vote a Core 2 Duo (or quad)... NOT the "Extreme". Spend the difference on RAM! To choose between a 2 or 4 core really depends on what (other than IC) you are going to do with the machine. FEA: 4 cores. Surf the 'net and e-mail: faster 2 cores. I don't see 4 cores being any benefit to IC (over 2 cores) unless you are REALLY multi-tasking. - NVIDIA Quadro FX2700M (512MB, 48 cores) - NVIDIA Quadro FX3700M (1GB, 128 cores) Will IC really profit from the FX3700? 25290[/snapback] I see that you are only looking at 64-bit OS's (so I assume you are going to load them up with more than 4Gb of RAM). I further assume this means you will work on some large models. Whenever I look to build a new IC machine, I max out the RAM and the video card first, then back-fill the other components with the remaining budget. To that end, I would vote for the 3700. It'll render images much faster, plus it should be able to spin some pretty huge models in 3D. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronKevin Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 One note: I have had several complaints about the Quadro FX 3700 (but the 3500 has worked well here). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Ludin Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 (edited) One note: I have had several complaints about the Quadro FX 3700 (but the 3500 has worked well here). 25292[/snapback] Can you be a little more specific? Rendering mistakes or more serious problems? Have you had better feedback/experience about the FX 2700? Edited July 10, 2009 by B. Ludin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Ludin Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 Thanks Mike I see your opinion is very similar to mine. I see that you are only looking at 64-bit OS's (so I assume you are going to load them up with more than 4Gb of RAM)...25291[/snapback] There have been reports that IC is running A LOT faster under 64bit, so that is mostly why we're going for it. I'll probably go with 4x 2GB RAM, because the price for 4GB modules is still very high. In principle, I would also agree with you regarding the FX3700. But with a laptop, power consumption and heat generation are also need to be considered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronKevin Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 I've had many reports of graphics freezing (forcing PC reboot) when using the FX 3700. Of course, we haven't been able to reproduce the problems here but I thought you should know. I haven't tested a 2700 and have had no reports from users about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest EricFoy Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Right now I'm lookin' at a Core 5 Quadraplex Flex system with 17 Gigs of fully interlocked dual-port, a 3TB SATA6X HD featuring 7-way HyperDrive Express Technology. Graphics will be handled nicely using a triple-overclocked nVidia XSFX 99000 Twin-Head JamMaster Flamm, running dual overhead, sequential streaming injection graphics imaging subsystems (G-Stream 2.0). I'm gonna package this thing in a CryoKooL 9000Z, which I'll be able to run down around 45 to 50 Kelvin, once I get my LHeGen system stabilized. So, yeah, I'll keep you guys up to date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Ludin Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 Hey Eric, sounds nice but I think I'll need a bigger lap to put that baby on top :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronKevin Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Eric, that goose on your head must lay golden eggs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest EricFoy Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Hey Eric, sounds nice but I think I'll need a bigger lap to put that baby on top :-) 25389[/snapback] You'd be surprised... the colder you get these babies, the smaller they get... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Ludin Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 You'd be surprised... the colder you get these babies, the smaller they get... 25396[/snapback] Sure. But how do you get the cooling liquid through airport security? Seriously. Is the machine you're talking about a laptop? If so, I'm really interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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