My office wants to buy a dual processor machine, either a Xeon or an Opteron. All other things being the same (i.e. RAM, GPU etc.) how much of a performance increase will we get in render times in Max? From what i've managed to gather over the internet, not all software handles duals the same way, like maya does all its pre-render calculations on a single processor. How does max deal with a dual? Are render times significantly better than a high-end single CPU machine? Also, given the higher cost of a dual, should we just buy a couple of single-processors within (more-or-less) the same budget?
You will see a great improvement in render times. If you plan on using MR or a plugin renderer, it will be substantial. But that's only when you render. If you plan on doing a lot, there is no substitute.
But make sure you get enough ram, too, as that can slow things down dramatically if you don't have enough. I'd get at least 1.5 gigs, 2 would be better. Beyond that and you'll rarely, if ever, use it. Below that and you'll be going into virtual memory alot, and possibly crashing.
id posted something a while back, im sure it will still be in the archives, it was this forum for rendering/animation and modelling in maya - some people mentioned that while rendering frames for animation, you can set, say even frames 2,4,6...on one cpu and 1,3,5...on the other in maya, but then maya still does not use both cpu's at the same time i think.
more important than rendering/working in say maya or max, is the ability to use multiple programs at the same time. We just built a Dual Opteron 246 for me in our office and man, does it kick some serious butt!!!
though i have not done hardcore rendering on this machine yet, all programs like maya, autocad, photoshop, illustrator, eudora etc, have their windows open at the same time, and the computer does not bat an eye! and in addition to all these programs it still manages to rip wmas to mp4s in itunes at the same time.
A problem with Opterons is that they tend to run a bit hotter than xeons and itaniums, and if you are in a hot part of the globe, you might want to research the possibility of a water cooled system. my case here has 5 fans (excluding the power supply fan), that cross-ventilate the interiors, but you can still feel a definite rise in tempreture around.
Thanks very much, trace and doctor. we've finally settled for a dual 3.06GHz Xeon with 2 gigs of RAM and the Quadro FX card. It should be delivered in a few days.
Don't know about dual-monitors yet. I'll have to arm-twist my boss into it, but i doubt he'll agree...
Just give him something like 'well, now that we have a dual processor, it would be more productive to be able to see two programs running at the same time'. It's kind of true.
You'll love the machine.
Aug 21, 04 12:51 am ·
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Max and Dual Processors
My office wants to buy a dual processor machine, either a Xeon or an Opteron. All other things being the same (i.e. RAM, GPU etc.) how much of a performance increase will we get in render times in Max? From what i've managed to gather over the internet, not all software handles duals the same way, like maya does all its pre-render calculations on a single processor. How does max deal with a dual? Are render times significantly better than a high-end single CPU machine? Also, given the higher cost of a dual, should we just buy a couple of single-processors within (more-or-less) the same budget?
You will see a great improvement in render times. If you plan on using MR or a plugin renderer, it will be substantial. But that's only when you render. If you plan on doing a lot, there is no substitute.
But make sure you get enough ram, too, as that can slow things down dramatically if you don't have enough. I'd get at least 1.5 gigs, 2 would be better. Beyond that and you'll rarely, if ever, use it. Below that and you'll be going into virtual memory alot, and possibly crashing.
id posted something a while back, im sure it will still be in the archives, it was this forum for rendering/animation and modelling in maya - some people mentioned that while rendering frames for animation, you can set, say even frames 2,4,6...on one cpu and 1,3,5...on the other in maya, but then maya still does not use both cpu's at the same time i think.
more important than rendering/working in say maya or max, is the ability to use multiple programs at the same time. We just built a Dual Opteron 246 for me in our office and man, does it kick some serious butt!!!
though i have not done hardcore rendering on this machine yet, all programs like maya, autocad, photoshop, illustrator, eudora etc, have their windows open at the same time, and the computer does not bat an eye! and in addition to all these programs it still manages to rip wmas to mp4s in itunes at the same time.
A problem with Opterons is that they tend to run a bit hotter than xeons and itaniums, and if you are in a hot part of the globe, you might want to research the possibility of a water cooled system. my case here has 5 fans (excluding the power supply fan), that cross-ventilate the interiors, but you can still feel a definite rise in tempreture around.
And yes, dont compromise on the ram
oh tickertocker, its you...email me!!!!
Thanks very much, trace and doctor. we've finally settled for a dual 3.06GHz Xeon with 2 gigs of RAM and the Quadro FX card. It should be delivered in a few days.
Don't know about dual-monitors yet. I'll have to arm-twist my boss into it, but i doubt he'll agree...
Just give him something like 'well, now that we have a dual processor, it would be more productive to be able to see two programs running at the same time'. It's kind of true.
You'll love the machine.
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