Multiple CPU support?

mccudden wrote on 8/26/2005, 7:44 AM

Do any of the Studio versions have explicit support for multiple CPU's? I'm investigating a new machine and am considering a multi cpu (as well as hyper-threaded) system. It's time to ditch my Pentium III 800Mhz and overnight renders.

Thanks.

Comments

rondi wrote on 8/26/2005, 10:49 AM

i just upgraded to VMS6 Plat and i'm using it on a Tosh laptop with a 3.33ghz P4 with 2 processors--so MS Help/About says. when i look at the Performance tab under Windows Task Manager, i see to windows for the 2 CPU's, both in MS and DVDA. i never looked there with MS4&DVDA2, so i can't say if they take advantage of dual cpu's.

And fwiw, i use my A75-231 more than i use my desktop for editing. it also has a DV port (non powered), along with 3 USB's and a dual video monitor card. pretty nice for a "not too expensive (after rebates from Circuit City)" laptop.

hth,
ron

Tim L wrote on 8/26/2005, 1:18 PM

I can't find it on the Sony website, and I'm not at home right now, but I'm pretty sure that VMS 6 does support multiple processors and hyperthreading.

In fact, I think there is a configuration setting somewhere that lets you specify the max processors VMS is allowed to use, so if you have four processors, for example, you can tell VMS it's only allowed to use three of them.

Hopefully you'll get a more conclusive answer from somebody (although I guess the post above mine is pretty conclusive).

Tim L

mccudden wrote on 8/26/2005, 2:00 PM

Thanks for the response. I've been toying with the laptop idea as well but was worried that the rendering need for raw CPU power was ruling out laptops, since they are mostly switching to lower speed (and power) Pentium M's.
Has the Toshiba's performance been pretty good? Does it compare well with your desktop (assuming roughly equivalent cpu speeds).
I wasn't really aware of that model as I had been looking at newer Dells.

James

rondi wrote on 8/26/2005, 6:59 PM

my desktop (dt), Emachines with AMD2200 (1.8ghz) with a 80gb & 120gb hdd is where i usually capture the video from my Panny GS400, but when we are at a dog trial, it's really nice to capture it to my laptop (lt). I would say the laptop is noticably faster doing the rendering. There are 2 power settings with this computer--one for battery and one for house power---using house power there is no drop in cpu speed, on battery there is after reaching lower battery capacity. I have a USB or 1394 portable DVD burner which i connect to the laptop to burn DVD's also (the lt has a builtin burner, but i prefer to use the Pioneer. If there is a drawback to MY laptop, it is the speed of the disc--it's only 5400rpm, whereas the dt has both hdd 7200rpm. My lt is also void of most programs my dt has. AND it has wireless LAN, so i want to edit while watching PA St play football, i can access all the files on the dt---:) I also bought a 1gb memory card for it, which for sure makes it faster. and of coarse a wireless lt mouse.

Whether a dt or a lt, the amount of memory and the speed of the hdd makes more difference than the processor speed, within reason of coarse....

i'm really not trying to hype Toshiba, but imo, this model with it's options is pretty darn nice, dual monitor card, 100gb hdd, wireless LAN, USB2, 1394, widescreen monitor

do a Google for a75-s231 and you'll get lots of hits, reviews etc.... imho, Dell is not the computer company it once was....

from the previous posters thread--there is a setting in Options/Preferances/Video which allows you to set the # of rendering threads. Mine was default set to 4, which conforms to the help which says "For example, if you had a dual-processor hyperthreaded computer, choosing 3 would allow you to keep one thread available for other tasks while rendering". So this really answers the real question---YES VMS does support Hyperthreading.

hth,
ron