Oh my !  Even before we get a re-architected Poser which we hope can work with dual-core machines, I read of quad-core machines targetted for introduction in Quarter 1 of 2007 ?!

That's like, only six months away !

Hey.....

From a technical point of view, if they do the job properly, it shouldn't matter how many CPUs or cores you have (in one machine).

Trying to charge more for using more cores would generate some friction with the user base.

I bought my current PC last year on tick so can't buy another one for another couple of years. If software houses make software that isn't backwards compatible to the humble P4 HT and AMD equivalent then they're asking for trouble and lost sales.

I always change my PC every 3 years just to keep on top of the latest advances but even that time scale is usually too slow.

You'll find that at the moment the technology is outgrowing the software houses by a long way!

I would hope to see in the next version of Poser, the capability to use HT as V5I does already and also they need to make sure they keep one eye on hardware advances so that they are ready for them, Unrealistic??? Maybe, but it shouldn't be!!!!!

Quad core computers aren't new; I've had one since September. In fact Boxx already offers a 16 core model that supports 128 GB of ram. Not exactly a purchase that  would appeal to impulse purchasers however.

http://www.boxxtech.com/

apple has also been selling quad G5 computers for quite a while. I dunno of any inherent advantage (other than heating one's room in winter, or in summer for that matter), nor do I know if any 3D software can use all 4. however, it's the norm nowadays for OS X software writers to exclude older machines and older OS (9.x, 10.1, 10.2 e.g.). in any case, poser 7 won't be able to use 4 processors AFAIK, and there isn't even any hint yet that it can use dual processors.

Quote - apple has also been selling quad G5 computers for quite a while. I dunno of any inherent advantage (other than heating one's room in winter, or in summer for that matter), nor do I know if any 3D software can use all 4. however, it's the norm nowadays for OS X software writers to exclude older machines and older OS (9.x, 10.1, 10.2 e.g.). in any case, poser 7 won't be able to use 4 processors AFAIK, and there isn't even any hint yet that it can use dual processors.

Most 3d apps can use all four cores: Lightwave, Carrara, VueI, even apparantly the $1.99 version of Hexagon modeler :) Poser is in the minority, and would be very surprised is Poser7 isn't updated to take advantage of this. If it doesn't it isn't a very thourough upgrade. My four core PC actually runs cooler than my P4 2.4GHZ machine, yet is 500% faster. There is definetly an advantage in most cases, and such systems are getting more and more affordable.

yay, then i can pay even more money for even less performance.

AMD dual core has been a big dissappointment for me. sure, a few apps optimized for dual core get a boost, but the majority dont, and they are absolutely useless for gaming. even after half a dozen annoying fixes, hacks, workarounds and even setting the affinity to a single processor (which defeats the purpose of having a dual core CPU) half my games stutter as if i were running them on a pentium II. bah.

Sheesh!  I just learned about dual core, now there is a quad one too?  LOL  Talk about progress. I haven't even bought a new computer and already it's obsolete,  hehe

Quote - yay, then i can pay even more money for even less performance.

AMD dual core has been a big dissappointment for me. sure, a few apps optimized for dual core get a boost, but the majority dont, and they are absolutely useless for gaming. even after half a dozen annoying fixes, hacks, workarounds and even setting the affinity to a single processor (which defeats the purpose of having a dual core CPU) half my games stutter as if i were running them on a pentium II. bah.

It would sure be nice if developers would work to a common established standard. Choosing a system nowadays is becoming increasingly difficult, as it is even selecting a new television. Projector, Lcd, Plasma, hdtv formats for video editing and recording, new codecs being introduced overnight... argggh. Sometimes I wish things would slow down and engineers could optomize existing standards rather than abandoning them as soon as they're released. I'm "only" mid fourties but sometimes I feel very, very old.

The reason things are moving fast here is that this notion of packaging multi-processors into a single CPU chip has started to revolutionize the way to support them.  Before this, each CPU was a separate processor with its own socket/slot which took lots of motherboard space and produced more heat, requiring more cooling.  Also, due to the proximity and more direct connections, they can 'talk' to each other much more quickly.  So, this single CPU multi-processor package is a good idea.

Don't know where some of you have been, but multi-processor computers have been around for a long time.  Check this Unisys link.  The first Cray multi-processor supercomputer was introduced in 1982.  Now, desktop multi-processing is somewhat new, but it has also been around since the early or mid 90's.  My Dual Xeon is already four years old and right next to it is an even older Dual P3 running my server.

As noted, the problem is software support.  For some time, there was no OS support (except for maybe Linuxish OSs).  Windows NT was the first, I think.  And now MacOSX of course.  Software developers need to specifically handle code being sent to multiprocessors so as to ascertain that interdependencies are carefully analyzed and handled (and minimalized as much as possible).  Code can't just be sent to any processor arbitrarily.  Therefore, it is no small feat and usually reserved for situations where the data/operations can be partitioned and run in parallel.

Never think 'old'.  I'll be 42 this year and still play metal, rock, blues, neo-classical on guitar and still do computer development.  I'm gettin' slower, but I'm not dead yet (MP&THG reference). ;)

Robert

Quote - Don't know where some of you have been, but multi-processor computers have been around for a long time.  Check this Unisys link.  The first Cray multi-processor supercomputer was introduced in 1982.

Back then I was 24 and didn't know what a computer was. I was too busy washing my hair and touching up my makeup in any mirror I could find :)

I didn't get my first computer until March 2000, and I didn't even know what the internet "looked like".

So all this stuff is brand spanking new to me :)

The current multi-core boom is an attempt to get around the problems of increasing processing power by just increasing clock speeds. With OS support, dual-core would let Windows itself run on one core, and an application such as Poser on the other, which is a help. But Poser's use of RAM, both the quantity and just how it does so, would still be a problem. The render engine, at least, would be capable of rendering one part of the scene on one core, another part on another, but Poser still isn't capable of splitting a render between two complete computers on a network; on the same computer you have to start being a bit smarter about memory handling. This is a weakness in Poser; at best you could render different frames of an animation on different computers. It's kept Poser at the low end of the CGI business, and now multiple cores are getting into the ordinary level of PC. Poser has other problems, but if it can't use multiple cores, it's going to look SLOW.

"nar..'eel be stone dead in a minnit..;)"
agree on standardization; a lot of packages are set up using modular languages like VB or others, C#, yada yada..;) new modules have to be created, archtectures created, Three-letter-acronyms to be TLA'd..you know the drill..;)

Attached Link: Straight from the horses mouth.

I think it's funny that the e-frontier quote references "Poser 5" saying it is an "engineering challenge" to do in future versions (P6). Hopefully not too much. :lol: For now, I just import whatever P6 scene I can manage to into Carrara and render there since it's faster on single core machines as well as having support for multi-core CPU already. This isn't a 100% solution, and for the scenes that won't import well / properly...I'll just have to hope that v7 contains this support. Maybe some network rendering too ? :unsure:

Personally, I think that calling it P6 was a wee bit of an exaggeration. P5.5 would have been closer. There's a lot of overlap, I think, between the requirements for network rendering and working well on a multi-core system. But my understanding is that multi-core systems can share data between cores much more easily.