Why is Poser 7 so much slower than Poser 6 on my dual-core PC? I thought Poser 7 handles multiple cores better?

For example, using (Poser 6 Hi Res Jessi + bikini top + bikini bottom + strand hair) immediately after program start, with no other changes:

• Poser 6 render time: 2:30
• Poser 7 render time: 6:45

I have an AMD64 X2 4400+ with 2 GB RAM.

I would have thought that Poser 7 would have been at least as fast as Poser 6, if not faster.

For me poser 7 renders way faster than P6 and I run an AMD 64x2 3800. I had scenes that Poser 6 wouldn't even render but P7 did and much faster.

Quote - For me poser 7 renders way faster than P6 and I run an AMD 64x2 3800. I had scenes that Poser 6 wouldn't even render but P7 did and much faster.

That's what I was hoping for, but I don't see it happening on my PC. Another thing I tried was bringing up the Windows Task Manager, and it looks like only one core is being used, since my CPU Load never got over 60% when rendering (Processor Affinty was set to CPU 0 and CPU 1).

Anybody have ideas on what's going on?

I'm at work right now so I can't check the exact settings, but in Options there is a check box to "Render as separate processes" or something similar.  Also a slider for threads if I remember right.  Try changing these, restart Poser and try rendering again.

Sorry I can't be more detailed - been a while since I had to change these.  If I get home before you check back here then I'll post some more detailed instructions.

Quote - I'm at work right now so I can't check the exact settings, but in Options there is a check box to "Render as separate processes" or something similar.  Also a slider for threads if I remember right.  Try changing these, restart Poser and try rendering again.

Sorry I can't be more detailed - been a while since I had to change these.  If I get home before you check back here then I'll post some more detailed instructions.

Thanks! That did the trick - Render for my Hi-Res Jessi test is down to 1:53.

I'm assuming that the thread count should be the number of cores that I have, right? So, when I install my quad-core, I should set it for 4?

Really glad to hear it is working for you now.    Nothing like the thrill of multiple cores tearing through a render :-)

As I understand it, you might get a further increase by changing the number of threads to 4 even on your current processor.  Whether you get an increase in speed depends on the memory in your system and the memory requirements of the scene.  When you get a slow day then it might be worth trying it with a scene to see if it makes a noticable improvement.

Info for when you upgrade:  I'm running a quad core with 2 Gig of RAM on Windows Vista.  I have the number of threads set to 4, but I've found that having the Separate Process box unchecked works best for me.

Just realised that I have the manual in PDF format here, so here's the relevant part on page 26:

**

Render Process Settings**

?

renders in a separate process on the CPU, and vice versa. This feature is disabled by

default. For more information on Rendering in a Separate Process, see

Technology” on page 352

***Separate Process: Checking the **Separate Process box enables running FireFly“FireFly.*****?

you can take advantage of multi-threaded rendering by setting the

Threads

dual-core system, you may see increased benefit from setting the number of threads to

four, rather than just two. However, if you have a single-processor and single-core

system, we recommend that you set the number of threads to one, as the increased

memory demand of running parallel threads may offset the performance benefits. For

more information on multi-threaded rendering, see

****Number of Threads: If you have a multi-processor and/or multi-core hardware system,**Number ofslider to a value greater than one. Even if your system is a dual-processor or“FireFly Technology” on page 352.******NOTE

EVEN WITH A MULTI-PROCESSOR OR MULTI-CORE SYSTEM, IF YOU ARE RENDERING A

HIGHLY DETAILED, MEMORY INTENSIVE SCENE YOU MAY FIND THAT YOU HAVE BETTER

RESULTS BY SCALING BACK THE NUMBER OF THREADS IN ORDER TO REDUCE MEMORY

OVERHEAD. WE RECOMMEND RENDERING YOUR SCENE WITH FOUR THREADS, AND IF YOU

ARE UNSATISFIED WITH THE PERFORMANCE RESULTS, OR IF THE RENDER FAILS TO

COMPLETE, THEN REDUCE THE NUMBER OF THREADS.

**Dim_Reaper - Thanks for the tips! I know where to make the adjustments now. I saw a slight improvement going to 4 threads.

Hmmm. Maybe another memory purchase is in my near future!

**