Hi All,
I'm planning my next PC (intel or AMD) replacement and am wondering if a dual processor system is worth the extra cost over single processor systems. Is there benefit in usablity when modelling with complex objects, or simply speeded up renders?

As well as using Carrara 1.1 I use Adobe's Premier (a lot) and Photoshop (not so much).

Thanks
Rob

PS The cost of software I have is decidely more than the hardware, so swapping to the Mac is unfortunately not on for me.

Dual headed PC's are not in my experience base but AMD for me has been exceptional for the $. My 1.4 outruns an Intel 1.8 by 5% and I'm running Win98SE. Rumor out there is that WinXP can improve my PC performance by another 25%. I'll believe that when I see it though. I've been running AMD for a really long time and have NEVER had a glitch. There have also been very few moments in the last several years where the cost was not cheaper for AMD as well. I always build my own machines so I can upgrade them faster and easier. I personally know what's in the machine and how to change it easier that way. It's probably a little more expensive that way but worth it for me. -Kix

I only buy dual motherboards. Even if you can only afford a single cpu you then have the option of adding another one in the future and extending the life of you system. You should get a quality dual amd motherboard with the fastest single processor available. Later on when the price of cpu's drops then add an identical second processor to the system.
Better than having to buy a new computer every 2 years.

I use a dual p4 xeon system @ work..so here's my unprofessional thoughts. Get a dual processor system if you do tons of rendering. If you do more modeling then rendering then you would be 10,000 times happier with dual monitors over dual processors. Dual monitors would make your life sooo much easier...esp in the real of video editing. As for intel vs. amd .... amd is blistering fast. Carrara renders faster on my 900mhz tb then it does on my friends 1.4gig p4. Just make sure that the motherboard you purchase is an awesome motherboard. There are some really sucky motherboards for amd. The compatablitiy problems you may have heard about where all the motherboard manufactors problems. BUT...the p4 definatly has its place. Toms hardware just did a review of a fan failure....the p4 cuts its speed in 1/2 and then a few minutes later the motherboard shut down before the processor burnt down. The AMD athlon was so hot I think it took about 45secs for it to start smoking and burn out. I love athlons..they are rock solid, very very fast, and much much cheaper to purchase. The problem is that if you do animations like I do and you have to leave the computer on for days or weeks at a time you may want the security that comes with a intel chip. just remember that most programs do not support dual processors. My feeling is that in terms of editing I would rather edit on a p3 500mhz computer with dual 21" monitors then have 1 19" monitor and dual processors. Dual processors are great, but dual monitors (IMHO) are much more worth the money.

I have 3 amd tb's and xp's in the house. One of them is a Dual 1.4 amd monster. They all have DC projects on them and run the cpu's at 100% all the time 24/7/365 and I've never had a problem with them yet. Just my .02 Dete It does speed up the render times having duallies.

yeah Detemeat..im jealouse...I just read my post above and I still can't believe that I defended intel..first time in my life I ever did that...but overheating is a valid point. This summer I am building my dream machine and its definalty going to be dual AMD machines... I love them..I do worry about the heat tho. On my 900 tb here at home I have to have the case off or it overheats...that thing has like 4 fans and its not enough :( Are you having any prob's with XP? Lots of people on yahoo groups seem to be having problems. I just bought a laptop with XP on it and I have to say that while its very pretty, its just not as stable as win2000pro....now I will have to format it :(

Just a little additional feedback, it does help a bit during modeling and texturing. It will use both processors for area renders too. So as you are building your model, texturing, and doing area renders to check your progress it helps. Additionally it's nice to have a bunch of stuff in the background running and not impacting your Carrara performance. The real fun is being able to turn off SMP in Carrara, render, and then go play your favorite video game at full speed at the same time.

I'm on my 3rd dual processor box on the PC side, it's not much more for a dual rig these days and I found they delay my upgrade itch by about 6 to 8 months. In the long run it saves me money.

Eric Winemiller
Digital Carvers Guild
Freeware and commercial 3D extensions
http://digitalcarversguild.com

Dual processor systems are perfect for the stuff that we do, rendering. I also read an article on Tom's Hardware guide that stated that there is no need to buy the latest dual 1.6 Ghz system from AMD unless you are doing 3d CGI and rendering. In certain situations, a 2+ Ghz Pentium will outperform such a system. Generally though, the next batch of processors from both AMD and INTEL (2.0 -3.0 Ghz) will be PLEEENTY fast, even for rendering, especially when using 2-3 Ghz of PC 2400/2700 DDR memory. I to want to upgrade my system, but I want to wait until AMD comes out with MP chips faster than 1.9 Ghz and maybe with faster memory speeds. It is a well known fact that many professional graphics studios run dual processors in their render farms. The 3d CGI community is one of the largest customers in the dual processor consumer market. As for the Athlon overheating, there are two possible solutions: 1) Software monitoring/BIOS or 2) Next Gen Athlon.Some motherboards makers supply software with their products that will monitor the temperature of the system, including the CPU within windows. This is in addition to support for monitoring in the BIOS. They may also include options in the BIOS or the S/W that will shutdown the system or send alarms if the CPU gets to hot. Also, the next Gen Athlon is possibly going to do what Intel does now in their CPUs... .Painter

Brenthomer, that is athlon xp's not windows xp that I was talking about. I run win2k on all my machines. If your having problems with your system overheating, put an aftermarket heatsink and fan in it. Dete

Thanks guys. It seems form your comments the duals are the way to go. Brenthomer, I had already planned on a dual monitor setup as well!! Now if only C2 makes full use of SMP!! Bye