Vue 5 Infinite runs 4 threads (and probably more, but I do not have a 8-way system so I did not test on a more powerful machine than a Dual Opteron 275). Vue 5 Esprit runs 2 threads maximum. I think it was the same limitation with Vue d'esprit 4. In that case a dual Opteron dual core is overkill.

The new Pantone ColorVision Spyder 2 works well with LCD and CRT. It is affordable, but I am afraid it is not the best available. Gretag-Macbeth and X-Rite are more precise.

svdl, you can always render a small portion of the screen (where the intersection is). As for 2048 x 1536, the Iiyama Vision Master Pro 510 can handle it, as the Viewsonic P225f. But they are 22 inches, which means 20 real inches (I measured it). An LCD is always a TRUE 24 inches. I found this monitor which has what you want, except it is really a 22,5 inches. http://www.techex.co.uk/info.asp?product=62 Weight ? 92.6 lbs. (42kg) LMAO 1920 x 1200 on a good LCD (which I can actually carry) is good enough for me thank you :)

I've seen the 913N too from Samsung which is not expensive and really very good (color, response time). But in any case I wouldn't compare a 19 inch (1280 x 1024, 5:4 ratio) monitor with a 24 inch (1920 x 1200, 16:10 ratio) monitor. Different animals, each has its strong points, for different uses. But we are in the Vue forum, not a gaming forum, right ? :)

What ? Religious opinions ? I don't believe it :) Well Mr LightPanther I have only one good advice : don't listen to us ! Take the time to see the monitors you are interested in for yourself, because in the end you pay, so your opinion is the only one that counts. I would just say that from a practical point of view, the response time of the Samsung 243T is not abysmal at all. Figures don't tell everything you know. I work, use 2D/3D software, play games and watch films on it everyday. As I test hardware for a living, I've seen my share of monitors. I do not care if it's a CRT or a LCD. If it's good, it's good. I have a 22 inch Iiyama Vision Master Pro 510 (A201HT) too. I am not trying to sell you a 243T, but as it is the best LCD I've seen to date for graphics work on the PC, I think it is useful to share my experience. To work with this monitor in Vue, Poser, Cinema 4D or Photoshop is a dream, and the 'abysmal' response time is quickly forgotten when you play Battlefield 2 or Half-Life 2 in 1920 x 1200. Again, this is my experience, others might disagree (they'd better not ;) Just to be informative, here is a review on the net : http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=243t&page=1 Good day to you all !

The Samsung SyncMaster 243T is excellent. 1920 x 1200 LCD, 24 inch. As good as the best CRTs for color. And a lot of space to work in Vue. In my opinion even better than the Dell 2405. 2 years ago, CRTs were still better than (good) LCD, but this time is over. Take a look at this monitor, you won't be disappointed. I certainly wasn't.

If you want data on a fast machine with XP64, see here : http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12368&Form.ShowMessage=2330683&Reply=2332540#5

I installed V5i on XP64 without problem, the Sponza scene (ultra, 800x600, render to screen) renders in 22 mn 48 s instead of 22 mn 33 on XP32 (1% difference so almost nothing). At the original frequency (4 x 2200) the time is 24 mn 31 s. Here are some results for a few other computers : Athlon XP 1800+ @ 1.53 GHz : 2 h 01 mn 34 s (1 cpu) Athlon 64 3400+ @ 2.4 GHz : 1 h 09 mn 29 s (1 cpu) Pentium 4C @ 3.2 GHz : 1 h 06 mn 06 s (2 cpu, hyperthreading) Dual Xeon 2.8 GHz : 43 mn 22 s (4 cpu, hyperthreading) However, since it is not a 64 bit version, the memory allocation problems are still there. Even with 4 GB of memory (which XP64 uses happily, XP32 sees only 2.75 GB), I had an 'Out of memory' error when creating a 8192 x 8192 terrain... Cinebench 2003 64 bit results are also impressive, with a score of 1359 (19.4 s) for the multi-CPU rendering test @ 4 x 2400 MHz (1105 and 23.8 s with the 32 bit version). Now I am beginning to think that a 64 bit version of V5i is really needed...

P6 just arrived today ! Thanks for all your answers

sacada is right. One of my PCs is also a Dual Xeon 2.8 GHz, and it is very well suited to rendering in Vue Infinite (see http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12368&Form.ShowMessage=2188668). However, Vue 5 esprit / studio is NOT a good match for a Dual Xeon config (some of the CPU power is not used).

I signaled the missing textures problem with network rendering yesterday and it was quickly corrected the same day. So YES, network rendering is now working correctly with 276016.

I do not have problems with my rendering farm and Vue 4 Professional (Vue d'esprit 4 or Vue 5 Esprit are another story). All my computers are in a 100 mbits network with a switch (not a hub) and there is no slowing down. However, the source computer is a Dual Xeon 2.8 GHz, and it has no problem feeding the cow AND rendering.

HyperThreading (HT) is a useful P4 / Xeon feature when multitasking, as it allows a certain amount of hardware parallelism to occur between tasks. The P4 processor is seen by Windows as two logical CPU. On a Dual Xeon configuration, Windows sees 2 physical + 2 logical CPUs. For this reason, if you do two things at the same time (stupid example : virus checking and rendering), the P4 seems to react more quickly than the Athlon. To simplify, HyperThreading is a very limited way of multiprocessing. That being said, rendering a scene on an Athlon 64 or a P4 is the same : 100% of the CPU will be used, with HT on the P4 or without on the A64, because Vue 5 Esprit will use each processor to the limit. On a Dual Xeon however, or on a Quad-Opteron, a certain amount of processing power is wasted by Esprit (2 threads used instead of 4). Vue Pro does not have this limitation.

Parallel static image rendering is, and as far as I know will remain, a Vue Pro feature. Another thing : Vue 5 Esprit uses 2 threads maximum for rendering, Vue 4 Pro (and 5 soon) is not limited to 2 threads. For example with a Dual Xeon + hyperthreading, Vue Pro uses 4 threads (4 logical processors), Vue 5 Esprit only 2.

The benchmark was ran on a Dell Precision 450 Workstation. For individual boards Tyan make good products, IWill and SuperMicro are good choices too.