G5 Quad report

[TomWaltz]

Since a few people asked about them, I figured I would post my experience with it.

I had been using a Dual 2.0 GHz G5 machine with 1.5 GB of RAM. It's a solid machine, and I cannot complain about it, but for some of the rendering an animation work I do it's a bit slow.

The last major animation I ran was 1440 frames at 1240x600 resolution and averaged about 3 1/4 minutes per frame using Lightworks (I was rendering each frame to JPG for several reasons, and it made a great comparison).

Running the same animation on the Quad 2.5 GHz G5 with 2.5 GB of RAM averaged about 1 minute per frame. HUGE improvement. Checking the Activity Monitor, all 4 processors were engaged (more on that later).

The other thing to note is the 3D window performance. Using OpenGL, the 3D window runs almost exclusively off the video card. The 256 MB NVidia GeForce 6600 is a beast of a video card, and the 3D window ran extremely quickly. It still looks like an old Atari video game, but at least it ran quickly 😉

Section generation was a slight improvement. It's only using one processor, so it was a simple 2.0 to 2.5 GHz comparison, but it was noticeably faster.

I got to thinking about the information of Lightworks being a 3-step process of rebuilding the AC model, converting to LW, then LW processing, with only the last process running multiple processors. As a little experiment, I started a second Archicad session and started it rendering frames as well.

Watching the Activity Monitor with one session, it ran 1 processor for a while, then the other 3 engaged, returned to just 1, then engaged all 4, and cycled like this with each frame. With two sessions, two processors ran heavily at all times, and the LW phase seemed to load balance with whatever else was going on. After two hours, I found that I had about a 20% improvement in number of frames completed over just one process running (295 frames over 250).

I would say if you do a lot of rendering and animation in Archicad, the Quad G5 will be well worth the money. If you are using Archicad for production CDs, the Dual 2.3 processor will be $700 cheaper and almost as fast as the Quad. (don''t forget to add extra RAM to the stock machines!)

I must add that the Apple 23" Cinema screen is the most beautiful monitor I have ever used, and is THE way to work in Archicad!

[Karl Ottenstein]

Very useful information, Tom. Thanks!

Karl

[Dwight]

Don't discount the help the extra Gigulon of RAM gives - something besides processor mathematics must explain the incredible speed gain.

ArchiCAD can theoretically address 2 Gb - many of my complex models show 1.8-1.9 Gb of RAM consumed.

What was RAM use during the rendering?

[TomWaltz]

With two Archicad processes running, the maximum RAM used was 1.9 GB.

[Dwight]

How noisy is it?

[TomWaltz]

I don't think it's any louder than my Dual 2.0 is.

[Dwight]

Sweel. I won't need the special Bose noise-cancelling headphones, then.

Anyone here got them? How they might work on the plane, for instance?

[Karl Ottenstein]

Dwight wrote:
Sweet. I won't need the special Bose noise-cancelling headphones, then.

Anyone here got them? How they might work on the plane, for instance?

Heading off topic, are we? My wife and I each have a set (also a y-connector so we can share an audio feed). Mixed feelings about the Bose Quiet Comfort 2 - although I am sold on the noise-canceling headset concept.

The Bose marketing materials and TV ads are total BS: they do not create a 'zone of quiet' as dramatized. They substantially reduce and even eliminate most low frequency sounds through some unknown-to-me midrange. Mids to highs are not reduced at all. So, while on a flight, the engine noise is blissfully gone (!) ... but that screaming baby behind you is full volume. In 'normal' circumstances, this effect is fine - you can actually talk to someone and hear them without hearing the engines (have used 'em on jet and turbo-prop) ... and you can actually hear your music, or the movie sound track. But, the Bose ads imply that everything will be reduced, and that's just not true. Read more reviews at amazon.com, etc.

The price is steep ($300 without discount) and the headset only works when the AAA battery has power. You'd think that with no battery, the noise canceling would stop but you could still hear your music. Not. Battery seems to last for 30 hours or so though.

Have seen lots of ads for competing headsets ...no idea what their quality and characteristics are though.

Re: computer noise - my desktop fan (originally silent) is in 'moaning' mode. With headset on now, I can barely hear it at all - only the suddenly annoying (because it is the only thing I hear!) tapping of my keyboard.

I have a window air conditioning unit in my office in the summer. Headset gets rid of most of that noise.

Karl

[Dwight]

Well, yes. We were talking about quads and now we can move to the triceps.

Thanks.

[Rick Thompson]

Dwight wrote:
Sweel. I won't need the special Bose noise-cancelling headphones, then.

Anyone here got them? How they might work on the plane, for instance?

I've had some for about a year, and love them. I use them to protect what is left of my damaged ears.. from years of power tools, and yes, if you don't wear hearing protection you will loose your hearing in the high frequencies, and probably develop tinnitus, which is no fun at all. They are great with an iPod for mowing, power tools, working out... etc.

Along the same line as above regarding monitors, I too recently got the Apple 23", which I love. I also got a 20" for all the other stuff and I am in heaven. I got an ATI X800 card which added to the fan noise, which was minimal. I bought a VGA Cooler (ATI Silencer 4) for it but it want mount in the G5 slot without altering. I have not gone there yet. Has anybody tried to adapted it successfully to a G5?

btw.. I have delt with "noise" a lot, due to tinnitus. I have a fountain for background noise which also pleasantly helps drown any computer noise. Much nicer than headphones:)