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    • GaieusG Offline
      Gaieus
      last edited by

      I have a (fairly "old") Intel Pentium 4 processor in my laptop and it's 3.8 GHz but it was from the time when multi core was still in an experimental stage and this single core processor was made to be able to perform dual threading (I think this is called "hyperthreading" in the HW world). It's really handy because in fact it is a single core (with quite high clock speed) so SU can run at high speed on it but when it comes to applications which are capable of multi threading (ie. rendering), it works as a dual core.

      First I didn't know this and I was surprised to see that in the Task manager I have two CPU's displayed and when rendering with IDX Renditioner, it was apparent that two different, independent sets of rows were being processed in the image at the same time.

      I am not a HW guru so I learn something new every day.

      Gai...

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      • C Offline
        chango70
        last edited by

        I just did the same test against my friend's 2x Xeon Quad Mac Pro found out this rig is about 25% faster. Considering his cost around Β£2200 and mine around Β£1500. I'd say I had a deal.

        Gaieus, yes i heard about the Pentium 4 multi threading. I heard for some reason they axed it on the Duo Core processors. Maybe it was too good value for money?

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        • GaieusG Offline
          Gaieus
          last edited by

          I don't know. I'm just feeling lucky now

          Gai...

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          • AnssiA Offline
            Anssi
            last edited by

            The new i7 processor has hyperthreading again. If I understand right, it can also split a demanding task among multiple cores doing something like hyperthreading in reverse...

            Anssi

            securi adversus homines, securi adversus deos rem difficillimam adsecuti sunt, ut illis ne voto quidem opus esset

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            • C Offline
              caddict
              last edited by

              For the record, I have just had to retire my 600MHz Toshiba laptop from active service.

              With its 128MB memory and 11GB harddrive running Windows 2000 and with an on-board video chip, it bravely powered SU6 through many a client presentation. (Granted, the model would often break up into wireframe if view changes were too rapid)

              Now that I have shifted to SU7, and SU6 cannot open models made in version 6, when I tried to install SU7 on the old girl, I was met with the fatal message "Operating System not Supported".

              So there you go. Progress. Still, she had to go sometime.

              Although I am thinking that I could easily revert back to SU6 without really noticing, seeing that version 7 was hardly a quantum leap.

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              • plot-parisP Offline
                plot-paris
                last edited by

                well, at least now you have an excuse to buy a monster! (may I suggest something like the 18.1" screen
                Acer Aspire 8920, that weighs 4.8 kg and hardly deserves the title of 'laptop'?) πŸ˜„

                acer-aspire-8920.jpg

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                • C Offline
                  caddict
                  last edited by

                  I've started saving already

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                  • T Offline
                    tomasz
                    last edited by

                    @plot-paris said:

                    well, at least now you have an excuse to buy a monster! (may I suggest something like the 18.1" screen
                    Acer Aspire 8920, that weighs 4.8 kg and hardly deserves the title of 'laptop'?) πŸ˜„

                    [attachment=0:3anrpjzn]<!-- ia0 -->acer-aspire-8920.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:3anrpjzn]

                    I am also looking for a laptop suitable for SU. You can buy cheaper and not so heavy Acer with same or probably better graphics card. It won't be 18" screen, but who wants to carry a 5kg and/or kill a flying-by bird with a swing of a screen.

                    Author of [Thea Render for SketchUp](http://www.thearender.com/sketchup)

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                    • plot-parisP Offline
                      plot-paris
                      last edited by

                      I do! I do!!! and as a matter of fact, I am writing this with the bespoken beast on my lap, listening to 'Air' by Johann Sebastian Bach from it's in-built 5.1 Cinematic Surround Sound speaker system (with subwoofer - in a laptop!).

                      (and, admittedly, my shoulders are still sore from carying it during my travel from London to the south of Germany two days ago πŸ˜‰ )

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                      • AnssiA Offline
                        Anssi
                        last edited by

                        Jakob,

                        Does it make much noise? I have an older 17" Acer Aspire, and i am otherwise quite fond of it, but it churns away like a bulldozer (not quite but...). I envy my daughter's IMac-it has no fans at all!

                        Anssi

                        securi adversus homines, securi adversus deos rem difficillimam adsecuti sunt, ut illis ne voto quidem opus esset

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                        • plot-parisP Offline
                          plot-paris
                          last edited by

                          it definitely has a fan running, especially when running renders of course. but I think it is not too loud - and for it's monstrous size appropriate πŸ˜‰

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                          • EddyNLE Offline
                            EddyNL
                            last edited by

                            Guys,

                            I've got this museum piece:

                            AMD Sempron 2400+
                            1,75 Ghz, 512 MB
                            ASUS Radeon 9600 128MB

                            I'm looking to buy a new desktop because I can't run any large SU models.
                            What's the most important issue for 3d performance like SketchUp and Kerky?

                            • Dual core? RAM? Or the videocard?
                            • Any suggestions?

                            Thanks, Ward

                            viewtopic.php?f=271&t=11903 Modelling my city for Google Earth!

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                            • R Offline
                              remus
                              last edited by

                              For sketchup you want a fast clock speed (number of cores doesnt effect SU performance.) Good processors to look at are the intel core 2 duo and if your feeling up to a bit of overclocking, the intel core 2 quad. Youll also need a graphics card with decent openGL support, the quadro cards are generally pretty good for this, although a bit pricey.

                              For kerky you want lots of RAM and a processor with lots of cores, although youll need a 64 bit OS if you want to have more than 4GB of ram.

                              On balance, id say go with a core 2 quad processor and 4gb of ram. A pretty standard combination thats also pretty powerful.

                              http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

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                              • EddyNLE Offline
                                EddyNL
                                last edited by

                                Thanks for the quick reply Remus!

                                Would this be any good?

                                Intel E5200 Core 2 Duo
                                Geforce 9300 512mb
                                4096mb / 4GB DDR2 800Mhz
                                500GB 7200rpm

                                AMD Phenom X3 8650+
                                Geforce 8300 HDMI, DVI
                                4096mb / 4GB DDR2 800Mhz
                                750GB 7200rpm

                                viewtopic.php?f=271&t=11903 Modelling my city for Google Earth!

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                                • R Offline
                                  remus
                                  last edited by

                                  The top setup looks good πŸ‘ Dont know enough about AMD to tell you whether the other choice of processor is a good one, though.

                                  With regards to the 8300 graphics card, it seems there have been a couple of minor issues with it and SU: http://groups.google.com/group/SketchUp/web/graphics-card-feedback?hl=en Probably worth investigating, just in case.

                                  http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

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                                  • C Offline
                                    chango70
                                    last edited by

                                    If you can wait, I'd get the i7 Core mobile CPU laptops coming out later half of this year. The multi-threading almost halves your rendering times. Worth the wait I'd say.

                                    If not I recommend http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk you can build one with 512MB Nvidia 9600M GT graphics card for under Β£1000 pounds. I have one and the diffault setting makes sketchup lines look super SMOOTH! without anti-aliasing turned on! Incredable for presentations n walkthroughs.

                                    I'd be honest with you PCSpecialist are not really the best quality as mine broke under a year (arguably not their fault as my GPU, the 8600M GT died and if you read internet forums this card is dying at a dispropotionate rate on all manufacturers laptops including Apple) but their service is incredable. They didn't ask any questions had it sent back and upgraded my chasis (Old Chasis had a 8600M GT which died) with new GPU all for free! Sent back to me in a week. So basically I got a free upgrade from them.

                                    The 9600M GT gives amazing default display quality.


                                    SU.jpg

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                                    • C Offline
                                      chango70
                                      last edited by

                                      @eduardonl said:

                                      Thanks for the quick reply Remus!

                                      Would this be any good?

                                      Intel E5200 Core 2 Duo
                                      Geforce 9300 512mb
                                      4096mb / 4GB DDR2 800Mhz
                                      500GB 7200rpm

                                      AMD Phenom X3 8650+
                                      Geforce 8300 HDMI, DVI
                                      4096mb / 4GB DDR2 800Mhz
                                      750GB 7200rpm

                                      Whats your budget?

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                                      • R Offline
                                        remus
                                        last edited by

                                        Not a core i7 budget going by those specs πŸ˜›

                                        http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

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                                        • C Offline
                                          chango70
                                          last edited by

                                          No but getting a smaller Hardrive like 250GB and a better Graphics Card would be a good trade off. I only use 160HD on my laptop. Just dump all your work on a external HD. They are dirt cheap anyway.

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                                          • P Offline
                                            peweuk
                                            last edited by

                                            @plot-paris said:

                                            I do! I do!!! and as a matter of fact, I am writing this with the bespoken beast on my lap, listening to 'Air' by Johann Sebastian Bach from it's in-built 5.1 Cinematic Surround Sound speaker system (with subwoofer - in a laptop!).

                                            (and, admittedly, my shoulders are still sore from carying it during my travel from London to the south of Germany two days ago πŸ˜‰ )

                                            Which spec was this (ie processor and video card? - and how do you find it for performance with SU?

                                            @unknownuser said:

                                            If not I recommend http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk you can build one with 512MB Nvidia 9600M GT graphics card for under Β£1000 pounds.

                                            I couldn't see any option for choice of graphics on their laptops!!!

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