If I bought a CRAY super computer will CA be faster?

[lbuttery]

Edward:

The Quadro's are suppose to be good for CAD systems like Autocad etc

Chief uses OpenGL

a few years ago CA started to recommend the Quadro's and I was thinking of getting one and then CA changed their recommendation

try selling the Quadro on EBAY

Lew

[Gary Doski]

I'll have to wait till later this summer for a new computer with new CPU's to help with the Raytracing.

Looks like I pissed away a lot of money on these Quadro cards. The Geforce is much better bang for the buck.

Well, don't piss away more money, put the card money toward your new computer. Then get a beast!

[Doug Park]

In general I would recommend looking at reviews of the video card you are considering that compare the performance with the high end cards.

It is really hard to tell by the name of the card how it performs. Even the price is not always a good indicator, although in general the faster cards cost more.

Quadro cards are marketed as CAD cards and usually enjoy an excellent bump in price for a modest boost in performance. I don't like the price performance of the Quadro cards in general, but some have had really good luck with them.

We have some Dell laptops internally that use Quadro cards that are quite good and some others that are not so good so our luck on them has been mixed.

[Max]

Max, Why do you need a separate machines for web use vs. Cad?

Gary, the key word here is "need" as opposed to prefer. I simply got very tired of the usual Anti-virus, spam, male-ware, Trojans, subscriptions, and everything else the industry has insisted we need in order to be "safe" from hackers and their ilk. All of this security nonsense can degrade a system's performance as you very well know.

So...My Chief machine has nothing. Literally. Just runs my apps and, never has a problem. It never needs updates either (turned off).

My Web machine handles the murky world of the bug and virus infested web! I don't care what happens and, interestingly enough nothing really ever has of any consequence. I did recently start using Microsoft's Anti virus software as it's free and really has no effect on performance.

Anyway, that's my preference.

Edited for added content:
One thing to watch for soon if it isn't already happening. That's the tendency for software companies to "require" a web connection while using their software. I am seeing the tendency of the industry to move towards the so-called cloud computing platform where everything we run is located on the web rather than loaded on our personal machines. We will then no longer "own" anything we use and will be completely dependent on the web. Should be interesting to see how this trend will affect internet provider rates...

[Max]

Windows Server Software testing:

Ozgur, I pretty much stopped any further testing on the server software. I cannot exactly describe what the problem was that started surfacing once I got everything installed. It seemed to be related to the drive reading / writing but still unclear. Maybe when I have more time to really get into more of the system settings I can clear this up. Really don't know at this time.

Will close this for now.

[Gary Doski]

Gary, the key word here is "need" as opposed to prefer. I simply got very tired of the usual Anti-virus, spam, male-ware, Trojans, subscriptions, and everything else the industry has insisted we need in order to be "safe" from hackers and their ilk. All of this security nonsense can degrade a system's performance as you very well know.

So...My Chief machine has nothing. Literally. Just runs my apps and, never has a problem. It never needs updates either (turned off).

My Web machine handles the murky world of the bug and virus infested web! I don't care what happens and, interestingly enough nothing really ever has of any consequence. I did recently start using Microsoft's Anti virus software as it's free and really has no effect on performance.

Anyway, that's my preference.

Max, Many small businesses are using AVG free (recommended by IT guys). It does the job and it doesn't bother you unless you tell it to. They do ask you to upgrade to the paid version, just say no. Give it a shot!

[Max]

Gary, I appreciate your input. But no, I will always maintain two separate computers, one for the web and one for my applications. It works really well for me.

[Gary Doski]

Gary, I appreciate your input. But no, I will always maintain two separate computers, one for the web and one for my applications. It works really well for me.

That fine, to each there own.

[portrait]

That's the tendency for software companies to "require" a web connection while using their software. I am seeing the tendency of the industry to move towards the so-called cloud computing platform where everything we run is located on the web rather than loaded on our personal machines. We will then no longer "own" anything we use and will be completely dependent on the web. Should be interesting to see how this trend will affect internet provider rates...

I believe this trend started for preventing the the illegal usage/pirated versions of the programs. This should have been succesfull, because most software companies have the ability to disable the illegally activated programs via web connection.
Today software piracy is not a major problem when compared to the last decade. And it's obvious that software companies broadened the mission of web connection. It's much easier to analyze the user behaviour and requirements this way. It's good for selling some extra program options,modules,etc. for example. (A lot of companies do that.) But the problem is you can't control every bytes of the data sent to the software's information center. So you may be right worrying about your privacy.
Several times it was proven that some big companies gathered and stored personal information of the users. Also hackers can attack your computer by using your software's internet connection gate. So it may be a good idea to use the primary programs on a seperate computer which has no internet access. It's just a choice.
By the way, i don't think this web traffic will severely affect your internet provider rates.

[Joe Carrick]

I don't think I'd worry about Apps like Chief being located on the Web. In fact, only very simple applications such as an online store or forums like this one work at an acceptable speed in most cases - sometimes even those are too slow depending on the bandwidth and transfer speeds.

The processing power requirements to run any complex app over the internet would be extreme and application speed would decline drastically. It's bad enough just transferring data over the internet even with the best connections. Trying to work with the application remote would be a nightmare. Can you imagine CA having a server capable of running thousands of instances of Chief - one for each user? It's not going to happen - distributed processing is much more efficient.

[CARMELHILL]

The Geforce GTX 580 card came this evening. I'll runa few performance tests before, and after, and share my results. The card was $454 from Amazon.

I thought I already had a "beast", Geez, 32 gig ram and dual Xeon processors should be enough. So I'm only upgrading the card now. I need another computer and CA license for a possible new employee this spring, so I'll get them something a little less ""beasty".

[Joe Carrick]

Wow, I only have a GeForce 560M but I don't think my Laptop can use the 580.

What are the specs on that card? $454 seems like a lot to pay for a video card, but what do I know?

[dshall]

The Geforce GTX 580 card came this evening. I'll runa few performance tests before, and after, and share my results. The card was $454 from Amazon.

I thought I already had a "beast", Geez, 32 gig ram and dual Xeon processors should be enough. So I'm only upgrading the card now. I need another computer and CA license for a possible new employee this spring, so I'll get them something a little less ""beasty".

I just bought the GTX 580/"The Perry Special" from Fry's for 395.00, throw in some tax and it was probably $454.00. I guess I like it.

[perryh]

Hay, I paid over $600

[dshall]

Hay, I paid over $600

Really? Maybe I have my numbers wrong, I thought I paid what you paid, maybe it was 595 plus tax. Graphics cards are like wives, once you get them you forget the price you paid.