Vista 64 ok for 3d ?

[Mike.]

Hi,

following my previous thread, i am choosing wich system to build for my new render farm.

i am used to use XP 64. it works well with all softwares i use. (3ds max photoshop, vray, plugs)

will '64bit' plugs work as well with Vista 64 as they do with XP 64 ?

do all the common 3d sotwares and plugs will do well with Vista 64 ?

 

Thanks

[BOXXLABS]

I hear nothing in the original poster's thread that would throw up any "danger signs" for switching to Vista.

 

Vista is no buggier than any other OS at this point - and as long as the components in your new system are modern, you should have absolutely zero issues with stability or performance.

 

Vista has a lot of useful features that XP does not. As long as you have enough RAM in the system, I'd say you will be AT LEAST as productive using Vista than XP. Perheps even more productive using Vista.

 

Don't base your decision on which OS is "buggier". Those who think there is something to "fear" with Vista simply need to take another look and ask questions to those of us who have recently made the switch from XP...

[Tommy L]

Don't base your decision on which OS is "buggier". Those who think there is something to "fear" with Vista simply need to take another look and ask questions to those of us who have recently made the switch from XP...

 

So....as someone who has recently made the switch, what improvements/benefits are there over xp64? Im thinking along the lines of 'if it aint broke, dont fix it'. However, I do also appreciate the need to remain current. I use xp64.

[BOXXLABS]

...what improvements/benefits are there over xp64?

 

Assuming you have new hardware and plenty of RAM, the following benefits can be attributed to Vista over XP:

 

-Searching for files and applications is immensely faster

-multitasking is more responsive and stable

-it's generally more secure (you do have to ""tweak" the factory settings a bit)

-opening your most commonly used apps is faster

 

These are the ones I appreciate and use on a daily basis. I'm sure there are others...

[Antisthenes]

based on all current benchmarks and corporate decisions/use i would not touch vista unless i want to be irritated and have 2x slower performance in some cases

 

xp64

 

but if you are feeling experimental

I would and have used windows 2008 server as workstation or the new windows 7 beta. but not for production yet. I got my fingers crossed for more Linux solutions in the future.

Edited December 15, 2008 by Antisthenes

[BOXXLABS]

wow. I would love to see the benchmark(s) that show art/design production related tasks running in Vista at 50% the speed of XP.

 

Can you point me to any links please?

 

Thanks!

[AJLynn]

Wouldn't running Windows server on a workstation be very expensive and completely unneccessary? Now I've read that Vista can be a few percent slower running CPU intensive processes but for the usual work tasks it's not going to be a huge deal, let alone 2x slower.

 

But with XP64 systems already in place you'll probably find it easier to add more XP64 than to go to a mixed environment.

[AJLynn]

I think what Adam was looking for was a link to some specific results showing Vista with 50% of XP's performance while doing the sort if intensive tasks people on this forum tend to do. Note that he's not kidding - he does work for BOXX, so he'll already know how to get benchmarking software.

[BOXXLABS]

Not to sound arrogant, but benchmarking is my job, and I have seen no evidence to support the notion that somehow VISTA performance lags XP performance in any meaningful or substantial way.

 

Below is a list of some of the applications and benchmark suites we use in my lab to quantify and characterize the relative performance of different hardware and software configurations. We use both "public" benchmark utilities and scene files as well as BOXXlabs-customized internal test scenes and scripts.

 

 

realtime GUI and interactivity benchmark testing:

 

Maya

3DSMax

REVIT

Adobe CS3/CS4

combustion

SPECviewperf 10

3Dmark Vantage

 

2D and 3D scanline/raytrace rendering performance and fluid simulation performance benchmark testing:

(BOXXlabs internal test scenes and scripts)

 

Maya (software renderer)

3DSmax (scanline renderer)

mental ray

VRAY

Cinebench

CS3/CS4

Fusion (fubench)

Realflow

SPECviewperf 10

 

Disc IO and bandwidth performance benchmark testing:

 

iometer

Sandra2009

 

CPU, memory, and system (board-level component) performance testing:

Sandra2009

 

 

 

I can tell you what my results indicate. My results indicate that (with very little exception) Vista performance is roughly on par with XP performance in the areas that digital artists most care about - which are GUI/viewport interactivity and rendering performance.

 

Merry Xmas and Happy rendering.

[Mike.]

Thanks BOXXLABS

i'm still afraid of software compatibility problem with Vista though.

but i think i'll jump the gap.

your advices have been very valuable.

thanks

[AJLynn]

All the important stuff runs on Vista now.

 

Adam - since you're already benchmarking on CS4, are you noticing any substantial gains from the GPU features that Adobe was talking about? Does GPU choice have much or any effect on performance, and are you seeing any real benefits from the Quadro CX?

[BOXXLABS]

Hi AJ,

 

There are some noticeable performance gains for some tasks & toolsets when running CS4 with any *CUDA-enabled GPU. This includes all current Geforce 200x cards as well as Quadro 3700, Quadro 4800 (Quadro CS is a Quadro 4800 with a different label), and Quadro 5800

 

Here's a list of the GPU-accelerated functions:

 

OpenGL/GPU features in Adobe Photoshop CS4 are:

• Smooth Display at ALL Zoom Levels
  
• Animated Zoom Tool
  
• Animated Transitions when doing a One Stop Zoom
  
• Hand Toss Image
  
• Birdseye View
  
• Rotate Canvas
  
• Smooth Display of Non Square Pixel Images
  
• Pixel Grid
  
• Move Color Matching to the GPU
  
• Draw Brush Tip Editing Feedback via GPU
  
• 3D GPU features include:
  
  • 3D Acceleration
    
  • 3D Axis
    
  • 3D Lights Widget
    
  • Accelerated 3D Interaction via Direct To Screen
    

   

GPU features in Bridge CS4 are:

 

• Preview Panel
  
• Full-screen preview
  
• Slideshow
  
• Review Mode
  

 

 

For those artists here who work with large raster images, the GPU acceleration for these functions in CS4 will be immediately noticeable and appreciated.

 

 

 

PS - VISTA64 is by far the fastest and most stable OS on which to run Adobe CS4. XP64 isn't even supported and OSX is slower (and only 32bit capable).

Edited December 15, 2008 by BOXXLABS

[Antisthenes]

that is how they(proprietary hardware and software rackets) move the game on people and why people loathe them

 

here is some good reading on xp vista stuff from slashdot today

 

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/14/2111225

[AJLynn]

So just use an XP disc from a computer you don't use anymore. You're not going to get me to believe you've ever paid Dell for an OS.

 

Maybe Dell just doesn't want to support XP anymore. Their techies are so bad they probably can't handle more than one OS.

[Mike.]

So just use an XP disc from a computer you don't use anymore. You're not going to get me to believe you've ever paid Dell for an OS.

 

Maybe Dell just doesn't want to support XP anymore. Their techies are so bad they probably can't handle more than one OS.

So just use an XP disc from a computer you don't use anymore. .

 

i don't mind paying for an os.... i'm already spending 30000 $ in a config.... the problem is the warranty. if i switch os, warranty will cancel.

i have to choose it first.

so vista or xp, this is where i am now, since i decided to forget the 'server' solution for a simple 'rendernode' version (rackable worksations)/

i think i'll choose vista 64. i looked at all the softwares i use, they are fully compatible.

[Mike.]

Their techies are so bad they probably can't handle more than one OS.

where did you hear this ? personnal story ?

[AJLynn]

That was just a response to Jonas's comment. For you I'm sure Vista Business 64 would be fine.

[Lanyuli]

Below is a list of some of the applications and benchmark suites we use in my lab to quantify and characterize the relative performance of different hardware and software configurations.

 

realtime GUI and interactivity benchmark testing:

3DSMax

REVIT

Adobe CS3/CS4

 

2D and 3D scanline/raytrace rendering performance and fluid simulation performance benchmark testing:

(BOXXlabs internal test scenes and scripts)

 

3DSmax (scanline renderer)

mental ray

VRAY

CS3/CS4

 

Is all the 3ds max and vray version works with vista?

I'm using 3ds max 9 and vray 1.50 sp 1 at the moment.

Will this work as the requirement is xp.

Will all the programs required xp works in vista?

I dont understand the difference. Please acknowledge me.

Thank you.

[BOXXLABS]

Hello Diana,

 

I don't believe that 3DSMAX 9 runs properly in Vista (or Vista 64) but I think recent builds of VRAY 1.5 run great.

 

You will almost certainly want to upgrade to 3DSMAX/DESIGN 2008 or preferably, 2009. The 64 bit version.

 

I also noticed your questions in another thread and I can maybe help you understand 32bit-vs-64bit more clearly.

 

32 bit operating systems and applications can use a maximum of 4096 MegaBytes (let's call it 4 Gigs) of RAM in which to temporarily "hold" the instructions they need in order to run.

 

Sometimes, this maximum RAM limitation in 32bit systems can slow down the efficiency and responsiveness of our applications because the scenes (and other files) we have open add up to more than 4 gigs of data for the computer to try to look at in it's "memory" at the same time.

 

When this happens, the computer's operating system will do the only thing it can do - it will store some of the needed data on a temporary "swap" file (also called a "paging" file) located on the hard drive. As a temporary storage device, a hard drive is thousands of times slower than RAM - and a bad place for your computer to put data if you are needing to keep everything running smoothly.

 

This is where 64bit computing comes in.

 

64bit computers can "see" much more RAM - more than a thousand times more. (But you won't need (and can't afford ) that much RAM.)

 

Anyway, 64 bit applications (& operating systems) allow your programs to keep their normal, proper performance even after the file(s) you are working on become very large.

 

64bit does not = faster applications per se. 64bit simply keeps things running efficiently when you are working with multiple and/or) large files.

 

But your system will need to have enough RAM to accommodate this.

 

8GB of RAM is a great starting point for artists making the move to 64 bit

hardware and software toolsets.

 

These are the basic concepts about 64-bit computing that you should understand first.

 

 

Adam

BOXXLabs

Edited December 23, 2008 by BOXXLABS

[AJLynn]

Thanks for the great explanation Adam. Just one thing I want to clarify - the 4gb limitation in a 32 bit OS is the total address space which must be split between the system and the apps, giving 2gb-3gb total to all apps depending on how you've set up your boot.ini file. This amount can't be exceeded using virtual memory which is why when you overrun your memory in Max you crash.

[BOXXLABS]

exactly.

[Lanyuli]

Thank u guys for making it clear for me.

Adam, your explanation has help me a lot to clear things I'm confused before.

Merry Christmas u guys & have a happy holidays ^.^