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Ashley, We're still waiting for our production Intel iMac, but the developer's transition kit (DTK) exhibited the same PyMOL performance under Mac OS X as under Linux or Windows with an equivalent 3 Ghz P4 CPU. That's no surprise given that they were all running GCC-compiled code, and since performance mainly depends on the CPU, compiler, and graphics card, not the operating system. OS's can certainly screw things up, but nowadays all three do a pretty good job of "staying out of the way", when it comes to raw CPU performance. I doubt the Intel compilers will ever be included with Apple's free development tools, but Intel is already making beta compilers available for testing: <http://www.intel.com/cd/ids/developer/asmo-na/eng/227389.htm> Cheers, Warren PS. Our plan is to start distributing our PyMOL universal binary as soon as we can test it on a production machine... -- Warren L. DeLano, Ph.D. Principal Scientist . DeLano Scientific LLC . 400 Oyster Point Blvd., Suite 213 . South San Francisco, CA 94080 USA . Biz:(650)-872-0942 Tech:(650)-872-0834 . Fax:(650)-872-0273 Cell:(650)-346-1154 . mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Ashley Buckle > Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 5:16 AM > To: CCP4 Bulletin Board > Subject: [ccp4bb]: Off-topic: intel iMacs > > *** For details on how to be removed from this list visit the *** > *** CCP4 home page http://www.ccp4.ac.uk *** > > > Following up on Wai's last post, has anyone managed to get > hold of an intel iMac yet and have any compilation > reports/benchmarks for CCP4/ CNS/Pymol etc? Do Intel supply > compilers as part of the Apple developer distribution? When > can we expect CCP4 (universal?) binaries etc? > > Thanks > Ashley > > On 19/01/2006, at 12:37 AM, Yu Wai Chen wrote: > > > > > Dear all, > > > > Here is a summary of all the responses (not a lot): > > > > Original post > > > >> The dual-core intel iMacs are now out. I think the 20" > screen one > >> is quite a good value for money and am considering to buy one for > >> general crystallographic computing and light molecular graphics. > >> Does anyone have any comments about the pros and cons of > >> implementing crystallographic softwares on these new machines and > >> what problems shall we anticipate in the near future? Has anyone > >> actually get their hands on this and tried these out? > > > > Ashley Buckle, Juergen Bosch & Warren DeLano commented in general > > Macs (e.g. G4) running OSX are good for general crystallographic > > computing (no stereo graphics). David Schuller has the most > > comprehensive comments: > > > > The "Core Duo" is Intel's new laptop chip, so integer performance is > > impressive but floating point performance is not the best. > Still, it's > > really not that bad either. The processor is cool and > probably quiet.I > > believe it is dual core, but 32 bit. > > > > It's good to see that, unlike previous iMacs, this one has a gigabit > > ethernet interface. Previously, Apple has limited features on the > > iMacs > > to avoid cutting into sale of PowerMacs, but they don't > have any Intel > > processor PowerMacs available yet. > > > > The "8x SuperDrive" is a little slow compared to what's > available. 16x > > DVD burners are down to $40 on the open market. > > > > Probably the biggest limitation will be lack of expandability. If > > it has > > the features you need, fine, but there is little hope of significant > > upgrade. That includes the monitor, which is built-in. The display > > says: > > 1680x1050 pixels. It's wide, but not that tall. Note > there's a lot of > > blank plastic below the display area. > > > > The Radeon X1600 graphics are not top of the line, but if you're not > > using this as a full-time modeling station, that might be OK. > > > > [the rest is price/performance comparison with other hardware...] > > > > Thanks to you all. I have ordered a 20" iMac intel Core Duo. > > > > Wai > > > > -- > > Yu Wai Chen, PhD................................................ > > King's College London, Randall Division +44-207-848-8206 > > New Hunt's House, Guy's Campus, London SE1 1UL, U.K. > > > > > > Ashley Buckle Ph.D > Research Fellow > The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology > School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine & > Victorian Bioinformatics Consortium (VBC) > Monash University, Clayton, Vic 3800 > Australia > > http://vbc.med.monash.edu.au/~abuckle > Tel: (613) 9905 3781 (office) > Tel: (613) 9905 1653 (lab) > > Mobile: 0400 206069 > Fax : (613) 9905 4699 > > > > > > > >
