Rob
we have noticed that there is some sort of internal memory limit (~1GB) 2o
the 2GB may not all be available for dx (except as a RAM disk for the
paging file) which are not available directly for the win32 systems. This
being the case I'd agree with Joseph that a RAID controller will help in
disk access ops.
We use both Nvidia and ATI video cards without problem. As far as your
choices go - is the 128MG VRAM really going to be used? I'd check the
Xserver/driver/OS compatibility for before committing to a card that might
not be exploitable.
I have found that carefully managing the movement of data within the DX
app. is the trick to speedy code. Try not to move data since it is often
copied thereby increasing the memory needs and slowing it down. I'm no hard
core coder so I do not know why sometimes data is copied and sometimes it
seems to be a pointer. Certainly I have found for 1e6 node FE models that I
needed to minimise data transfer - I ended up using lots of lists etc. for
user options which avoided lots of internal data copies.
Peter
At 09:29 26/06/2002 -0500, you wrote:
For the Disk Drive System you might want to use a RAID-0 Controller.
Example
3Ware Escalade 7410 controlller (2-channels/2-drives)
3 disk drives:
1 drive for operating-system and programs
2 drives under Escalade 7410 for the large files
You should get a nice performance boost
>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 06/26/02 09:04AM >>>
opendx-users,
Some colleagues and I are designing a bioinformatics platform that includes
a "high-end" graphics component for visualizing (in 3-D) large numbers of
gene expression profiles. The graphical interface that we have decided to
use is OpenDX. Our current plan is to generate 3-D "topo" maps that
graphically represent the expression 12,000-15,000 X-Y-Z data points at
nine different time points.
For this reason we will soon purchase a relatively expensive computer
($5,300-$6,300). At this point we have narrowed our workstation
possibilities down to two choices that differ in price by more than
$800. Brief descriptions of these two workstations are included below.
My questions are these: Can you provide me with any feedback (pros and/or
cons) regarding the compatibility of OpenDX with either of the two
workstation configurations described below? Are there any reasons that you
know of that the Micron workstation described below--which is $800
cheaper--might be sub-optimal for visualizing large data sets using
OpenDX? Any other suggestions/feedback you have would also be greatly
appreciated.
WORKSTATION A
Model: Micron ClientPro 525
Processor: Intel Pentium4, 2.53GHz (512K cache)
Memory: 2048MB PC800 RDRAM-4 RIMMs
Hard Drive #1: 40GB ATA-100 (7200RPM)
Hard Drive #2: 40GB ATA-100 (7200RPM)
CD Drive #1: 52x Variable Speed CD-ROM
CD Drive #2: 40x10x40x CDRW
Floppy Drive: 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive
Graphics Card: 64MB DDR nVidia Geforce4 MX460 AGP Card, w/TV-out and DVI
Monitor: 21" Sony Trinitron Display (19.8" viewable, .24mm AG)
Add'l Network Card: Intel Pro/1000 MT Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000) PCI
Software: Microsoft 2000 Professional (OS), Microsoft Office 2000
Professional
WORKSTATION B
Model: Dell Precision 530
Processor: Intel Xeon Processor, 2.20GHz,512K Cache
Memory: 2GB Memory with Riser PC800 ECC RDRAM (4 RIMMS)
Hard Drive #1: 20GB ATA-100 IDE, 1 inch (7200 rpm)
Hard Drive #2: 80GB ATA-100 IDE (7200 rpm)
CD Drive #1: 20/48X IDE CD-ROM
CD Drive #2: 40x10x40x CD Read-Write
Floppy Drive: 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive
Graphics Card: nVidia Quadro4 900XGL, 128MB, VGA/DVI (dual monitor
capable) ATI
Monitor: 21" Dell (19.86" vis) P1130 Monitor
Add'l Network Card: Intel Pro/1000 XT, Gigabit PCI NIC
Software: Microsoft XP Professional (OS), Microsoft Office XP Professional
Thank you for your time,
Rob
------------------------------------------
Robert M. Alba
Research Associate
Giovannoni Lab
Boyce Thompson Institute
(607) 254-1259
------------------------------------------
Dr Peter Connolly
Geophysikalisches Institut
der Universitat Karlsruhe
Hertzstrasse 16
76185 Karlsruhe
Germany
tel +49 (0)721 6084593
fax +49 (0)721 71173
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
