Re: processors, video

Hi Vedran!

Vedran Vucic wrote:

>Dear colleagues,
>
>I am planning to buy graphic workstation. However, I do not need your 
>suggestion about brand, but I have heard that there are some phenomena when 
>procesors are concerned.
>
>Some my colleagues told me that heating f the processor may result in 
>pixelation or something like that.
>
Improper cooling of processors and ram or overclocking them to much will 
likely result in random errors and most likely crashes of the machine. 
You should definatly go with the recommended heatsinks (buy boxed 
processors with heatsink), do not use special low-noise heatsinks/fans 
if not explicitly certified for your processor and stay in the limits 
regarding clock speed (eg. do not change the GHz numbers in the BIOS).

I prefer to have extra fans for the case to get excessive heat out, even 
if this means it is not as quiet anymore. Extra video boards will 
generate extra heat inside the case.

A good check is running memtest86 for a day to check for any memory 
related problems and run a couple of kernel builds just to see if  the 
processors performs right.

As a side note: In the older days there were some problems doing mixed 
renderings on DEC Alpha or Intel processor based machines due to 
different FPU/math algorithms. The resulting images looked sometimes 
just a bit different. Bad if you are doing distributed network 
renderings and image sequences will flicker. But that is long gone (8 
years) and nearly forgotten... :-)

>  In addition, I heard that low quality 
>powwer supply unit within computer may cause processor not to function 
>properly and that itcan cause small but visible disturbances of video.
>
>  
>
Yes, definatly go and buy a good power supply (PSU). A lot of rendering 
will need extra power from the PSU for a long time and doing that to an 
underpowered one will either result in random crashes and/or complete 
failure of the PSU. If the PSU is on its limits I wouldn't guarantee 
that it will deliver stable enough voltages for video, hence the video 
spikes/drop outs.... If your system needs, say 380 Watts, go and buy a 
480 or 500 Watt PSU, just in case.

The easiest might be to go and buy a complete machine from one of the 
specialized resellers (you name 'em...). Let these guys know that you 
are planning to put in a power sucking video board and they should 
provide you with a fitting PSU. Then this setup should be fine straight 
out of the box.

       Cheers,
                      Frank...

>Is that true?  Do you have any experience in that?
>
>Thanks,
>
>
>Vedran Vucic
>
>  
>



-------------------------------------------------------
SF.Net email is sponsored by Shop4tech.com-Lowest price on Blank Media
100pk Sonic DVD-R 4x for only $29 -100pk Sonic DVD+R for only $33
Save 50% off Retail on Ink & Toner - Free Shipping and Free Gift.
http://www.shop4tech.com/z/Inkjet_Cartridges/9_108_r285