G4 processors (dual support)

[Chuck Drew]

Can Studio Artist take advantage of a dual processor (dual thread)? I have a G4 450 and am thinking about an upgrade 1.8Ghz processor which is in single and dual cpu format. All this for faster rendering.

[Synthetik]

Any threaded operations will run faster on a multi-core processor. That includes things like some Ip Ops, some MSG processors, some parts of the Vectorizer, Supersizer, morphing, some hidden internal routines etc. The paint synthesizer itself is not multi-threaded. But depending on what settings you are using in it some aspects of generating the paint nib might be running threaded. So you don't see the speedup for the paint synthesizer like you would for something like a Rank Area filter or a morph. Since PASeq's typically use a lot of different effects multi-core does translate into faster rendering times. Also, even when a program is only using a single thread the operating system can be using the other thread so you gain a speedup from not having to share a single processor with you app and other things running in the main operating system.

The G4 processor itself is getting pretty old at this point in time. A G5 is a lot faster. And the new intel machines are even faster.

The bus architecture of a particular machine has as much to do with rendering speed as the actual processor itself. That's one reason why you can see really large speedups in the paint synthesizer on more modern machines.

[Chuck Drew]

Thanks for the info. I agree with you about the G4 being older but htis is a short term plan and the near future to long term plan is to get another machine all together. I just have to get a few projects done now.