Jim Quinsey

Thanks to all of you for your inputs. I've two further questions. The graphics cards in the newer machines: Do they help a lot in rotating rendered images? And I know this is our Vectorworks message board and am in no way trying to overstep the limits, but what about Artlantis render? I use it all the time and am wondering about performance of that program with G4's and the better graphics cards. I've been to their website, which hasn't been nearly as helpful as this one. Any and all thoughts will be appreciated. JimQ

Thanks tons. The new pricing on the 733mhz, single processor is very attractive...

Thank you. quote: Originally posted by Donald Wardlaw: Applications need to be adjusted to take advantage of multiprocessing. There probably is not much benefit to multiprocessing in a drafting program since cpu power is normally not a bottleneck. MP works especially well in database, image editing, sound and video processing and rendering -if- the software developers have tuned or revised their software to use more than one processor. Renderworks may some day benefit by multiprocessors. G4's work fine for VW, but since VW does not employ Altivec instructions, there should not be much difference in performance between say a 500 mhz. G4 and a 500 mhz. G3. The benefits of a G4 are probably beyond VW. OSX will use altivec a lot so G4 machines, especially at the next 10.1 release, should feel snappier than G3's. Also, if you use other applications that take advantage of altivec, like photoshop, the G4 will give dramatic performance improvements. Also, if you are using software that is MP aware, (like photoshop) or if you need to run simultaneous operations (like running a rendering application while doing other work) MP may be useful. Finally, I think a benefit of new hardware is not just cpu speed (which is pretty adequate for most things without even having the worlds fastest computer) but also updated subsytem capabilities (usb, firewire, networking, etc). I think this is especially true with a Mac since Apple integrates hardware subsystems and software for you, and all things considered does a fairly good, if not perfect, job of it. Hope this helps. Donald

Thank you. quote: Originally posted by Donald Wardlaw: Applications need to be adjusted to take advantage of multiprocessing. There probably is not much benefit to multiprocessing in a drafting program since cpu power is normally not a bottleneck. MP works especially well in database, image editing, sound and video processing and rendering -if- the software developers have tuned or revised their software to use more than one processor. Renderworks may some day benefit by multiprocessors. G4's work fine for VW, but since VW does not employ Altivec instructions, there should not be much difference in performance between say a 500 mhz. G4 and a 500 mhz. G3. The benefits of a G4 are probably beyond VW. OSX will use altivec a lot so G4 machines, especially at the next 10.1 release, should feel snappier than G3's. Also, if you use other applications that take advantage of altivec, like photoshop, the G4 will give dramatic performance improvements. Also, if you are using software that is MP aware, (like photoshop) or if you need to run simultaneous operations (like running a rendering application while doing other work) MP may be useful. Finally, I think a benefit of new hardware is not just cpu speed (which is pretty adequate for most things without even having the worlds fastest computer) but also updated subsytem capabilities (usb, firewire, networking, etc). I think this is especially true with a Mac since Apple integrates hardware subsystems and software for you, and all things considered does a fairly good, if not perfect, job of it. Hope this helps. Donald

I'm wanting to buy a new computer and am wondering what opinions people might have on the dual processor Mac G4 machines. I use Vectorworks v9 and Artlantis v4.0 daily. I'm also wondering if Vectorworks runs much better on a G4 chip. I currently have a G3-350 with 448 mb of ram. I look forward to any and all responses. Thanks, Jim