the new mac pro

[grant_PD]

A sort of lackluster review of the mac pro here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/26/technology/personaltech/review-apples-new-mac-pro-computer.html

I had no idea that there was this 4k graphics out there. But it looks like there isn't much out there using it. Just like the Thunderbolt plugs.

[digitalcarbon]

thank you jimW for your honest comments.

[M5d]

so are you saying that the new macpro may not give me a great advantage over the latest machine? ($2000 difference between the 2)

Should the Mac mini be considered at all? I didn't think the Mini's integrated graphics were officially supported?

Evaluating hardware purchases based on current software sounds fraught, a software?s minimum requirements only go in one direction.

[M5d]

I was hoping that renderworks would or will in the near future take advantage of OpenCL and the GPU's. Do you know anything about this? my hope is that an 8 Core with a couple of D700GPU's will soundly beat my current set up for rendering.

^^ This would be most helpful in working out how to spec a new Mac Pro, but I'm guessing the answer is with Maxon and they won't disclose. There is no evidence that Cinema 4D uses Open CL yet and the Renderworks engine runs one edition behind C4D, can we know more than that?

Vectorworks still works but its pointless if I can't save my work. I have to quit and restart vectorworks to solve the problem only to get it a few hours later.

Hi Altivec, this was discussed in another thread recently . . .

. .once the problem occurs you can still save your work before closing Vectorworks. It will report an error saving, but it will save the file with an extended file name.

After you close and reopen VW, just open the temp file and re-save it with "Save As" over its correct name.

[M5d]

It's definitely a bug / software limitation and adding more ram won't solve the problem. When Vectorworks moves to 64 bit, which from what's been said lately is likely to occur with the next release, the problem should be greatly reduced.

A good response on things that exacerbate the problem and what's being done to address the issue at NNA, was given by Jim W. in the thread below.

http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=38346&Number=190180#Post189660

I have seen the temp file it creates but I have never trusted it.

Yeah, I've learned to trust it. If there's any reason not to, hopefully Jim will elaborate.

[PVA - Admin]

I was hoping that renderworks would or will in the near future take advantage of OpenCL and the GPU's. Do you know anything about this? my hope is that an 8 Core with a couple of D700GPU's will soundly beat my current set up for rendering.

Is there a limit on how much Ram Vectorworks or Renderworks can use? Do you think adding more ram will help me or is this a bug or limitation on the software? Thanks for your help.

OpenCL: Currently not at all. GPUs are not accessed yet for any of the Hidden Line/Renderworks modes. Eventually I believe yes, but further in the future than 64bit and multithreading most likely. When/if it does, I recommend wearing ear protection because of how loud my singing and dancing will be.

Ram limit: Yes. Vectorworks itself can use ~3.5GB to ~4GB of RAM maximum. Renderworks can take advantage of over 128GB of RAM technically, but currently everything else in the world (HD speed, CPU limits, Software limits) cant even get close to that. If you have 12-24GB of RAM, you most likely have more than enough.

Should the Mac mini be considered at all? I didn't think the Mini's integrated graphics were officially supported?

Evaluating hardware purchases based on current software sounds fraught, a software?s minimum requirements only go in one direction.

Personally I really would not bother with it. The integrated graphics will "work" but the experience, especially in anything 3D, would be slow and irritating. As of this post, the iMac with Nvidia graphics is the lowest end Apple product I would recommend for using Vectorworks.

When it comes down to price, if Vectorworks is your bread and butter and you work primarily with OS X, then the extra cost of a $1500 iMac compared to a much less powerful $800 Mac Mini is totally worth it.

If Vectorworks is something you do not use often, or is used as more of a hobby, then the Mac Mini would do the job in a cheaper manner, both in price and experience.

Edited December 30, 2013 by JimW

[AndiACD]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but, Previously Jim you mentioned that Vectorworks was suffering from a limitation of only being able to make use of 2GB of available RAM and that the "Powers That Be" were working toward overcoming.

Has this bug been fixed?

Can i now make use of more of the 12GB i have installed?

[PVA - Admin]

Renderworks can, Vectorworks by itself can not, yet. That is the main reason that users are getting Out of Memory errors (there ARE other reasons but thats the main one) and will soon be a thing of the past.