Jump to content
  • 0

How many cores / threads does VW take advantage of?


Mickey

Question

I was so close to pulling the trigger on a new system build but then Intel released the new Broadwell processors and now I'm rethinking the whole build.

But before I get to far into this I want to know how many cores does VW use?

My assumption is that in drawing it only uses 1, and leans on the GPU, but in rendering it might take advantage of more.

My budget is not going to allow a $1700 6950x, but the 6800 is only a little more than the 6700 and has 6 cores instead of 4.

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-6800K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-6950X/3607vs3604

Jim can you shed some light on this?

Thanks

-mickey

Link to comment

9 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0
Mickey: here's a link to a KB article that outlines the current hardware dependencies of Renderworks and which modes currently utilize multi-core.

Thanks that was helpful and confirmed what I thought.

Now how about objects that are very database heavy?

For example I work a lot with Spotlight, and every light fixture is tied to a database. If I make a change, especially if I have to move a fixture it can take 1-2 seconds before the change takes place. Heaven forbid I have to grab an entire lightplot and move them 1'. Go get a cup of coffee.

I'm sure that hard drive speed effects this as VW is writing to it's internal database every time a fixture is adjusted. So SSD drives in RAID 0 is in my build spec, but does having more cores and threads help this type of behavior?

My suspicion is no. All of the 2D work is only using 1 core so a higher clock speed, and memory speed will effect this more than multi core processing.

From this Article

KB Article on 2016 specs

Faster or slower processor clock speeds have a predictable impact on Vectorworks performance.

Yup, faster clock, more speed but no mention of cores or threads.

Link to comment
  • 0
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

For the slowness you are describing when moving a large number of objects with records, the multicore enhancement of VGM Top/Plan would significantly improve that, since a lot of that is single-threaded screen redraw. Geometry calculations (like doing complex add/subtract solids) or database actions (Like modify by record) would not be affected by the VGM upgrades, that multithreading will likely come later on.

Link to comment
  • 0
For the slowness you are describing when moving a large number of objects with records, the multicore enhancement of VGM Top/Plan would significantly improve that, since a lot of that is single-threaded screen redraw. Geometry calculations (like doing complex add/subtract solids) or database actions (Like modify by record) would not be affected by the VGM upgrades, that multithreading will likely come later on.

Very good.

Thanks that's really helpful.

I milk my desktop computers for close to 5 years.

So if I spend the extra money now on a higher spec multi core processor (looking at Intel 6800 or 6850)that will have a longer life when the VW software takes advantage of the extra cores.

I plan on getting one video card now with a mother board capable of supporting crossfire, and another card in a year or so when the matching card is half as much.

Brilliant. I'll post some pictures when it's done.

Thanks again.

-mickey

Link to comment
  • 0
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
On 1/9/2018 at 6:44 PM, Zeno said:

Someone has the updated link of these link, please?

 

On 1/13/2018 at 10:05 PM, Chris Brough said:

Yes, please update the link!  Multiple links all over the forums have this same issue... :(


Here:


To clarify a bit from this, much of the redraw capability of Top/Plan is now utilizing the GPU, rather than multiple core usage on the CPU. However, that is ONLY redrawing things on the screen, such as when you zoom or pan around. The GPU does NOT handle database access or geometry calculation, such as when you do a duplicate array or extrude along path, those are still single core operations.

More and more parts of what Vectorworks does will continue to be split off onto either the GPU or the CPU as multiple core operations, but this transition will take many versions to complete I am told.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Answer this question...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...