Thanks, but I can only afford the 920 at the moment. By getting a lower powered i7 am I only restricting how many instruments I can handle, and what would you take a guess at that number being?

 An unofficial result of a recent stress test undertaken by one of the MIR Beta testers:

@Another User said:

Primary System:  I really have not been able to stress it.

128 latency:  roughly 50-55 instruments @ 65-70% cpu

512 latency: 80  @ roughly 65-70%

1024: over 100 instruments @ 75%

Like Dietz, I used Perf Legato patches for each instrument.  Same line with adjusted ranges.  Buffer @ 1.  Bringing buffer up allowed me even more cpu room to work with.

... this was on a new built-to-the-task system.

HTH,

@Dietz said:

... this was on a new built-to-the-task system.

christian

Is Mir dependant on processor speed? I am planning on overclocking my 920 to compensate.

of course much depends on processor speed ... overclocking is a science by its own ... read through various overclcocking sites and you will find suddenly you need to care about memory types and voltages, heat dissipation, BIOS settings, bus frequencies, ect.

in a nutshell: overclocking is nothing supported by VSL as hardware in general is not our business. we gladly provide information about working configurations and some insight where possible though.

in other words: to transport a ton of bricks we recommend to use a truck. maybe you could do that with your cadillac too, but do this at your own risk.

christian

 Hi Christian

Do you happen to know what motherboard the dual Xeon system detailed above, which delivers such good results, is running on?

I'm ordering a system tomorrow as I've hit a capacity ceiling on our current VI machine and need to move all our Vienna stuff onto a separate system.  It would be great if I could spec something that will run Mir easily.

Many thanks

Jules

 INTEL S5520, Supermicro X8D, Gigabyte GA-7T - all available in several versions depending on your other needs.

again: strictly stick to the compatibility list of the mainboard when ordering memory!

be aware only 1 memory module per channel (= 3 per processor) allows 1333 - if you plan to insert more (6 per processor) you are fine with 1066 anyway.

christian

Many thanks Christian.

I suspect I'll have to go the 2GB module route (6 per processor) in order to minimize cost, and may even have to start with 1 CPU and add the 2nd when prices fall a little.  Better that way than have a system with no room for 'growth'.

I'm finding that the 24GB requirement really limits spec options a little.  I had an X58 system all ready to go, but I just couldn't find reasonably priced 4GB unbuffered RAM modules, and I didn't fancy maxing it out with 6x2GB modules, and then discovering it wasn't enough.  4GB ECC registered modules are a fraction of the price, meaning you can spec a Xeon system for pretty much the same cost.

I'm hoping 3 1TB drives with the VI's spread across them and a 9500GT should be ok on the HD and graphics front.

Thanks again for your help.

Jules

Hi,

Just ofr your information, I have very bad low latency performances with the Intel S5520.

Standard 4GB sticks are very expansive, right, but you can put a Xeon 35xx on your X58 motherboard and use 4GB Ecc sticks.

the X58 motherboards are not compatible with ECC memory modules (see above) and i can't confirm the latency issue for the 5520

christian

That's the reason I asked about the motherboard in the system which is reporting such good performance.

That said, I would have thought that if one X5500/5520 chipset motherboard has latency issues, then others will have too, but maybe not.

Anyhow, the spec for our rig has evolved, the system has been ordered and is currently being built - luckily I only needed one extra mortgage on my house to pay for it!

Spec is Supermicro X8DT3, 2xIntel Xeon W5580 (3.2GHz), 24GB Ram in 4GB modules (this way the memory bus can still run at 1333MHz because there's only 1 DIMM in each channel - this mobo has 12 memory slots), Vista 64bit Ultimate, mixture of 1TB SAS and SATA drives, 512MB 9500GT Graphics etc.

It should be as fast as current components allow.  I'll post as soon as I have some results.   If it doesn't work I'm in deep trouble!!

Jules

http://www.trailermen.com

@cm said:

the X58 motherboards are not compatible with ECC memory modules (see above) and i can't confirm the latency issue for the 5520

christian

Yes I agree, X58 isn't compatible with ECC, but it doesn't have to. The memory controler isn't in the chipset but, in the Cpu. Ecc support is one of the few difference between the Xeon 35xx/55xx and the Core i7. So you can use Ecc memory on a standard X58 motherboard if you use a Xeon.

But.......... but the thing I didn't notice is that you can't use ECC registered sticks on a X58 motherboard (I don't know why), and non-registered ECC sticks are more expensive than non ECC.

@Trailerman said:

Spec is Supermicro X8DT3, 2xIntel Xeon W5580 (3.2GHz), 24GB Ram in 4GB modules (this way the memory bus can still run at 1333MHz because there's only 1 DIMM in each channel - this mobo has 12 memory slots), Vista 64bit Ultimate, mixture of 1TB SAS and SATA drives, 512MB 9500GT Graphics etc.

I have very bad results with the S5520, but everything is ok on a X8DAi, so I think you shoudn't have any problem with the X8DT3.

 Thanks Stephane - I feel better about the motherboard choice.

You're right that the memory situation is a little confusing, and the wild variations in price between buffered, unbuffered, ECC, non-ECC, registered etc. doesn't help.

Jules

IMO the most important specification for an intel 5520 based motherboard is that it offers a PCIe-x16 PEG slot for grafic card ...

for the memory i can only repeatedly recommend to strictly stick to the compatibility list of the motherboard and actually have a close look at the possible combinations of memory modules (dual rank, quad rank, buffered, unbuffered, ECC)

christian

Hi Christian

Can I ask why you feel an x16 slot is so important?  I would have thought it should only really be necessary if you're gaming.  IS there something I should be aware of here?

 I think the board my system builder is currently using has an x8 slot in an x16 housing, although I'm trying to confirm.  This is fairly critical if it's going to cause a problem.

Many thanks for your help.

Jules

just a practical issue - while the available range of grafic cards for x16 PEG slots is huge the assortment of models for PCIe-x1 is very limited.

i also noticed that not all grafic cards are working in x8 slots or vice versa not all x8 slots support grafic cards (we already have a nice collection of not working combinations resp. combinations working only in 16bit mode and/or VGA resolution here ....)

of course this is only important if you need to have a monitor or two attached ...

christian

Many thanks Christian - that's very helpful.

As soon as the bare bones of the system is in place, I'll ensure that the graphics slot and card are fully compatible and get the builder to test properly in 32bit mode.

If I understand you correctly, everything should be ok if there are no graphics card compatibility issues and it delivers solid performance at 16 and 32bits or are there other graphics specific issues I should be aware of?

Many thanks again for your help.

Jules

you wouldn't like to watch any current OS or applikation at 16 bit (coulor depth);-) MIR needs the grafic card to have proper support  for openGL and directX10, but that shouldn't be topic ourdays ...

christian

 Thanks Christian - all clear.

I was concerned that there was some technical reason why the motherboard needed an x16 slot; perhaps your tests were suggesting any system running this amount of processing and sample-streaming simultaneously suffered PCI bus overloads if graphics were not run over an x16 interface.  It sounds like it's more a general compatibility issue, which I'm sure we can cope with.

Sorry to have pushed you for more details.  It would just break my heart if this system had a fundamental issue which prevented it from running Mir.

All the best

Jules