Okay. So I'm biased...
Surely you can nice(1) a big job in the background to keep it out of the way
of user-intensive apps? Depending on your app, you might be giving up a LOT
in total run time in order to have a "snappy" foreground process. I admit
that you would still lose some, but if the big job is programed properly,
you should be fine.
By all means, buy what is best for your situation--just don't artificially
limit your situation!
Nathan
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Matt Aylward [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Friday, January 07, 2000 7:31 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Cc: Herbert Wengatz 42850
> Subject: Re: dual celerons vs athlon ????
>
> Herbert,
> Thanks for the comprehensive reply. You cut right through my excitement to
> the
> heart of the matter, see below.
>
> On Thu, 06 Jan 2000, Herbert Wengatz 42850
> wrote: > +> Great response time guys!!
> > +> Thanks to all of you for the help,
> >
> > Hold it!
> >
> > Want another opinion?
>
> Yes please.
>
> >........clipped
> > I'm happy so far, but there is one little thing that annoys me:
> >
> > My old dual PPro felt somehow "snappier" under load. I guess this comes
> simply
> > from the second CPU. - If you throw some heavy work on a dual system,
> there will
> > be at least one CPU, taking most of the load (sure, well written
> software scales better,
> > but still most applications are still single threaded) and the other one
> is "easier to
> > access" for new tasks. So on my old system, when I started some hefty
> job and simply
> > opened another xterm for me, it was there, almost immediately. On the
> 650 MHz Athlon,
> > I have to wait 2-3 seconds (well maybe it's only 1-2 seconds... ;) ) for
> the new xterm
> > to come up under heavy load.
> >
> > The pro of an SMP system is, that if you don't care how long a job
> needs, you can
> > start a big job in the background and have virtually no impact on your
> systems
> > performance, while a single CPU system may be indeed faster with a big
> job, but the
> > system will feel slower to the user during the job.
>
> This strikes a chord, the one thing I hate about my current work machine
> (a PII 300) is when running a GIS image rectification (5 to 40 minutes)
> running anything else is a waste of effort, the system is so slow under
> load it
> is useless.
>
> > Don't get me wrong: I'm a BIG fan of the Athlons, but it really depends
> on what you
> > intend to do.
> >
> > For what I read in your mail, a dual CPU-system may be the more
> interesting choice
> > for you:
> >
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] said:
> > +> My primary uses for this box will be:
> > +> 1. GIS and satellite image processing and analysis.
> >
> > For Image-Processing the Athlon would be a real good choice!
> > (Brute force)
> > But if you can wait for the result while you want to work on in the
> foreground,
> > take an SMP system!
> >
> > +> 2. Biological modelling using Objective-C and the Swarm Simulation
> System
> > +>(see: http://www.santafe.edu/projects/swarm/)
> >
> > Same applies here.
> >
> > +> 3. General programming in C and Objective-C
> >
> > Ditto.
> >
> > [..]
> > +> I understand that Objective-C can make use of 2 processors, and the
> Swarm
> > +> developers are aiming for major SMP and Beowulf cluster support in
> the future.
> >
> > So in fact you _have_ interest in SMP and clustering!? - How will you do
> that
> > without an SMP-box ? ;)
> >
> > +> Secondary use:
> > +> My 13 yr old son playing Windows games.
> >
> > Hmmm... - Allow me the question: Are you buying the system for your son
> of for
> > yourself?
> > Quake or whatever will run almost as well on an SMP box. - OK, he may
> have 5-10
> > fps fewer than with the faster Athlon, but: Who cares?
>
> Right again, at home I have only a Pentium 166, so no matter what I buy my
> son
> will be more than happy.
>
> > - Maybe I have hitted here
> > a weak spot of your own? - I admit I occasionally do play every now and
> then on my
> > machines (that's the only reason for me to keep Win95 on one of my
> disks...).
>
> I like games but I never seem to get time to play them. I think I have
> more fun
> programming my models, they are like games to me.
>
> > Why not? - But you should really take a deep look what you want to do
> MOST
> > of the time with that machine.
>
> You are right again, this machine will really be a work horse, more like a
> pick-up truck than a ferrari. I will be making my living with this
> machine.
> It is nice to be able to drive fast, but it is not much good for carting a
> load of trash to the rubbish dump.
>
> > That way you will become more satisfied. It's not always
> > the best choice to get the lastest technological gimmick! > >
> > Of course, my absolute top-favourite would be an SMP (2-way or 4 way)
> Athlon!
> >
> > I can't wait for them! But I do guess this will *slightly* be out of my
> budget...
> >
> > +> Sounds like the athlon is the way to go. My own reading around the
> hardware
> > +> sites on the net was leaning me that way, but not being very SMP
> savvy I wasn't
> >
> > Depends on what you REALLY need and want.
>
> You have put me firmly back on the side of a the dual celeron SMP box. It
> is
> tempting to be the first kid on the block with an athlon, but I might
> regret it
> when I am trying to run many processes (which I do a lot.)
>
> Thanks again ;^)
> Matt
>
> --
> Matt Aylward <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Deptartment of Botany, University of Western Australia
> LINUX: The OS with the power for real science.
> Long live Linux, Swarm modelling and Grass GIS.
> -
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