schutzenkonig

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As some of you know, I make computer calculated art with mathematical fractals. The problem is, the time that it takes for these suckers to render into images (most have 10+ layers, each at 8 mega pixels or more for the images that I will print) is in the range of 5-10 hours. The ones I posted on here, obviously, only took about 10 minutes a piece to render as the size is small.

What I was wondering if any of ya'll knew how to make a pc with several processors to speed up the calculation process. Thanks.

Pacemaker

It's not any harder than making one with a single processor, just more expensive. Not only do you have to buy two processors but normally only the server versions support dual processors. If that wasn't expensive enough the motherboards that support 2 processors are insainely priced. However, if you have a spare 1500-2000 bucks and don't mind building it yourself you can make yourself a nice dual opteron system.

By the way if the program isn't multi-threaded you will see almost 0 performance increase. Before I spent the money I would make sure the programs I was wanting to use supported 2 processors.

octopus

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Pacemaker's right about dual / quad mboards getting pricy, but clusters are relatively inexpensive. That is, if you don't mind using Linux. (Windows clusters work too, but the licensing costs will kill you).

You can buy old Pentium II's cheap - check the classifieds. Each will need a network card and a hard drive > 1GB. Don't worry about monitors, keyboards, or mice. You'll also need a network switch with enough ports to accommodate all of your computers, as well as the network cables to hook them all together.

The hard part is setting up the software. [url option=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=how+to+build+a+beowulf+cluster]Google[/url] should be helpful; there are some how-to books on it as well.

It's actually a pretty fun project if you don't mind spending some time on it. Looks neat on a resume, too.

bleh123

I suggest two things: 1) www.newegg.com it is an amazing site that has relatively low average prices, with AMAZING serivce (99% of people who use it give it 5 stars! I sure as hell do) it always begins delivery of your order withing 2-5 days and you can essentialy get all the parts you need from the site. 2) if you decide to do MP, whatever you do GO WITH AMD, Intel sucks balls and is literally at least 400$ more expensive (if there is any advantage with Intel it is certainly not worth the extra price)

also, pacemaker is correct as in the multiprocessors dont' really add much performace if at all (which is why the MP bullshit with Intel P4 is such bullshit). so instead of MP, you could build a server or workstation single processor high-end computer. The cheapest you could get of those new is no less than 2,000 even with newegg but they are pretty good. Also, if you have $10,000 to blow (might be cheaper, but I think that is the correct price) get a Java machine, they whoop everyone else's ass and it is the fastest thing money could buy (except if you buy 200 computers and cluster them together

schutzenkonig

I guess I should explain why I'm looking at it. I need it to calculate pixels for fractal art. Currently it takes several hours to render a 300 dpi 8x10. I would be getting AMD because intel is definantly overpriced. Sadly, it needs to be a Windows machine because Ultra Fractal 3 only runs on windows.

bleh123

oh yes, I forgot to include you should get a good workstation graphics card, those should take a huge load off the processor. This is a review of last year's high-end cards that cost between 700-1000$ http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gr...0323/index.html

you could check out www.newegg.com to find cheaper workstation cards or whatnot.