Etabs High End Machine 1

[DoMiNiKaN]

Hello Everybody....im new here..i am trying to find a perfect computer to use etabs 9 to make High rise buildings...40-50-60 stories etc... acutally i have a laptop duo core processor 2.0Ghz with 256mb Video and 1Gb ram...Dell inspiron 9300,,,i am in a process to buy a Xeon Dual Core with 2 processor 3.73 Ghz and 4Gb of Ram...my question is if Etabs take advance of the 2 processor or not...thx

 

[lmcid]

DOMINIKAN:

I recently contacted CSI with similar concerns and was told the following:

1- No, Etabs does not currently support (Version 9) nor will support (version 10) multi-threading or multi-processor computers. They do however did mentioned that their new solver to be released late fall as part of version 10 will be compatible with 64-bit processors and 64-bit operating system.
Partially based on this they expect the performance of the new solver to be between 100 to 250! times faster than the one found current version.

That said, do not make the mistake of buying a dual xeon machine to run etabs 9. Please look at the following thread:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1011845

I just ordered a Core 2 duo based computer which is capable of running 64 bit OS's. Reviews everywhere say it beats AMD-FX in single threaded apps. A RAID-0 system of at least two hard drives might also be of help given the size of the output files created by ETABS 9.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Luis

 

[DoMiNiKaN]

Thank u so much....i got it....i hope that Etabs maybe in the new 10 version can take advance of two processor ....

 

[lmcid]

I don't think I made myself clear. According to CSI, the next solver of ETABS 10 will NOT support multiple processors as it will not be a multi-threaded application. 64 bit OS and CPU's will be supported however.

There is NO benefit whatsoever of purchasing multiple processor computers for running ETABS, unless you have several buildings which you want to run simultaneously... The current fastest chip out there is the Core 2 Duo Extreme. Even though you will not be using the second core (except if you want to do something else while the program runs) it is probably the fastest processor capable of running single threaded apps such as ETABS.

It can also be overclocked quite a bit. The best place to learn about all this is in the gaming forums. In other words, if you are looking for the ultimate computer to run ETABS look no further than extreme gaming rigs... Depending in your taste (and age) they tend to look pretty cool as well....

Regards,
Luis