"Dual Core" vs "Hyperthread" CPU technology in CAE analysis?

[xcom982]

Hi !

I want to buy new machine for CAE analysis. Although I studied a lot about the "Dual Core" and "Hyperthread" CPU technology, I'm still not sure which is better for the solving perpormance.

Please, let me know your advice about the problem.

Thanks in advance.

 

[GregLocock]

which solver are you using? does it say it benefits from dual cpu?

Good grief Charlie Brown

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[xcom982]

I use i-deas for linear soler, and ABAQUS for non-linear sover. Does it depends on the solver S/W's matrix solving method ?

 

[mrMikee]

I think most of the benefits from dual core processors will need the next release of Windows which I beleive is Vista (previously called Longhorn.) Then the analysis and CAD programs will need to be recompiled which will probably happen in a future release too. This all will take time.

Anyone interested in the technical side of the processor issue should go to the CPU part of Tom's Hardware. They have some interesting benchmarks also.

http://www.tomshardware.com

Regards,
-Mike

 

[xerf]

It is said in ABAQUS Answers:
that ABAQUS is expected to perform on multiple-core processors, similarly to on multiple single-core processors.

Anyway ,in order to take advantage of dual-core CPU you need additional license to enable parallel processing capabilities. From licesing point of view, ABAQUS sees each core as a separate processor.

From my personal experience, we have machines with single hyper-threading enable processor, with single dual-core and 2 single-core processors. The machines have comparable hardware characteristics (~3.2 GHz, 2 Gb RAM). The licensing does not enable parallel processing and the performance obtained among the machines is comparable if you run a single analysis. If you run 2 independent analyses, the machines with dual-core and 2 single-core processors perform much better.

You sould check I-DEAS support site for similar informations.

 

[xcom982]

It seems that I'd better buy 3.2GHz HT CPU machine than 1.6GHz Dual Core one
to take the full advantage of current S/W capabilities.

Thanks, mrMikee and xerf for kind answers.