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Will a Higher Pefomances computer help SB compiling/building/loading times???
This thread has 59 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15.
Post 1 made on Thursday November 11, 2010 at 22:01
sofa_king_CI
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???
do wino hue?
Post 2 made on Thursday November 11, 2010 at 22:13
amirm
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I don't use SB but with the rest of Crestron tools, it is definitely a CPU bound process. It is also single threaded meaning other cores don't help you. So best bet is buying a PC with the fastest single core speed.

What speed is your current machine?
Amir
Founder, Madrona Digital, http://madronadigital.com
Founder, Audio Science Review, http://audiosciencereview.com
Post 3 made on Thursday November 11, 2010 at 22:28
39 Cent Stamp
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Compiling is still slow even on fast machines. Maybe not as slow but still annoying. But the rest of it is much faster with better specd machines.
Avid Stamp Collector - I really love 39 Cent Stamps
Post 4 made on Friday November 12, 2010 at 03:28
Ernie Bornn-Gilman
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A small program would take about a minute and a half to load into or out of the original two or three series of Pronto remotes. Does that make you feel better or worse? I don't know how long it takes to compile a Crestron file.

There's always this, though:

A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
Post 5 made on Friday November 12, 2010 at 08:59
Kofi
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On November 11, 2010 at 22:13, amirm said...
I don't use SB but with the rest of Crestron tools, it is definitely a CPU bound process. It is also single threaded meaning other cores don't help you. So best bet is buying a PC with the fastest single core speed.

I disagree. As the name implies, a single core processor is significantly more limited with regards to data processing than a multicore. This still applies to 'single threaded' software. A quad core processor and 8 gb of RAM make everything faster. Multithreading duties are often assigned by the OS (assumikng its 64 bit), so even if the compiler isn't multithreadng, your computer will have much more overhead available for all the other data.

The other problem is availablility. New single core processors are designed for efficiency in mobile devices, not speed. I think you'd have to find an old Pentium 4 or Xenon for a 'fast' single core processor.

So the short answer is yes, a higher performance PC will almost always make software run faster. In a laptop, look for an Intel Core Duo or the newer i3 or i5 processors. i7s are top of the line, but the cost to performace ratio may not be right yet. In a desktop, Intel Core 2 Quad processors are hard to beat when value and performance are considered.


Post 6 made on Friday November 12, 2010 at 09:15
Audible Solutions
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It will marginally affect compile times. The issue is that you have to build every aspect of the program with each build which means the underlying databases have to be accessed and the raw code built into a simpl windows program, a vt pro files ( for each device in the system ) and engraving files generated.

Clearly, the more RAM you are running the better since the program is a memory hog. I'll leave the technical debate about processors to others. That's not my specialty. But I think one of the downsides to this utility is that long build times are inevitable. I was advised by ATSC long ago not to make incremental program changes to the code but to make them all at once because of the long build times. That suggests to me that the long build times are due to the program and how it operates and that computer hardware will only help on the margins.

Alan
"This is a Christian Country,Charlie,founded on Christian values...when you can't put a nativiy scene in front fire house at Christmas time in Nacogdoches Township, something's gone terribly wrong"
Post 7 made on Friday November 12, 2010 at 09:19
thecynic315
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Yes, more RAM and either A) old 3.0GHz P4 or 3) a Corei7, because it can dynamically overclock itself when only using a single core, has the potential to make compile times faster.

But then if you compile faster when will you find time to read these forums?
Post 8 made on Friday November 12, 2010 at 09:38
SignatureSV
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I just buillt my self a pretty insanely fast computer. AMD Phenom x4 Black Edition. this processor has the ability to take single core programs and thread them to all four cores (i think intel's I7 has the same ability) I also have 8gb of ram and my builds compile in half the times my old athlon machine did
The Bitterness of Poor Quality is Remembered Long after the Sweetness of Price is Forgotten! - Benjamin Franklin
Post 9 made on Friday November 12, 2010 at 10:09
mcotton
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I've upgraded my laptop to 4GB of RAM and a faster hard drive. Both of these things have made a difference in SIMPL.
Post 10 made on Friday November 12, 2010 at 10:57
MrDigitronic
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I was told by, I believe his name was Andrew at Cedia last year, supposedly Crestron's SB guru that a SSD drive will significantly speed up up the compile time, since those drives are significantly faster. Since SB needs to access the databases during build time, it's the HD transfer rate that plays a big part in slowing down things. It's on my to do list to try it, but I have not gotten around to it yet. I was a little wary of doing as well since is a fairly new thing, but maybe they are ready for prime time now. Need to do some research about it first.

Would be a real benefit for us. Some of these systems take forever to compile.

Exurb from SSD article:

Speeding Up

With the very fast paced lifestyle these days, most businesses are time-bound and cannot afford a slowing down in their transactions. This makes speed of HDDs a crucial point in technological purchases. The typical access time for a Flash based SSD is about 35 - 100 micro-seconds, whereas that of a rotating disk is around 5,000 - 10,000 micro-seconds. That makes a Flash-based SSD approximately 100 times faster than a rotating disk.

[Link: storagesearch.com]
Post 11 made on Friday November 12, 2010 at 11:07
mcotton
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I got the Seagate hybrid drive. It is a 7200rpm drive with 4Gb flash memory inside. The idea is that it caches recently used programs and then reloads it from the flash memory.

It has reduced windows boot time and SIMPL loading time.

The increase in RAM has made SIMPL and VTPro more stable.
Post 12 made on Friday November 12, 2010 at 11:21
Kofi
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On November 12, 2010 at 09:19, thecynic315 said...
Yes, more RAM and either A) old 3.0GHz P4 or 3) a Corei7, because it can dynamically overclock itself when only using a single core, has the potential to make compile times faster.

The slowest dual cores outperform single cores for almost every application. And an old P4 is going to have a slower front side bus, and is typically attached to a mother board with older, slower components. These bottlenecks will bring your overall system speed way down.

As others have said, add RAM and a fast drive. Multicore processors and anything over 3 GB of RAM are only useful with a 64bit OS, like XP x64 or Windows 7 x64.

And be careful with SSDs. They aren't all created equal. Some are actually slower than old fasioned HDDs.
Post 13 made on Friday November 12, 2010 at 11:35
longshot16
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Sofa,
thanks for starting this thread. Man it takes my files 25 minutes on average in SB for a Prodigy system with 2 PTX3's, pTL4, and iPod touch. I hate it. I see the Dell 17" laptops have up 12 or 16 GB of RAm which is crazy. I know others have moved to Apple's MBP, how is that working out?

I am debating what to do as well. I know moving to Simpl is what most would suggest but thats a steep learning curve for me. I have training for it soon but until then....
The Unicorn Whisperer
Post 14 made on Friday November 12, 2010 at 13:08
avgenius1
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Cory, I made a move from an older Sager with a Core Duo to a Toshiba with an i7 and 8GB of RAM. It came with a 64GB SSD which I promptly swapped for a 128GB SSD. The secondary drive is a 500GB 7200RPM drive. Most laptop drives are 5400RPM which decreases performance in my experiences. There is no perfect off the shelf machine so look for a laptop you can upgrade at will. Sager was always good to me but this Toshiba fit the bill and I quite like it. W7 64-bit is still a bit buggy and I have a few problems with Crestron software on occasion (this is more of a software interaction issue that I havent solved yet but it looks like AVG is creating some problems with GNUmake.exe) but nothing major. I have to kill the GNUmake.exe process when it hangs up. SystemBuilder on an average Prodigy system takes about 5 minutes to build and compile.
"Some may never live but the crazy never die" ~ Hunter S. Thompson
"There will be plenty of time to sleep when I am dead" ~ Me
Post 15 made on Friday November 12, 2010 at 13:53
longshot16
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AV Genius,
what is a typical SB program for you? How many touch panels? If its four or five I'm getting a new laptop today:)
The Unicorn Whisperer
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