Can System Config make hardware slower?

[jtate]

I am curious, I just got a p4b266 with a 2.0 Intel proc in it, and used to have an A7V333 with a 1.73 AMD in it, untill it died. I have noticed an incredible decline in speed, since switching. I am an animator and when rendering for 2 days I get 10 frames done and when I rendered before with the AMD I would get 50 done. SO would the two motherboards combos be soo much different or could it be some kind of configuration problem?

 

[phsstpok]

Don't know much about animation and rendering. What I do know is that for the P4 to shine your software needs to be SSE2 optimized. Without this the P4 is handicapped by a weak x87 floating point unit. Clock for clock the floating point unit of the P4 is only about half as strong as that of the Athlon XP.

These differences don't explain 10 frames for the P4 vs 50 frames for the Athlon XP! (I'll be curious what other people have to say about this). Without SSE2 optimization the P4 at 2.0 ghz should render at about 60% of the Athlon XP at 1.73 ghz. With SSE2 the P4 should be ahead.

Not that I would know the difference but what software are you using to do rendering.

<b>I have so many cookies I now have a FAT problem!</b><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 07/16/02 08:19 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[leigh28]

Have you got 4in1 installed?

Oops,moon~~~~~~~

 

[jtate]

SSE2 optimized? How do I do that?
To your question I am using Maya to do my rendering

 

[jtate]

No, I don't have 4 in 1 installed either, how does it make a difference?

 

[AMD_Man]

You're probably running it with DDR266 which kills some performance. The P4 wants DDR333 and up or RDRAM.

Also, did you install the chipset drivers and the Intel Application Accelerator?

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[blue_heart]

Also, did you install the chipset drivers and the <b>Intel Application Accelerator</b>?

As i know IAA is being used with Intel chipset only not via, and the motherboard type here is of via chipset

wish if there was UnDo in the life

 

[jtate]

I have the chipset drivers installed and am using pc 2700 ddr ram (333mhz)

 

[AMD_Man]

The Asus P4B266 is an Intel chipset based mobo. It has the i845D.

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[blue_heart]

The Asus P4B266 is an Intel chipset based mobo. It has the i845D.

i am so sorry for this mistake and thank you for enlightening me

seems i messed up between kt266 and p4b266.

this happens with me after 10 hours of office work

wish if there was UnDo in the life

 

[phsstpok]

SSE2 optimized? How do I do that?
To your question I am using Maya to do my rendering

You can't. The application developer has to do it. Contact the publisher or check their website. They might have a P4 optimized version. Maya is well established. I would think that there would be an optimized version.

While I was typing this I did a quick search at Google. I found <A HREF="http://www.xbitlabs.com/cpu/pentium4-2400b/" target="_new">this article</A> at xbitlabs.com. It seems Maya 4.0.1 does have SSE2 support but the Athlon XP 2100+ and 2000+ still outperform a P4 2.0ghz in Maya rendering.

If this stuff is your "bread and butter" you might consider getting a dual Athlon rig (assuming Maya supports dual processors). In the meantime you probably need the latest version of Maya. (All of this is just my opinion, of course).



<b>I have so many cookies I now have a FAT problem!</b><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 07/16/02 02:11 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

got anything running in the background? Virus scanner? some other program?

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=9933" target="_new"> My Rig </A>

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

"SSE2 optimized? How do I do that?
To your question I am using Maya to do my rendering"

You should be able to download a pentium 4 driver for Maya. Then just apply the driver to Maya. Refere to the website maybe their is something there.

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=9933" target="_new"> My Rig </A>

 

[jtate]

Thanks for finding that for me phsstpok. I knew it had to be the hardware outright, and the main reason I posted this was because I had some crack head computer repair man trying to rip me off, saying it was some kind of software configuration was why it was so slow. It's all pretty becoming a lot clearer now. Thanks! =0)

 

[phsstpok]

Yeah, a lot of it is the floating point architecture. It was easier to see with benchmarks of the first version of the P4, the Willamette. When clock speeds of P4's and Athlons were a lot closer. THG has some of those early benchmarks (sorry don't have a link off hand).

The Northwood is a much better processor because of a larger cache and because it scales to much higher speeds but it still has the floating point defficiency. SSE2 makes up for a lot but many applications still rely on the older FP processing.

<b>I have so many cookies I now have a FAT problem!</b>