Dual processor machines & vvvv

hello

i’m currently buying computers for a vvvv project and wondering about whether or not a dual-processor workstation would provide any advantages over a single processor machine. i understand that much of the processing is done by the graphics card and not by the main processor, but would vvvv’s thinking somehow benefit from the two processors simultaneously handling everything? or would there be a way to have certain patches running on one processor while others ran on the second?

i’m unsure of some of the internal workings of vvvv and how they might relate to a dual processor machine, so bear with me if this is a silly question…

also wondering if vvvv works well on processors other than pentium4 … specifically i was looking at dell precision workstations which use the intel xeon processors, which i know nothing about.

thanks,

  • sven

halo sven.

vvvv itself is not developed to take advantage of multiple prozessors or hyperthreading. the only thing that takes advantage of such systems is when you use something of the directshow-stuff, i.e. playing back audio/video.

it could also provide advantage if you plan on running other software “behind” vvvv.

p3, p4, xeon, amd, whatever makes no difference i’d say. as long as it runs windows/directx9

vvvv itself currently uses only one thread. so a multiprocessor machine will not help so much. a fast processor with plenty of cache helps a lot.
having multiple threads in vvvv is on the wish list, but its a deep issue which can provide manifold benefits when done in the right way. but this will take some time.

if you´re planning on using video with expensive codecs (like huffyuv), a second processor might help - windows might put the directshow stuff onto the other processor - but note that i havent actually tried…

thanks for the info … luckily i have a separate computer for running other applications (such as pd, etc.) so the vvvv computers will be dedicated to vvvv. glad there’s no need for fancy machines …

  • sven

I made a test to compare the performances of P4 3Ghz. I read two videos simultaneous with some others patch. Without hyperthreading: CPU 100% jerked video. With hyperthreading: both CPU turns to approximately 60% and video is fluid for it. I think that Windows XP work with hyperthreading and that vvvv profit from it in this case.

what do you think about this?

A+

as mentioned below that sounds plausible since directshow(videoplayback)stuff can be outsourced to a 2nd hyperthreaded cpu