Support of multiple core 64 bit processors and 4GB RAM

Just wondering if there is image processing software which can make full
use of 64 bit processors with more than one core (i.e. Core 2 Duo, Core
2 Quad or equivalents from AMD) and which can use more than 4GB RAM (I
know for instance of mainboards which take 8GB RAM)? Intel is planning
to have a processor with 32 cores by 2009.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 50X0, 7070, 8080, E300, E330, E400 and E500 forum at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
Olympus E330 resource - http://myolympus.org/E330/

The OS is the limit.
32bit Windows does not see all the 4gb of RAM.
Although 64bit Windows technically can see all that RAM it has problems with
stability, program and driver compatibility. Win64 will run Photoshop but
many if not most users cannot use that much RAM effectively.
Vista64 will not be any different, at least at outset, than Win64 and
probably have even less driver support for things like printers, scanners
and calibrators. In fact there will be inadequate driver support when Vista
32 is released in a few weeks.
The truth is that users may think they need that much RAM but the reality is
somewhat different despite what some computer enthusiast magazines/web sites
tout.

In article , babaloo
says...

The truth is that users may think they need that much RAM but the reality is
somewhat different despite what some computer enthusiast magazines/web sites
tout.

You'd need large amounts of RAM when processing large image files, for
instance scans of MF or LF negatives or pnoramic stitches.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 50X0, 7070, 8080, E300, E330, E400 and E500 forum at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
Olympus E330 resource - http://myolympus.org/E330/

"babaloo" wrote in message
. net...
The OS is the limit.
32bit Windows does not see all the 4gb of RAM.
Although 64bit Windows technically can see all that RAM it has
problems with stability, program and driver compatibility. Win64 will
run Photoshop but many if not most users cannot use that much RAM
effectively.
Vista64 will not be any different, at least at outset, than Win64 and
probably have even less driver support for things like printers,
scanners and calibrators. In fact there will be inadequate driver
support when Vista 32 is released in a few weeks.

That depends on your hardware. Anything more than about six months old
should be fully compatible.

I've been running the release version of Vista 64-bit for a month now
and it's very stable and compatible with almost all of my software (the
exact same software the public can buy two weeks). The only thing it
doesn't like to run is a few very old programs and some new ones that
have weird programming requirements (like Capture NX which insists on
using dotNET 1.1) but that's not Vistas fault.

I've been using Vista beta versions for months, and by the time RC2 was
released, it was quite stable and compatible with the vast majority of
software. Companies are developing and updating software for Vista
compatibility as we speak, but it's up to them to get their software
ready for Vista, so any delay is not the fault of Micro$oft.

As for 64-bit issues, I have none of consequence (WinXP x64 sucked by
comparison). My computer is fully supported and it's even using a RAID
with 400gigs of capacity, and my printer, scanner, card reader, camera,
etc., are all supported by Vista - I haven't had to install anything
else, which is quite impressive really.

The truth is that users may think they need that much RAM but the
reality is somewhat different despite what some computer enthusiast
magazines/web sites tout.

I doubt I'm the average user, but I'm using an AMD dual-core with 4gigs
of memory, and yes I do need that 4gigs (Vista 64 needs 1.5gigs to work
smoothly). My next computer will be able to use 8gigs or more and by
then I'll probably need it.

"Bill" wrote:

I've been running the release version of Vista 64-bit for a month now
and it's very stable and compatible with almost all of my software...

Hi Bill,

Does Vista require a 'clean install' or can it be installed over XP Pro so
that I won't have to re-install all my programs? I have an HP XW6400
workstation with dual 3.6GHz Xeon processors and 5GB ram.

"Mardon" wrote in message
. 130...
"Bill" wrote:

I've been running the release version of Vista 64-bit for a month now
and it's very stable and compatible with almost all of my software...

Hi Bill,

Does Vista require a 'clean install' or can it be installed over XP
Pro so
that I won't have to re-install all my programs? I have an HP XW6400
workstation with dual 3.6GHz Xeon processors and 5GB ram.


Depends on which edition you wish to run and which OS you upgrade. If
you have 32-bit XP and want 64-bit Vista, you must do a clean install.
But upgrading XP to 32-bit Vista works.

If that's not a typo and you have 5gigs of memory, I suggest you get the
64-bit edition since all 32-bit versions are limited to less than 4gigs
of addressing in memory (about 3.5gigs so the extra 1.5gig is unused and
wasted).

"Bill" wrote:

Depends on which edition you wish to run and which OS you upgrade. If
you have 32-bit XP and want 64-bit Vista, you must do a clean install.
But upgrading XP to 32-bit Vista works.

If that's not a typo and you have 5gigs of memory, I suggest you get the
64-bit edition since all 32-bit versions are limited to less than 4gigs
of addressing in memory (about 3.5gigs so the extra 1.5gig is unused and
wasted).

I've listed my PC's specs below. I'm thinking that I would get the 64 bit
edition of Vista Ultimate. Is that what you recommend? What kind of
problems can I expect with drivers for my scanners, Spyder colorimeter,
Canopus ADVC-300, etc.? I'm dissappointed that I'll have to do a clean
install but I kind of figured that would be the case.

Current OS:
32 bit XP Pro

Processors:
3.60 gigahertz Intel Xeon (2 installed)
16 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Display adapter:
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4400 512MB

Memory:
'DIMM1' has 2048 MB
'DIMM2' has 2048 MB
'DIMM3' has 512 MB
DIMM4' has 512 MB

Disk Drives:
950.21 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
351.91 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
Maxtor 7Y250M0 250.06 GB dedicated to the OS

MoBo:
Board: Hewlett-Packard 08B8h
Bus Clock: 800 megahertz
BIOS: Hewlett-Packard 786B7 v2.02 06/02/2005

Alfred Molon wrote:
Just wondering if there is image processing software which can make full
use of 64 bit processors with more than one core (i.e. Core 2 Duo, Core
2 Quad or equivalents from AMD) and which can use more than 4GB RAM (I
know for instance of mainboards which take 8GB RAM)? Intel is planning
to have a processor with 32 cores by 2009.

I believe that Adobe PhotoShop uses the facilities of the 64 bit
processors. Whether or not a program uses the dual core machines to
full advantage depends on both the architecture of the program, and the
setting, and design, of the compiler. Using multiple processors is not
a simple thing, and even if the program is compiled for optimal
multi-processor use, the OS must also support it well in order for
maximum benefit to be derived. For any given program design, there is a
point of diminishing returns when it comes to adding processors. At
some point, no further advantage in speed will be noted.

The RAM issue depends on board design, and OS limitations.

In article , Ron Hunter
says...

I believe that Adobe PhotoShop uses the facilities of the 64 bit
processors. Whether or not a program uses the dual core machines to
full advantage depends on both the architecture of the program, and the
setting, and design, of the compiler. Using multiple processors is not
a simple thing, and even if the program is compiled for optimal
multi-processor use, the OS must also support it well in order for
maximum benefit to be derived. For any given program design, there is a
point of diminishing returns when it comes to adding processors. At
some point, no further advantage in speed will be noted.

Actually image processing is one task which can easily be parallelised -
just split the image into parts and assign each part to one processor.
Or, if you are doing panoramics, assign one image of the set to each
processor.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 50X0, 7070, 8080, E300, E330, E400 and E500 forum at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
Olympus E330 resource - http://myolympus.org/E330/

"Alfred Molon" wrote in message
...
Just wondering if there is image processing software which can make full
use of 64 bit processors with more than one core (i.e. Core 2 Duo, Core
2 Quad or equivalents from AMD) and which can use more than 4GB RAM (I
know for instance of mainboards which take 8GB RAM)? Intel is planning
to have a processor with 32 cores by 2009.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 50X0, 7070, 8080, E300, E330, E400 and E500 forum at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
Olympus E330 resource - http://myolympus.org/E330/

First you need an OS that can handle 64 bits. Windows XP, for example is 32
bit and can read 4GB of ram in which 2GB is given to the OS and 2GB is given
to the apps. There is a startup switch to give 1GB to the OS and 3GB to the
apps, however the max RAM per app (per session) is still limited to 2GB. The
64 bit versions, of course, are not limited this way, but you need a 64 bit
app (like you asked about). I'm not sure if PS is truly 64 bit.

You must have a lot of images open or do a lot of stitching of many smaller
files to need such a large amount of RAM.

Don't know about 32 cores! Quad cores are just getting started and they will
likely run for the next couple years. 32 cores may be used for mini and
super computing uses. I don't see it in the desktop market for many more
years.
-S