> High!
>
> As for raytracing computers NEVER are fast enough, I currently toy with
> the idea of upgrading my prehistoric rattletrap (AMD Athlon 64 3500+) to
> a multicore system, preferably with an AMD Phenom II X6, i. e. a
> hexa-core CPU.
>
> But obviously not all software supports using all cores - does PoV-Ray
> 3.6 (I would not use 3.7 unless its final version is released, a friend
> experienced a bad crash with the current beta)? Are there differences
> between the Windows and Linux versions (I use Linux)?
>
> See you in Khyberspace - www.khyberspace.de
>
> Yadgar

Version 3.6.1 don't support multiple cores. To use multiple cores, you 
need yo launch multiple instances and do partial renders that you stitch 
toggether afterward. In a radiosity scene, it will cause discontinuities 
when the various sub-renders meet.
It means that any scene will be loaded multiple times and redundently 
use your memory, possibly forcing additional swap file access.


Version 3.7 is in release candidate stage. It's very stable and will use 
all available cores.
Some advantages of 3.7 over 3.6.1:
Multi processor/core support. One instance will use all cores/processors 
installed.
MUCH beter radiosity code and many radiosity bugs eradicated.
Beter antialiasing and the ability of using antialiasing and focal blur 
at the same time.
Beter and faster focal blur support with optional bokeh mask.
Native support for high dynamic range both as imput for image_map and as 
an output file format.
Extremely beter resume capability: No artefacts when resuming a 
radiosity scene.

I realy think that you should completely skip the very aging version 
3.6.1 and jump straight to version 3.7 RC3.



Alain

Post a reply to this message