Hello!

I'm new to this group.  This is my first post, but I've been using POVray for a
little while now, quite happily, on an iBook G4 with 256MB of RAM.  I'm now,
finally, in a position to purchase a much faster laptop, but I was wondering
what would be best to buy (in the opinion of the people here).  My primary
consideration is speed of rendering and, though I like the Mac, purchasing a
Linux machine is also an option.

(The place where I work is currently in the process of migrating entirely to
Linux, and my next desktop will probably run Linux.)

I've browsed this site reading discussions on the render speeds of various
operating systems, but I'm still unsure as to which way to go.  Also, I don't
know what to expect from the new POVray 4.0 in 2008.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks!

--Sky

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Addition:

I would very much like to be able to use a multicore processor.  There seem to
be a number of complaints about that here.

Thanks!

--Sky

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"Sky Shields" <sky {u} wlym {tochka} com> wrote:
> Addition:
>
> I would very much like to be able to use a multicore processor.  There seem to
> be a number of complaints about that here.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --Sky

If all you're worried about is rendering speed, the best bang-for-buck is
something other than a Mac since you can get equal or better processor
performance for less money. Or, hey, get two or three and run them as a
cluster...

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"Sky Shields" <sky {u} wlym {tochka} com> wrote:
> I would very much like to be able to use a multicore processor.  There seem to
> be a number of complaints about that here.

I'm using POVRay on a Q6600 (quad core processor), after a long time using a
Pentium 4 processor of the same speed (2.4GHz). The following is based on
personal experience only - it contains no facts of significance:

Highs:
* (3.7 beta only) When you're dealing with a scene where rendering time
dominates over parsing time, POV tends to start eating scenes like popcorn. I
don't know whether the speedup is as good as 400% over a P4 of the same speed,
but it's enough that I don't really care.

Lows:
* (3.7 beta only) Because many scenes render so rapidly on multicore processors,
the morally improving aspect of raytracing is initially lost. Not much time left
to sit in a comfy chair contemplating The Great Questions while you wait for a
render to complete.

* (3.6 and variants only) The realization that when using POVRay 3.6 or variants
to render a still, rendering is leaving almost three-quarters of the available
CPU idle. While rendering on a single core of intel's quad or dual core chips
is likely faster than rendering on a P4 of equivalent clock speed, I haven't
been bothered enough to find out the precise figure.

On the upside, switching back to 3.6 (when you've got a scene using radiosity,
or you're tired of living on the edge) brings back the morally improving
aspect.

Intel seem to be releasing a new line of processors, including a few
mobile/laptop processors, in the not too distant future (first half of next
year?), I don't know how that changes things compared to the current generation
of chips.

Tom

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"Sky Shields" <sky {u} wlym {tochka} com> wrote:

> Also, I don't know what to expect from the new POVray 4.0 in 2008.

Will it even be started in 2008? It's a complete rewrite, I thought, that's got
to take time.

Tom

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