Computer Graphics World

Edition 1 2018

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36 cgw | e d i t i o n 1 , 2 0 1 8 and certification were always ahead of it. But with the expansion of the market to the entry level, price has crept up in importance. For the high-end users, though, it is still low on the list. Running Multiple Workloads The technical and business decision-mak- ers who focused on the workstation insofar as it would be configured and certified to run their most critical workloads indicat- ed that sufficient memory, followed by a high-end CPU and AIB, are top workstation purchase priorities. The number one item identified in the survey was a high-end, multi-core CPU processor for multi-tasking. Some respondents reported to have six to seven programs running at once, powering multiple workloads to boot. For a group that wasn't certain about what was the most critical part of the workstation, the technical decision-makers showed a surprising interest in overclocking and running multiple monitors – especial- ly since overclocking can run counter to reliability, the hallmark of a workstation. The business decision-makers' priorities were multiple screens, sufficient RAM, and certification for their specific soware pro- grams. The managers from AEC firms had a higher-than-average priority for multiple monitors and RAM, while the priorities from manufacturing decision-makers included overclocking and 3D capabilities. Meanwhile, the managers in the US and China placed a higher priority on CPUs and overclocking than the overall average. At JPR, we think overclocking may be a false positive and doubt if overclocking is really understood. The most that a CPU or GPU can be overclocked is about 3 percent to 5 percent, but the impact on reliability due to heating is probably 25 percent or higher. Bottom line, the ROI on overclocking is terrible. CPU and AIB: Function of the App It's probably not a surprise to learn that the respondents said the application deter- mines how a processor impacts produc- tivity – that the value of the CPU or AIB in a workstation depends greatly on the workloads and industry. Aer I/O, memory and AIB rank high with AEC firms due to the large graphics files that are created and constantly up- dated. The newest-generation of high-end AIBs contain up to 24 gb of high-speed local RAM (GDDR5). The main system can house up to 2tb of ECC RAM (DDR4). As astounding as those numbers sound, they aren't there for show; high-end users need all the local storage they can get because the 3D models are getting larger every day. The dream of all designers is to have the entire model in RAM, so they can move through it as fast as possible. The CPU is ranked at or near the top of the components for energy/oil and gas, health care/biotech, financial services, and M&E due to complex computations, rendering, and creating 3D digital files. Geographically, China ranks the CPU as the most important component. In North America and Europe, the I/O and memory are most critical. Workstations have a lot of demands on them, and they meet those demands, which is why they are so popular. A work- station has to have a crazy amount of high- speed I/O, inside and out. Outside there are features such as DisplayPort, external SATA, and USB-C. Inside, though, it has to have dozens of PCIe lines to support graph- ics AIBs (a high-end workstation can be equipped with up to four AIBs), high-speed SSD drives, Intel's new high-speed Octane memory, specialized communications, and special I/O subsystems such as high-speed cameras. I/O is, and always has been, a moving target. The demands for more and faster I/O is one of the things that moti- vates a user to buy a new workstation. Future Trends The respondents to the survey indicated they were most interested in 4k and aug- mented reality for current workloads, and were testing virtual reality. M&E, manufac- turing, and construction expressed the most interest in VR, followed by energy/oil and gas, and architecture firms, which stated they CPU and mem is what CAD software uses, GPU is not used as much for CAD — TDM GPU and memory are key as we store a lot of images — BDM It is smarter to spend money on RAM than CPU — BDM The memory drives the speed, an improvement in the CPU does not impact performance as much — TDM The motherboard dictates workstation speed — TDM CPU is not as relevant with images; insu cient RAM can hurt performance — BDM BUSINESS AND TECHNICAL DECISION-MAKER RESPONDENTS ARE CONFUSED ABOUT WHICH COMPONENT CONTRIBUTES TO GREAT AND POOR PERFORMANCE. 0% 5% 10% 25% 15% 20% 30% Overclocking ability Runs multiple monitor screens Solid-state drive (SSD/flash) storage Handles 3D designs/programming/rendering Strong network connectivity Easy to manage and deploy Powerful processor (CPU) Powerful graphics processor (GPU) Su€cient memory (RAM) Certified for my software applications DECISION TREE FOR TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS DECISION-MAKERS WHO RECOMMEND, APPROVE, OR ACTUALLY PURCHASE WORKSTATIONS.

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