The best mac pro has 12 actual cores and 24 virtual cores. Does anyone know if virtual cores will show up individually in Netrender.

Jason

I think I remember something about 16 core limit

Only true, actual cores, if I am not wrong.
HyperThreading is not supported.

Correct me, if I am wrong Steffen.

See you
*Fuchur*

PS: All cores available, virtual cores, too.

It also depends on your license. I have an 8-core 2009 Mac Pro but can only run two instances of the NetRender slaves.

I guess Steffen is the only one who really knows the answer to this question.

The limit is at this time 8 cores (real or virtual) , depends on the used license .
Maybe growing this limit to 16 for the release .
The biggest problem here is the avaible memory , if there is to less memory (needed memory depends on the project and rendersettings)
and ther OS must swap the memory to the harddisk, it's very contraproductive .

I remember you talking about diminishing returns if you dont have enough memory.

So just to confirm, Net render is capable of using virtual hyper threading cores?

The next Mac pro is rumored to be dual 8 core meaning 16 actual cores and 32 with virtual. You can load it up current Mac pros with 64GB of ram currently and the next version may be 128GB.

With that said would it be difficult for you to allow the release of Net render V16 to be future proof and utilize 32 cores?

Even 32 cores will be outdated by 2012. Amd promises to release 12 core processors very soon for desktops.

In regards to the memory issue. Is there any way to find out how much ram a project requires before setting off a Netrender. This way a user could make an informed decision on how many cores to use per that computer based on how much memory that individual computer has?

How much is just enough memory. Last month I upgraded to 20G of RAM in my MacPro 8-core machine. I have the standard license. So, am I still at the 2 slave level or can I move up?

Its unique to the project. Practicaly speaking, no less than 2 gigs per core.

I dont want to mis speak but I beleive if you are in the beta testing program steffen may unlock the extra processors for you.

Because of the work I did with Steffen on the NetRender issue for the Mac - I might be considered an adjunct beta tester. How do I apply to be a real beta tester? Several other things have shown up on the Mac radar that I would like to help with.

Email jason simonds

Any Thoughts Steffen? Would it be difficult to future proof Net render for up to 32cores virtual or otherwise per computer? I know you are concerned about the diminishing returns in regards to users using a lot of cores but not having enough ram per core to keep the render from caching to the hard drive which is extremely slow. However I think the gains out way the costs. For example most people like myself who will truly take advantage of Net render will be keenly aware of the memory issue before setting off a Net render. Also people who shell out the cash to purchase a 12 core, 16 core or 32 core machine will no doubt also purchase at least 2 gigs or memory per core.

What are your thoughts Steffen? Do you agree? have I convinced you?

If making Net render 32 core capable per a single system is a bunch of extra hassle / work for you then I understand if you decline to invest that sort of time and energy into it. 16 cores per individual computer is a nice compromise.

All it would take is an update to change the limit so it's probably not a decision that needs to be made today. I can't imagine anything he's doing that would lock out the possibility in the future.

The current 8-core figure may be all that Steffen can currently test. Someone will need to send Steffen a 32-core mac for him to pursue that further.

I will gladly help in the 12 core and 24 virtual core testing.

Jason,

And I would gladly help with the 8/16 core testing. I sent you an email. Did you receive it?

Are you talking to me or Jason S ?

Oops. Sorry, meant to email Jason S.