Re: [ccp4bb] Mac Pro questions

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CCP4bb <-- 2007 <-- April 2007 <-- 24 April 2007

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Subject: Re: directly write .mol or .sdf files
From: Dante Neculai dneculai {- at -} MSHRI {- dot -} ON {- dot -} CA
Date: 2007-04-24

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Subject: Re: MAD and twinning
From: "George M {- dot -} Sheldrick" gsheldr {- at -} SHELX {- dot -} UNI-AC {- dot -} GWDG {- dot -} DE
Date: 2007-04-25

Subject: Re: Mac Pro questions
From: Jeff Speir speir {- at -} SCRIPPS {- dot -} EDU
Date: 2007-04-24

The Mac Pro I've been using is the standard 4-core 2.67 GHz model
with 2 Gb of RAM and the X1900 video card. I've used it for many
different tasks, including rendering movies of virus capsid expansion
in Chimera, using a multi-threaded and multi-core enabled version of
CNS compiled by Dave Gohara, and occasionally running Windows via
Boot Camp and Parallels. It has run perfectly with no heat problems
at all (fans remain at slow speeds, very quiet); thus, I highly
recommend this workstation. It is a fun challenge to keep it busy
because of it's speed and I generally run out of RAM before I've
utilized all four cores. If your whole group will use it constantly
(or with multiple parallel processing apps), it might be worth
getting 8 cores, but be sure to load it with enough RAM (e.g. average
job size x 8 for single core jobs).

I haven't run a lot of Coot or O on it, so can't give specifics
there. Also, I try to keep up with Apple hardware and software
related news since we have a number of their machines now. I haven't
run across any items related to the X1900 video card, so can't
comment on that either. So far so good with this one.

Cheers,

Jeff

On Apr 24, 2007, at 10:23 AM, Mischa Machius wrote:

> Y'all - We are currently contemplating the purchase of a couple of
> Mac Pros. Apple has three graphics cards available. Initially, I
> was leaning towards the ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB, but read a lot
> of horror stories about that card overheating when taxed. I was
> wondering if anyone had such a setup and how it fares regarding
> general crystallographic work, i.e., running Coot, O, Pymol, etc.
> Would the NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT be a better choice? I don't think
> we'll be going for the NVIDIA Quattro FX 4500. Also, I would
> appreciate it very much if anyone is willing to share their
> experience with other graphics cards, or to discuss whether it is
> worth getting an 8-core machine as opposed to a 4-core. Thanks so
> much. Best - MM
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------
> Mischa Machius, PhD
> Associate Professor
> UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
> 5323 Harry Hines Blvd.; ND10.214A
> Dallas, TX 75390-8816; U.S.A.
> Tel: +1 214 645 6381
> Fax: +1 214 645 6353
>

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CCP4bb <-- 2007 <-- April 2007 <-- 24 April 2007

Previous message:
Subject: Re: directly write .mol or .sdf files
From: Dante Neculai dneculai {- at -} MSHRI {- dot -} ON {- dot -} CA
Date: 2007-04-24

Next message:
Subject: Re: MAD and twinning
From: "George M {- dot -} Sheldrick" gsheldr {- at -} SHELX {- dot -} UNI-AC {- dot -} GWDG {- dot -} DE
Date: 2007-04-25