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BillH

VERICUT Specialist

From: Irvine, CA

Registered: 2004-10-08

Posts: 146

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VERICUT on Windows XP Professional x64

VERICUT on Windows XP Professional x64

VERICUT 6.0 will run on Windows XP Professional x64 as a 64 bit application. The following is intended to clarify what to expect from a 64 bit VERICUT.

64 Bit Processors
What are the advantages of 64 bit processors? According to Intel they are:

1. Access to large amounts of memory.
2. Faster high-precision computation.

Let's look at the second (less significant for VERICUT) advantage first. Because the processor can represent numbers in 64 bit words it is possible for twice the size of data to be acted on per instruction. While this is likely a huge benefit to intensive numerical analysis programs, such as Finite Element Analysis or Computational Fluid Dynamics, this is not a big benefit to VERICUT's overall processing time. It will certainly help VERICUT's computation speed in some areas, maybe even to Intel's claimed "up to 50% or more" improvement. But computation is only a part of the overall VERICUT process which includes file I/O and graphics. VERICUT's overall gain from 64 bit computation appears to be a more modest 0% - 20%, depending on the processor and the job.

The single biggest advantage for VERICUT is faster access to large amounts of memory. A 64 bit address word can access 17tb (that's tera-bytes) of memory. However, processor electronics typically have a physical design limit. Intel's Xeon limit is 64gb, and the Xeon MP is 1tb. On top of the processor limit may be another smaller physical limit at the computer's board-level. At the moment it appears that 16 and 32gb workstations are typical, and servers max-out at 64gb.

However, the price of memory takes a big jump, once you get into the dense packaging required to get to 16 or 32gb on a workstation. For example, 8gb from Dell (in 1gb DIMMS) is $1300, but jumps to over $8,000 for 16gb (in 2gb DIMMS).

Intel and AMD supply 64 bit processors compatible with Windows XP x64. They each take a different approach to the technology and should be evaluated on their own merits. CGTech has not done any benchmarks comparing the two. But standard floating-point computation benchmarks can be used for a reasonable comparison.

Windows XP Professional x64
Of course, the processor is useless without an operating system. The operating system sits between VERICUT and the hardware, providing access to the features of the hardware. It also insulates VERICUT from knowing (and needing to know) directly about specific hardware configuration or technology. For example, when VERICUT requests memory to do an operation, such as AUTO-DIFF, it simply asks for memory. It doesn't ask for "physical" memory or "virtual" memory. That is the operating system's decision.

VERICUT should function equally well on any processor supported by the Windows operating system. It is not compiled with any specific processor in mind. However, in order to take advantage of 64 bit hardware VERICUT must be compiled as a 64 bit application running on a 64 bit operating system.

32 Bit and 64 Bit VERICUT
VERICUT 6.0 will be delivered with 2 Windows executables: 32 bit and 64 bit. The 32 bit VERICUT will run on either normal 32 bit Windows XP (and 2000), or Windows XP x64. The 64 bit VERICUT will only work on Windows XP x64.

64 bit VERICUT on Windows XP x64 with a 64 bit processor will have access to more memory. More memory will allow larger cut stock models at higher precision. How much higher? How much more memory? Because VERICUT's cut stock model is based on volume, the amount of memory required for an increase in precision, roughly increases by the power of 3. Thus, doubling the precision of the cut stock requires approximately 8 times more memory. Material removal speed and the speed of other operations that act on the cut stock, such as AUTO-DIFF, also decrease accordingly when the cut stock model occupies more memory.

32 bit VERICUT on Windows XP x64 may also realize a small gain in processor speed simply due to the faster processors. But it also doubles VERICUT's virtual memory access from 2gb, Window's old artificial limit, to 4gb.

Summary
We're just at the start of a big jump to 64 bit computing. 64 bit processers will surely become commonplace over the next few years, eventually replacing 32 bit hardware. Prices will drop and speed will increase, but the immediate benefits for VERICUT today seem to at least be worthy of a close look.