low perf gain adding 2nd dual core processor

Discussion created by Anne Yust on Jan 22, 2008
Latest reply on Jan 23, 2008 by Charles Culp

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We wanted to see if adding a second processor to a HP work station would substantially improve performance. We are using Anna Wood's model as a performance measure.

Here are the system specifics:

SW2007 sp 5.0
HP xw6400 workstation
Nvidia Quadro FX1500 graphics card
XPP 32 SP2
Intel Xeon 5130 2.0 GHz Wood crest
3GB RAM DDR2 667
5000x chipset
150 GB SATA 7200 rpm HDD
1333 fsb

We used Anna Woods model as the bench mark. We did the ctrl-Q to rebuild the model. With one processor it took 152.44 seconds.

We increased the memory from 2GB to 4Gb (yes 1 GB isn't being used), added a 2nd processor (same as the 1st) and rebuilt the same model. With a 2nd processor and more memory, the computer took 149.47 seconds. A mere 3 second improvement.

Checked the solidworks process to ensure the process took advantage of the 4 cores. It does.

During the rebuild the processors hit a peak usage of approximately 70%.

Why didn't we see a better improvement in performance?

A majority of the features took longer to rebuild, after the 2nd processor was added. Especially the #8-32 tapped hole. ONe processor= 25.77 seconds. Two processors = 29.36 seconds. Why?

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Charles Culp Jan 22, 2008 5:13 PM

Not all features are capable of using multiple processors. You will find that part rebuild times that use just extrusions, cuts, and other "straight" pieces will not use multiple processors.

More complex surfacing tools, fillets, and multi-sheet multi-view drawings will get a significant boost from two dual cores (which I have).

Try taking the model you used as your bench mark, and completely cover it with fillets, and see how the fillet rebuild time changes.

Also, I question how solidworks computes rebuild time. Often times it is based on "total CPU time", which will not account for multiple processors at all. Basically, if you look in your Task Manager (right click on the Windows task bar at the bottom) and you look at CPU time, you will notice that with 4 cores it will go by at 4x regular time. I don't know how SW calculates rebuild time, but if it uses this data, your "rebuild times" will never notice. This being said, Anna Wood's data seems to show that it DOES use "real" time, so this whole paragraph could be for waste. The only way to tell is with a stopwatch.

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Jim Zink Jan 23, 2008 5:14 PM

I wouldn't have expected any meaningful improvement on that benchmark from adding processors. Renderings and some FEA problems would show a much greater improvement.

Still, upgrading to a single 2.6 or 3.0 GHz dual core CPU would be a better investement. You'd see a 30-50% improvement on virtually all functions.

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Jeff Mowry Jan 23, 2008 8:07 PM

JZINK is right--render some things and you'll see (in the Windows Task Manager) all processors sticking near 100% each for the duration. However, most modeling items will show little improvement with additional cores. I've used multiple chips/cores for over ten years now and find a benefit in that I often have lots of other junk running in the background (browsers, music players, email, anti-virus, etc.) that the other cores help better manage.

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Charles Culp @ Jeff Mowry on Jan 23, 2008 8:21 PM

This has been discussed before, here is my proof that Solidworks will use multiple processors regenerating models. I'm not kidding, when I do surface modeling it happens all the time:

http://forum.solidworks.com/fo...catid=14&threadid=7309

and here's a thread where it was discussed indepth:

http://forum.solidworks.com/fo...catid=14&threadid=6436

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4 Replies

Charles Culp Jan 22, 2008 5:13 PM
Not all features are capable of using multiple processors. You will find that part rebuild times that use just extrusions, cuts, and other "straight" pieces will not use multiple processors.

More complex surfacing tools, fillets, and multi-sheet multi-view drawings will get a significant boost from two dual cores (which I have).

Try taking the model you used as your bench mark, and completely cover it with fillets, and see how the fillet rebuild time changes.

Also, I question how solidworks computes rebuild time. Often times it is based on "total CPU time", which will not account for multiple processors at all. Basically, if you look in your Task Manager (right click on the Windows task bar at the bottom) and you look at CPU time, you will notice that with 4 cores it will go by at 4x regular time. I don't know how SW calculates rebuild time, but if it uses this data, your "rebuild times" will never notice. This being said, Anna Wood's data seems to show that it DOES use "real" time, so this whole paragraph could be for waste. The only way to tell is with a stopwatch.
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Jim Zink Jan 23, 2008 5:14 PM
I wouldn't have expected any meaningful improvement on that benchmark from adding processors. Renderings and some FEA problems would show a much greater improvement.

Still, upgrading to a single 2.6 or 3.0 GHz dual core CPU would be a better investement. You'd see a 30-50% improvement on virtually all functions.
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Jeff Mowry Jan 23, 2008 8:07 PM
JZINK is right--render some things and you'll see (in the Windows Task Manager) all processors sticking near 100% each for the duration. However, most modeling items will show little improvement with additional cores. I've used multiple chips/cores for over ten years now and find a benefit in that I often have lots of other junk running in the background (browsers, music players, email, anti-virus, etc.) that the other cores help better manage.
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- Charles Culp @ Jeff Mowry on Jan 23, 2008 8:21 PM
  This has been discussed before, here is my proof that Solidworks will use multiple processors regenerating models. I'm not kidding, when I do surface modeling it happens all the time:
  
  http://forum.solidworks.com/fo...catid=14&threadid=7309
  
  and here's a thread where it was discussed indepth:
  
  http://forum.solidworks.com/fo...catid=14&threadid=6436
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low perf gain adding 2nd dual core processor

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