Folks, Need to spiff up my simulation speeds here. IIRC Mike Engelhardt stated that the Intel i7 is a really good processor for LTSPice. According to this it looks like the 4790 is the fastest of the bunch: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-i7-processor.html So, what do thee say, is the computer in the Costco link below a good deal for LTSpice purposes? http://www.costco.com/Dell-XPS-8700-Desktop-%7c-Intel-Core-i7-%7c-1GB-Graphics-%7c-Windows-7-Professional.product.100131208.html It's also available without MS-Office Home & Student 2013 for $100 less but I found that OpenOffice isn't 100% compatible in the Excel area so that sounds like an ok deal. My hope is that it can drive two 27" monitors but I guess I can always add in another graphics card if not. Reason I am looking at these is that I absolutely positively do not want any computer with Windows 8 in here and unfortunately that's what many others come with. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Is this Intel i7 machine good for LTSpice?
Started by ●November 2, 2014
Reply by ●November 2, 20142014-11-02
Don't know about computation speed, but this link says the video card will drive 3 monitors: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-720/specifications. Looking at Dell's site I don't see any mention of expansion slots, and looking at the one picture with the cover off I really can't see any sockets beyond the video card, so if any further expansion is important you need to ask Dell for clarification. ----- Regards, Carl Ijames "Joerg" wrote in message news:cbn0o5Fjf9kU1@mid.individual.net... Folks, Need to spiff up my simulation speeds here. IIRC Mike Engelhardt stated that the Intel i7 is a really good processor for LTSPice. According to this it looks like the 4790 is the fastest of the bunch: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-i7-processor.html So, what do thee say, is the computer in the Costco link below a good deal for LTSpice purposes? http://www.costco.com/Dell-XPS-8700-Desktop-%7c-Intel-Core-i7-%7c-1GB-Graphics-%7c-Windows-7-Professional.product.100131208.html It's also available without MS-Office Home & Student 2013 for $100 less but I found that OpenOffice isn't 100% compatible in the Excel area so that sounds like an ok deal. My hope is that it can drive two 27" monitors but I guess I can always add in another graphics card if not. Reason I am looking at these is that I absolutely positively do not want any computer with Windows 8 in here and unfortunately that's what many others come with. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Reply by ●November 2, 20142014-11-02
On Sun, 02 Nov 2014 07:25:49 -0800, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote:>Folks, > >Need to spiff up my simulation speeds here. IIRC Mike Engelhardt stated >that the Intel i7 is a really good processor for LTSPice. According to >this it looks like the 4790 is the fastest of the bunch: > >http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-i7-processor.html > >So, what do thee say, is the computer in the Costco link below a good >deal for LTSpice purposes? > >http://www.costco.com/Dell-XPS-8700-Desktop-%7c-Intel-Core-i7-%7c-1GB-Graphics-%7c-Windows-7-Professional.product.100131208.html > >It's also available without MS-Office Home & Student 2013 for $100 less >but I found that OpenOffice isn't 100% compatible in the Excel area so >that sounds like an ok deal. My hope is that it can drive two 27" >monitors but I guess I can always add in another graphics card if not. > >Reason I am looking at these is that I absolutely positively do not want >any computer with Windows 8 in here and unfortunately that's what many >others come with.I have spent too many hours this weekend tweaking the transient response of a semi-hysteretic (we call it "hysterical") switchmode constant-current source. There are about 8 interacting knobs to turn. At 30 seconds per run, understanding the interactions is impossible. I want sliders on each of the part values, and I want to see the waveforms change as I move the sliders, like they were trimpots on a breadboard and I was looking at a scope. I need maybe 500 times the compute power that I have now. Mike should code LT Spice to execute on a high-end video card. -- John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com http://www.highlandtechnology.com
Reply by ●November 2, 20142014-11-02
On 11/2/2014 11:00 AM, John Larkin wrote:> On Sun, 02 Nov 2014 07:25:49 -0800, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> > wrote: > >> Folks, >> >> Need to spiff up my simulation speeds here. IIRC Mike Engelhardt stated >> that the Intel i7 is a really good processor for LTSPice. According to >> this it looks like the 4790 is the fastest of the bunch: >> >> http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-i7-processor.html >> >> So, what do thee say, is the computer in the Costco link below a good >> deal for LTSpice purposes? >> >> http://www.costco.com/Dell-XPS-8700-Desktop-%7c-Intel-Core-i7-%7c-1GB-Graphics-%7c-Windows-7-Professional.product.100131208.html >> >> It's also available without MS-Office Home & Student 2013 for $100 less >> but I found that OpenOffice isn't 100% compatible in the Excel area so >> that sounds like an ok deal. My hope is that it can drive two 27" >> monitors but I guess I can always add in another graphics card if not. >> >> Reason I am looking at these is that I absolutely positively do not want >> any computer with Windows 8 in here and unfortunately that's what many >> others come with. > > I have spent too many hours this weekend tweaking the transient > response of a semi-hysteretic (we call it "hysterical") switchmode > constant-current source. There are about 8 interacting knobs to turn. > At 30 seconds per run, understanding the interactions is impossible. > > I want sliders on each of the part values, and I want to see the > waveforms change as I move the sliders, like they were trimpots on a > breadboard and I was looking at a scope. I need maybe 500 times the > compute power that I have now. > > Mike should code LT Spice to execute on a high-end video card. > >You can go quite a bit faster with a nice multicore machine--LTspice lets you choose how many threads to run. My desktop machine (about 3 years old now) runs about 150 Gflops peak. Supermicro is an excellent vendor. Cheers Phil Hobbs -- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 160 North State Road #203 Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net
Reply by ●November 2, 20142014-11-02
On a sunny day (Sun, 02 Nov 2014 08:00:36 -0800) it happened John Larkin <jlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote in <0nkc5aljhec5r36ptkoaqbt0a48ud2j5vo@4ax.com>:>On Sun, 02 Nov 2014 07:25:49 -0800, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> >wrote: > >>Folks, >> >>Need to spiff up my simulation speeds here. IIRC Mike Engelhardt stated >>that the Intel i7 is a really good processor for LTSPice. According to >>this it looks like the 4790 is the fastest of the bunch: >> >>http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-i7-processor.html >> >>So, what do thee say, is the computer in the Costco link below a good >>deal for LTSpice purposes? >> >>http://www.costco.com/Dell-XPS-8700-Desktop-%7c-Intel-Core-i7-%7c-1GB-Graphics-%7c-Windows-7-Professional.product.100131208.html >> >> >>It's also available without MS-Office Home & Student 2013 for $100 less >>but I found that OpenOffice isn't 100% compatible in the Excel area so >>that sounds like an ok deal. My hope is that it can drive two 27" >>monitors but I guess I can always add in another graphics card if not. >> >>Reason I am looking at these is that I absolutely positively do not want >>any computer with Windows 8 in here and unfortunately that's what many >>others come with. > >I have spent too many hours this weekend tweaking the transient >response of a semi-hysteretic (we call it "hysterical") switchmode >constant-current source. There are about 8 interacting knobs to turn. >At 30 seconds per run, understanding the interactions is impossible. > >I want sliders on each of the part values, and I want to see the >waveforms change as I move the sliders, like they were trimpots on a >breadboard and I was looking at a scope. I need maybe 500 times the >compute power that I have now. > >Mike should code LT Spice to execute on a high-end video card.Maybe building the real thing with some pots? But without some theory backing it up how would you know it always works? And with the theory you do not need the sliders. I do not see the need for insane speeds, I have used LTspice more than often the last few days, running on an old Duron 950, fast enough. maybe you guys are doing something wrong? :-) And it is always an approximation, build the real thing too, needed tweaking with resistors in series, that is analog, got some nice 25 turn Bourns trimpots from ebay.....
Reply by ●November 2, 20142014-11-02
Carl Ijames wrote:> Don't know about computation speed, but this link says the video card will > drive 3 monitors: > http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-720/specifications. > Looking at Dell's site I don't see any mention of expansion slots, and > looking at the one picture with the cover off I really can't see any sockets > beyond the video card, so if any further expansion is important you need to > ask Dell for clarification. >Looks like you are right: http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/xps-8700/pd http://core0.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/07/1253541_sr-1160-100047019-orig.jpg http://www.pcworld.com/article/2047487/dell-xps-8700-special-editions-review-a-little-less-performance-for-a-lot-less-cash.html Quote "There’s only one PCIe x16 slot, which means you won’t be able to add a second video card to take advantage of Nvidia’s SLI technology". No slots. There's one more card in the bottom, not sure what that is. But if the video can drive three monitors it should be fine, I never added any cards to my current PC either. [...] -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Reply by ●November 2, 20142014-11-02
Joerg wrote:> Carl Ijames wrote: >> Don't know about computation speed, but this link says the video card will >> drive 3 monitors: >> http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-720/specifications. >> Looking at Dell's site I don't see any mention of expansion slots, and >> looking at the one picture with the cover off I really can't see any sockets >> beyond the video card, so if any further expansion is important you need to >> ask Dell for clarification. >> > > Looks like you are right: > > http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/xps-8700/pd > http://core0.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/07/1253541_sr-1160-100047019-orig.jpg > http://www.pcworld.com/article/2047487/dell-xps-8700-special-editions-review-a-little-less-performance-for-a-lot-less-cash.html > > Quote "There’s only one PCIe x16 slot, which means you won’t be able to > add a second video card to take advantage of Nvidia’s SLI technology". > > No slots. There's one more card in the bottom, not sure what that is. > But if the video can drive three monitors it should be fine, I never > added any cards to my current PC either. >Only question is, how can one connect two regular OPC monitors to this? http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-720/product-images -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Reply by ●November 2, 20142014-11-02
John Larkin wrote:> On Sun, 02 Nov 2014 07:25:49 -0800, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> > wrote: > >> Folks, >> >> Need to spiff up my simulation speeds here. IIRC Mike Engelhardt stated >> that the Intel i7 is a really good processor for LTSPice. According to >> this it looks like the 4790 is the fastest of the bunch: >> >> http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-i7-processor.html >> >> So, what do thee say, is the computer in the Costco link below a good >> deal for LTSpice purposes? >> >> http://www.costco.com/Dell-XPS-8700-Desktop-%7c-Intel-Core-i7-%7c-1GB-Graphics-%7c-Windows-7-Professional.product.100131208.html >> >> It's also available without MS-Office Home & Student 2013 for $100 less >> but I found that OpenOffice isn't 100% compatible in the Excel area so >> that sounds like an ok deal. My hope is that it can drive two 27" >> monitors but I guess I can always add in another graphics card if not. >> >> Reason I am looking at these is that I absolutely positively do not want >> any computer with Windows 8 in here and unfortunately that's what many >> others come with. > > I have spent too many hours this weekend tweaking the transient > response of a semi-hysteretic (we call it "hysterical") switchmode > constant-current source. There are about 8 interacting knobs to turn. > At 30 seconds per run, understanding the interactions is impossible. >That's exactly why I need all the speed I can get.> I want sliders on each of the part values, and I want to see the > waveforms change as I move the sliders, like they were trimpots on a > breadboard and I was looking at a scope. I need maybe 500 times the > compute power that I have now. >I use the .STEP command a lot, sometimes nested. Then I get multiple sets of curve sets. But often I have to start it at night and see the results the next morning. The nice thing in winter is that this pre-heats the office.> Mike should code LT Spice to execute on a high-end video card. >There are so many variants of graphics cards that it would require tons of work for Mike's team. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Reply by ●November 2, 20142014-11-02
Phil Hobbs wrote:> On 11/2/2014 11:00 AM, John Larkin wrote: >> On Sun, 02 Nov 2014 07:25:49 -0800, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> >> wrote: >> >>> Folks, >>> >>> Need to spiff up my simulation speeds here. IIRC Mike Engelhardt stated >>> that the Intel i7 is a really good processor for LTSPice. According to >>> this it looks like the 4790 is the fastest of the bunch: >>> >>> http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-i7-processor.html >>> >>> >>> So, what do thee say, is the computer in the Costco link below a good >>> deal for LTSpice purposes? >>> >>> http://www.costco.com/Dell-XPS-8700-Desktop-%7c-Intel-Core-i7-%7c-1GB-Graphics-%7c-Windows-7-Professional.product.100131208.html >>> >>> >>> It's also available without MS-Office Home & Student 2013 for $100 less >>> but I found that OpenOffice isn't 100% compatible in the Excel area so >>> that sounds like an ok deal. My hope is that it can drive two 27" >>> monitors but I guess I can always add in another graphics card if not. >>> >>> Reason I am looking at these is that I absolutely positively do not want >>> any computer with Windows 8 in here and unfortunately that's what many >>> others come with. >> >> I have spent too many hours this weekend tweaking the transient >> response of a semi-hysteretic (we call it "hysterical") switchmode >> constant-current source. There are about 8 interacting knobs to turn. >> At 30 seconds per run, understanding the interactions is impossible. >> >> I want sliders on each of the part values, and I want to see the >> waveforms change as I move the sliders, like they were trimpots on a >> breadboard and I was looking at a scope. I need maybe 500 times the >> compute power that I have now. >> >> Mike should code LT Spice to execute on a high-end video card. >> >> > > You can go quite a bit faster with a nice multicore machine--LTspice > lets you choose how many threads to run. My desktop machine (about 3 > years old now) runs about 150 Gflops peak. Supermicro is an excellent > vendor. >But they should work on their web site some more or get rid of scripting or whatever. Other than a language selector it shows ... nothing. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Reply by ●November 2, 20142014-11-02
On Sun, 02 Nov 2014 09:28:33 -0800, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote:>John Larkin wrote:[snip]>> >> I have spent too many hours this weekend tweaking the transient >> response of a semi-hysteretic (we call it "hysterical") switchmode >> constant-current source. There are about 8 interacting knobs to turn. >> At 30 seconds per run, understanding the interactions is impossible. >> > >That's exactly why I need all the speed I can get. > > >> I want sliders on each of the part values, and I want to see the >> waveforms change as I move the sliders, like they were trimpots on a >> breadboard and I was looking at a scope. I need maybe 500 times the >> compute power that I have now. >> > >I use the .STEP command a lot, sometimes nested. Then I get multiple >sets of curve sets. But often I have to start it at night and see the >results the next morning. The nice thing in winter is that this >pre-heats the office. >[snip] Mostly I only use LTspice to run other's schematics or to run netlists generated by PSpice, but I'd hazard a guess... Either via .STEP or saving and superimposing data files I'm sure you can generate a family of curves versus your knob twisting (though I might make the argument that, if you "design" by knob twisting, you're not much of a designer >:-} Here's a trick I picked up a few years ago that allows tons of data runs to be collected into a single postscript file: Concatenate the following... header.ps yourfile1.ps yourfile2.ps yourfile3.ps yourfile4.ps | | footer.ps The result superimposes all your data runs into one postscript file graph. (I then run the result thru Adobe Acrobat to convert to a PDF.) Here are the files you need.... header.ps: %% %% First things first, we set up the letter tray. Of course %% if you wnated another tray, you could change this... %% [{ %%BeginFeature: *PageSize Letter statusdict /lettertray get exec %%EndFeature } stopped cleartomark %% %% Windows drivers stick a 'control-d' at the end of jobs. This causes %% many interpreters to think its the end of job (hang over from serial %% communication days). So, we define an operator called /4 which does %% nothing. %% (\004) cvn {} bind def %% %% lettertray does different things on different interpeters. On Jaws %% it just changesd the page size, on Adobe it seems to erase the page %% too. Since we've already set it up once, its safe to zap the %% definition. %% statusdict begin /lettertray {} bind def end %% %% Now we store the *original* definitions of the operators we are %% about to change, in case we need them... %% /Mysetpagedevice /setpagedevice load def /Myshowpage /showpage load def %% %% Now, we make sure that the job can't change our setup, which might %% cause graphics state resets and other embarrasments. %% /setpagedevice {pop} bind def %% %% we redefine showpage so that it does nothing, this means that the %% next 'page' will overlay the current page. %% /showpage {} bind def footer.ps: %% %% Lastly we emit the *original* showpage definition to 'show' the page %% Myshowpage ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson | mens | | Analog Innovations | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | San Tan Valley, AZ 85142 Skype: skypeanalog | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
