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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I would just like to quickly add that I
think the really critical piece for using dual-core processors is the
optimizing software. Is it sequential or can it do a variety of runs all at the
same time? I know that TRNSYS has been used with a variety of “multi-run”
tools such as Condor that send out many runs of a software to many different
computers. However, this only works if the process is able to be parallelized
(like in a monte-carlo analysis). If the tool requires that the results of each
run be analyzed before the next run is initiated, then it must be sequential unfortunately.
</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I’ve also found that a dual-core is
helpful with many TRNSYS runs because you can still use the “other core”
for other tasks such as email, Excel, etc. while TRNSYS works along in the
background. </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I’m still waiting for a 4 Ghz
machine myself. </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
trnsys-users-bounces@engr.wisc.edu [mailto:trnsys-users-bounces@engr.wisc.edu] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Janne Paavilainen<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Monday, November 13, 2006
7:35 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Charron, Rémi;
trnsys-users@engr.wisc.edu<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [TRNSYS-users]
Quicker processing speeds?</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Hi!</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>OK, as you can see from the replies it's quite a messy
jungle with PCs nowadays. I've also been a few times in the position of trying
to justify the needs/benefits of a new work-station for simulations (not only
TRNSYS) and it's not always easy. Your interest in reducing sim time is
understandable as with your current setting you end up easily in >24hr
simulation times (thousands of 100sec sims). </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Trying to summarize some guide-lines from previous
mails:</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* If you have an older generation CPU, then upgrading to a
good PC of the current CPU generation will probably already halve your
simulation time, give or take. This you can see e.g. from Rafs test, or
comparing bench-mark results on net reviews.</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* If you already have a PC with a current generation CPU,
then you have to start thinking about price vs. performance. Getting a 20-30%
CPU performance boost (sim time reduction) compared to good
standard PCs might almost double the price of your new work-station, this
might be difficult to justify.</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* Also, looking at the previous point: If you can divide
your problem into two, buying e.g. two good standard PCs instead one of the
fastest possible, might almost halve your total sim time instead of the 20-30%
reduction for one simulation for the same price. And after the project you have
two perfectly good PCs to give to new employees, instead of one.</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* The benefit of a dual-core CPU is harder to comment on.
You might be able to do with one PC the same as with two computers as described
above, but it would be better to test it before buying. This is possible at
least with TRNSYS-only, but it might be more complicated in combination with
other programs. You should be able to test this with a single core CPU,
on your current PC (the simulation will be a crawl, but at least you
should be able to see if it works).</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* Running two simultaneous simulations on dual-core
generates a lot of heat, take care that the cooling of the PC is well done. If
you are running simulations of several hours like this, you might end up
crashing your hard disk in no-time because of the elevated operating temperature.
This problem is not over-exaggerated!!!</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* With a dual core CPU you can work normally while a TRNSYS
simulation is running in the background at full speed. This wasn't possible
with single core CPUs.</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* RAM isn't an issue with TRNSYS, anything above 1GB is
overkill, unless you are using other software which need more (actually,
already 1GB is overkill, if only for TRNSYS+OS). </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* Hard disk isn't an issue either, modern HD:s can handle
about any amount of data that TRNSYS itself has to read and can spit out.
(Unless you are doing something else that's HD intensive at the same time)</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>A suggestion to TRNSYS development group:</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>It might be a good idea to have some general guide-lines
about this on the TRNSYS home pages in addition to the general hardware
requirements/recommendations. Generally, when a new project involving
simulations is started, almost always the need for a new computer
is discussed in the first meeting. The "Hardware
requirements" section in the manual does not give much help considering
e.g. Rémis problem. This might easily lead to "buying overkill" or
spending money on the wrong part of the hardware. And trying to google the www
you end up spendings various hours reading and still not knowing which way you
should go.</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Regards</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Janne</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
Janne Paavilainen <br>
MSc, PhD student<br>
Researcher in Energy and Environmental engineering<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
Solar Energy Research Center SERC<br>
Dalarna University College<br>
SE-781 88 Borlänge<br>
Sweden<br>
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tel +46 (0)23 778728<br>
fax +46 (0)23 778701<br>
e-mail: <a href="mailto:jip@du.se">jip@du.se</a><br>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
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<a href="http://www.serc.se">www.serc.se</a><br>
<a href="http://www.eses.org">www.eses.org</a><br>
<a href="http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb15/ite/solar/solnet/">www.uni-kassel.de/fb15/ite/solar/solnet/</a><br>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>----- Original Message ----- </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='background:#E4E4E4'><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> <a
href="mailto:remi.charron@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca"
title="remi.charron@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca">Charron, Rémi</a> </span></font></p>
</div>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>To:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> <a
href="mailto:trnsys-users@engr.wisc.edu" title="trnsys-users@engr.wisc.edu">trnsys-users@engr.wisc.edu</a>
</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> Friday, November
10, 2006 6:43 PM</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> [TRNSYS-users]
Quicker processing speeds?</span></font></p>
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<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Hello,</span></font>
<br>
<font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>I am
currently running TRNSYS with using a computer with a 3.2 GHz prcoessor with
512 MB of RAM. It takes approximately 100 seconds to run a
simulation. This is a reasonable amount of time, except that I am running
TRNSYS with an optimisation program and am requiring to perform thousands of
TRNSYS simulations per run. I am thinking of getting a quicker computer
or workstation to help speed TRNSYS up. Has anyone had experience running
TRNSYS using duel core processors or other high performance computers or
workstations? If so, what have been your experiences? Can the
computation time be significantly reduced with the use of a more powerful
computer?</span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Thanks,</span></font>
</p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Rémi
Charron</span></font> <br>
<font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Research
Officer</span></font> <br>
<font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Photovoltaic
and Hybrid System Program</span></font> <br>
<font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>CANMET
Energy Technology Centre</span></font> <br>
<font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>1615
Lionel-Boulet Blvd, P.O. Box 4800, J3X 1S6</span></font> <br>
<font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Varennes,
Quebec</span></font> <br>
<font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Tel:
(450) 652-7948, Fax: (450) 652-5177</span></font> <br>
<a href="http://cetc-varennes.nrcan.gc.ca"><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>http://cetc-varennes.nrcan.gc.ca</span></font></a>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>_______________________________________________<br>
TRNSYS-users mailing list<br>
TRNSYS-users@engr.wisc.edu<br>
https://www.cae.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/trnsys-users</span></font></p>
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