[Uncle Skeleton]

My girlfriend asked me to recommend a new computer for her to run matlab code on, because her Toshiba laptop is too slow. Money is an object.

I can't make heads nor tails of all the xeons and opterons and athlons and core duos. Is one significantly better than another for computationally intensive tasks, or for Matlab in particular? Can you pretty much judge them by how much they cost? How much better is the Core 2 over the Core 1? And does anyone sell a sub-$1000 box with 4 cores? Should I look at any other specs besides cpu? Right now I'm leaning towards an Athlon 64 x2 (dual core), or perhaps 2 of them (2 machines).

The work is something to do with modeling ion channels in neurons (lots of number crunching, not much graphics I think).

[Chuckit]

From reading the Matlab site, it sounds like it isn't significantly multithreaded, so a quad-core system probably wouldn't be the best use of your money. Probably best to focus on speed.

As for Core 2 Duo over Core Duo, there are two chips called the "Core 2 Duo" — one is Merom, a laptop chip that is the direct sucessor of the Core Duo and is a bit faster, and the other is Conroe, which is a considerably faster desktop chip.

Not exactly the information you were looking for, but I'm just throwing out the information I know.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

And does anyone sell a sub-$1000 box with 4 cores? Should I look at any other specs besides cpu? Right now I'm leaning towards an Athlon 64 x2 (dual core), or perhaps 2 of them (2 machines).

Sorry, but no sub-1000 4 core machines. A quad core chip will run you at least $1300. You could, however probably build your own with dual 2 core processors, but like Chuckit said you probably won't see that much of an improvement. More expensive is probably better but at a certain point you start paying more than the extra performance is worth.

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

just throwing out the information I know.

That's all I ask, thanks.

As I understand Matlab (not that well), it's kind of a half-way between a scripting environment and real programming. Like you write in pseudocode and compile little pseudo-apps. So I imagine you can get it to run separate processes even if the app itself isn't designed that way (or at the very least launch separate instances of MatLab). And as I understand the task (also not that well), there will be plenty of different simulations to be run simultaneously.

So a related question, does anyone besides Apple sell ready-to-go machines with 2 dual core chips (rather than 1 4-core one)? It seems like everyone is making 2-core chips, so they're not that expensive anymore.

Also, I found a few of those benchmark cook-off thingies, but they don't seem very current (I didn't see any core 2 duos for example). Can anyone recommend a site that does these tests?

[The Godfather]

As a Matlab user who knows little about what makes it tick inside, other than it doesn't compile, it INTERPRETS code, I say don't scamp on a single core processor. Even if the Matlab IDE and the programs it executes are not multithreaded, Windows XP/Vista will have the 1st core to run on, leaving the 2nd core for Matlab. Furthermore, it appears to me that Simulink runs on a separate thread, so multiple cores wouldn't be a waste.
IF she is considering the Mac, tell her that the OSX Intel version is in Beta right now and she can get a copy for free if she is a student. See here:
The Mac Robotics Blog: Free for students: MATLAB & Simulink for Intel Beta

[residentEvil]

i have a core 2 duo macbook with boot camp; matlab (and autocad) run damn nice on it.

my desktop, is a custom built windows box also with a core 2 duo, and matlab runs damn nice on it too.

macbook is at 2.0ghz, the desktop is a 2.13; both are maxed for memory (2GB on the macbook, 8GB on the desktop). the desktop is running windows XP 64bit.

[strictlyplaid]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

So a related question, does anyone besides Apple sell ready-to-go machines with 2 dual core chips (rather than 1 4-core one)? It seems like everyone is making 2-core chips, so they're not that expensive anymore.

Yes. Dell sells the Precision Workstations that you can equip with two dual-core or even quad-core Xeons. My department bought a couple of "dual dual-core" machines for use in doing simulations in Matlab and R. So far, we've been delighted with them. I can't say the cost was sub-$1000, though.

http://www.dell.com/content/products...ep&cs=2236

As for laptops, you might be out of luck for quad core or dual dual-core at this point (someone correct me if I'm wrong.)

BTW, even if your app isn't multithreaded, if the task you're doing is embarrassingly parallel, you can simply open multiple copies of the program to the same effect. I do this for "quick and dirty" multiprocessing for simple simulations.

[residentEvil]

HP also sells dual core 2 duo's and dual quad-core machines; both workstations and servers (in both blade or desktop for workstations and blade or rackmount for servers).

and they are well over $1000 quad-cores still have extended ship dates too.

but for a laptop, a single core 2 duo with maxed ram should do you just fine. look to spend closer to $1200 though. an HP dv6000t with a core 2 duo at 2.0ghz, 2GB ram and a 256mb video card is right around $1130. upgrade the hard drive to something decent, dvd burner and 3 year warranty...$1500. this is with a 15" screen.

and if you don't want a laptop; it would be a little easier to get closer to the $1000 mark.

[Uncle Skeleton]

I was unclear earlier, she has a laptop but is shopping for a desktop.

HP also sells dual core 2 duo's

I'm not seeing these, can you help me out a little?

[Chuckit]

Intel calls the MP version of the Core 2 Duo a Xeon, if I recall.

[residentEvil]

well, you have to go to hp's website...

go through the main page under small business and go to workstations. from there you can pick one and configure it; with prices.

here is the start, so you won't have to do it...

Workstations - comparison results Small & Medium Business - HP

these machines won't be under $1000.

they have a sale on this model right now: buy the second processor get double the memory for free:

http://h71016.www7.hp.com/dstore/ctoBases.asp?oi=E9CED&BEID=19701&SBLID=&am p;ProductLineId=433&FamilyId=2440&LowBaseI d=19368&LowPrice=$1,535.00&jumpid=re_R2515 _store/smProdCat/PSG/workstations/HP_xw6400_Workstation

Since that link doesn't work; it is the HP xw6400 mode. Starts at $2200 with 2 xeon processors, 2gb ram, 1 hard drive, etc. With upgrades you will be over $3000 (more memory, additonal hard drives/raid, and dual NVIDIA SLI cards.

[Uncle Skeleton]

Thanks residentEvil