Minimum System requirements

I am currently using an i5 processor and 8 GB ram, I know it will be better with more RAM and a faster more capable processor. Does the software use the multithreading of a processor or do I need the fastest processor I can get. Also what screen resolution works best and size of monitor, I want to get 24 inch monitors at 1920 x 1200. That is what I used previously , what are your recommendations.


Thank you 
Seaking

I am currently using an i5 processor and 8 GB ram, I know it will be better with more RAM and a faster more capable processor. Does the software use the multithreading of a processor or do I need the fastest processor I can get. Also what screen resolution works best and size of monitor, I want to get 24 inch monitors at 1920 x 1200. That is what I used previously , what are your recommendations.


Thank you 
Seaking

Hi Seaking

I would say that you don't need to upgrade, 8GB RAM is enough.  An i5 processor is OK, I would need to know how many cores it has and the processor speed (mHz) to know how good it is.  We use test machines that have i5 processors and they work fine.  A decent graphics card can also help with navigating large 3D scenes if you find that the rendering is clunky.  Usually in Kubla Cubed the bottlenecks are not in the 3D visuals which is hardware accelerated.  Interestingly the GUI is also hardware accelerated so a better graphics card does help with that.

I would definitely recommend getting at least a HD monitor as then the options panels take up less of the overall screen.  The monitor you had before is HD and will work well.  On low res laptop monitors everything is a bit bunched together.

In version 4.6 to be released on the 29th we have done some optimisation on the code and have got some considerable speed improvements especially on load times, I have seen many projects load 30% faster or more on 4.6 compared to 4.5.

We do have code that uses multiple cores\threads mainly in the PDF processing routines.   The underlying calculation engine (Kubla Kingdom) is on a separate thread to the GUI (so dual core CPU is of big benefit but an i5  CPU is dual at least usually quad) however the process is quite linear by nature so is difficult to multi thread the actual calculations.  We are continuously working on optimisations to the calculation engine so over time you will see an increase in speed.  It is relatively knew having been designed\built in 2013 so has got a lot more optimisations to come.  I imagine when we start running out of options to optimise the calculations we will start looking at multi-threading more.  Even using the GPU to offload some calculations.  

In summary I wouldn't rush to throw money on new hardware as a lot of new optimisations in the software are coming and will have a bigger impact.  Obviously if you threw $$$ at new components (especially CPU Mhz) you would see a speed increase but I would hold off for now.  When the calculation is optimised to use multiple threads than some of these newer 8+ cores CPUs will have a much bigger impact.  They aren't really mainstream at the moment so we are testing mainly on setups like yours.

Please find requirements below


Minimum
Processor (CPU) : Dual-Core Processor Intel or AMD Athlon @ 2Ghz.
Memory (RAM) :4GB DDR2 RAM
Graphics irect X 9 Compatible Card (Note : This is standard for PC’s manufactured in the last 10 years)
Operating Sytstem (OS) : Windows 7, 8 and 10
Hardware :Mouse with middle button and Scroll Wheel  (Note : This is now standard)
Monitor : HD (1366 x 768)

Recommended
Processor (CPU) : Quad-Core Processor Intel @ 3Ghz. 
Memory (RAM) : 8GB DDR3 RAM 
Graphics : Direct X 9 Compatible Card with 512MB of Video RAM  
Operating Sytstem (OS) : Windows 10 Hardware
Mouse with middle button and Scroll Wheel  (Note : This is now standard)
Monitor : Full HD (1920 × 1080).

Thank you Ted,

I find with running much else, like having several pdf's open, browser, and whatever else running it is good to have 16gb ram. We will be buying a computer for my use soon and now I can find something less costly and not feel like I have to get an 8 core. I like a trackball by the way! five button wireless Logitech.

Thank you Ted,

I find with running much else, like having several pdf's open, browser, and whatever else running it is good to have 16gb ram. We will be buying a computer for my use soon and now I can find something less costly and not feel like I have to get an 8 core. I like a trackball by the way! five button wireless Logitech.

We go for Dell laptops here.  We find them the easiest to maintain as we do the IT support ourselves.  I would say Asus is my budget brand of choice now from what I have seen of there new offerings.  

16GB is a good bet to future proof especially.

One thing I think is a must these days is an SSD drive, makes a huge difference to navigating between files etc...  One thing not everyone knows is that programs offload memory to file on hard drive (in Windows it's called a pagefile.sys) when they are using a lot of ram, this is unlikely on 16GB laptop but can still.  So an SSD drive can actually speed up the read\write of the pagefile.sys.

I find that Kubla slows significantly when I am working on a large complex job, so I am considering a new computer. Does Kubla benefit from a dedicated graphics card or am I better off spending on a good processor?

Thanks for any advise you can provide.

I find that Kubla slows significantly when I am working on a large complex job, so I am considering a new computer. Does Kubla benefit from a dedicated graphics card or am I better off spending on a good processor?

Thanks for any advise you can provide.

Hi Marcus

We are going to investigate utilising the graphics card more in the future.   At the moment it only does the rendering which is quite simple in comparison to say high end video games.

I would suggest investing in a Quad core (or higher) processor with as high clock speed as you can afford as a priority.  This is were the bottle neck usually lies.  The triangulation calculations are almost all done on the CPU for now. 

We have more optimisations planned for the software in the next 6 months so that should also give a boost.

-Ted