Hello,
As you may be aware, just about one week has
passed since official release of Microsoft Visual C++
2005
that is able to produce 64 bit
code.
I still have only beta version of it and am
expecting to get official compiler version next week.
As far as development of 64 bit version is
considered, there are some technical issues connected
not with AmiBroker itself but 3rd party data
sources. The problem is that 64 bit application needs to
talk to 64 bit DLLs (in this case plugins). This
means that I need to upgrade all plugins to 64 bits.
This is not a problem for plugins that are
"independent" from 3rd party APIs such as QuoteTracker,
Interactive Brokers, DDE, Metastock. Problems
start with plugins that use 3rd party APIS (libraries)
such as eSignal, IQFeed, myTrack, FastTrack,
Quotes Plus, TC2000 as they all rely on libraries that
are still in 32 bit era. I know (from first hand
source) that for example eSignal is planning to release 64 bit
version of their apps and APIs soon, so it helps.
But other data vendors may not be as quick and
this will mean that not every source supported by
32 bit version will be available for 64 bit version
(at least initially).
Having this in mind, I am starting to think about
implementing multi-core support based on 32 bit code
first to avoid problems with external data
sources. This will still bring almost 2x speed increase on
dual-core processors such as Athlon 64x2 and most
recent dual-core Pentiums.
Best
regards,
Tomasz Janeczko
amibroker.com
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2005 3:37
PM
Subject: RE: [amibroker] AmiBroker
Computer Performance -- What Matters?
Tomasz,
I wonder if you have an update regarding 64 bits
version of AB. (see post below)
AMD64 has come down in price quite a lot. You I
cant wait to have a faster platform to run my
optimization.
Thanks in advance.
Paul
Dan,
64-bit CPU and dual-core will not have
significant impact on CURRENT version of AmiBroker,
however I already have received
Visual Studio 2005 BETA which features 64bit compiler
so in some near future (by the end of this
year) I will probably release 64 bit version
(32 bit version will still be developed in
parallel - so don't worry everyone else :-))
As for dual-core - similar situation here -
right now you won't see miracles however
I am going to add multiple-threaded
optimization engine by the end of the year
(I have to purchase AMD64 machine first
:-))
So dual core AMD64 would be good investment for
the future. However I suggest to WAIT a bit
until I release first betas because till then
you will be able to get faster machine for less money
(as prices of dual core CPUs are very high now
but will drop very quickly)
Best regards,
Tomasz Janeczko
amibroker.com
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 4:22
PM
Subject: RE: [amibroker] AmiBroker
Computer Performance -- What Matters?
Tomasz,
I want to upgrade
my system specifically to improve AB performance. So,
assuming an AMD CPU, with fast SCSI disks and at least 1.5Gb of memory,
what is your opinion of the impact of the following on AB
performance:
n
64
bit CPU and motherboard?
n
Dual-core
CPU?
n
64
bit MS Windows?
Thanks and
regards,
Dan.
From:
amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Tomasz
Janeczko
Sent: Wednesday,
June 22, 2005 5:39 AM
To:
amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [amibroker] AmiBroker
Computer Performance -- What Matters?
Hello,
The answer is simple Pentium-4 is marketing trick from
Intel,
all they did is to
increase the length of the instruction pipeline which
helped
to increase clocks
speeds to extreme values. Extremely long pipeline
however
works in
media/streaming data apps but does not work in regular (business) apps.
This was done because buyers
pay attention to clock speeds instead
of real performance.
The result is that Pentium-4 in regular
applications (excluding streaming media)
is actually slower than Pentium-3 when running same
clock speed.
Of course P4
are available with higher clocks speeds and this is what buyers
receive
(high clock speed, low
performance).
Xeons are
faster because they are based on Pentium-III
architecture.
Anyway, I
strongly recommend Athlons which are more powerful and cost
less.
And yes harddisk
performance is a big factor if data can not be held entirely in
RAM.
So RAM size matters
the most.
Best
regards,
Tomasz
Janeczko
amibroker.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "tycanadian2003"
<tyler.schlosser@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 11:10
AM
Subject: [amibroker]
AmiBroker Computer Performance -- What
Matters?
>
Hi,
>
> I am doing a few studies
of my trading system that require a LOT
of
> computing
power. I need to run a few thousand optimization steps. I
> know CPU matters, but
I'm wondering what specifically matters (FLOPS,
> MIPS, Cache size, etc.), as well as what other
factors make a big
>
difference (RAM, Hard Drive speed, etc.). Basically, I'm curious
what
> to emphasize or
expect if I were to obtain some new PC's.
>
>
Normally I would just test and see what makes a difference, but I am a
> bit baffled by what I am
seeing. My stock database is roughly 560 MB.
> Here are some system
specs along with backtest times for my system:
>
>
P4 1.8 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 10,000RPM SCSI Ultra 160 -- 8.5
minutes
> P4 1.8 GHz, 512
MB RAM, 10,000RPM SCSI Ultra 160 -- 9.2 minutes
> P3 0.733 GHz, 768 MB RAM, 10,000RPM SCSI Ultra 160
-- 9.6 minutes
> P3 0.733
GHz, 256 MB RAM, 10,000RPM SCSI Ultra 160 -- 9.8
minutes
> Dual P4 Xeon 3.06
GHz, 2.5 GB RAM, 10,000RPM SCSI Ultra 320 (running
> two simultaneous
instances of AmiBroker, two backtests simultaneously)
-
> - 4.1 minutes (total
time for a total of two backtests)
>
>
Basically, I am wondering why the P4 with 512MB RAM barely outperforms
> the P3 with 256 MB RAM,
but the Xeon system is much faster than the P4
> systems. Is hard drive bandwidth really that
big of a factor? Both
> the P4 system with 1GB RAM as well as the Xeon
system seem to grab all
>
the RAM they need (with some still left over).
>
>
Any thoughts on this would be welcome.
Thanks.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Please note that this
group is for discussion between users only.
>
>
To get support from AmiBroker please send an e-mail directly to
> SUPPORT {at}
amibroker.com
>
> For other support
material please check also:
> http://www.amibroker.com/support.html
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups
Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Please note that
this group is for discussion between users only.
To get support from AmiBroker please send an e-mail
directly to
SUPPORT {at}
amibroker.com
For other
support material please check also:
http://www.amibroker.com/support.html
Please
note that this group is for discussion between users only.
To get
support from AmiBroker please send an e-mail directly to
SUPPORT {at}
amibroker.com
For other support material please check also:
http://www.amibroker.com/support.html
Please
note that this group is for discussion between users only.
To get
support from AmiBroker please send an e-mail directly to
SUPPORT {at}
amibroker.com
For other support material please check also:
http://www.amibroker.com/support.html