Houdini 11 on Ubuntu 10

[neonbulbs80]

Hi all,

I'm still a noob in Houdini and after careful consideration I choose to download Ubuntu 10.10 64-bit over other linux distros. My question, is Houdini 11 is stable to run under Ubuntu 10.10 64-bit? The reason I chose the 64-bit system is because I need additional RAM for rendering purposes.

So anyone who has experience maybe can enlighten me..

Cheers...

[pclaes]

I'm currently running h11.0.581 on ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) and it works like a charm. The feel is smoother than on windows 7 (64 bit) and the rendertimes are a bit faster too.

It should work fine on 10.10 too. As far as I know sidefx tends to support the Long Term supported versions of ubuntu. Just make sure you install all the build-essential and other packages and that your gcc matches the houdini you are downloading. (some info here: http://www.peterclaes.be/blog/?p=67 )

It took a bit of time to configure graphics driver (nvidia), dual screen and wacom tablet, but fairly painless. A lot of these issues have been smoothed out over the years.

My current setup:

Hp xw8400 workstation:

*) 2 quad xeon X5365 3.0 Ghz processors

*) 22 Gb ram

*) geforce 580

*) 1st hdisk: 300 Gb WD Raptor drive (10.000rpm)

*) 2nd hdisk: 2TB (7.500rpm)

*) 2 24" screens (samsung) at 1900x1200

I found this a good benchmark test for cpu rendering:

http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=20908&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

My system scored around the 6:30 mark

[neonbulbs80]

@pclaes : Thanks for the info. I just finished installing Ubuntu and try to get use to it. It's great to hear that Houdini runs well on the 64-bit version. So, I will install Houdini and hopefully it will work out. Can't wait to start playing with it.

Btw, nice setup you have there..(drool). I've done the test also but it was using Houdini on Windows 7.

My setup :

i7 2600k. 4Gb RAM. Overclocked to 4.2Ghz

Winfast GTS430

And my score was :

Render Time: 6:11.563u 0.499s 6:18.97r

Memory: 290.63 MB of 295.24 MB arena size. VM Size: 402.86 MB

I'm going to try to do the test in Ubuntu just to see wether there's a performance increase. But the thing is when I check with Ubuntu's System Monitor my CPU still on 3.4Ghz. So I'm still trying to found out wether the overclock setting that comes from my CPU Genie is being ignored by Ubuntu or it's actually affected but Ubuntu can only showed the unmodified CPU speed. So I'm a bit confused about this one. Maybe you know about this one?

Thanks..

Cheers!

[Alanw]

@pclaes : Thanks for the info. I just finished installing Ubuntu and try to get use to it. It's great to hear that Houdini runs well on the 64-bit version. So, I will install Houdini and hopefully it will work out. Can't wait to start playing with it.

Btw, nice setup you have there..(drool). I've done the test also but it was using Houdini on Windows 7.

My setup :

i7 2600k. 4Gb RAM. Overclocked to 4.2Ghz

Winfast GTS430

And my score was :

Render Time: 6:11.563u 0.499s 6:18.97r

Memory: 290.63 MB of 295.24 MB arena size. VM Size: 402.86 MB

I'm going to try to do the test in Ubuntu just to see wether there's a performance increase. But the thing is when I check with Ubuntu's System Monitor my CPU still on 3.4Ghz. So I'm still trying to found out wether the overclock setting that comes from my CPU Genie is being ignored by Ubuntu or it's actually affected but Ubuntu can only showed the unmodified CPU speed. So I'm a bit confused about this one. Maybe you know about this one?

Thanks..

Cheers!

Your OC is working. Linux is just showing you the frequency spec'd out for your CPU and not the actual frequency.

I use a tool called i7z to monitor my actual freq, and as a bonus it will show you your turbo boost frequency as well as your temps and multiplier.

Sorry if this is a bit confusing, as you will have to compile this application. It is actually a simple process, and this tool is very trustworthy and safe to use.

Download the package here - http://code.google.com/p/i7z/downloads/list

and follow these instructions - http://code.google.com/p/i7z/wiki/Readme

If you hit any snags let me know.

[neonbulbs80]

@Alanw :

Wow, thanks a lot for that. I'll be sure to download and get them in action.

I just installed Houdini last night and this morning played around with it before going to office and I'm absolutely love it! Houdini run much smoother than in Windows 7 64-bit especially the viewport and average cooking time for nodes. I still haven't done the test for cpu rendering like pclaes mentioned but I'm gonna do it tonight just for comparing.

Another feature that I really like is the use of virtual desktop, it just make my work easier rather than pressing Alt+Tab all day (since I only have 1 monitor to work on )

Cheers... thanks again for the help guys..

[Alanw]

@Alanw :

Wow, thanks a lot for that. I'll be sure to download and get them in action.

Oops, I just realized the copy of i7z that I linked to didn't support Sandy Bridge. The good news is they have support for SB in the latest version, but it's a different process obtaining it. Instead of downloading an archive, you have to checkout the code from the developers svn repository.

From your terminal:

svn checkout http://i7z.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ i7z-read-only

If your terminal complains about not having svn, then fire up synaptic and grab it there.

Good luck! I can't live without virtual desktops either, and I have multiple monitors. I use them when I'm on a Mac too (called spaces there).

Edited March 16, 2011 by Alanw