What computer should I use to run Stata/MP?

Stata/MP is a flavor of Stata that can perform symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) on a computer with multiple processors or cores. Click here for more information about Stata/MP.

Stata/MP is available for the following operating systems:

• Windows (32-bit)
• Windows (64-bit x86-64)
• Windows (64-bit Itanium)
• Macintosh (Intel based)
• Linux (32-bit)
• Linux (64-bit x86-64)
• Linux (64-bit Itanium)
• Solaris (64-bit SPARC)
• Solaris (64-bit x86-64)

Most desktop systems are single processor, single core. Although Stata/MP will run on these systems, there will be marginal (if any) performance gain.

A computer’s processor is often called the central processing unit, or CPU. Computers can have multiple CPUs, and Stata/MP takes advantage of this design to process data faster.

Also available are computers with processors that contain multiple cores. A core is the computation engine of a CPU, consisting of integer and floating-point processing units. Thus a computer with one dual-core processor is similar to a computer with two processors. In fact, Stata/MP does not distinguish between CPUs and cores; it is designed to use systems with up to 32 cores—be they single core (one per CPU), dual core (two per CPU), or multicore (many per CPU).

Most manufacturers sell multiprocessor computers as servers. Thus your choice is to buy either a desktop computer with a dual-core CPU or a server computer with multiple processors, each of which might or might not be dual core. Having more processors/cores means that Stata/MP will run faster.

Be aware of the term “hyperthreaded”, however. Do not buy a single-processor hyperthreaded computer. Stata/MP runs faster on such computers, but not as fast as it does on true multiprocessor/dual-core computers. (If you already have a hyperthreaded computer, Stata/MP will run on it, and you will experience some performance gain.)

Computers with multiple hyperthreaded processors are suitable for Stata/MP. The number of real processors is the critical factor.

Most manufacturers distinguish between two-processor systems and dual-core systems. As far as Stata/MP is concerned, both work equally well.

Both Intel and AMD manufacture chips appropriate for Stata/MP. Either run a modern Windows operating system (2000, XP, Vista, or newer) or run Linux.

Macintosh Intel-based dual-core computers are appropriate for Stata/MP. Stata/MP supports OS X.

Sun computers with multiple SPARC 64-bit processors running Solaris are appropriate for Stata/MP. Sun multicore SPARC processors are also appropriate.

Regardless of the system you buy, the most important thing you can do is to ensure that you have enough memory to hold 1.5 times the maximum dataset size you plan to use.