Re: st: advice on new computer to maximize stata speed

[Sergiy Radyakin <serjradyakin@gmail.com>]

For memory limits on various Windows systems consult the following page:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
E.g. Windows Server 2008 Standard will not use more than 32GB physical
memory according to their info.

Will the computer be your dedicated machine? Or will it run as a
server for the whole team? These are somewhat different roles. Go with
more CPUs for a server, less but more powerful CPUs for a dedicated
machine.

On the advantages of having more memory see here:
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/09/why-does-vista-use-all-my-memory.html

Best, Sergiy

On Tue, Jul 9, 2013 at 11:09 AM, Jeph Herrin <stata@spandrel.net> wrote:
> 1) I have a Win7 machine with 24gb RAM and it has no trouble allocating 20gb
> to Stata (12.1).
>
> 2) I think you need Stata/MP to exploit dual processors; whether this gains
> you anything depends on what Stata routines you are using.
>
> 3) Avoid Windows 8!
>
> I have been purchasing higher end machines from Xi computers for almost 15
> years, and have always been very satisified with a) bang for buck b) quality
> and c) technical support.
>
> hth,
> Jeph
>
>
>
>
> On 7/9/2013 10:08 AM, Kalnins, Arturs wrote:
>>
>> Hello, I am part of a project team that will likely be able to buy a new
>> windows-based desktop computer (guessing around $10,000 US).
>>
>> The main function of this computer will be to run stata on a data set of
>> 3-4 million observations and use xi to add 3000 to 4000 dummy variables. We
>> have run these on a large research server and that indicates a usage of
>> between 10 and 20 GB of RAM.
>>
>> 1) On a windows-based PC, if we purchase 64GB RAM, will stata be able to
>> grab 20GB at will (nothing else will be running) and be as effective as on
>> research servers that have far more RAM?
>>
>> 2) Can stata simultaneously access dual Intel Xeon microprocessors? If so,
>> I have been advised to purchase a machine with the two processors instead of
>> only one. Makes sense it would be much faster...
>>
>> 3) Any PC specifications to avoid?
>>
>> thank you for any insights.
>>
>> Arturs Kalnins
>> Cornell University
>>
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