R devel - Sep 2009 - Windows Laptop specification query

I've read some postings back in 2002/2006 about running R on multiple 
core CPUs. The answer was basically separate processes work fine, but 
parallelization needs to be implemented using snow/rmpi. Are the answers 
still the same?

I ask because we are about to order a laptop running Windows for a new 
staff member. Some advice on the following would be helpful.
It will be ordered with Vista, with a free upgrade to Windows 7. It will 
have 8GB of memory

A quad core CPU costs about AUD$1100 more than the fastest (Intel 
T9900-6M Cache, 3.06 GHz) dual core CPU.
I'm wondering if there is value in ordering the quad core. We are 
looking at a time frame of 3-4 years.

Is anyone aware of near future plans to implement some form or 
parallelization that would more or less be hidden from the normal user?
 
It is anticipated that analysis of Next Gen sequence data will be important.

I've read the Windows FAQ about running R under Vista. We will probably 
start with Vista. I've read some posts in R-devel indicating people are 
running R under Windows 7. Is it safe to assume that R will run under 
Windows 7 after it is released?

We are hoping to make use the 8GB of memory. Am I right in assuming that 
when the 64 bit version of Windows 7 is available, it will allow R users 
to make good use of the 8GB of memory. Does this happen under the 
current higher end versions of 64 bit Vista?

cheers,

Keith

=======================Keith Satterley
Bioinformatics Division
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Parkville, Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia

Good morning Keith,

Have a look at
http://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/rw-FAQ.html#There-seems-to-be-a-limit-on-the-memory-it-uses_0021

The short answer is that "it depends"...
a) memory is limited under windows
b) R is essentially a serial program - HOWEVER it depends what you're
actually doing - if you're working with large matrices then there are
parallel versions of BLAS that can be used...  On a multi-core windows
machine with lots of memory you can of course run up multiple copies of R
and run each independently

Kind regards,
Sean

On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 4:40 AM, Keith Satterley <keith@wehi.edu.au>
wrote:
> I've read some postings back in 2002/2006 about running R on multiple
core
> CPUs. The answer was basically separate processes work fine, but
> parallelization needs to be implemented using snow/rmpi. Are the answers
> still the same?
>
> I ask because we are about to order a laptop running Windows for a new
> staff member. Some advice on the following would be helpful.
> It will be ordered with Vista, with a free upgrade to Windows 7. It will
> have 8GB of memory
>
> A quad core CPU costs about AUD$1100 more than the fastest (Intel T9900-6M
> Cache, 3.06 GHz) dual core CPU.
> I'm wondering if there is value in ordering the quad core. We are
looking
> at a time frame of 3-4 years.
>
> Is anyone aware of near future plans to implement some form or
> parallelization that would more or less be hidden from the normal user?
>
> It is anticipated that analysis of Next Gen sequence data will be
> important.
>
> I've read the Windows FAQ about running R under Vista. We will probably
> start with Vista. I've read some posts in R-devel indicating people are
> running R under Windows 7. Is it safe to assume that R will run under
> Windows 7 after it is released?
>
> We are hoping to make use the 8GB of memory. Am I right in assuming that
> when the 64 bit version of Windows 7 is available, it will allow R users to
> make good use of the 8GB of memory. Does this happen under the current
> higher end versions of 64 bit Vista?
>
> cheers,
>
> Keith
>
> =======================> Keith Satterley
> Bioinformatics Division
> The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
> Parkville, Melbourne,
> Victoria, Australia
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel@r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>
	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]