Subject: Quanta on AlphaStation clones?

From: [email-masked] (Gabriel Berriz)
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 11:57:49 -0500

Dear netters:

Our lab is (still!) in the process of overhauling its computer
equipment.  We are trying to decide between SGI and Alpha workstations
(or, more precisely, AlphaStation clones).  By far, the greatest
fraction of our lab computers' CPU cycles are devoted to running our
(in-house written) number crunching programs; this makes the Alpha
clones more attractive, since they give us more number crunching power
per buck.  However, occasionally some of us need to visualize
molecules with Quanta, and therefore strongly prefer the SGI
alternative, even if Quanta takes up only a minuscule fraction of our
total CPU load.

Therefore, I would appreciate to hear about the experiences of anyone
out there running Quanta on an Alpha 21164 chip (we're considering
either 433 or 500 Mhz).  Do you require and/or recommend any special
graphics hardware (e.g. graphics card or monitor)?  How good are the
Quanta graphics?  In particular, is the mouse-driven rotation of
molecules quick and smooth to the eye, or is it lagging and jerky?  I
would appreciate any comments pertinent to the high-end graphics
possibilities of Alpha clones.

Thank you very much advance.

Gabriel Berriz
[email-masked]
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Harvard University

---

From: [email-masked] (Gabriel Berriz)
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 17:23:37 -0500

[This is a follow-up to an earlier question of mine (quoted below, for
reference)...]

Another option that has come up is to consolidate all our CPU power on
a single server, and to use NCD X-terminals as consoles on people's
desks.  Does anyone know if it is possible to view and interact with
Quanta (which is running on the server) remotely through an NCD
X-terminal?

Gabriel Berriz

==========================================================================
   Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 11:57:49 -0500
   From: [email-masked] (Gabriel Berriz)

   Dear netters:

   Gabriel Berriz

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