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

[Jeph Herrin <stata@spandrel.net>]

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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