Computer and hardware

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System Hardware Recommendations

Presentation was designed to work well with generic PC hardware. Hardware requirements really depend on the experiment. Some experiments may run acceptably even on very old systems. Other experiments may require alot of RAM or a current video card. In addition, some hardware may not work correctly because the drivers for that hardware do not correctly implement the interfaces Presentation requires.

The following recommendations may be helpful if you are purchasing a new system to be used primarily with Presentation. These are not minimum requirements. Also, please read the notes below for each item.

Sample Presentation System

CPU: 2.78Ghz Pentium 4 or Athlon XP
Motherboard/brand: See notes below.
RAM: 1 GB
Hard Drive: 7200RPM SATA or ATA133
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS
Video Card: GeForce FX 5600 128MB
Operating System: Windows XP

CPU: Obviously performance will increase with the speed of the CPU. The best price to performance ratio is usually at the 3rd or 4th fastest CPU clock speed available. For instance, if the fastest clock speed for Pentium 4 is 3.4Ghz, you'll generally get a good price break (of around $150) by going down to the next highest speed of 3.2Ghz. And if you go the next level down, you can save another $75 or so. AMD processors are quite a bit cheaper than Pentiums, and Presentation should work just as well with them.

Motherboard/brand: The motherboard used will need to match the processor and RAM that you get. In addition, if you get an SATA hard drive, the motherboard must support that. We recommend that you have your vendor make those selections and assemble the components. It is usually a good idea to also have the vendor install the operating system and drivers. What vendor you use (Dell, local dealer, etc.) should be chosen based on cost/support/reliability considerations.

RAM: The amount of memory required for an experiment depends on the size and number of stimuli that you are using. Having extra memory never hurts and it is relatively cheap.

Hard Drive: A 7200RPM SATA or ATA133 drive should suffice. IDE drives usually come as 5400RPM. 5400RPM may be slow if you plan to play video. A 10,000RPM SCSI hard drive is actually ideal for video, but most 10,000RPM drives have a high pitched whine. If you can afford SCSI, go with that, but it is quite a bit more expensive than Serial ATA or IDE. The Seagate Barracuda series of hard drives offer quiet, reliable and fast performance. The 120GB 7200RPM Seagate Barracuda is a good match for most people.

Operating System: Windows XP will come with most new systems and will be supported by Microsoft for quite a while to come, unlike Windows 98. On any system, you should make good use of Presentation's uncertainty features. See the benchmark feature and the optimizing your OS pages for more information.

Sound Card

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS (PCI card) - The Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS was the first card that we found to support DirectX Hardware mode in Windows XP/2000. It also happens to have very low latency and no detectable jitter. It supports up to 8 channels and has a good signal to noise ratio. The "Platinum" version of this card has a front panel, which makes connecting headphones and adjusting volume easier. The "Platinum Pro" version has an external module for all the inputs and outputs, which might be useful to some.

Creative Audigy 4 (PCI card) - Given the decreasing availability of the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS, we tested the Creative Audigy 4 as a possible alternative. This card also supports DirectX Hardware mode in Windows XP/2000. Playback for this card was very good in custom mixing mode, with some issues in the DirectX modes.

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Notebook (PCMCIA card) - The Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Notebook is the little brother of the PCI card version. It supports DirectX Hardware mode in Windows XP/2000, but volume ramps each sound (which can be worked around). It also happens to have very low latency and no detectable jitter. It supports up to 8 channels and has a good signal to noise ratio.

Sound Card Latency Testing

Sound card playback latency is something that in general needs to be tested empirically. For this purpose, NBS has developed a testing procedure along with a utility program that makes it easier to test sound card latencies. The test requires the following:

PC running Presentation
A second PC or laptop with a sound card
A custom-made cable
The SCLA program available below
The Sound Card Latency Analyzer (SCLA) utility program can be downloaded from the link below. The distribution includes a help file that completely describes the hardware setup, test procedure, and SCLA program operation. You can also view the help file here. Included with the program is a default scenario and sound that can be used for testing, although you can user whatever scenario you wish.
SCLA program Version 1.0, documentation and sample experiment - scla.zip - 363,642 bytes

You can view test results here: Test Results and Report Form

Video Card Recommendations

Low cost: GeForce GS/LE [current model, ex. 7300] AGP/PCI-Express (NOT PCI) with 128MB or higher (between $50 and $100)
High performance: GeForce GT [current model, ex. 7900] PCI-Express (NOT PCI) with 256MB or higher (between $150 and $350)

Video card technology is advancing at a rapid pace. These rapid changes mean that you can get a really nice video card fairly inexpensively as long as you aren't out to get the very latest and greatest. Radeon (ATI) and GeForce (nVidia) are the two major forces in the video card market. They both have fans on the card to cool the video chips. On the very high end cards, these fans can be quite noisy. For the purposes of running Presentation, a much less expensive and less noisy card is more than adequate, unless you plan on displaying 3D scenes with extremely dense meshes. As of this writing, a GeForce GS 7300 with 128MB or 256MB of memory is a good choice for the cost-conscious. Almost all cards have dual display outputs, which is good for running an experiment on one screen while watching the status screen on the other. The equivalent in performance to the GeForce line is probably one of the Radeon X1300 series cards. The only disadvantage of going with Radeon over GeForce is that nVidia, the makers of the GeForce, write their own drivers to support the 3d shutter glasses while ATI, the makers of the Radeon, do not. This is an advantage only for people who want to use stereo 3d shutter glasses. If you use the Radeon with shutter glasses, you have to use 3rd party drivers, which might not be as optimized and might be buggy.

AGP vs. PCI-Express: There is a new slot type available which outshines AGP. PCI-Express x16 slots are the best you can get, but you might have to upgrade your motherboard to get it. PCI-Express is not to be confused with the outdated PCI slot (the two are not compatible). Given the choice, you should ALWAYS choose PCI-Express. There is massive support in the video card market for PCI-Express and it WILL improve streaming video and 3D performance. PCI-Express cards cost no more than AGP video cards, but the motherboards might cost a little more. Remember: before buying a PCI-Express video card, make sure your motherboard supports it. Also, don't buy a new motherboard/computer without at least one PCI-Express x16 slot for video.

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