hardware spec for interactive exhibition

[coolfada]

Hi,

I'm researching for a college project and would like to get some input. Ok so I'm wondering what kind of hardware configuration would be needed to power an exhibition where about five people could simultaneously interact with the application running on the computer. interaction would be through separate 'hubs' or say touch screens.

the application itself would be processing stock data and mapping it to 3D environment graphics in a visually innovative way. so i presume the whole thing would need a lot of ram and processing power. oh and any ideas on the type of software that could be employed here would be very helpful too. I was looking at Havok stuff as from what i can see, actions that occur are event driven which is what the application would be doing; responding to changes in the stock market displayed through characters performing certain actions.

any help would be much appreciated or maybe point me to more suitable forum

 

[Poizen22]

budget?

 

[coolfada]

budget?

5 million euro. However this includes a cinema grade projector and screen. so I maybe 4.5m?

 

[dario03]

lol... Thats the best budget ever...

Just buy whatever cost the most and is compatable

 

[coolfada]

well thats the reason of my initial post. I'm looking to find out what would be the best set up. I don't know what the standard is for exhibition type computers . I mean would it just be something along the lines of 3 ghz processor, 4 gb ram? manufacturers? how do i deal with the multiple users?

 

[commandercup]

workstation/server setup?

dual CPU motherboard with 64 bit windows that will support as much ram as you can afford

if its very graphically oriented, a good graphics card is a must

edit:

with the multiple users, you could run an sli setup and have 4 touch screen monitors setup to 1 computer, each monitor can show a different program or you can run 4 of the same program, one on each screen

 

[Luke]

your budget is 4.5 mil and your asking us to recomend stuff, just overkill everything, your not gona get anywhere near 4.5 mil.

 

[Poizen22]

workstation/server setup?

dual CPU motherboard with 64 bit windows that will support as much ram as you can afford

if its very graphically oriented, a good graphics card is a must

edit:

with the multiple users, you could run an sli setup and have 4 touch screen monitors setup to 1 computer, each monitor can show a different program or you can run 4 of the same program, one on each screen

if he wants multiple screens hes gonna need crossfire not sli. overkill everythign as said, get like 2 q9650's crossfire 3870x2's like 8gb of ram, and windows vista ultimate, and like 2 raptor x hard drives or even maybe a solid stated drive. and like 5 750gb hdd's

 

[coolfada]

workstation/server setup?

dual CPU motherboard with 64 bit windows that will support as much ram as you can afford

if its very graphically oriented, a good graphics card is a must

edit:

with the multiple users, you could run an sli setup and have 4 touch screen monitors setup to 1 computer, each monitor can show a different program or you can run 4 of the same program, one on each screen

thanks for your reply

work station? it will be a stand alone application that interacts with FTSE 100 data but there won't be other instances of the application, so that means workstation right?
yes it would be very graphically oriented, 3D environment with a hundred moving characters on screen all the time.

so there would be multiple graphics cards hooked up to the sli setup? the application would be displayed on a large screen. the 5 touchscreens would wouldn't be showing the same thing as on the screen but options that the user could select such as selecting a specific item on the screen

when you say 'dual CPU motherboard' do you mean intel core 2 duo technology?

would 4gb ram suffice? the application would be extremely data processing intensive.

thanks again

 

[Luke]

dude, u have 4.5 mil, get 8 gigs of the best you can find.