PC Spec For Multiple BA / Multiple Excel ?

[dogform]

Hi,

Would anyone please know if there is a minimum PC spec in terms of CPU / RAM / OS for running multiple instances of Gruss (up to 4) linked to a total of approx 20 instances of excel ?

I have an old Compaq Presario that I am thinking of using as a dedicated Gruss PC using excel 2003 and a performance version of XP where all the crap has been strimmed out. The Compaq has a 1.13GHz Intel CPU with 768 mb of RAM.

Before I reconfigure the Compaq it would be nice to know if it is up to the job.

Thx & Rgds
dog

[osknows]

It's difficult to say exactly how things would perform without testing it out yourself. A VERY rough guide to see if you have enough headroom is to look at he performance of each instance/process of BA and excel in the task manager and mutliply up to your requirements (Ctrl Alt Del - Task Manager)

For me, 1 instance of BA averages 1% CPU & 91Mb memory (peaks about 14% when fetching markets); 1 instance of Excel 2% CPU and 8Mb memory

So I would easily have enough headroom with 4 BA + 20 Excel

[doris_day]

Sounds like a big ask to me...

Also depends on what type and how many calculations you've got going on within Excel too, besides the refreshes/sec you're polling for.

I certainly wouldn't be happy with that spec of PC for what you're doing and would have thought 2GB of RAM would be a min requirement....

[dogform]

osknows, doris_day,

Thanks for your replies.

It looks as though I need to dedicate a better spec PC to the task so its off to fleabay to see what 2nd user desktops are available with decent spec.

One last question, are you running XP, Vista or Windows 7 as OS as their default background processes will have a different demand on the PC resources. I intend to use the performance edition of XP where loads of the junk has been removed hopefully reducing demands on resources. Is there any flaw in this rationale ?

Thx once again.

Rgds
dog

[osknows]

I just installed W7 last week and run it on an I7, very fast, very stable, I'm shocked MS seem to have got something right for a change Worth the upgrade from XP if you can afford it