Building a new system

General discussion about StarTools.
mcbbcn
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Re: Building a new system

Post by mcbbcn »

Hi Ivo,

What size of ramdisk would you recommend for running StarTools?

Thanks for your help,

M.
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Re: Building a new system

Post by admin »

mcbbcn wrote: What size of ramdisk would you recommend for running StarTools?
Currently, the tracking feature approximately needs 150 bytes per pixel. So for an image that has a resolution of X by Y pixels the formula is X x Y x 150 bytes.
Ivo Jager
StarTools creator and astronomy enthusiast
mcbbcn
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Re: Building a new system

Post by mcbbcn »

OK, so I ran the calculations X x Y x 150 bytes...

3348 x 2496 x 150 bytes = 1,253,491,200 bytes, or what is the same, 9.3Gb...Ha! This is going to be the mother all of the RAMDISK :obscene-drinkingcheers:

I'm glad DDR3 RAM is a lot cheaper than it used to be... ;)

M.
gboulton
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Re: Building a new system

Post by gboulton »

Thought I'd bump this thread to share that components for the new system have started to arrive! :) Case, RAM, and HDD got here today. Remaining components expected Friday.

Critical stats are :

Core i5 3570K
16GB of RAM
750W high current PS
1.5 TB of drive space
ASRock z77 main board.

The case, PS, and RAM are all also red or red/black...gotta stick with the astronomy theme donchya know! :lol:

Images and such coming as I start assembling. :)

========

Ivo, quick technical question. You recommend a RAM drive for StarTools to swap to, but I do not see any way to tell StarTools to use a ram drive. How would I go about ensuring that ST makes use of a RAM drive I create. (Apparently, the MB will create one for me automatically, so I intend to make use of this)
-- Gordon

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Re: Building a new system

Post by admin »

gboulton wrote:Core i5 3570K
16GB of RAM
750W high current PS
1.5 TB of drive space
ASRock z77 main board.
The case, PS, and RAM are all also red or red/black...gotta stick with the astronomy theme donchya know! :lol:
*drool* :P
Ivo, quick technical question. You recommend a RAM drive for StarTools to swap to, but I do not see any way to tell StarTools to use a ram drive. How would I go about ensuring that ST makes use of a RAM drive I create. (Apparently, the MB will create one for me automatically, so I intend to make use of this)
For Windows, it's a simple matter of copying and running StarTools from your RAM drive volume.
Ivo Jager
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gboulton
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Re: Building a new system

Post by gboulton »

For Windows, it's a simple matter of copying and running StarTools from your RAM drive volume.
Just what I needed to know, Ivo! Simple batch file ought to do the trick! Thanks!
-- Gordon

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gboulton
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Re: Building a new system

Post by gboulton »

Huzzah!

The last of the components just arrived. Pics and hopefully "first post report" will follow! :)
-- Gordon

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Re: Building a new system

Post by admin »

gboulton wrote:Huzzah!

The last of the components just arrived. Pics and hopefully "first post report" will follow! :)
Just in time for Christmas! :D
Ivo Jager
StarTools creator and astronomy enthusiast
gboulton
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Re: Building a new system

Post by gboulton »

It lives. :)

Spiffy red/black power supply...
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Don't forget the cool red/black RAM!
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OOoooooOOOOo...pretty red lights!
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Downloading StarTools as I type. :)
-- Gordon

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gboulton
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Re: Building a new system

Post by gboulton »

:shock:

Great googly moogly, this thing's fast. :)

First ST processed image, a 3 minute rush job of M42 running on a 4GB RAM drive
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-- Gordon

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