Houdini 3 update does behave the same in 64-bit and 32-bit.

[carldaman]

Hello Ernest,
What machine do you have? Other folks need to know which machines are affected and thus require the updated version.

Thanks,
Carl

[Houdini]

Hello Ernest,
What machine do you have? Other folks need to know which machines are affected and thus require the updated version.

Thanks,
Carl

All Houdini 3 users have been informed by individual e-mail.

Robert

[ernest]

What machine do you have? Other folks need to know which machines are affected and thus require the updated version.

As I said in
http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopi ... 180#490180
my machine is an old Core 2 Duo.
If with your machine, you obtain the same infinite analysis as shown there, you don't need the updated (corrected) version.

As Robert says, you will receive/have received the following e-mail:

Dear Houdini User,

A problem has been reported about Houdini 3 occasionally producing different analysis results depending on the hardware used. After investigation it appeared that in some cases an evaluation term can be computed incorrectly on older hardware that does not support the POPCNT instruction.

Most users will NOT be impacted by this issue.
If you're using recent hardware (Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, most Intel Xeons, AMD Phenom X6 or X4, AMD Bulldozer, AMD Opteron...) there will be NO need to take any action, your Houdini 3 installation is working correctly as intended.

Only if you're using older hardware without POPCNT instruction (Pentium 4, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, …) we recommend that you install the corrected Houdini 3 Setup from the following link...

[Jouni]

I have old CPU and I tested updated engine in 2000 testpositions. New version is better/faster! Thanks Ernest for pointing this bug . E.g. original H3 was weaker(!) than Critter in STS suite, but updated is now better.

[shrapnel]

Hmm.... actually a software engineer friend of mine, who also has H3, reports that the updated version plays about 15-20 ELO stronger than the original H3...much better evaluation and search also... and he's using an Intel Core i5 !!
So, I feel everyone should install the new updated version, regardless of Hardware used !
No harm, I think.

[syzygy]

Hmm.... actually a software engineer friend of mine, who also has H3, reports that the updated version plays about 15-20 ELO stronger than the original H3...much better evaluation and search also... and he's using an Intel Core i5 !!
So, I feel everyone should install the new updated version, regardless of Hardware used !
No harm, I think.

Unless your friend has used the version meant to be run on older hardware on his core i5, he is seeing things that are not there.

How can an identical binary suddenly get stronger?

[shrapnel]

Hmm.... actually a software engineer friend of mine, who also has H3, reports that the updated version plays about 15-20 ELO stronger than the original H3...much better evaluation and search also... and he's using an Intel Core i5 !!
So, I feel everyone should install the new updated version, regardless of Hardware used !
No harm, I think.

Unless your friend has used the version meant to be run on older hardware on his core i5, he is seeing things that are not there.

How can an identical binary suddenly get stronger?

What are you talking about ?
He had the Houdini 3 Pro x64 bit version from the beginning and is running it on Win 7 x64 on an Intel i5.
Hope that's clear.
The ELO increase may or may not be real, but what's for sure is that the evaluation and search functions seem to have improved a lot and there is certainly no harm in installing the new version.
At most, there may be a slight improvement and at worst, no change.
In any case, Mr Robert Houdart has sent the updated version to all his customers, and so to update or not is entirely a matter of personal choice.

[geots]

Hmm.... actually a software engineer friend of mine, who also has H3, reports that the updated version plays about 15-20 ELO stronger than the original H3...much better evaluation and search also... and he's using an Intel Core i5 !!
So, I feel everyone should install the new updated version, regardless of Hardware used !
No harm, I think.

Unless your friend has used the version meant to be run on older hardware on his core i5, he is seeing things that are not there.

How can an identical binary suddenly get stronger?

What are you talking about ?
He had the Houdini 3 Pro x64 bit version from the beginning and is running it on Win 7 x64 on an Intel i5.
Hope that's clear.
The ELO increase may or may not be real, but what's for sure is that the evaluation and search functions seem to have improved a lot and there is certainly no harm in installing the new version.
At most, there may be a slight improvement and at worst, no change.
In any case, Mr Robert Houdart has sent the updated version to all his customers, and so to update or not is entirely a matter of personal choice.

As far as actual gameplay, he could not run enough games in a month on one system to come to any elo improvement conclusion. As for analysis- that is even more iffy. Sometimes the smallest hardware diff. that he may not even be thinking about or aware of could skew the results. My advice is if Robert tells you it will snow tomorrow, wear some heavy clothes. Seriously tho- if Robert says there is no difference in his case, all of the above I mentioned is moot. If Robert says there is none- then that seals the deal. I would just say be more careful in the battles you pick. Going head-to-head with Robert over a Houdini issue- you're in way over your head.


gts

[Houdini]

Hmm.... actually a software engineer friend of mine, who also has H3, reports that the updated version plays about 15-20 ELO stronger than the original H3...much better evaluation and search also... and he's using an Intel Core i5 !!
So, I feel everyone should install the new updated version, regardless of Hardware used !
No harm, I think.

Your friend can probably verify that both versions produce exactly the same analysis, have the same node speed and are in fact indistinguishable.
So what's this "much better evaluation and search"?

[Paloma]

Hi Robert,

will be the H3-update also published in Chessbase?