Probably a very general question, but what should I be looking at in a desktop to run CAD seamlessly? Intel or AMD processors? What graphics cards
etc?
I've been looking at the Dell Studio XPS 7100 as seen here:
http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/Desktops/studio-xps-7100/pd.aspx?refid=studio-xps-7100&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1
Adam
what CAD package did you have in mind ?
I've just built a new one with an intel corei5 750 (quad core) and a Nvidia GTS250
I use it to run adutocad, tekla structures and 4 or 5 other things all at once and it hardly slows it down at all
and the best bit is I only spent £400 
(without a case or screen)
[Edited on 15/11/2010 by mcerd1]
We use Solid Edge ST2 (possibly ST3 soon).
Dont have the time or knowledge to build my own unfortunately.
The easiest thing to do it do decide which software you are going to use, then go to the software website and see their minimum specs. Thats going to give you an actual answer, rather than guessing.
quote:
Originally posted by deezee
The easiest thing to do it do decide which software you are going to use, then go to the software website and see their minimum specs. Thats going to give you an actual answer, rather than guessing.
sorry don't know what solid edge needs, your best to look for there recommended or top end spec (rather than the minimum spec)
what spec is your current laptop ? (btw most laptop graphics are rubbish)
one other thing to think about - looks like a x64 bit system would help, but what other programs are you running and would they work on an x64 system
?
I've had to stick with x32 win XP on mine as half of my software is too old for x64 win 7 adn I can't find new programs that do the same job
[Edited on 15/11/2010 by mcerd1]
[Edited on 15/11/2010 by mcerd1]
quote:
Originally posted by mcerd1
sorry don't know what solid edge needs, your best to look for there recommended or top end spec (rather than the minimum spec)
one other thing to think about - looks like a x64 bit system would help, but what other programs are you running and would they work on an x64 system ?
I've had to stick with x32 win XP on mine as half of my software is too old for x64 win 7 adn I can't find new programs that do the same job
[Edited on 15/11/2010 by mcerd1]
^^ thats a fairly low minium spec, I'd guess any decent sized model would kill a PC with that low a spec
I'd look for something with win7 pro (as long as that works for everything you need to run)
if your on a x64 bit system you'll want 4Gb of RAM
and as for a CPU i'd go for one of the new intel ones (my quad core one is a beast) but I have to admit I'm a bit out of touch with the new
AMD ones...
graphics wise I've found most software has be written with Nvidia cards in mind, but there are good cards from both and the more you spend the
better they get - I'd go for something with at least 1Gb of memory though
here the link to my thread from a couple of months back if it helps: linky
[Edited on 15/11/2010 by mcerd1]
I've been having another look and it seems to be between Nvidia GTS 240 and ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics cards, and AMD Phenom 2 X6 1045T and
Intel i5 650 processors.
Any opinions?
I like Nvidia and Intel - but that's just me I guess 
CAD isn't really very demanding - it's only if you want to run FEA/CFD etc, and your time is money, that you want a beast (or dedicated
number crunching box leaving you free to get on with other things on the normal machine). I run SolidEdge at work fine on an old Core2Duo, 2GB RAM,
X1300 graphics. Would be clunky with big models/assemblies.
I'd look at something like an Intel i5 (preferably the quad core 7xx series rather than the dual core 6xx series which cost almost as much as
they have an on-chip GPU you wont use), 4GB RAM, low end modern GPU like the Nvidia 430. Then overclock the nuts off the CPU because current Intels
are literally begging for it * My i5 750 2.66GHz runs fine at 4GHz.
* though to be honest you wouldn't really need to**
** but should anyway
Forgot to add - whilst you dont really need a crazy high-end spec, what will really increase your enjoyment/productivity is a decent big screen. Nice 24" 1920x1080 or 1200 is a joy to work on, or even a dual monitor setup.
quote:
Originally posted by Liam
Forgot to add - whilst you dont really need a crazy high-end spec, what will really increase your enjoyment/productivity is a decent big screen. Nice 24" 1920x1080 or 1200 is a joy to work on, or even a dual monitor setup.
I got the i5 750 (quad core) on Liam's recomendation and it just eats up anything I throw at it even without over clocking it - well worth the
money
I think going back to an old core2 duo/quad would just be a false econnomy these days
and there is one thing better than a 1920x1200 screen - two 1920x1200 screens
I'm so used to dual screens for work now I don't think i could go back to just one....