32-bit NX on XP x64 3

[tiuk]

Hi all,
The company I work for is looking to upgrade the system that they run NX on. Currently it's NX 6 on 32-bit Windows XP Professional.

I'd like to go 64-bit for the new system so it can have access to more RAM (likely 6 GB). It seems our NX license only covers us for 32-bit, since that is the only download option I see on Siemens site. I would be installing NX 7 on the new system.

My question is, is there any disadvantage to running the 32-bit version of NX on XP x64? If 32-bit is the way to go for reliability then I can make that sacrifice, we would just have more options with a 64-bit system.

Also, while I'm here, can anyone comment on NX performance between CPUs (i7, Core 2, Xeon), number of cores, etc? I'm trying to figure out which specs are best increased to improve performance. Any other spec suggestions would be welcomed, there doesn't seem to be a lot about NX online (or I'm looking in the wrong places).

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[looslib]

As long as you aren't running into memory limitations on your 32bit systems, you will be ok with a 64bit os and 32bit app. You still have the 2GB memory per process limit, but other system resources are freed up.
I am running nX4 32 bit on XP64bit with 8GB memory, yet system info in NX says I only have 4GB.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[tiuk]

Sounds good to me, thanks looslib.

 

[BlasMolero]

Dear Tiuk,
Strongly recommended to install NX7-x64 on a computer of 64bits running a 64-bits OS like WinXP-x64 or Windows7 x64 and plenty ofRAM memory, say minimun 8 GB RAM, and target 32 GB RAM, no doubt here, RAM is critical. Later depending your budget you can invest in two QUAD core processors, fast SSD hard drives configured as RAID-0, a powerful graphics card, etc..

Best regards,
Blas.

 

[tiuk]

Thanks for the advice, Blas. I understand that the best case scenario would be 64-bit across the board and lots of hardware. Unfortunately I'm working with a limited budget.

NX is only really used here for data processing. They've been getting by alright with it on a P4 3 GHz with 2 GB of RAM and a Quadro 4 980 XGL. The system I'm specing out has a Xeon W3520 2.66GHz (8 MB L3), 6 GB DDR3 1066 mhz, and a Quadro FX 1800. We recently got a similar system in for CATIA, and it's been going well.

I'd be happy to install 64-bit NX but it seems our license doesn't cover it and I doubt I could get that approved.

 

[potrero]

@tiuk: Obtaining a copy of 64-bit NX should be a simple matter not requiring more charges over what your current license provides. You may need to contact GTAC to enable the software download via ftp.

@BlasMolero: do you know if NX7 officially supports Windows 7?

 

[tiuk]

Thanks for the recommendation petrero, I'll look into that right away.

 

[tiuk]

One phone call and I got the 64-bit media added to the FTP, physical media is shipping tonight. Thanks again potrero!

 

[cowski]

As for the processor question, there are several threads that discuss hardware for computers running NX. Use the search function with terms such as "UG/NX processor" or "UG/NX performance" and you should get 10's of hits.

 

[tiuk]

Rookie mistake, sorry about that. I found some good threads already comparing graphics cards, so it stands to reason there should be some for CPU. Good suggestion, thanks.

 

[BlasMolero]

Dear Tiuk,
Your license file is the same to run NX on 32-bits or 64-bits platorms, no need any special license for x64, contact GTAC to allow you to download the software via FTP.

Dear Potrero,
Yes, NX7 will be certified to run on Windows7 x64, actually I run NX7.0 on Vista x64 with full success, I am very happy with stability & reliability.

Best regards,
Blas.

 

[tiuk]

Thanks Blas, got it downloaded last night.