Graphics card & CPU new computer

[kroppkaka]

My boss just asked me to get a quote an a new computer tower (box) for my station.
What graphics card and CPU would you recommend for a new setup.
My boss wants me not to spend more $1000.00 so allow some for other bits in the box.
Thank you for your help.


SolidWorks 2007 SP 3.1
Work-XP Pro SP2 Home-XP Home SP2
Home-Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM
Home-NVidia GEFORCE 7900GS

 

[Eltron]

I'd worry less about the graphics card and worry more about the CPU (# of processors) for $1000. The graphics card pretty much only drives Realview.

Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

Dan's Blog

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

thread559-274655
thread559-274641

http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/SystemRequirements.html

http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/videocardtesting.html

 

[KirbyWan]

$1000 is a slim budget for an CAD workstation. If you can reuse everything you have already I would go for a CPU/Motherboard/Memory upgrade and keep everything else. I think the sweet spot at the moment is a Core i7 930 in an X58 motherboard with 6 Gig of 1333 DDR3 ram. You might even have enough left over for a lower end Quadro or Fire GL graphics card.

-Kirby

Kirby Wilkerson

Remember, first define the problem, then solve it.

 

[pietje]

I'd go for a quadro fx580, since it works fine for small and intermediate models and doesn't slam a big hole in your budget.
I still think the core-speed is more important than the number of cores in your CPU. Maybe things have changed the last year in the SW software, if so please correct me. And better too much memory than too little...

 

[kroppkaka]

From what I can see here SolidWorks 2007 is not recommended with Windows 7. Will it work?

SolidWorks 2007 SP 3.1
Work-XP Pro SP2 Home-XP Home SP2
Home-Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM
Home-NVidia GEFORCE 7900GS

 

[steinmini]

It should. If any problem arises, there is the "compatibility mode" setting. More here:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/make-older-programs-run-in-this-version-of-windows

 

[steinmini]

Sorry, somewhat wrong link in my previous post, but it's basically the same thing when it comes to compatibility:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/make-older-programs-run-in-this-version-of-windows

Even if you get the 64-bit version of the Win7, and have the 32-bit SW 2007, it should work.
As mentioned before, Microsoft drivers for the workstation GPU will not unleash the required modes for use with SW.

 

[kroppkaka]

How is this looking?
CPU: Intel Core i7 930 @ us$310
MoBo: GA-X58-UD3R @ us$230
RAM: G.Skill 6GB DDR3-@ us$190
GPU: Nvidia Quadro FX580 @ us$200
All costs are approx converted from Australian dollars.
I will try to reuse most of other stuff from the old machine.



SolidWorks 2007 SP 3.1
Work-XP Pro SP2 Home-XP Home SP2
Home-Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM
Home-NVidia GEFORCE 7900GS

 

[steinmini]

If you are satisfied with the hard drive and the monitor you probably already have, this all sounds like a good choice. Do take care that the power supply is a reliable one, the shear power is not so important if your PSU is in the 400W+ region, reliability is important. Costs a lot if the PSU goes wacko or crashes.

 

[steinmini]

I am about to upgrade my machine with a pair of hard drives and make a RAID 0 for the system (should work noticeably faster) and leave the single non-RAID WD500 for the data storage. If you notice that it all still isn't fast as you would like it, and can't afford SSD hard drives, RAID 0 may be a way to go. The downside of RAID 0 is that for safety reasons, one actually need a third drive to store the data.

 

[JMesz]

I didn't read all the replies but I did read somewhere that for general use a dual core processor with high clock speeds would outperform a quad core with lower clock speeds. Keep that in mind. On the flip side a large assembly with hundreds of parts and assemblies and mates will benefit from a quad core. Image rendering is very CPU intensive so fit the processor to your needs. Run as much RAM as you can get away with.

I am running a Xeon 2.67 Ghz Quad with 12 GB of RAM. Image rendering is a dream. The project I am working on with 500-600 parts plus is quite manageable.

If you are working on medium sized assemblies get a dual core with high clocks speeds...noting that of course there are many other things that determine the performance of a processor. Check out Tiger Direct and read customer comments. Note on Tiger Direct which machines are refurbished and which are not. And like has been said already...determine if you are better off buying a CPU/Motherboard/RAM combo and upgrading your current machine.

P.S. Get liquid cooling and overclock the bugger!

 

[kroppkaka]

If I would go for a dual core system
How is this looking compared to the above Quad core?

CPU: Intel 1156pin i5-750 us$212
MoBo: Intel 1156pin DDR3 DP55WB us$110
RAM: 4G kit DDR3 2000 G.skill us$140
GPU: Nvidia Quadro FX580 @ us$200

All costs are approx converted from Australian dollars.



SolidWorks 2007 SP4.0
XP Pro SP3

 

[JMesz]

The i5 would be a quad core am I right?

How big of files do you typically work on? Are they 50 part assemblies or 300 part assemblies? The benefits of the quad core are exemplified in large assemblies rather than small assemblies.

Another thing to consider...what OS are you running? 64 bit or 32? With a 64 bit OS 6G of ram or more are recommended for running Solidworks.

 

[CastMetal]

Side note CAD and other similar software such as simulation CAM or even Photoshop are not stable running in compatibility mode of windows 7. I would no recommend windows 7 unless you have SW 2010