Help with spec for new Cad Station

[manxJim]

I have been tasked with specifying a new work station
As in the past we have used Dell I went to check out the latest spec
All is well till I get to the Graphics Card my chose is limited to a AMD Radeon or a Nvidia GeForce
I then checked the SolidWorks website and found that neither of these cards is listed!
Is this because the new Dell XPS range is to new?
Any suggestions or which card to go for or do I need to look at other makes of Cad stations


Jim Self
SW11 SP4.0
Dell Precision T7500
Win 7 64bit
6GB Ram
Quaddro FX 4800
dlplimited.com

 

[manxJim]

Ok Found the answer please ignore this stupid question
I was looking on the wrong part of the Dell website
My only excuse is its Friday and its been a long week


Jim Self
SW11 SP4.0
Dell Precision T7500
Win 7 64bit
6GB Ram
Quaddro FX 4800
dlplimited.com

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

If you go for a Radeon or GeForce, sooner or later, you will be disappointed.

 

[kellnerp]

Get the lowest end Quadro video card for the best performance. High end cards slow down rebuild times.

TOP
CSWP, BSSE

http://www.engtran.com

http://www.niswug.org

http://www.linkedin.com/in/engineeringtransport

"Node news is good news."

 

[CR100]

I agree with kellnerp. Lowest end quadro (depending on your assembly size and if your doing rendering) and fastest processor available. The processor is the key.

 

[kellnerp]

BTW, my comment was based on statistical analysis of Anna Wood's database which contains over 400 benchmark results. For every processor family this statement holds.

However, there are times when a higher end graphics card may be more productive. If you are doing very large assemblies with transparency a higher end card may give the perception of smoothness during rotations and other activities. It is very hard to benchmark user related speedups so the extra thousand dollars has to be a per user decision.

I was pleased to see a CATI presentation last week on benchmarking in which the presenters found that rebuild time is the single biggest factor in SW performance, bar none. SW2012 bears this out with their Feature Freeze functionality.

TOP
CSWP, BSSE

http://www.engtran.com

http://www.niswug.org

http://www.linkedin.com/in/engineeringtransport

Phenom II x6 1100T = XP64 = 8GB = FX1400 = SW2009 SP3
"Node news is good news."