NX on Mac?

[waltjakub]

Several questions.
What is the latest status of NX running native on Mac OS?
Running in non-native mode is Bootcamp or Parallels preferable?
Any advantage to an eight core vs quad core machine?
Max RAM NX can access?
Any advice on graphics cards for Shot Rendering software?

thanks,
Walt

 

[cowski]

Mac OS? See this press release (June 2009)

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.c...ase.cfm?Component=82370&ComponentTemplate=822

8 core vs 4 core? If you are running multiple programs alongside NX, 8 core may be helpful but if you are doing mostly modeling and rendering 4 should be enough.

Max ram? depends on limts set by OS.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Well, 4 cores will have to be enough as that's the maximum number which can be simultaneously utilized by a single session of NX.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

UG/NX Museum:

http://www.plmworld.org/p/cm/ld/fid=209

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[waltjakub]

OK. Thanks guys!

 

[rg006]

Hey,
Just to share some knowledge from talking with UG support about the MAC setup. UG started having compatibility with Mac with NX6. Every release so far after NX6 has a Mac install available. How does NX perform on Mac? Not sure, we have yet to purchase the new computers. From what UG support told me, it will run fine. The only thing that will be different from a windows version, will be how graphics are handled. The is an extra step between the information leaving UG and the graphics card puting it on the screen. I believe this has to do with the fact that UG puts out the graphical information in a windows format, and that has to be translated to a Mac format of some sort before it gets to the monitor. As for the cpu, I like more options. And I cannot remember a time when the only thing I had open was UG. Currently, I am running NX4, Vericut, outlook, two explorer windows are open, and I'm typing this. Sometimes I even open NX6 just for fun, while everything else is also open. So I would choose 8 core cpu, 2gig graphics card, and 8 to 16 ram. But thats just my opinion, and most companies want to go with the bare minimum.
Good luck.

 

[looslib]

If you went with the minimum spec hardware that most CAD vendors list, you woul barely be able to run the CAD program by itself.
While NX is limited to 4 cores, there is value in an 8 core system if you have multiple processes running. Anything over 8GB of memory on a 64bit OS is nice. A 2GB graphics card works wonders for regenerating the display faster.
The way NX is architectured, there should be no difference in the graphics display between Un*x, MacOSx and Windows. NX has a middle layer that is system dependent on all machines that handles the 'translation' between what NX sends and the graphics card. NX writes its default graphics commands in OpenGL, anyway. Windows uses DirectX as its default graphics language.


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

Ben Loosli

 

[waltjakub]

Thanks for the good info! I purchased a used 2009 Mac Pro just yesterday however. It is a quad core
with std graphics card offered by Apple at the time. I purchased it mostly for Photoshop work and plan on increasing the RAM to 16gig. If in the event I should decide to run NX I may invest in a
newer machine with min 8-cores with a better graphics card as suggested. Thanks again!

Walt