Performance problem large ship assy in NX5

[jorritmeijer]

Hi all,

We're currently working on a large vessel in NX5 (V5.0.4.1). This is the first time we use NX, before we used Inventor. I've set the model scale to large at Visualization Performance and the entire model is built up with JT-files. We use JT to increase the performance and therefore we converted all PRT-files to JT. This helped a bit, but the entire assembly takes quite a while to load.

Even when I store the complete assy with all components on the C:/ drive and bypass the network, the loading takes about two hours total. And that while all of the JT files are about 1,4 GB in size.

I'm running NX on a Xeon 5130 @ 2 GHz and 3 GB of RAM system and XP SP2.

Is there a simple solution to speed up the performance of loading the JT files?

 

[hudson888]

While you may be the second person on here complaining of performance problems running NX-5 in the part week I doubt that 1.4Gb ought to be slowing you down quite that much with lightweight geometry. We only ever use JT files for reviews and arrange assemblies in a modular fashion so that it is rarely if ever necessary to open more than one or two modules at the same time.

You can read through the other thread if you wish. If anything your system sounds barely adequate but adequate nonetheless. If anything a better performed graphics card might aid your cause. By all means let us know what card it is that you have now before deciding.

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=238460&page=1

Best Regards

Hudson

www.jamb.com.au

Nil Desperandum illegitimi non carborundum

 

[jorritmeijer]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm reading the other thread indeed, which is supplying me with all sorts of solutions. All models we use are lightweight reference sets, and we use the corresponding load options. Though, NX is using the local area network to load some data (seen in the stats of the Windows Task Manager). Is this causing any delay on loading part files from the C:/ drive? I guess NX is loading my personal environment settings and license keys? It stops when NX is finished loading all JT-files from my local hard drive.

We're running the engineering department outside of TC at the moment because of implementation problems at our site. So TC isn't causing any problems.

Our system is certified by UG. We use the HP xw6400 with Nvidia Quadro FX3700. I'll try to get hold of the IT-department here to make sure my system is switched to 3GB using XP. Maybe that makes any difference. We'll see.

 

[jorritmeijer]

Additional information: The CPU usage is about 10%. I would expect to see 100% usage while loading models, even when the priority of the UG process is set to high or real-time.

 

[cowski]

The CPU usage is about 10%

With 1.4 GB of data to load, I would guess the speed is limited by your hard disk(s).

 

[looslib]

If your network speed is 100Mb or higher, loading the files from a network drive has tested to be faster than from a local drive.
Well performance issues are a very subjective matter. Your Xeon 2Ghz processor is very old and you will see increased performance with a new workstation running 3Ghz duoCore processors.
CPU usage will remain low while the files are loading. It will only use the CPU when the system gets to displaying the image.


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

Ben Loosli

 

[hudson888]

Your system sounds okay that graphics card should be at least sufficient. There is always newer faster hardware available but unless something is actually broken on your current machine the indications aren't necessarily that you'd achieve the appreciably different results that you might expect.

I can compare a couple of machines that we have about the place where the older machine would take 5-6 minutes to pull up a large assembly, whereas the latest and greatest as of mid last year gets it down to about 2-3 minutes. It is twice as fast, but I didn't start by taking hours to load anything.

For example my hardware is not that much better than yours and I can open 1.3Gb assembly or another 1.5Gb assembly in some few minutes rather than hours. And that is the size of the UG CAD files. If I use faceted bodies the time is at least halved, but I can open the 1.3Gb model completely with few problems apart from it becoming slightly hesitant in screen rotation. And this was in NX-5 using older data that hasn't been re-filed.

Now I'm quoting you the amount of data based on the file sizes on disk in native. If you have a lot more than that then at some point you'll need to appreciate that you will always struggle to fully open whole assemblies. I have worked with projects an order of magnitude larger than the figures that I'm quoting you here and with those we simply have to open one part at a time. In such cases for clearance checking to individual components we'll often dabble in the use of proximity filters and such to ensure that we find everything close enough to clash with a given part.

Best Regards

Hudson

www.jamb.com.au

Nil Desperandum illegitimi non carborundum

 

[jorritmeijer]

Ok. Thanks for all solutions you're coming with.

I just opened the entire assembly on a HP xw8600 running Xeon 5450 @ 3 GHz and 3,25 GB of RAM, using a Quadro FX4600 graphics card. Result: 36 minutes of loading time, which makes no difference with the other system. I clocked the time which the system was occupied with loading on the xw6400 running Xeon @ 2 GHz, and that resulted in precisely 36 minutes also. And since I loaded it from the C:/ drive and the LAN, I reckon I can conclude the system-performance shouldn't be causing my problems.

I'm running out of ideas to solve this problem and speed up the time needed to load. Maybe I'll should contact the UGS helpdesk and see if they come up with a reasonable solution.

 

[hudson888]

jorritmeijer,

Can you just check to confirm what the combined file sizes of all the part files in this assembly would add up to. Approximately within 10% is any amount good enough to know how to advise you. Anything over 2Gb on a 32Bit system at least is going to load up any system and I would avoid loading the whole assembly at the same time. If you're working with assemblies of that size or larger you'll get a great benefit from using the JT viewer especially when running with teamcenter.

Best Regards

Hudson

www.jamb.com.au

Nil Desperandum illegitimi non carborundum