The Ideal SW Computer

[uGlay]

So the ME's and I are looking to upgrade to something more powerful. Our price range is from $2500 to$ 4000 per computer and we want something aggresive. We are ready to spend a little bit more money so that we have something that wont bog down on big assemblies.

I havent really kept up with computers much but I've seen quad-core and eight-core processors out there. In your opinion, what do you think is the ideal combination for a great solidworks computer?

Processor:
Memory:
Hard Drive:
OS:
Video Card:

We all have 2407WFP screens so we dont need to upgrade monitors. Thanks for your help guise.

 

[StefanHamminga]

The Core2 Duo from the M90 compares reasonably well to the Woodcrest Xeons (the Xeon's based on the Core2 Duo use a core named 'Woodcrest'), both are a bit slower than their desktop counterparts due to less IO performance (the mobile CPU has a 667MHz bus, compared to the desktop's 1066 and the Xeon is slightly hampered by mediocre performance from the FB-DIMMs).

I agree with Scott, there is hardly any performance gain from a 64 bit OS (1-5% it seems, currently), so when using smaller models you can stay 32 bit. When running models that consume over 1.5 GB of memory i'd start thinking of going 64 bit, because of the added stability.

Stefan Hamminga
EngIT Solutions
CSWP/Mechanical designer
Searching Eng-Tips forums

 

[JMirisola]

I have an M90 and have had no problems running SolidWorks, PhotoWorks, Animator or Cosmos, aside from the typical idiosyncrasies that are SolidWorks...

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
SW '07 SP2.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM, nVidia 2500M

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog

 

[dyesst]

I have a Dell Precision 690 workstation, FX3500, 4 gigs of Ram and I believe a 3GHz Quad Core Processor. I don't realize a big increase in performance over the dual core processor I was previously using. Can anyone tell me what configuration tweaks I could administer to enhance the performance of solidworks. I'm currently running SW2006 SP5.1. Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

http://www.solidworks.com/swexpress/sept02/200209_techtip_01.cfm

http://www.lennyworks.com/solidworks/default.asp?ID=29