Workstation ideas for NX Cam...

[wmalan]

Very subjective question but times change and lots of new processors on the market now:

What would be a good solid PC setup for NX? Since I've recently been given the opportunity to do freelance NC programming, I'm a bit fuzzy on requirements given the new cpus.

At my previous employer, I had a highend Dell with 2x 2.4 cor2duo xeons and an 768mb nvidia card. I had a fast scsi hard drive as well. It was pretty sweet ( and $$$)

Now there are core2duo, core2quad, extreme, i5, and i7 cpu's
I'll stick with one cpu. Ram I will go with 4mgs to start. Graphics nvidia 512-768mg (not sure which model though).

What's a good middle ground setup for some decent aircraft part programming?

--
Bill

 

[hudson888]

I haven't done so because I'm not in the market at the minute, but presuming that you intend go go Windows based you'll probably already buy with the upgrade to Windows7 in mind. Memory has been cheap so by all means double up to 8Mb if you can. Look ahead to multiple CPU's working better with upcoming releases of NX as well. Pay attention to the fastest hard disk RPM that you can afford. I usually go with two hard drives where possible a smaller faster one for O/S and some current data, and a larger relatively cheaper one which I partition for bulk storage.

Complete systems from vendors may be better balanced and some have the advantage of being certified as a whole for running NX, but you may find yourself paying a premium for them in some cases.

In my opinion having the very latest and greatest of everything comes at too high a premium to represent "bang for your buck" given the rate at which hardware becomes obsolete these days. I'd choose a relatively high spec perhaps avoiding the extreme versions to save a little money. But then I find it easier to turn over hardware on a 2-3 year cycle at most rather than trying to make old systems last longer than they really ought to.

Tomshardware.com has performance charts that may be of some use especially on workstation graphics. I'd probably settle for the Nvidia Quadro FX 1800 on price and performance. And

http://support.ugs.com/

will give you the certification of various systems.

Best Regards

Hudson

www.jamb.com.au

Nil Desperandum illegitimi non carborundum

 

[wmalan]

Hudson,

I'm considering sticking with a single cpu out of cost. It's just deciding which cpu... maybe a quad?

Didn't consider hard drive speed. I thought a 7500 sata would do? Good idea about having two. I'm used to working off a gigabit speed network server. But now I'd be on a local hard drive. (Once again cost comes to play)

Complete vendor systems are WAY out of my price range. I've put systems together in the past so I'm comfortable on that route.

I'll check out Toms. Also looked at the specs for the FX1800. Looks like the best bang for the buck! I think graphics will be the crux of the system.

Bottom line is I have to compete with several other local programmers who shall we say... don't play fair (questionable seat ownerships). On top of that, a couple do their contract work on there fulltime employers dime (We've all seen that). I'm going to have to hustle using a legal seat.

Still working out the math on it all.

--
Bill