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System Upgrade

Question asked by Dave Wiebe on Dec 15, 2012
Latest reply on Dec 17, 2012 by Mark Hillman

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Hi,

I've been given a 2000$ dollar budget to upgrade my SW computer at work. I need to know, will a 2000$ upgrade make a substantial difference. My boss says that it needs to so in order to justify the cost. So here's what I currently have:

Windows 7 64bit

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850

Nvidia Quadro FX1700

5GB RAM

The area I personally would like to see a performance improvement in is with patterned features. We do sheet metal design with large slotted or hole patterns. We also create fairly large assemblies (up to 100 parts) where multiple parts within the assembly have such patterns. Muli-sheet drawings can take up to 3 minutes to rebuild and save. The same goes for a large assembly. So again, will a 2000$ upgrade improve my performance substantially?

Please post any thoughts or ideas on hardware.

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Anna Wood Dec 15, 2012 8:43 PM

By upgrade you mean you are buying a new computer? A new computer is the path you want to take.

Yes, if spec'ed properly you will see a substantial improvement in SolidWorks performance over your old system.

Read the following thread for info on what you want to purchase. I suggest reading the entire thread you will learn a lot.

https://forum.solidworks.com/thread/55131

Before you purchase your system let us look at what you plan to buy. That way we can offer advice on getting the most out of your $2000 dollars.

Cheers,

Anna

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Dave Wiebe @ Anna Wood on Dec 16, 2012 11:40 PM

So I went to my local PC shop, this is what he suggested:

ASUS P9x79

INTEL i7 3820

16 GIG DDR3 KINGSTON HYPER-X

240 GIG KINGSTON HYPER-X SSD

Cooler Master Half 912

Cooler Master 750 Watt Ex2

These compnents come to $1569, and he suggested leaving the existing FX1700 video card for now. I guess he feels the video card should still be sufficient?? I am actually leaning toward the AMD V5900. It seems like the best value. If I need to of course.

Let me know what you think.

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Mark Hillman @ Dave Wiebe on Dec 17, 2012 4:49 AM

Dave,

For your PSU, I'm not sure what one you are referring to by EX2? I'm guessing it's either the Coolermaster GX 750W or the Extreme 2 725W. Either one I wouldn't recommend, Coolermaster are notorious for over rating the wattage on what are already average quality units.

See here:

GX750W: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-GX-750-W-Power-Supply-Review/917/1

Note that this is an earlier version made by Seventeam, they are now manufactured by Enhance tho little has improved: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/psu-550w-850w_3.html#sect0

Extreme 2 725W: I couldn't find a review for the 725W, however the whole Extreme 2 range is manufactured by Enhance so this review of of the smaller version should be good reference: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-Extreme-2-475-W-Power-Supply-Review/1550

With all that said, 750W is far more than you would need. A quality 450-550W unit will be plenty. Your PSU is not a part to save money on, all the components in you PC rely on it. I would recommend you find a unit manufactured by Seasonic such as this XFX 450W: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207018

Edit: as far as your graphics card goes, Charles is the best to ask on that issue. If he doesn't reply here, try posting the same question in the thread that Anna linked.

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3 Replies

Anna Wood Dec 15, 2012 8:43 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
By upgrade you mean you are buying a new computer? A new computer is the path you want to take.

Yes, if spec'ed properly you will see a substantial improvement in SolidWorks performance over your old system.

Read the following thread for info on what you want to purchase. I suggest reading the entire thread you will learn a lot.

https://forum.solidworks.com/thread/55131

Before you purchase your system let us look at what you plan to buy. That way we can offer advice on getting the most out of your $2000 dollars.

Cheers,

Anna
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- Dave Wiebe @ Anna Wood on Dec 16, 2012 11:40 PM
  Mark Correct
  Correct Answer
  So I went to my local PC shop, this is what he suggested:
  
  ASUS P9x79
  INTEL i7 3820
  16 GIG DDR3 KINGSTON HYPER-X
  240 GIG KINGSTON HYPER-X SSD
  Cooler Master Half 912
  Cooler Master 750 Watt Ex2
  
  These compnents come to $1569, and he suggested leaving the existing FX1700 video card for now. I guess he feels the video card should still be sufficient?? I am actually leaning toward the AMD V5900. It seems like the best value. If I need to of course.
  
  Let me know what you think.
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
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  - Mark Hillman @ Dave Wiebe on Dec 17, 2012 4:49 AM
    Mark Correct
    Correct Answer
    Dave,
    
    For your PSU, I'm not sure what one you are referring to by EX2? I'm guessing it's either the Coolermaster GX 750W or the Extreme 2 725W. Either one I wouldn't recommend, Coolermaster are notorious for over rating the wattage on what are already average quality units.
    
    See here:
    
    GX750W: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-GX-750-W-Power-Supply-Review/917/1
    Note that this is an earlier version made by Seventeam, they are now manufactured by Enhance tho little has improved: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/psu-550w-850w_3.html#sect0
    
    Extreme 2 725W: I couldn't find a review for the 725W, however the whole Extreme 2 range is manufactured by Enhance so this review of of the smaller version should be good reference: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-Extreme-2-475-W-Power-Supply-Review/1550
    
    With all that said, 750W is far more than you would need. A quality 450-550W unit will be plenty. Your PSU is not a part to save money on, all the components in you PC rely on it. I would recommend you find a unit manufactured by Seasonic such as this XFX 450W: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207018
    
    Edit: as far as your graphics card goes, Charles is the best to ask on that issue. If he doesn't reply here, try posting the same question in the thread that Anna linked.
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