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Hardware reccomendations?

Question asked by Mark Henrichs on Jan 5, 2008
Latest reply on Jan 7, 2008 by Anna Wood

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Hope this isn't too much of a repeat question....

I've to SW '08 sitting on my desk but need to buy a new desktop PC to run it on. My SW was WAY out of date (2001) with the PC not much newer so I'm starting from the ground up on a new system.

A laptop would be nice, but they're more $, and to get one with a big enough screen they get good sized....and in reality I probably wouldn't carry it around much anyway.

- I don't think I'll be working on huge assemblies....probably less than 100 parts
- I'll be using PhotoWorks part of the time
- I use Animator (or whatever it's called now)
- Cost is a consideration, but I do want a system that will perform well. I'm probably not going to tax a system like some of the folks on this forum but I don't want to be dissapointed either.

Questions:
- Is it reccomended to use a widescreen monitor for SW, or a more conventionl shape flat screen.
- Is dual screen worth the trouble?
- What's the best bang for my $ on a video card?
- Processor reccomendation?
- I'm thinking I'll use XP-pro 32bit...sound reasonable?
- mouse reccomendation?

I've used Dell for quite a few years and been happy with them so I have a bias towards getting another one.
One thing...are the video cards Dell puts in the same as retail versions of the same cards. Seems like when I bought my last PC they were using speciall "Dell" versions of video cards. (Nvidia I think) Is this an issue?

Any comments will be appreciated,

Mark

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Brian Cayer Jan 5, 2008 1:51 PM

Mark, Check out this string or search for Laptops for SolidWorks it may help you decide. I ended up getting a Dell M6300 for mobility but in my production environment I think I would prefer a similar desktop with a 24" LCD.

http://forum.solidworks.com/fo...5&enterthread=y

P.S. I'm not sure I linked the string correctly. It looks kind of long. Maybe you could paste it in your address bar.

Regards,

EDIT; The link works OK. Can anyone tell me the easy way to get a link into a reply?

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Mark Henrichs @ Brian Cayer on Jan 5, 2008 10:43 PM

Thanks Brian,
That gives some pretty good info for laptops....I think I'm really leaning toward a desktop though unless I can be convinced otherwise.
Main reasons are cost, ease of hardware changes, & monitor size. (Suppose I could run and external monitor from a laptop)

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William Dalpe @ Brian Cayer on Jan 7, 2008 12:13 PM

Hi Mark,

Just to answer your questions....
1. Wide screen is always better
2. A dual screen is really useful. Just for example you can have your model on one screen and say internet explorer on the other that can have hardware specs on it. This will save the trouble of minimizing and maximizing. But i can tell you that using 2 screens can slow you down a bit especially when working with large assemblies. basically you'll have 2 screens sharing one graphics card. So my answer would be if you are working with somewhat small assemblies then you'll be okay. Please remember that you can always unplug one screen.
3. Video card is probably the most important thing you can get. The bigger the better. Nvidia Quado FX series is the way you want to go. Visit the solidworks web site to see what graphics card are approved before you purchase one. I would suggest 512MB. Dell does offer Nvidia in there precision workstations which is the flavor you should be looking at.
4. As far as the processor goes i believe the bigger the better but anything 2.8 Ghz or higher would be fine.
5. I use XP Pro x64 bit....the only con to this OS are drivers especially for SOME printers and wireless ethernet crads.

In my opinion Dell is definetely the way to go...I own 3..one laptop and 2 desktops. I would be happy to share more info with you if your interested.

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Anna Wood @ William Dalpe on Jan 7, 2008 3:08 PM

The CPU is THE most important piece of hardware in a SW workstation. SW is CPU bound.

Then RAM, Video Card and hard drives.

Get the best Intel Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad you can afford (E6700 or better), 4 gigs of RAM and an FX1700 or better video card.

Watch for the video card, an FX1700 is better then its older cousin the FX3450/FX3500. Carefully check the perfomance specs on the Nvidia website when selecting your video card. You will want Direct X 10, Open GL 2.1 and Shader 4.0 for the latest technology.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_11761.html

For hard drives get the 10K rpm SATA Western Digital Raptors. These are fast hard drives. The 10K SATA drives on the Dell website (any oem) are WD Raptors.

On RAM I would get 1333 Mhz DDR2 or better memory if you can. Not all the OEM's sell it yet.

From Dell the Precision T3400 w/525 watt power supply is a nice workstation and the newest technology.

Here is a couple benchmark that you can use and see where your current equipment stacks up.

http://spreadsheets.google.com...7wTpIkC7LA28ybEyxyTPw

http://spreadsheets.google.com...7wTpIkC7LBfngm8bDDjTA

http://designsmarter.typepad.c...erformance/index.html

Cheers,

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4 Replies

Brian Cayer Jan 5, 2008 1:51 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Mark, Check out this string or search for Laptops for SolidWorks it may help you decide. I ended up getting a Dell M6300 for mobility but in my production environment I think I would prefer a similar desktop with a 24" LCD.

http://forum.solidworks.com/fo...5&enterthread=y

P.S. I'm not sure I linked the string correctly. It looks kind of long. Maybe you could paste it in your address bar.

Regards,

EDIT; The link works OK. Can anyone tell me the easy way to get a link into a reply?
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- Mark Henrichs @ Brian Cayer on Jan 5, 2008 10:43 PM
  Mark Correct
  Correct Answer
  Thanks Brian,
  That gives some pretty good info for laptops....I think I'm really leaning toward a desktop though unless I can be convinced otherwise.
  Main reasons are cost, ease of hardware changes, & monitor size. (Suppose I could run and external monitor from a laptop)
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
- William Dalpe @ Brian Cayer on Jan 7, 2008 12:13 PM
  Mark Correct
  Correct Answer
  Hi Mark,
  
  Just to answer your questions....
  1. Wide screen is always better
  2. A dual screen is really useful. Just for example you can have your model on one screen and say internet explorer on the other that can have hardware specs on it. This will save the trouble of minimizing and maximizing. But i can tell you that using 2 screens can slow you down a bit especially when working with large assemblies. basically you'll have 2 screens sharing one graphics card. So my answer would be if you are working with somewhat small assemblies then you'll be okay. Please remember that you can always unplug one screen.
  3. Video card is probably the most important thing you can get. The bigger the better. Nvidia Quado FX series is the way you want to go. Visit the solidworks web site to see what graphics card are approved before you purchase one. I would suggest 512MB. Dell does offer Nvidia in there precision workstations which is the flavor you should be looking at.
  4. As far as the processor goes i believe the bigger the better but anything 2.8 Ghz or higher would be fine.
  5. I use XP Pro x64 bit....the only con to this OS are drivers especially for SOME printers and wireless ethernet crads.
  
  In my opinion Dell is definetely the way to go...I own 3..one laptop and 2 desktops. I would be happy to share more info with you if your interested.
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
  - Anna Wood @ William Dalpe on Jan 7, 2008 3:08 PM
    Mark Correct
    Correct Answer
    The CPU is THE most important piece of hardware in a SW workstation. SW is CPU bound.
    
    Then RAM, Video Card and hard drives.
    
    Get the best Intel Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad you can afford (E6700 or better), 4 gigs of RAM and an FX1700 or better video card.
    
    Watch for the video card, an FX1700 is better then its older cousin the FX3450/FX3500. Carefully check the perfomance specs on the Nvidia website when selecting your video card. You will want Direct X 10, Open GL 2.1 and Shader 4.0 for the latest technology.
    
    http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_11761.html
    
    For hard drives get the 10K rpm SATA Western Digital Raptors. These are fast hard drives. The 10K SATA drives on the Dell website (any oem) are WD Raptors.
    
    On RAM I would get 1333 Mhz DDR2 or better memory if you can. Not all the OEM's sell it yet.
    
    From Dell the Precision T3400 w/525 watt power supply is a nice workstation and the newest technology.
    
    Here is a couple benchmark that you can use and see where your current equipment stacks up.
    
    http://spreadsheets.google.com...7wTpIkC7LA28ybEyxyTPw
    
    http://spreadsheets.google.com...7wTpIkC7LBfngm8bDDjTA
    
    http://designsmarter.typepad.c...erformance/index.html
    
    Cheers,
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
    Actions

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