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Choice of two systems

Question asked by Wayne Thomas on Jan 19, 2009
Latest reply on Jan 20, 2009 by 1-6F218O

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Hi there, I have a choice of two systems to upgrade to listed below. We do assemblies of about 10,000 parts including all the hardware on Solidworks 2008 & will be upgrading to 2009. I'm hearing that the Xeon's are not the way to go. Which system will work better on large assemblies?

Dell T3400
Intel Core2 Quad 2.4GHz Processor
2 Gigs RAM
nVidia Quadro FX570, 256MB
80GB SATA Hard Drive
WinXP Pro

HP XW8200
Dual Xeon 3.4GHz Processorss
4 Gigs RAM
nVidia Quadro FX3400, 256MB
73GB SCSI 15000 RPM
WinXP Pro

Thanks
Wayne

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Anna Wood Jan 20, 2009 1:41 AM
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Matt,

I would disagree with you . The HP xw8200 was first released in 2004. Way behind the times. Don't get caught up in the 3.4 Ghz vs 2.4 Ghz; CPU model number and vintage of systems means everything in this comparison.

Wayne,

How much are you paying for the HP and the Dell? What is the specific processor model of Xeon cpu is in the HP? Are you buying one new and the other used. HP could be giving you what seems like a good price trying to clear out old inventory.

I would look at a Core i7 940 or 965 system from Xi Computer before I spent any money on the HP system. I think you will find that it is a very outdated system. Slow memory and front side bus, with an outdated video card.

With different specs on the T3400 you may have a better system, but not as good as what you can get from Xi with a Core i7 system.

Cheers,
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1-70W0UV Jan 20, 2009 10:19 AM
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Wayne, with 10,000 parts you might want to think about a 64bit OS. Are you currently having out of memory errors?

IMHO both systems should be considered low end for SW, especially if the Xeon's are a couple of generations old. Quad core and multi CPU really don't help you in core SW. They help in PhotoWorks, PhotoView, Simulation and such.
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- Wayne Thomas @ 1-70W0UV on Jan 20, 2009 11:43 AM
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  Hi there, thanks for the reply's.
  The Dell is about $1000 & the HP is $300 used. We are looking to save money anyway way we can so that's why I was looking at the HP system. I didn't realize it was that old.
  We already have systems just below the Dell right now:
  Core2 Duo 2.0ghz, 2 gig Ram, FX560 Quadro & do have memory issues as well as slowness working with our larger assemblies.
  
  Thanks for all your help
  Wayne
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  - Jay Andrews @ Wayne Thomas on Jan 20, 2009 12:16 PM
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    Saving money on a CAD system is like pulling teeth in anticipation of the tooth fairy, it is anti-logical. Your time is much more expensive than a computer, and your time is what it will cost you if you cheap out on your computer. If it's to make money on, buy what you need, not a bargain on just anything.
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    - Bruce Fisher @ Jay Andrews on Jan 20, 2009 12:37 PM
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      In addition to Jay's comments, with which I wholeheartedly agree, when you buy cheap to begin with, you'll waste the time it takes to set-up the machine in the first place, and you'll still just have an MS-Office only class machine. Take some time to look at the benchmarks posted on Anna's website, then run your own benchmark and compare before you make your decision. Good Luck!
      
      Anna's Punch Holder benchmark
      
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  - Anna Wood @ Wayne Thomas on Jan 20, 2009 5:32 PM
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    Wayne,
    
    A 2.0 Ghz Core 2 Duo or Quad is way, way underpowered for the type of work you do. Like the others said do not cheap out on the computer. You will be (and are already) throwing away dollars as you are constantly waiting for your computer.
    
    You want a Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad or a Core i7 of at least 3.0 Ghz for clock speed.
    
    I would go Core i7 940 with 6 gigs of RAM and a Nvidia FX3700 with a Vista x64 OS. That is the minimum specs for your large assemblies. Anything less and you are going to be burning money waiting.
    
    I personally would be getting a Core i7 965 with 12 gigs of ram to be close to happy working with your large assemblies.
    
    FWIW,
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    - 1-6F218O @ Anna Wood on Jan 20, 2009 7:19 PM
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      Wayne
      
      I have to agree with everyone here. Going to cheap on a PC for solidwoks Is going to cost you money in three ways. First in the extra time it will take to get things going. Second in the the wasted time in crashes and waiting for things to load. Third in the fact the you will probably be buying a new PC in a year any way.
      
      You realy want to try to convice the higher ups to buy you a higher end machine. Shortly after we switched to solidworks we convinced the higher ups to shell out the money for $2200 machines and I have to say it makes a differance.
      
      We just had to point out to them that they spend large amount of money in other places to make things run faster why wouldn't you want to do the same for engineering. A new PC costs alot less than a punch press no matter how high end the PC.
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