Hi,
I'm looking into getting new workstations and need some help. I typically work in large assemblies with roughly 2000 components.
The major specs for the system are:
Processor: either Quad-Core Xeon W3550 or Core i7 950 both @ 3.06GHz
RAM: 12Gb at 1333MHz
OS: Windows 7 - 64bit
Video Card: either Quadro FX3800 or FX4800
Question: Is there any major difference between the two processors? (Core i7 seems to be the one more frequently mentioned on the forums) And would the FX4800 video card be overkill for large assemblies around 2000 components?
Any and all suggestions/comments are appreciated, thanks.
Xeon W3550 and Core i7 950 with solidworks will perform about the same. With the Core2Duo chips, the Core2's actually performed faster in SW then their equivalent Xeons. Because Core i7's are typically cheaper, if you are able to spec them, then go right ahead.
You need large amounts of video ram if you are running intensive graphics. Solidworks doesn't have really intensive graphics. How does your model compare with, say, your typical high-end video game, or rendering of, say the entire city of Rome? If you're like most of us, it has nowhere near the number of faces, textures, or other glitz. Thus, those top end cards are often overkill. This was discussed extensively earlier, but I am having trouble finding the threads. I believe the end result was that either the nVidia FX1800 or ATI Fire GL V5700 pumped more than anything SolidWorks could throw at it.