SW...not likely. PW...certainly would. Don't know if it will
thread across all 4 cores but it will thread across at least 2 as
it is a multi-threaded app.
QX6700 CPU looks very tempting but it seams that solidworks
wont get full use of the 4 cores till 2008 or so also it is around
300 more then the dual core 6800 which is faster and can be over
clocked to around 3.4gh
so personally i think i would go for the 6800 because its mother
board can alow you to upgrade to the quad core down the road.
It seems such a shame to build a solid workstation only to
have it dragged down by that video card. You'll be that much more
productive not waiting on that card just to save $450. Just my
opinion, but I'd give up a few other options to get the better
video card, i.e. single larger HDD, one DVD writer, etc.
I would think upgrading the video card in the future would be
the easiest option. Well, the DVD drive, but that's not going to
make much of a dent in the cost. That way you get the best system
you can now (CPU, memory, HD), and you can make it better later,
when the budget is available. Just my $.02. I suppose I should
mention I was running off onboard video for awhile, until I got my
new system with the 550, so it seems great to me
A Dell 490 spec'd as Andrew has it w/o monitor is $4562. Drop
the RAID (I've never seen a need for it) for a single 160GB 10K
drive, drop the second DVD, and upgrade the card to the 3450 you
only add $262. That only 5% more in total cost to get an overall
better system, IMO that is.
I guess it's just so easy for me to justify a meesly $7+ per month
as we lease our workstations.
I'm sure it will be hands down better than anything he's currently
using the way he has it configured.
ordered workstation a few minutes ago
Dell 490
Xeon 5150 2.66GHz
Windows x64
Quadro FX 3450
8GB@667 (8 DIMMS)
16xDVD and 16xDVD+/-RW
160GB SATA 10K RPM HDD
However having quad cores will help windows scheduler work more efficiently, and cause few if any of those "program not responding" issues.
There is a way to set the afinity so that SW has its own processor(s) to itself, which helps with stability.
I bought an ASUS motherboard that I knew was compatible with the quad core Intel chips, so that i could upgrade in the near future.
so personally i think i would go for the 6800 because its mother board can alow you to upgrade to the quad core down the road.
here are specs for my workstation that got approved for purchase byboss
Intel Xeon 5150 2.66GHz
Windows x64
nVidia Quadro FX 550
8GB DDR2 @ 667MHz
16xDVD and 16xDVD+/-RW
2 x 80GB 10k SATA in RAID 0
told him when he orders to try get FX 3450 "thrown in"
I guess it's just so easy for me to justify a meesly $7+ per month as we lease our workstations.
I'm sure it will be hands down better than anything he's currently using the way he has it configured.
Dell 490
Xeon 5150 2.66GHz
Windows x64
Quadro FX 3450
8GB@667 (8 DIMMS)
16xDVD and 16xDVD+/-RW
160GB SATA 10K RPM HDD
ships Jan 19, I can't wait