new rig for x9

[Diesay]

hello every one my work is building a new rig for mastercam 9 and I would like some recommendations for a mid range cpu and gpu they use dell for buying pc

 

 

[Diesay]

the mater cam specs say i7 which to me is very vague since there are ALOT of them to choose from. 

[crazy^millman]

As much GHZ and Memory as you can afford along with the video card to support it.

[Diesay]

This is not that helpful sorry.

 

Not all i7 chips are equal I am looking for best price to performance ratio. 4790 ???

 

Money is not the obstical it is justification.

 

Same goes for GPU mid range that will get it done and not struggle but not over the top. Nvidia quadro ???

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

Try here:

 

http://www.emastercam.com/board/topic/78985-benchmark-20/

 

What the "sweet spot" is for you on the price / performance curve is up to you and depends on the type of work you plan to be doing.

[gcode]

I'm running a liquid cooled overclocked Boxx

https://www.boxxtech.com/products/apexx-2?highlight=PROD98

 

Quadro k4200

32gig of ram

500 gig SSD

 

cost about $4500

you could probably build it yourself for $2500 to $3K

 

This machine screams...

I've been running it hard for 10 months now.. and it has  not crashed  even once

[Diesay]

These guys are not going to build a PC. They can, but they don't need to they are going to buy from Dell. I just need to be able to justify the cost.

 

Any one running a rig without i7 and a sub par GPU. What kinda problems do you have.

 

I am hoping to get enough info in this thread that I can just send them the link and they can read for them selves. they don't have the time to do all the research. I am doing this on my own time so we don't get stuck with a build that is only going get us up and running but then hold us back in the long run.

[djstedman]

How about just sending them to the benchmark thread which shows the progression of computers over the last several years .. it also shows the differences in time for calculating differing toolpaths..

 

This discussion has been had many times over but the long and short of it is.. would you rather put up the $$ up front for the computer or pay your programmers to sit on their xxxx instead of being productive while they wait for their substandard computer to process toolpath's / graphics..

 

As was already said.. it really depends on the work being done.. if your working on 2D toolpaths with all simple wireframes.. then get yourself a commodore 64 with the cassette tape drive.. if your working on complex 3D parts with solid models with hundreds or thousands of faces then your going to have to do much better than that... (of course the commodore 64 comment was a joke.. but it illustrates the point)

 

Simple work probably doesn't justify a high end build, however if you have complex parts then your needs for a higher end PC will go up substantially very quickly..

 

If your programmer is waiting for his slow computer then he is not being productive.. this is time you are still paying for.. but your not getting a return, in addition your parts aren't getting done because they are waiting for a program which could mean your machines are sitting..

 

So in essence you saved a couple grand on a computer (once) and for the couple grand you saved you are now continually holding up machines that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and are paying labor costs for people to stand around and wait for a computer - additionally your productivity has gone down which means your not able to make the same part for the same cost as your competitor .. which could mean jobs you don't get ..

 

If anyone ends up waiting longer than nescessary because of that computer, then your losing money.. and your 'savings' on the computer quickly will become irrelevant based on the losses created by the slower than necessary computer.

 

Now of course.. it doesn't help to buy a computer that outperforms your needs.. but in reality.. your computer you use to program is every bit as important a piece of your production equipment as your machining center.. so how can you really justify saving a couple thousand up front and paying for it over time..

[crazy^millman]

Brent, I went into one company and showed them where cheap on computers cost them $250k a year in lost programming time. That did not include machines sitting or jobs being late because the programmers did not have good computers. The programmers logged all wait time for the computer because the owner didn't deem good computers important.

 

You ask us to give you specific, but don't provide us the type of work you do. How much 2 Axis, 3Axis, 4Axis, 5Axis and or 3D surfacing do you do. I have one file right now that with 24 roughing operations is over 300mb. My I7 Quardo 4000M and 32 gig of memory are screaming at me for more. If I had $30K I would have a monster sitting here. I don't have it. I talk about how much you need it, but I struggle like most and get what I can afford, or in this case be blessed enough to have someone loan me a system to program with.

 

How many machines do you program? What is the typical size of file? What is your current system specifications? You were general in your information and I was general in my information sorry.

[BenK]

Any one running a rig without i7 and a sub par GPU. What kinda problems do you have.

 

 

 

I will respond in an hour when the toolpath is done generating. 

 

On a serious note, you can run Mastercam on just about anything. How fast and reliable you want it to run is determined by what you get. 

 

 

For example I have two computers,

 

Computer 1: 

Dell M6700

I7 3820QM @2.7GHz

32 GB Ram

Nvidia Quadro K3000M

 

 

 

Computer 2:

I7 5960x @ 4.4GHz

32 GB DDR4 Ram

Nvidia Quadro K5200

 

 

 

 

I get far more work done with #2 especially when doing 5 axis work than I could ever dream of on my laptop. Even though my laptop is no slouch either. So its really up to you what you get. Buy small get small performance, buy big and get big performance, simple as that.

[Guest]

Programming HMC's, Integrex's & Hyperquadrex's

 

Running Mill 3D/Multi-axis, Lathe and Mill/Turn

 

Graphics card: NVIDIA Quadro K4200

Memory: 3.99 GB

Resolution: 1920 x 1080

 

But what are "your" needs?

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

I would say that if you have to skimp on anything, let it be the video card.  For most applications a high end GeForce gaming card works very well.  As others here have reported the Quadro cards do really make a difference when working with large assemblies though.

[Diesay]

I will get some average file sizes when I get in to work tonight.

 

If I can I will try and run the benchmark to show you what our current rigs do or maybe can't

[Diesay]

So we can run anywhere up to 200 mb files and 3D milling is all we do. The newsest PC we have has and radeon 7000 series and an i7 3770 and It craped out calculating a tool path to cut a 5/16 bead around the perimeter of the die one of the guys had to go back and divide up the program to generate the tool path.

This is what I don't want to happen with the new build.

[Guest]

Honestly, they are copping out making YOU justify this, that or the other thing. Tell them you need a $3,500 budget and you'll spec a box that satisfies current demands for 3-4 years, maybe longer. I spec my laptops to meet projected demand for 3 years. Those are 3 hard years, lots of road miles and the associated beatings.

 

Start with this Dell (you mentioned they want Dell) http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=cup7810w7p&model_id=precision-t7810-workstation&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04

 

Go with e 4GB NVidia Quadro, 32GB RAM, SSD Boot Drive, HDD Platter Drive for Data, and the fastest Xeon budget will allow. If you can swing it, go with a Dual CPU. I had a Dual CPU rig back in the Windows NT days and I'd do it again in a heartbeat but I need portability.

[Fred @ Slate Industries]

It's all in the Benchmark thread...

"Proof is in the pudding"

I was told (with the release of X4 ) to buy a certain build etc. ends up MC didn't support 64 bit &  multi core processing and

It was a TRAIN WRECK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Bench mark thread, and duplicate what other's have done with there boxes.

[Diesay]

we are not a tool shop we are the mould maintenance group of 5 tool makers over three shifts doing  design  changes and repairs, making robot end of arm and assembly jigs for automotive plastic injection shop. we are the only ones in the building who I believe have any sort of a workstation build.  there are probably a hundred pcs in this place.  since we don't make a living with these machines directly that's why I need to justify what I am asking them. and from my experience with forums the benchmark threads only really have higher end pcs not run of the mill average builds.

 

its politics everybody, politics I need to show them some thing and have them draw MY conclusion.  if I tell them what to do I will probably not get what I am looking for.

[Guest]

Go to the Benchmark thread, look at the last 5 or so pages. You'll see the performance of various rigs and decide which will do the job in an accecptable maner.

[Bob W.]

Sounds like your programming is pretty computer intensive and there is a fair bit of toolpath crunching.  A screaming fast computer is going to be 10% faster than a good computer.  How much time do you spend each month programming and crunching toolpaths?  For us we are easily spending 40-50 hours crunching and the time is worth about $100 per hour.  If we are 10% faster we are looking at $450 per month (averaged) in increased productivity which justifies buying a $5000 computer over a $3000 computer.  For mold work you should spare no expense on the computer.

 

I believe our workstations here have the i7 5960 extreme processor, 32Gb ram, SSD, Quadro 4000 cards, and water cooling.  They paid for themselves in a few months.