NEW COMPUTER

[RATWOOD]

CAN ANYONE GIVE ME A DETAILED LIST OF SPECS TO BUILD A NEW COMPUTER THAT WILL DRIVE X2.ANY SUGGESTIONS?

[Salahuddin]

try to use the search, this was coverd befor several times

[Christian Raebild]

You are not giving much information about your needs.

 

Will you be running Mastercam Mill Entry or will you be running Mastercam Mill level 3 with 5 axis and solids ?

 

Will you be running other programs too ?

 

A couple of basic suggestions, assuming you will be running Mastercam on the computer:

 

Do not buy a computer with an Intel Celeron or AMD Sempron processor. Those processors are cheap because they do not contain advanced mathematical functions, and Mastercam uses those advanced mathematical functions. Running Mastercam on an Intel Celeron or AMD Sempron processor is slow, especially if you do 3D and/or 5 axis work.

 

You should use a Nvidia GeForce or Quadro graphics card, as they work best with Mastercam.

 

If you work with 3D and/or 5 axis, then you need a fair amount of RAM. Keep in mind, though, that Mastercam is a 32 bit program, so a single instance of Mastercam can at most address 2 GB of RAM.

 

Get a large HD. The price difference between a 80 GB and a 250 GB HD is not much when buying a computer, and getting approval for a second HD might not be easy (depending on your company, of course).

 

Do not buy a computer from a manufacturer that uses custom compiled versions of Windows. Those custom compiled versions of Windows may work quite well when using the programs that come with the computer, but they are less stable than the Microsoft versions.

 

CNC Software does not guarantee that Mastercam will run on 64 bit systems, but I have not seen any mention of problems with running Mastercam on 64 bit systems mentioned here on this forum, so you could install a 64 bit version of Windows on the PC (i.e. Windows XP 64 bit or Windows Vista). However, if you will not be running any 64 bit programs and can install the 32 bit version of Windows XP Pro, then I would go for the 32 bit Windows XP Pro even if it is a 64 bit processor, as the combination of Mastercam and 32 bit Windows XP Pro is a proven reliable combination.

[RATWOOD]

I AM RUNNING MASTER CAM X2 FULL 3D.THIS IS THE ONLY PROGRAM I WILL RUN ON THIS COMPUTER.I AM RUNNING A 4TH AXIS BUT HAVE NOT DONE ANY 5TH AXIS.I DO WORK WITH LARGE FILES BUT I DO NOT HAVE THE SOLIDS PACKAGE.I THINK THAT WE WILL STEP UP TO SOLIDS IN THE NEXT YEAR OR SO.I THANKYOU FOR THE INPUT AND IF YOU HAVE TIME TO GIVE ME MORE SPECIFICS SUCH AS A SETUP THAT YOU WOULD RUN YOURSELF.

 

THANKS

RATWOOD

[Guest]

Ratwood,

 

Welcome to the forum

 

Please turn off the caps as that is considered yelling.

 

Christian makes many good points,

 

Simply the fastest processor, most memory(I'd suggest 2 gigs min) a Quaddro vid card, with(since you do alot of 3D) 256 megs min on card, stay away of Windows Vista

[RATWOOD]

Sorry about the yelling.Would you offer any specifics on this subject?

[Bryan Johnson]

dell workstation for mastercam

 

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global....~page=52&~tab=1

[Guest]

Specifics can be tough.

 

Are you looking at a particular manufacturer, self built?

 

What more do you need? So many systems as so configurable today. That like I said fastest processor you can afford, copious amounts of memory, a big fat video card, lots of hard drive space. Maker doesn't really matter as long as those are met

 

I mean sure I could hit Dell.com and spec a system that "should" would well for you but I don't know what your budget is.

 

That about covers it Bryan

 

[mowens]

As far as 64 bit goes, we run MCX on 64 bit systems with no problems.