MasterCam V9L3 on Dell WS530 with WK2000

[armo]

I have a strange one here...

 

We've recently purchased 2 new Dell Precision 530 Workstations running WK2000, 512Mb RAM, Nvidia Quadro4 700 XGL video, 1.7GHz Xeon P4 Processor. MasterCam V9L3 has been installed, but seems to run no faster than the regular Dell Dimension PIII 700, NT4 Sp6a, with a plain old nVidia GeForce card... in fact the old PIII beats the new computers by a long shot (especially noticeable in Backplot)!!! Nothing is wrong with the computers, as I have also loaded onto them I-Deas MS9, our engineering CAD package, and it SCREAMS speed in every case! I have since loaded the newest drivers available for the 700XGL (which are not even certified drivers...) but it made no difference. Anyone experience this phenomenon? I'de hate to take the new computers away from our CNC dept. just to "upgrade" them to their old equipment.... Are there hidden settings I should be adjusting, or maybe not-so-hidden settings I need to know about? I did a clean MC9 install (on both the Xeon and PIII) and the PIII is faster!

 

Help!

[cadcam]

This does sound strange. I have built P4 before up to 2gig and seen a much faster response compared to my PIII 1gig.

All running Win2k.

 

Will be looking for other responses here.

[Glenn Bouman]

Make sure you have the same Mill9.cfg file on both computer.

 

Or use the the settings from the addons

[armo]

Yes, the .cfg files are exactly the same....

 

Actually I have started playing with colours, and things run much faster in 256 colour mode... So I am going to start playing in the OpenGL section of video card properties. I tried loading the "Detonator" drivers from nVidia, but there is no drivers contained that show up as "Quadro4 700 XGL" So I went with the latest supplied from Dell for this card and workstation....

 

Any remarks as to "tweaking" the OpenGL section?

 

Thanks!

[armo]

Glenn,

 

I am downloading that addon package... I'll give that a try!

 

Thanks!

[armo]

Darn...

 

Still no luck....

 

Is there any other patches that I am unaware of?

 

Is there a colour limitation in MasterCam that makes it do backplot with tool faster in 256 colour, than with true colour?

 

Thanks!

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

In screen configure, uncheck "Enable OpenGL Drawing" in the Screen Tab.

[armo]

James,

 

Just tried it... no difference...

 

I do appreciate everyones input! Thanks!

[Bullines]

Was it these drivers, that you tried? Did you disable any anti-virus software while you were installing video drivers?

[armo]

Bullines,

 

Yes, those were the drivers. No Anti-virus software on the computer, and a full de-install of the previous drivers was performed before installing the new ones.

 

This is great, please keep these ideas coming!

[Bullines]

Have you adjusted and "tweaked" Mastercam allocations on the new system?

[armo]

Bullines,

 

No, this would be helpful knowledge! Please tell me how.

 

I am not a MasterCam user as such, I am the system administrator for the company and so my knowledge of MasterCam is limited... I rely heavily on the users to tell me something is wrong. But I know something is up when a PIII700 beats a P4 Xeon 1.7GHz!

 

Thanks!

[Bullines]

I'm not a pro at Mastercam allocations either. I'm a software developer and not a CNC programmer or Mastercam wiz, so hopefully someone else can help you out with them. Hey, it's start

[armo]

Bullines,

 

I appreciate everyones help thanks!

[P_Scott]

armo,

 

The allocations for Mastercam are found by selecting Screen-Configure-Allocations tab. The numbers for Database and Toolpath allocations can be boosted however the total RAM used by Mastercam should not exceed about 2/3 of the total RAM on your system, depending on how much memory you have. With 512Mb on the new system, you should be able to allocate Mastercam to use 256Mb with no difficulty. There are other strings which discuss the allocations in this forum. Another "hidden" setting you may want to consider is toolpath display. If your display settings are for Interpolation instead of Endpoints, your Backplot display will be slower depending on the interpolation value. Interpolation during toolpath display forces the backplot to show the step value indicated. Another place to find these display settings is in each individual operation. On the Tool Parameters tab of the operation, look for the Tool Display button in the lower right hand corner. Press that button to view settings which may have an affect on the speed of your toopath display. HTH

[armo]

Peter,

 

Thanks, I will try your suggestion out! My response will be a little delayed as the guys are trying to get some work done too! As soon as they've finished their toolpaths I'll try it and report back!

 

Thanks!

[Simtech]

I've heard this but not experienced it myself.

 

Seems that with V9, if you move your cursor off screen, the system will accelerate overall!!!!

 

Don't laugh at this one, just give it a try

Luc

[cadcam]

Luc I had this with MC V8 once when I had a Viper video card.

[Fig sign]

Hello.

I don`t think it is a direct on topic but for everybody I advice to read this article it will explain a lot of things why sometimes pIII beats P4 and why I prefere AMD Athlon.

http://www.emulators.com/pentium4.htm.

http://www.emulators.com/docs/pentium_3.htm

For P4 fans good news

http://www.emulators.com/docs/pentium_4.htm

[Kevin Herzog - Steeplechase Tool]

i think there may be a simple answer to this question. when "stepping" through backplot, it is dependant on the repeat rate of your keyboard. try checking the settings in the keyboard section of the control panel. let me know if this is what you were looking for

[armo]

Wow,

 

Great responses!

 

Firstly, Peter, Our MC supplier is sending a tech guy here this morning to look at these anomalies... I'll watch closely, and see if he does the tweaking you describe. I played arround with the tool path allocations etc, but didn't succeed... Maybe I didn't hit the "sweet spot"! As far as tool parameters go, the PIII and the Xeon were running the same "benchmark" file, would this mean they were facing off on a level field?

 

Secondly, Simtech, Interesting observation, I'll go try that right now!

 

Thirdly, plasttav, I'll look at those pages.

 

Lastly, K_Herzog, It isn't Stepping through, it is simply Running the Backplot that is slower...

 

Now the guys in CNC are telling me MC9 is loosing toolpath info at different stages!!! I am glad someone is coming out now!!!

 

This has been extremely frustrating... I've always believed that to get the most from your software, you need to put as much into your hardware... This didn't seem to work this time arround!

 

Oh well, I'll keep everyone informed as to what happens today!

 

Again, thanks everyone!

[Greg McKay]

You seem to be doing all the right things to get this machine going.

 

Have you check opengl.org on the web.

This is a site with lots of information about opengl.

 

Is there any one process that is slower than the rest. Try verify

 

Greg

[armo]

Greg,

 

Thanks for the advice. It seems everything about the computers is slower in some way....

 

Well, the tech guys came over and have come to the conclusion that MC doesn't have full support for Xeon Processor, or the High-end graphics card...

 

To test we threw a common nVidia Geforce 256 card into the new computers and it ran better with that card!

 

Wow. Guess we'll be pushing those computers into engineering and have them put together an "optimized" computer for MC! (As long as I live long enough after I break the news to the boss!!!)

 

Well, thank-you everyone. I certainly learned something from this experience! I'll definately keep watching this board further for MC tricks and tweaks!

[Bullines]

Not a lot of apps take advantage of any Xeon-specific instructions yet, and those that do are mostly server software

 

Now, how the GeForce 256 beat the Quadro4 XGL is beyond me

 

Perhaps other optimizations to look at are cache, page file, etc...

[Mackius]

hmm, i think the system requirements page of emastercam.com need to be updated. Also perhaps the mods should put a disclaimer which states, mastercam doesn't support xeon cpus or quadro pro video cards.

 

This way it will save people aggravation, when they accidently buy the wrong hardware, which isn't supported by mastercam.

 

[ 05-02-2002, 09:25 AM: Message edited by: Mackius ]