Computer

[Tom R]

If money was not a problem what parts would make the fastest computer? example

Mother board ______ brand,type

Hard drives ______ brand,type

Video card ______ brand,type

Case ______ brand,type

Cooling system ______ brand,type

Memory ______ brand,type

Processor ______ brand,type

Buss speed ______ brand,type (not Gray Hound)

Single duel quad or more core ______ brand,type (I know they not supported yet)

[Guest]

Tom,

 

Check out the "Benchmark" thread lots of good info in that thread

[bogusmill]

If your buying OEM like a Dell a Dual Quad core Xeon CPU using a 1600 FSB is fastest for Mastercam. The T7400 workstation is this kind.

 

Dual Quad means you get a server motherboard and lots of CPU cache (12Mb on each CPU) useable by any one core.

 

If you build your own you can save lots of money. My last homebuilt held the record for a few months on the MC benchmark but was blown away by a slower (CPU & FSB) Dell T7400, it's Xeon's shared cache making the difference. So now I'm building an Asus Rampage Formula motherboard using a Xeon X3350 quad core CPU, some fast DDR2 RAM and It'll overclock about 1Gb or about to 3.7Gb. I may not retake the record but I'll be very close and spend about $6000 less than the T7400 costs.

[Craig Madsen from CM3D]

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/

http://www.anandtech.com/

 

Tomshardware.com and anandtech.com both evaluate motherboards, cpu's, graphics cards, memory, etc.

 

BUT, getting all of the very fastest individual components does NOT guarantee the very fastest computer. Everything has to work together. This usually requires some 'tuning' the get the best performance out of what you have.

 

As a example, the most expensive DDR3 memory just barely outperforms much cheaper 800mhz DDR2 memory. BUT, IF you are going to OC (OverClock) the faster memory will help you there. For RELIABILITY I keep my systems either at stock speed, or OC only up to 10% or so faster - and then only IF I can prove it gives noticably better performance.

 

You will not generally notice a difference in performance in systems until there is a difference of more than 15% - and most people don't notice even 20% unless it is pointed out to them.

[bogusmill]

I have a somewhat different view of overclocking. My last PC was an Asus P5B-Deluxe with a Core 2 Duo 6320, that's a 1.86Ghz CPU and I overclocked it to 3.49Ghz. Almost 100% over and the performance is outstanding overclocked. You must keep it cool to last and it ran very cool with lots of quiet 120MM fans and the best heat sink made. The new quad core Xeon doesn't overclock nearly as well and I'll be lucky to get another 1Ghz but thats a 30% OC. The much larger CPU shared cache seems to trump faster CPU and RAM speed in Mastercam so I'm giving it a try. If it works out I'll post what components I used.

 

The Rampage uses Intel's latest chipset, the X48 and supports the latest 45nm CPU's, which the Xeon 3350 is but it uses the cheaper DDR2 RAM so I can afford to put in 8Gb of RAM for x64 Windows or I can create a 5 or 6Gb RAM drive in x32 Windows. That might shake some things up! A big part of success in this is getting components that work well together so I constantly visit the sites Craig mentioned and many more looking for reviews on components I'm considering using in a build. Do your homework.

[ToolMan184]

quote:

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spend about $6000 less than the T7400 costs.

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I just bought a T7400 and I dont have $6K in it and its a monster machine.

[M_CODE1]

Just purchased a new machine yesterday to run MasterCam and Solid Works. Not doing extensive surface milling and advanced assemblies so this system should work fine for me.

 

Dell Precision T3400

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz

4GB Memory

nVidia Quadro FX 1700

80 GB hard drive

22" Widescreen

[bogusmill]

From the man who holds the record T7400.

 

quote:

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The cost for that computer was ..... get ready ....... $8600 Canadian including tax. First place is expensive.

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Yes you can get one less expensive but it's like a Corvette with a 6 cylinder. To approach the leader you need more than a 6.

[ToolMan184]

quote:

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To approach the leader you need more than a 6.

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I dont have that big of an EGO that I have to be top dog. Icant understand why anyone would need on any faster than what i just got.

[bogusmill]

ToolMan, have you run the benchmark on your T7400? What options did you get?

 

We know what the leader has, now you have it's little brother. I will be recommending a new PC for work and we have a contract to use only HP or Dell. I never get the top dog, the best price/performance ratio is in the mid to lower range. So tell us your T7400 config. and benchmark times so we can approximate what performance we'll get with some of the cheaper options.

 

quote:

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Icant understand why anyone would need on any faster than what i just got.

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Don't ever say that. An IT dept head once told my dad that he would NEVER need a more powerfull PC than the Acer 200 he was recommending. I have a flash drive around my neck that's more powerfull

 

Operating systems and applications are alway growing and we'll be using todays machines longer than ever before.

[Philcott]

quote:

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I dont have that big of an EGO that I have to be top dog. Icant understand why anyone would need on any faster than what i just got.

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It's a lot like a pi$$ing match. It's not how good a pi$$er you are but how big your hose is.

 

Phil

[ToolMan184]

LOL @ PHIL

[gms1]

quote:

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If money was not a problem what parts would make the fastest computer?

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Short answer... all. I would kill for a no price barrier computer build

[Redfire427]

Quotes By Toolman184:

I just bought a T7400 and I dont have $6K in it and its a monster machine.

 

I dont have that big of an EGO that I have to be top dog. Icant understand why anyone would need on any faster than what i just got.

 

Reply,

That's because you are not using Level 3 where you need the power. The fastest time posted in the benchmark thread is not a brag, but rather a complaint. You spend that much money on the best computer going, and that all you get for speed. That's not fast, that's pathetic. We need to cut that time down to at least a quarter of that. Mastercam's processing time is brutal regardless of how much technology is in your computer.

[ToolMan184]

And what makes you think I dont have level 3? We have 2 sims here. I ran the bench mark yesterday afternoon. It was 4:23, Guess if I would have bought the Corvette I could have been faster. I didnt spend that much money on a computer. I have $5K in computer MS Office and a Space Explorer. It works for me.

 

So, I guess Prosin you was wrong and have clue what I do. Must be a Canadian thing.

[bogusmill]

quote:

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And what makes you think I dont have level 3?

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Maybe he read your sig.

[ToolMan184]

You guys can have your own pi$$ing match and egos. I have nothing to prove to any one here.

 

I also have ESPRIT. Since I dont have it listed does that mean I dont have it either?

[Redfire427]

Wow

 

Quote:

And what makes you think I dont have level 3?

 

Reply:

I read your signature. My mistake. A Canadian thing? Chill out, glad to see you are happy and saved some money.

[L Davis]

Prosin Molds

 

I agree with you that Mastercam has not meet or exceeded technology or our expectations when it comes to it's speed in regen of toolpaths or verification. It's limited because Mastercam hasn't yet improved the software to reach our computer's full potential. I could only hope that Mastercam is working hard at improving their software on a daily basis. Nice Mustang.

[Thee Starry™]

quote:

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So tell us your T7400 config. and benchmark times so we can approximate what performance we'll get with some of the cheaper options.

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Same boat here. We use only Dell and the boss is actually planning an upgrade for me. Don't think I could convince him to hook me up with the BIG DOG. What you got going on would help me bunches.