Time For A New Computer

[NeilJ]

Will be used for CADCAM only.

 

Here is my initial quote from Fry's Electronics:

 

Corsair CMPSU 1000W ATX Power Supply -> $279.00

 

ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe / Wifi-AP Motherboard -> $219.99

 

Zalman GS1000 Case -> $169.99

 

Intel Core2Quad Q9550 BX 2.83 GHZ @ 1333 12MB Cache -> $329.00

 

DDR3 4GB 2000 MHZ Dual PA (2x2GB) With EPP 2.0 -> $349.99

 

Quadro FX 570 256MB DDR2 ->$199.99

 

I already have the monitors and hard drives I'm going to use with this system.

 

 

Any comments or suggestions?

 

Any one had good luck with a G-Force card?

 

How about SLI does this have any benefits for Mastercam?

 

In Novemeber Intel is supposed to release a new chip... should I wait?

 

Is there any advantage to using Vista for Mastercam?

[strabe]

The benchmark thread can answer most of your questions especially the last 2 or 3 pages.

[OTOMMYO]

Here ya go

 

 

[NeilJ]

quote:

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The benchmark thread can answer most of your questions especially the last 2 or 3 pages.

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Seems to indicate that 12MB of Cache is going to help me. Doesn't address a lot of the other questions I asked for input on.

[Colin Gilchrist]

The processor is by far the fastest bottle neck.

 

I would get the 12 MB, but look for the fastest bus speed possible, I think IIRC that you can get 1666 Mhz.

 

Get the fastest dual core chip you can. Waiting might not be a bad idea if a new chip will perform significantly faster or drop the price of existing chips.

 

You will not get any benefit from an SLI setup, as Mastercam does not take advantage of an SLI configuration. This is really for hardcore PC gaming.

 

The FX 570 card will work, but it is an entry level card. The FX1700 will offer almost double the performance for some things like triangle fill shading (almost double the fill rate). This is due to the fact that it has twice the RAM.

 

Look here for a comparison of the FX card line. Scroll down to '3D Application Performance' and look at the Catia and ProE scores...

 

http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_11761.html

[NeilJ]

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The FX 570 card will work, but it is an entry level card. The FX1700 will offer almost double the performance for some things like triangle fill shading (almost double the fill rate). This is due to the fact that it has twice the RAM.

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What effect does this have on solid verify?

 

Will my Mastercam wireframe geometry look better? I'm not overjoyed with what Mastercam wireframe geometry looks like running on an FX 1300 will settings set to SolidWorks. It's way better than it was but it's still leaves a lot to be desired compared to say wireframe in SolidWorks. I like crisp, clear and clean wireframe and I don't get that now.

[Greg_J]

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The processor is by far the fastest bottle neck.

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Colin,

What about the Western Digital VelociRaptor mentoned in the off topic forum? What do you think?

 

Greg

[bogusmill]

I love my Asus Rampage Formula, it's a bit pricier at $289. I run a GTX 260 with no problems in MCX3 or Catia. Too much power, drop back to a 750Watt. Don't go dual core, they have half the cache of a quad. Don't wait, the next CPU's out will cost over $1000 when first released next year and motherboards will be in the $400 range. It will be a year before both are affordable. There is a 20% increase for servers but not workstations in next CPU. I'm pretty happy with Vista Ultimate X64 and if you go that route you'll wish you had bought 8 gig's RAM. Rampage Extreme supports 16Gigs of DDR3 and is the fastest board on the planet! Check out article.

 

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardw...ard-review.html

[Colin Gilchrist]

I'm not sure you will notice much of a difference in Verify with the two different cards. X2 vs. X3 makes a huge difference, as X3 has a new feature that speeds up verify.

 

Not too sure what is wrong with your wireframe... What monitor and resolution? Are you running the highest resolution supported by your monitor?

 

I've noticed that if you use the smallest line width, it can be difficult to see the wireframe sometimes. I turn up the thickness of my wireframe to the "middle" setting, so it makes my wireframe thicker and easier to see...

 

Not sure if that would help you or not...

 

Oh yeah, Bogusmill is right about the quad core having a bigger cache...

 

Greg, not sure about how the faster hard drive will work. When I was talking about speed, I was referring to toolpath calculation time. The hard drive won't increase performance too much when calculating a toolpath...

[NeilJ]

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What monitor and resolution?

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HP LP2465 1920 x 1200

 

quote:

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I've noticed that if you use the smallest line width, it can be difficult to see the wireframe sometimes. I turn up the thickness of my wireframe to the "middle" setting, so it makes my wireframe thicker and easier to see...

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Our VAR suggested this and it certainly helps but it's still not as sharp and as clear as I'd like the wireframe to be.

[NeilJ]

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I love my Asus Rampage Formula

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I'll look into it. Thanks.

 

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I run a GTX 260 with no problems in MCX3 or Catia

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Don't know what a GTX 260 is. I'll also look into this.

 

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Too much power, drop back to a 750Watt.

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I think it was only $100 more for the 1000 watt. I'll check to be sure. What if I need the extra power in the future?

 

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Don't go dual core, they have half the cache of a quad.

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Thanks.

 

 

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Don't wait, the next CPU's out will cost over $1000 when first released next year and motherboards will be in the $400 range. It will be a year before both are affordable.

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Thanks.

 

quote:

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I'm pretty happy with Vista Ultimate X64 and if you go that route you'll wish you had bought 8 gig's RAM. Rampage Extreme supports 16Gigs of DDR3 and is the fastest board on the planet! Check out article.

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What will Vista give me that XP Pro doesn't?

[Teh Bear without Brains kinda idiot]

[Jim Walters]

[gcode]

The quality of the monitor can make a big difference. I bought a Samsung 24" flatscreen

and hated it..

Even at the finest resolution, angled lines

looked like fat jagged stairs..

I sold it and bough a Dell 24" Ultrasharp..It was a lot more money, but the difference was night and day.

[NeilJ]

quote:

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Even at the finest resolution, angled lines

looked like fat jagged stairs..

 

I sold it and bough a Dell 24" Ultrasharp..It was a lot more money, but the difference was night and day.

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What resolution are you running?

[gcode]

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What resolution are you running

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1920 x 1200... on both the Samsung and the Dell

[NeilJ]

Is the Dell monitor mail order only?

[gcode]

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Is the Dell monitor mail order only?

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Best Buy is starting to carry some Dell stuff.

I've never seen a 24"W Ultrasharp though.

If you order one don't pay extra for next day.

They ship from a warehouse in LA and show up in one or two days even if you ship ground.

 

IMO the Dell Ultrasharps are well worth the extra money.

 

I don't think monitor quality is as important when you go to smaller sizes. At work I've got a no-name 21"wide screen.. Its a POS but Mastercam

looks fine on it. My boss bought 4 of them for $180 each

[NeilJ]

I'll check out Best Buy. If they don't have it I'll mail order one and specify ground shipping. Thanks.

[bogusmill]

I bought 2 Dell 2408wfp's for home and saved almost $100 each on Ebay when they first came out. This office has 4 PC's with dual Dell 2405 or 2407wfp's and we are extremely happy with them.

 

quote:

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I think it was only $100 more for the 1000 watt. I'll check to be sure. What if I need the extra power in the future?

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I read an article where they showed that the efficency of a power supply is better if your running close to it's design limits so a 1000W PSU running at 450-500W might be 65% efficent where a 750W PSU might be 80% at that same useage level. My system has 4 HD's, 2 DVD burners, 9 fans, & dual monitors and my OCZ 700W PSU runs all that without problem. Here is the article.

 

http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3413

 

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What will Vista give me that XP Pro doesn't?

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I'm no fan of Vista but I am a fan of 64 bit system's and Vista is a better 64 bit OS than XP is. I have several .CATPart files that are so big they won't rotate well in XP 32 bit but on the same PC in Catia x64/Vista Ultimate x64 I can turn up all the visualization settings and those parts manipulate very smoothly. Plus with 8 Gig's of RAM you can have a 5Gb RAM drive in a 32 bit OS.

[Colin Gilchrist]

I'm running two Dell UltraSharp 2007FP 20 inch monitors here when my laptop is docked in. Both monitors are 1600 x 1200.

 

The monitor on the laptop itself is the Dell WUXGA active matrix TFT display. 1920 x 1200 pixels.

 

My wireframe display is basically flawless...

[NeilJ]

http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3413[/url]

 

Extremely helpful article to me. I see your point after reading this article and I trust the source.

 

quote:

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I have several .CATPart files that are so big they won't rotate well in XP 32 bit but on the same PC in Catia x64/Vista Ultimate x64 I can turn up all the visualization settings and those parts manipulate very smoothly.

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Is the CATIA your running a 32 bit application or 64 bit? If it's 32 bit are you saying a 32 bit application can really benefit from the extra RAM that 64 bit Vista provides?

 

 

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I love my Asus Rampage Formula, it's a bit pricier at $289.

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I don't intent to do any overclocking. I take it that the increase in RAM capability is what is also unique about this board and one reason you think so highly of it?

 

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I run a GTX 260 with no problems in MCX3 or Catia.

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This board got horrible reviews when I Googled it. What do you like about it?

 

Thank your for your valuable input and all the helpful information you have provided.

[NeilJ]

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My wireframe display is basically flawless...

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Helpful. Thank you.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

I have a Sony Trinitron .22 Dot Pitch(IIRC) 19" CRT that has absolutely THE best picture quality I've ever seen in a monitor, better than Eizo and Ilyama even. But it's a massive CRT. Definitely not what you'd want on today's seemingly smaller desks. Lines on it were solid. When I changed to a Flat Panel, (Dell Wide Screen good quality), it was definitely less image quality, but still adequate.

[Jayson Kramer]

I have 5 22" monitors two Samsung, Two dells and 1 Gatway. So far happy with them all. but they are all the little higher end being all over $300+ . the Dells are the ultras and I have to say those do have a great picture as we will call it.

I use the Samsungs for my main Dell for my home office and use the dell monitors with my Dell Laptop. the other one for my wife.