Computer configuration

[Guffie]

In the past time I have had discussion running with the companies IT department about my computer...

 

I'm working mainly with 3-4 axis milling with some surface machining, where the regenerate and verify takes long time..

 

I'm running X4 and a XP 32bit and I've got a Intel Xeon Dual 3 GHz, 3 GB ram and a 256 MB Quadro FX 570..

 

I have asked for a quicker computer, because I don't feel I have time to wait 5-10 minutes for a verify (maybe I'm just impatience?? ), and they suggested me to add 1 GB of RAM more, which I doubt will solve my problem..

 

How many GB ram can MC actually use, and what is most important for the regeneration and verify?

 

I can see that the MC only use 50% of my processor and I can see some other had a problem with that here in the forum, but it is not possible with a dual to let MC eat both processor?

 

Thanks for any inputs...

[Guest]

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because I don't feel I have time to wait 5-10 minutes for a verify

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5 0r 10 minutes.

 

Believe me I don't know what kind of work you do but in surfacing, especially very small stepovers, 5 - 10 minutes would be greatly accepted by most I believe.

 

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but it is not possible with a dual to let MC eat both processor?

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nope

 

quote:

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How many GB ram can MC actually use, and what is most important for the regeneration and verify?

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3 gigs is all it can address a "GOOD" videocard can help but it won't solve all the issues.

 

On a system 32 bit system with 32 gigs it will never get it all because other running processes need resources as well.

 

quote:

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I'm running X4 and a XP 32bit and I've got a Intel Xeon Dual 3 GHz, 3 GB ram and a 256 MB Quadro FX 570..

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You're likely running about as fast as you can on that system. an FX5500, Top notch expensive card would help a bit but at the cost of that card, I am of the opinion unless you need for something else, it's not worth the added cost for the minuscule bump up.

[Guffie]

Thanks for the quick reply...

 

I see that my expectations about speed is too high.. Was hoping some more RAM would help..

 

Would there be any point in upgrading to a 64 bit, XP/Vista/7?

[Odell]

quote:

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I'm working mainly with 3-4 axis milling with some surface machining, where the regenerate and verify takes long time..

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Guffie , I do a lot of complex surfacing here and one of the things I do to help speed things up a little is to change my step over to .05 or so just for verify. Before I post I go back and change it to what I need.

[jeff]

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one of the things I do to help speed things up a little is to change my step over to .05 or so just for verify. Before I post I go back and change it to what I need.

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^^^This

[Guest]

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Would there be any point in upgrading to a 64 bit, XP/Vista/7?

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This may depend.

 

If you do a lot of other stuff wile Mastercam is running and crunching, you may see that your system doesn't take as big a system hit. SO with more things running, it will run better with enough RAM available.

 

Mastercam itself does not run as a true x64 application but does run in x86 mode on the x64 platform.

 

Personally if you do choose to move towards the x64 platform, I am of the opinion stay away from XP & Vista, move on to Windows 7.

 

XP was x64 in it's infancy

Vista, well, it's Vista

 

Windows 7 just seems to be done right so far

[Guest]

quote:

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one of the things I do to help speed things up a little is to change my step over to .05 or so just for verify. Before I post I go back and change it to what I need.

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While this can and does speed things up it doesn't really simulate what the programmer is trying to do.

[Guffie]

Thanks for the suggestions guys...

 

It gave me some of the answers I was looking for!

[Jayson Kramer]

Is your computer a dual processor ( being two of them) or a Dual Core processor?

[Guffie]

I guess dual processor.. When I check the Device Manager in the control panel it tells me that I have 2 pcs. Intel® Xeon CPU 3.00GHz

 

Any difference?

[MotorCityMinion]

Dual processors, usually Zeon's, = 2 sockets on the MOBO, with 2 quad core cpus you'll get 8 cores.

 

Duel core CPU could mean just one cpu. Look in the case for 2 cpu's or in taskman for the number of cores. Most Zeon machines do have two sockets though.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

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Most Zeon machines do have two sockets though.

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Most Xeon machines are built to be servers, not workstations. Servers need bandwidth, workstations need power.

 

I don't think Intel has made a single core part for a long time; it's pretty likely you've got a dual core chip.

[The_Evil_Machinist]

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On a system 32 bit system with 32 gigs

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I hope you're not talking about ram there...

[Guest]

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32 gigs

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3 gigs typo

[Jeremy Grigsby]

If device manager shows two processors, it's probably a single Xeon chip with hyperthreading enabled. I run a dual xeon hyperthread single core system at home and it shows 4 processors in device manager. I really don't think there is any system that will make Mastercam run better. It is designed to be a very slow program. If it is ever rewritten as a true 64 bit multi-threaded app from the ground up it may show some improvement. I try to use verify to check overcut/undercut conditions to stl models on some parts. Sometimes you just resort to hoping it cut right at the machine because its not efficient to use verify. Just keep your fingers crossed or get a better verification software.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

Hey, it's plenty fast for my purposes. I remember verifying surface finish operations on a 233mhz Pentium in '98. It took 20 or 30 minutes to generate the toolpath, but I could still verify it reasonably.

[left coast lefty]

quote:

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5 0r 10 minutes.

 

Believe me I don't know what kind of work you do but in surfacing, especially very small stepovers, 5 - 10 minutes would be greatly accepted by most I believe.

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John-

 

How large a file are you talking about here? When I get anything larger than 10 megs, it takes at least that long.

 

GeForce 9800 GT

[left coast lefty]

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