new pc advice

[wildcat99]

It's time to upgrade a couple of computers here, geared toward Mastercam/Solidworks, and our IT guy has a few general questions.

 

1. Is it worth it to get Windows 7 64bit so we can use more RAM (ie, more the 3.5GB)?

 

2. Hard disks: Does it matter if we get SATA or SCSI interface drives?

 

3. Can Solidworks/Mastercam take advantage of multicore processors?

 

4. Is it worth it to get a high performance graphics card? If so, how much video ram?

 

Thanks for any advice or other suggestions

[Trevor Bailey]

http://www.mysolidbox.com/

[Matt Berube at Ferron Mold]

1.I would get Win7X64 but not just for memory usage... Why buy new machines with an older or less powerful operating system ?

 

3. Mastercam is beginning to utilize multi-core processors. Not sure about SW but I'd guess they are.

 

4. I think the Quadro FX cards are a waste of money now. After 18 months experience with the Nvidia GTX295 I feel my video card is doing everything I need it to for Mastercam & Topsolid. Since you say you're using Solidworks I think you may want to consider something from Dassault Systemes Solidworks recommended video card list.

[Todd Tracey from Fastech]

Take a look at what's working on the Benchmark Thread at the top of the list

[Todd Tracey from Fastech]

Take a look at what's working on the Benchmark Thread at the top of the list

[wildcat99]

Thanks for the info. I finally got around to doing the benchmark and it's definitely time to upgrade.

 

As for graphics cards, all the nVidia cards in Solidworks recommended list are Quadro FX. Other choices are ATI FireGL and FirePro.

 

Dell seems to be popular, but I think we are leaning towards an HP workstation. Any issues with HP?

[gcode]

Stick with a Quadro FX video card..

Mastercam and ATI do not play well together

[MotorCityMinion]

HP workstations, they make a good puter'. Components are also standard so upgrading is easy.