Computer Recommendations

[Don K]

Can anybody out here recommend a good system on which to run Mastercam?

I am currently running a $499.00 dell special of which I cannot recall the model.

I am posting this from home on a Dell Alienware which has no problem running Mastercam.

 

The office computer barely meets the minimum system requirements.

Also could I get recommendation on a decent video card?

 

 

Thanks.

[Reko]

These guys can recommend and set you up with a Dell that matches your needs so you don't pay for something you won't use, or, buy something that under-performs for the type of work that you do. Also, at least when I bought our computer from them, you will get a better price than buying direct from Dell and a 3 year warranty to boot.

 

Unless you like buying components and building your own set up, this is hard to beat.

 

http://www.emastercam.com/board/index.php?showtopic=62306&hl=%2Bmastercam+%2Bminimum+%2Brequirements

[CJep]

These folks here also have a very good track record with Mcam specific computers

 

http://mysolidbox.com/mastercam/

 

Be careful going the build your own route,.. if the components are not matched correctly you are going to have issues with complex geom and toolpath files.

[drafting3]

These guys can recommend and set you up with a Dell that matches your needs so you don't pay for something you won't use, or, buy something that under-performs for the type of work that you do. Also, at least when I bought our computer from them, you will get a better price than buying direct from Dell and a 3 year warranty to boot.

 

Unless you like buying components and building your own set up, this is hard to beat.

 

http://www.emasterca...m +requirements

 

i thought these guys were ridiculously over priced. sure they were less than dell or HP, but that's like being excited that gas is only $3.85 a gallon instead of $4.00.

 

BUT... reko is correct. I only feel this way because I've custom built every computer i've owned since the pentium-1 100mhz days.

 

i'm currently working on a custom build for work that will cost $2,200.00

 

The same build from HP or Dell runs $3,300.00 to $3,600.00.

 

 

Support is great, but is it worth 50% more? maybe.

 

how computer savvy are you? are you ready to deal with multiple companies and multiple tech support depts if something goes wrong? do you enjoy trudging through bios to get ram setup properly?

 

if you want the custom build performance to cost ratio, but don't want to build it yourself look at www.cyberpowerpc.com. look into the Special PC > Workstation line.

 

 

they don't offer near the support or warranty that dell or hp offers, but they can build you a computer for almost as cheap as you can build one yourself.

 

 

 

regarding video cards... nVidia Quadro 600 is decent and cheap. Quadro 2000 is more than twice the cost, but performs as if you had two 600's.

[TK-32™]

I have two Solid Box computers. One at work and one at home.

[jeff]

Solidboxx is WAY WAY WAY overpriced! Don't let these fanbois tell you otherwise lol.

 

If you want a good system without breaking the bank, look into something that has the i7 2600k cpu with about 8GB of ram,the benchmark thread proves that this cpu blows away the massively overpriced xeons that they want to sell you.

CyberpowerPC.com has many different computers and you decide what you want inside.

3yr warranty, etc...

 

I've bought 7 of them from there, no problem yet with any of them.

[jeff]

 

Unless you like buying components and building your own set up, this is hard to beat.

 

http://www.emasterca...m +requirements

 

That setup is easily beaten.

[Joe788]

Buy this:

 

http://www.costco.co...t.11761882.html

 

Slap this in it:

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814133275

 

and call it a day.

 

You'll have a hard time buying, or building, a better Mastercam/Solidworks PC with Windows 7 Pro and MS Office for less than this.

[TK-32™]

Not a fanboy and definately not computer savvy.

If you have the know how go ahead and build it your self.

I don't and i'm ok with that.

We bought SolidBox because they hit the floor running the day we got them with out issues. I'm ok with that too. Time is money.

[RaiderX]

Buy this:

 

http://www.costco.co...t.11761882.html

 

Slap this in it:

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814133275

 

and call it a day.

 

You'll have a hard time buying, or building, a better Mastercam/Solidworks PC with Windows 7 Pro and MS Office for less than this.

 

Is this what you are running Joe. The computer looks up to some crunching but am curious how heavy of a project can you run with that vid card. Just asking so can take notes, the price is awesome. I have been running upper end quadro's for some time but hearing some good things about some nvidia gforce cards used for cad cam.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

Slap this in it:

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814133275

 

 

Joe, the Quadro NVS line is a "business workstation" card, designed for spreadsheets and word processing. You want Quadro without the NVS, or if you're on a budget throw in a GeForce gaming card, they really do work pretty well for the money.

[jeff]

Buy this:

 

http://www.costco.co...t.11761882.html

 

Slap this in it:

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814133275

 

and call it a day.

 

You'll have a hard time buying, or building, a better Mastercam/Solidworks PC with Windows 7 Pro and MS Office for less than this.

 

Actually you'd have to put more than just a vid card in that setup.

The power supply is a measly 350w

and the hard drive isn't even 7,200 rpms.

 

Have a look at this one for the same price:

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Power_Mega_II_1000/

 

they have a few that you can select from and customize virtually any part you want:

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/LandingPages/PowerMegaII/

[Guest]

Unless you're prepared to support and trouble shoot that computer

 

Buying one and yes overpaying a bit, it the best way to go.

 

You don't have to computer trouble shoot when you're running a shop, you need it running.

 

If you're at home or in a small shop of your own, cool beans

[shazam/TPP]

solid box hear, and flawless. I don't have the time nor the desire to build one. A home computer would be different, but then again i don't take my work home, but if i did i would drink Dos Equis.

 

ps, love the signature JP

[Don K]

Thanks for input!

[Jayson Kramer]

Also if you go with workstations from Dell for work you get onsite support. I buy Dell and I build my own. but when two usb ports went out on my Laptop. Dell at the next afternoon a tech guy out with replacement parts and fixed it for Free as part of my warranty can not beat that kind of support, even when it costs a little more..

[Joe788]

Is this what you are running Joe. The computer looks up to some crunching but am curious how heavy of a project can you run with that vid card. Just asking so can take notes, the price is awesome. I have been running upper end quadro's for some time but hearing some good things about some nvidia gforce cards used for cad cam.

 

I didn't get that particular computer, because I bought mine last year. But it was $800 bucks with Windows 7 Pro. I spent another $200 something on a 128GB SSD, and another $180 or so on a Quadro FX580. It equaled or crushed just about everybody in the benchmark thread at the time at 40 seconds. I have no interest in building computers - and I've regretted every expensive computer I've ever bought. I've had two of these Costco computers now, and they are great.

[mkd]

just to beat a dead horse:

the computer i can run the benchmark (see that thread) @38 seconds flat cost maybe $1200 bucks to build myself...initially.

i72600k OC at just under 5Mhz by changing literally 1 bios setting (multiplyer to 48).

 

after a year of crashes I have to side with JParis.

 

early adoption of an OCZ sandforce controlled 128 GB SSD cost me lots of frustration and few swapped components ultimatly due to bad firmware on this SSD.

 

my $3600 dell 7500 work computer took 2.5 minutes on the benchmark. ya, dual xeon quadcores. weird

had a bad experience with a dell laptop in 2003. paid a high price for a dog of a computer with "premium at home service". what that meant is if Indian couldn't walk you through a fix over the phone they will send UPS to pickup.

[CarbonCAD]

I am replacing a 7-8yr old box on its last leg, and I would like some opinions on my hardware selections for a new one. My company prefers Dell so it most likely will come from them. I may need to shoot high(accounting wise) to get what I need in the end if you know what I mean.

 

Dell T7600

Processor Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2667 (Six Core, 2.9GHz, 15M) the 4 core is 3.3Ghz and $500 less and I hear speed is better than # of cores

Graphics Nvidia Quadro K5000, 4GB, 2 DP + DVIi +DVId - Would I be fine with a K4000?

Hard Drive Configuration C6 SATA/SSD 2.5 Inch BOOT, plus 2-3x matching SATA 2.5 or 3.5 Inch Hard Drives - I have no hard numbers to support the SSD improving Mastercam performance, but I have some good testimonials.

Boot Hard Drive 256GB,2.5"SATA6Gb/sStateDriveforBoot+only

2nd Hard Drive 500GB, 10K RPM 3.5" SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive

[gcode]

That's a nice machine..

You should check out SolidBox too. They are Dell machines with Dell

warranties and they usually beat Dell's prices by 20% or so because they buy in volume.

[TK-32™]

+2 on Solibox

[Jayson Kramer]

This will be a nice setup and you k4000 with know issues as it is a nice card I run one.

I would go with a SSD on the main drive then have a HDD drive as another drive.

[brandon b]

I just got a dell xps All in one today. With a nividia card. So far I love it.

Bought a hp with an AMD processor spent like ($1000)a few months ago and it is slow!!!!! put mcx on an old dell inspirian and it was 5x faster than the amd.

 

 

On a side note. Can I run dual monitors with different displays on a All-In-One? It has 4 hdmi ports

[CarbonCAD]

This is what I have for comparison purposes:

 

Dell T7600 $5608.00(without company discount applied)

Processor: Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2667 (Six Core, 2.9GHz, 15M)

Memory: 32GB 1600MHz

Graphics: Nvidia Quadro K5000, 4GB, 2 DP + DVIi +DVId

Boot Hard Drive: 256GB SSD

2nd Hard Drive: 500GB, 10K RPM 3.5" SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive

 

SolidBox Carbide Level 1 $5773.20

Processor: Six Core XEON E5-2667, 2.9GHz, 15M

Memory: 16GB 1600MHz

Graphics: Nvidia Quadro K4000

Hard Drive 1: 600GB SAS, 10k RPM

Hard Drive 2: 600GB SAS, 10k RPM

[gcode]

The Dell is the better choice

32gig of ram and the SSD boot hard drive makes it the winner hands down