I absolutely despise computer manufacturers. Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. They all suck. The only reason I sing praises for Dell Precisions, is because they have their own entire support department at dell (which doesn't suck), and I've owned 2 of them now for work and they've both been ABSOLUTE powerhouses at doing anything really. Especially laser-tracker work. They're great. Never had an MSI, as I LOVE asus laptops, but I'm not much of a laptop guy anyways, so I don't pay much attention to em

My rule of thumb is simple. For Laptops, Dell Precision or anything by Asus. Desktops, build your own, or go with a dell precision. Dell precisions for Scientific or Engineering related CAD work, (Stuff quadros are REALLY made for, otherwise you're wasting $$ on overpriced cards.) MasterCAM runs best on Gaming cards so build your own desktop, or get an Asus Gaming Laptop with extra ram. (CAD Work can use more RAM than gamers ever really have in their rigs.)

Sure, I enjoy building computers.

Oh jlw... Email me. You know my email address. I'll get you set up straight.

Well in the case of everyone here's experience, I think I'll go with a 980Ti for this build then, it's cheaper and maybe I'll get the chance to do a full watercooler build, since I know you can buy watercooler blocks for 980Ti's without having to engineer one up.

Yeah, I'm curious now. I was always under the impression that Regenerating dirty Ops was a joint CPU/GPU effort in MasterCAM. And that's where the CUDA cores of the Quadro series shined over CUDAless Gaming cards. If that's the case as you're saying, I may just put the 980Ti in then, I know for processing power they will be fine as I'm planning on putting a 6700k i7, doing a simple overclock and using a closed-loop water-cooler for it

I'm a little hesitant to use a gaming card for this PC. I know at home, with a similar build to what I'm getting them but an OC 980Ti instead of a Quatro M4000, I have a hard time regening the big molds they do

Well that's a bit disappointing then. Glad I asked, better than just assuming it would take advantage of what is becoming a more and more common occurrence.

So I'm helping someone out with a custom computer build that will be primarily used for 5 axis toolpathing and surfacing using masterCAM. I've always had good experiences with the Nvidia Quadro line, however after looking at their website and prices I realized I might be able to get better performance/dollar by running 2 in SLI. I know the Quadros are capable of handling SLI, but is MasterCAM Configured to utilize the SLI Function and work properly? Any advice on the subject is appreciated. (I've build multiple SLI Set-ups before for gaming etc, so I know how to run and ensure that part works. Just want to make sure that isn't a lost cause in this case because MasterCAM can't even utilize it.)

Omega Morgan is awesome! We hire them to do all the rigging for our Retrofits/moves/installs.

I don't get the jab, but I saw a Kuraki HMC last week that was getting true positions within a millionth. (On a rebuild Job.)

Ah I was in the right ballpark. Surface-Hybrid behaves much the same As Surface-Waterline does, but waterline has troubles with flat surfaces, hybrid kinda mixes Waterline and Raster In my opinion.

I think maybe he's looking at an older generation 970, the new ones are all GTX970's. I paid 330 for my GTX970 about 5 months ago

Hi, I grind Carbon every single day! You're going to want to clean your machine much more often than most people do. Unless you have pressurized way covers etc, you're going to want to clean/wipe em weekly if not twice a week. Make sure that you're vacuuming up as much as you can every run. Personally I don't run coolant (My machines aren't set up for it, and our holding fixtures would be destroyed by moisture.) but I've heard of people doing it, and it does keep the dust somewhat contained within the coolant. You will probably not be able to filter the dust well out of the coolant so plan on spending a lot more replacing coolant and just don't re-use it. If you don't run coolant, just keep a vacuum hood on the machine if possible. If not possible then just vacuum a lot in between operations. Don't blow it around, the stuff will get EVERYWHERE.

Ehhh. "Serious weapon"?! That thing is a "Gaming Card" The way that a barebones mustang is a "Race Car"

If we're on the same page on what we're thinking, then I think, either the Surface-Scallop that Micro suggested, or a Surface-Hybrid may do the trick for you.

Thanks for the tools! Appreciate it. (also makes my Verisurf using co-worker jealous when I get the tools before he gets the full upgrade!)

That's one of my favorite things about the G500 I have, it has a removable tray that holds weights, so you can make it as light or heavy as you'd like.

uhh I don't see any with 10 programmable buttons? Mine is the 60-70 dollar version. It has just 3 buttons on the left side for your thumb, they are for forwards backwards and one programmable. You can also switch sensitivity on the fly with the +/- buttons to get it where you like it, and unlock the scroll wheel for faster scrolling when you want. This be the one. http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-G500-Programmable-Gaming-Mouse/dp/B002J9GDXI Although it looks like it's no longer sold by logitech so that's why the price is ridiculous on amazon. Check out this link though to try? http://www.rectatech.com/logitech-gaming-mouse-g500-10-btn-wired-usb-mouse?___store=us They revved the part # to the G500s. It looks alright, but I can't give my stamp since I haven't used one.

Yep. you just described the LogitechG500 Comes with extra weight sets so you can make it as heavy as you'd like and swap em out on the fly. Full sized, fills up my 6'2" 240 pound hand nicely.

tI love Logitech, +1 to that train. I use a Logitech G500 Best gaming mouse I've ever used, and works great for CAD as well.

Depends entirely on the fixture itself and where those balls are located. Do you have a reliable model in aircraft co-ordinates where you could input those points to use as a datum point for your program? Also; are they straight? 1 tooling ball is kind of useless on it's own if they're not square to something, except solely to be used as a datum point for setting the tool. How would you know that the tool is aligned square to the machine? Are you using the balls for that? Many questions need answered so we can give you a better answer =] (Personally, I'm not a fan of tooling balls and I more often than not do not use them. I prefer pin-holes to known datum points on the machine, in series to prove squareness.) I work entirely with trim fixtures, both using them for production and in the design/use of them.

Yes, I've heard the same thing as you gcode.

Are you certain that it's the program? Is your rotary table proven to be accurate and working?

Most of the time in Router machining, the top of the part is not a reliable variable. So we use the table. At least in my experience it has been that way. or the top of the part is not flat or any sort of a check surface. Bottom of Part (Or Top of Table.) is a checkable reliable reference, which is why we use it. Now for depths etc, you can set all of that using incremental from your toolpath geometry if it's giving you a problem, or do absolute and calculate from your reference point. It should make 0 difference which you use in programming as long as you stay consistent and do your set-up properly.