Alright everybody... what do you use and what do you wish you were using. I have a nvidia geforce t14600. I am looking at a new system and considering a Radeon 9800 pro. I can't see spending the bucks on a real workstation card ($1000+) in canada. The ATI cards seem to have better visuals this time around than the nVidia cards. Performance wise they don't seem much different.

+1 Rick - excellant reply! Thanks for clearing some of those items up. quote: Not necessaraly. More bits means that every data type is larger, the instructions are larger, and that makes the programs larger. Larger programs take longer to load, consume more RAM once they are loaded, and take up more space on the disk. The benifit in performance that accompanied the move from 16-bit to 32-bit came from: - More efficent CPUs that ran at higher clock speeds. - Fewer cycles spent calculating memory address. Given that, would a 64bit system at a higher clock rate be more efficent -- even running 32bit apps? Would it be possible to scale a 32bit app to take advantage of the extra memory width - double up on instructions per clock cycle? I'm not a programmer by any means - I dabble here and there so I think I understand some of this. What do you think?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the reason for using 64bit cpu over a 32bit cpu is the increased address space that it provides. It does create a more difficult programming environment for developers. Then again, so did 32bit computing when it first came out. The big push for 32bit programs way back was the increased memory addressing - which tranlsates into faster number crunching routines. In essence, isn't that what toolpaths are all about. So, I think a 64bit version of MasterCAM would be very interesting to see. I think the potetial is far greater than a multiprocessor version *and* more stable.

quote: If you've sent a bug report to them, and it was really a bug that hadn't been reported, it would have been assigned a report number and you would have been contacted to tell you the number. Bug #23237 and Bug #23239 respectively from sometime in may/april of this year -- has to do with drilling multiple holes in one operation with different z heights. The WCS is used and when posted it loses its referance planes uses the original WCS and inserts bad retract moves in the posted code. Reproduceable in ver 9.0 and 9.1 Mostly in conjunction with a 5axis post. anyway -- I really just wanted to post my thoughts about the maintenance program and this is getting way off topic. Jim Pallister OPM Ltd.

quote: I am not a MC layer but saying this means you don`t know what is a bad atitude !I am sorry if I sound bitter like I said it was based on my own personal experience. I am not talking about the product -- I do like and enjoy using MasterCAM. I didn't really want to get into all of this - but oh well. I have done some simple programming as well (c, php, macros, posts ) and I understand what it takes to write and debug software -- its a nightmare on a good day. I did report a BUG to CNC -- I think a large part of the work done to the WCS in service pack 1 & 2 are because of it. I can give you a fairly good analysis of how the the WCS works in relation to tplane and cplanes in a 5-axis setup. Where some inherent problems are and where they sould be fixed. The one thing I guess I want to be clear about is this: MasterCAM is a good product -- all in all no complaints. There are much worse out there and they want more money. Jim Pallister OPM Ltd.

quote: How do you figure? I don't see it that way. I am new to this forum and many of you may be able to tell me otherwise ( which I would like to hear ) But this is just from my own personal experience. My reseller (In-House ) has been great in their support so don't get me wrong on that. Jim Pallister OPM Ltd.

I just received this fax about the maintenance program. I have to agree with many people that I am very disappointed to see CNC head in this direction. I have used various cnc programs for the last 10 years and all have had high maintenance contracts. The fact that MasterCAM didn't have a maintenance contract was one of the reasons I bought the software. I used programs for years with the same bugs that release after release never got fixed --- BUT YOU STILL HAD TO PAY FOR THEM!!! And I am sure there are users out there right now that could point some out ( anyone here use the WCS extensively? ). ( if you want a couple of good examples just ask! ) I have had a reasonably good experience with MasterCAM so far... I too would like to hear from someone at CNC directly -- as to me they seem to be a company wihtout a voice - they merely hide behind thier resellers ( sorry if that one hurt! -- and Peter you know where that's coming from ). 'nuff said! Jim Pallister OPM Ltd.