@Jay "..but you need the Fire GL and Fire pro series not the standard ATI" --- I'm not sure what you mean. It was a FirePro V7800. But at this point... Anyone want to buy a nice workstation class video card :-) http://www.ebay.com/itm/160672991098?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649 I really liked that it's smaller, quieter and runs cooler that other cards with the same performance. Running cooler is an important issue for me, since it gets up to 105° outside, for months at a time. Mike

Adding edge curves to a solid is getting to be a waste of time. It's much easier to machine right off the solid. Especially if your using the 2D HST toolpaths. It's very rare that I need to create edge curves anymore. Mike Mattera

Yep! I got one of those too. Mike Mattera

You didn't get a new version of Key Creator, did you? That might be an issue. Or maybe it was reinstalled and now it's outputting a newer version of parasolid. Mike Mattera

ATI Card Update: I give up. There were some weird problems with the ATI when I did Verify. All these big crazy triangles would flash across the screen. Bought myself a nice Workstation FX5800 and all is good now. The down side: The NVidia is just a little louder. Not much, but a little. It's a LOT hotter. I can tell that my office gets a lot warmer now. So there's the update. NVidia wins again. Mike

mc7 = 1997/1998 - WOW! Seems like Yesterday a long time ago. Mike

The con for all of those is that they are a subscription service. They all expire. Consider this... http://www.tipsformanufacturing.com You buy'em, You own'em, They never expire. Mike

There will always be times you'll need some wireframe geometry. For those times you can... Create - Curves - One edge or All edges. But most of the time you should be able to machine right off the solid model. It really is a better way to go. Mike Mattera

Shops develop standards and it's really had to change them you have a file cabinet fill of "historical" programs. I'll give you a weird one... The first shop I programmed in, we programmed the Mills in Absolute and the Lathes in Incremental. I dont know who came up with that rule, but it was the "standard" in the shop and there was NO changing it. I loved it when an operator would come into the programming dept and say "every time I make a part, it gets .001" smaller". And we would ask "did you change the program?". Sure enough he took off .001, but didn't add it somewhere else. and every time he made a if got smaller. Mike Mattera

When I first started programming in 1979, we used IPR for everything. It makes it easy to change the RPM% Override dial and not overload the tool. When I went to work for Anilam and realized that their retrofit control had no feedback from the spindle, I thought it was really strange. Had to use IPM. After writing postprocessors for 25 years, It seems like everyone uses IPM. In that time, I've probably only written 5 mill posts that use IPR. But if it were my shop I would use IPR. Because it is all about chip load, isn't it? Mike Mattera

CNC Software Video Training Developer (MastercamU) and Beta Tester. Mike Mattera

This is a nice system. Just posted my benchmark times (1:09) in the Benchmark thread. Having Win7 has allowed me to install my audio capture card (M-Audio 192) and now I can record 2 guitar channels and a MIDI guitar Synth channel all at the same time. No latency problems. I've run a bunch of small Mastercam projects on it with no problems either. I'm using the same flat screens and I think my graphics look a little crisper on one. The other flat screen is on it's way out. But I've got 2 new screens arriving this week (24" 1920x1080). The thing I hate about getting any new computer is the installations. Install the Video capture software, video editing, graphics editing, digital audio capture, CODEC's, Database, Email/Email lists, Browser bookmarks, calender, AntiVirus, getting it on the network, mapping drives, etc... Not to mention installing and configuring X3, X4 and X5. Everything is running SWEET now! Mike Mattera System Info: MagicMicro.com Intel i7 970 (6Core)3.2Ghz / ASUS Rampage III Extreme X58 / 12 GB Ram 500GB SATA II / 1TB SATA III / ATI FirePro V7800 w/ 2GB Mastercam X5 MU1 on Win7 Pro X64

"In our defence we're blokes who don't read manuals or instructions!" That's why I produce Video Training for Mastercam. No one reads the manuals, including me 1:09 regeneration time @ .0001 tolerance. 10 seconds regen time with a forced regeneration (no changes and regen file in the folder). I'm pretty happy with that. It's not overclocked or anything, just standard factory settings. Mike Mattera Magicmicro.com Intel i7 970 (6Core)3.2Ghz / ASUS Rampage III Extreme X58 / 12 GB Ram 500GB SATA II / 1TB SATA III / ATI FirePro V7800 w/ 2GB (yes ATI, really) Mastercam X5 MU1 on Win7 Pro X64 Windows Experience Index. Processor, Memory and Graphics are all at 7.7 While my main system Hard Drive is at 5.9 (SATA II)

I'm not sure we're talking about the same test file. I downloaded the HST-Core-Horizontal-Raster.mcx file from the SolidBox web site. My system regenerated all the toolpaths in about 16 seconds. It finished so quick, I wasn't sure it was done. When I did it a second time, It took 9 seconds. Mike Mattera Intel i7 970 (6Core)3.2Ghz / ASUS Rampage III Extreme X58 / 12 GB Ram 500GB SATA II / 1TB SATA III / ATI FirePro V7800 w/ 2GB (yes ATI, really) Running X5 MU1 on Win7 Pro X64

Good feedback from all. I appreciate it. I agree about the V8/V9/ATI problems. Kept me away from ATI's. Seems pretty unanimous: ATI Radeon = Great for gaming but BAD for CAD ATI FireGL or FirePro = Workstation class for CAD, works well with X1-X5. When my office was in the basement in Wisconsin, Having an AMD CPU and an NVidia GPU gave me good performance and acted like a space heater. Now that I'm in Phoenix, where a cool summer day is 105°, I try to turn off or tone down anything that makes heat. I buy Intel CPU's to reduce the heat output. Ordering my system today with the ATI FirePro V7800 2GB, 256Bit, Single slot. BTW: This is my 6th or 7th computer from Magic Micro (www.magicmicro.com). They sell a lot of high end Gamming pc's on Ebay. They have to special order the video card I want, but their price for the complete system is very good. I'll post the complete specs if anyone is interested. Thanks again for your input, Mike Mattera

Nice comparison review. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd_firepro_v4800_v7800&num=1 I think some of the Mastercam users might be please to find a $600 alternative for a workstation video card. The Nvidia Quadro's are very good cards, but you certainly pay the price (2 x this card @ minimum). It is a large, full length card. So you need the right case for it. This is a nice performance comparison that rates comparably priced Quadro FX 3700 and FX 3800 cards. http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=926&type=expert&pid=3 Good bang for the bucks. Mike Mattera

Norbert @ Shopware says... "I know the FirePro cards work well. I have a customer that runs them to program really complex turbines for their Okuma Multus(lots of solids and machine sim) and he told me “no problems at all”" I think I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on this one. Mike Mattera

I know, but it's not just price. The ATI V7800 runs a lot cooler. I'm trying to make this system as quiet as possible. Cooler means fewer (or no) case fans. It's hot here in AZ in the summer. I dont want be sitting next to a space heater :-) It's just something else I need to consider. Plus, this card gets great reviews from SolidWorks users. It is workstation class performance for 3D applications. I would still like to have some Mastercam user say "Yes I have one and it works perfect". Any and all input is appreciated. Mike Mattera

Well the ATI FirePro cards seem to be the thing for Workstation 3D Cad applications. Anyone have any experience with this ATI FirePro V7800 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195098 Mike Mattera

It's a router. I dont think the accuracy will be off enough to matter. Mike Mattera

Open the Operation, Tool Parameter page - Canned Text - Pick OpStop ans insert it - Before, With, or After the operation. Mike Mattera

Someone told me the FireGL's work better than the Radeon's. Anyone have any experience with an ATI Redeon? Martin: Did you have to throttle down the acceleration properties to get it to work, of did it just work? Thanks for your input. Mike Mattera

Always possible that something will need to be tweaked. Usually minor. Unless you did a lot of mods yourself and hard coded things in the post. If it was written conforming to proper standards, there should be no "major" problems. Mike Mattera

Did you try "Coordinate" instead of Tool Plane? Mike Mattera

Hello All, Building a new box. As some of you may know I do the video training for MastercamU and I thought this time I might get an ATI card since I've heard good things about their performance for this type of work. So I'll be recording and editing video, but also doing it with Mastercam. I know what your all going to say "Get an NVidia Card". When I did tech support, that's the same thing I told all my customers. But someone must be using some model of ATI. I'm looking at this card. It's the ATI/AMD 6950 w/ 2GB and seems to have a nice balance of price vs. performance. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121416 Any ATI / Mastercam users out there. Thanks, Mike Mattera Tips For Mfg. http:\\www.tipsformanufacturing.com