New system specs?

Question

I'm looking for some assistance on a new CAD machine. Our IT people usually buy Dell, I'm trying to convince them to spend their $$ more wisely and get some real hardware. Just for grins I priced a system similar to what Jay Guthrie used to shake up the Ship in the Bottle battle ;o) AMD athlon 64 3400 - $429 (4) 512mb gig pc 3200 dims - $74ea PNY Quadro FX 1000 Video Card, 128MB - $815 Maxtor 160GB SATA drive - $131 Gigabyte GA-K8VT800 - $96

Of course video cards are the biggest question, I priced several, keeping to the more 'reasonably' priced cards, is the FX1000 really worth $500 more than the fx500. Given a pretty tight budget, which card would you choose?

fx 500 - $305 fx1000 - $815 fx1100 - $659 fx5950 - $479 Quadro750 - $355 Quadro980 - $539

It's been a while since I've been down the hardward spec/buying route, any tips/advise appreciated. We most build medium to large machine assemblies and a few swoopie parts, using SWX2003, soon to use 2004.

Thanks

Richard Doyle · Accepted Answer

Whit,I'm no expert with system specs (I actually like the Dell's) but I have someinfo on the FX cards that you might like. They are having a special rightnow through SolidWorks resellers and you can get the:500 for $1851000 for $599and the 3000 for $1399Check with your reseller.Richard

Eddy Hicks · Answer

Check the place I buy hardware....  The FX500 is $279 and the FX1100 is $659, normal price, until they'recheaper :)If you're looking for "high" performance get the 1000/1100.  If you'relooking for a better budget system, get the 500.  It depends on what you dobut the 1000 is easily twice the performance.  Look at the graphics scoreson  under Solidworks results and you'll see what I mean.- Eddy

Jay Guthrie · Answer

Whit,Got mine at  like these guy's because you can order the MB/memory/processor pre-tested.I've built too many systems in the past that have had bad memory or MB's andit takes forever to figure it out and troubleshoot.  This system wenttogether real easy expect for figuring out where to find the drivers andinstall them for the MB to run the SATA.I think the FX 1000 would be a good choice.  You might have a little morememory than you will be able to benefit from.  Make sure you spec a goodpower supply.Personally, I would work real hard on getting them IT people to change theirmind on the Dell's.  I did some work for a company not that long ago thathad a brand new Dell and it was a real dog.  Don't remember the spec's, butI just hated it.  Seems like purchased systems are never as good ashomebuilt unless you spend a ton.  At least that's my experience.Jay

whit · Answer

Thanks for the reply. I haven't been paying attention to HD's lately and hadn't heard of SATA til the other day, is the benefit worth the hassle?

So 2Mb of ram could be overkill? I've seen a lot of threads concerning ram, but didn't follow them all and don't know the general concensus.

I agree about the Dell, the one I'm working on now was a real dog when we first got it, our IT guy spent several days getting it to work 'properly'. I built a 'from scratch' system at home for half the $$ that is better. IT thinks they don't have the time

whit · Answer

Yep, newegg & googlegear were good to me last time I built a machine.

So, what is the FX1100? Is it an "Almost FX1000" the only difference I can see is the 1000 supports OpenGL2.0 and 16x Full-Scene Antialiasing (FSAA) up to 2048X1536 per display or 3840X2400 for single digital display. I don't know what that last sentance means, but it sounds cool ;o)

Thanks

whit · Answer

Thanks Richard, I stumbled across that earlier, someone posted a link tothe OKSWUG site. I didn't notice anything on MLC-CAD's site here inAustin, I'll give'm a call tomorrow.WhitRichard Doyle wrote:

Jay Guthrie · Answer

Never mind on the ram.  You got it right, for some reason I was thinking youwrote 4gig.Jay

whit · Answer

Ah, cool, I meant 2Gb in my reply also, not 2'Mb' :o)Jay Guthrie wrote:

Jerry Steiger · Answer

Comparing on the same Dell machine, the 1000 has 50% higher performance than the 500 on the graphics composite score. About 50% short of what I would call twice the performance.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems

Eddy Hicks · Answer

Refer to the specs and scores published by Nvidia.

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I didn't mean to say the spec scores show a 2:1 differential. Even I can see that 1.89 is not half of 2.85. Perhaps I should have said, "According to Nvidia, in most spec tests the FX500 performs to half the level of the FX1000. To see the benefit of this speed difference within Solidworks, refer to the spec Solidworks benchmark." There, is that better?

- Eddy

Keith Streich · Answer

Another site to compare pricing and specs ....

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It searches other sites and collects the data for you!

Keith Streich

PS The special pricing for the Quadro cards from Solidworks vars can't be touched at present.

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New system specs?

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