new workstation for Diego

Jan 17, 2007 7 Replies
D

We're building 3 new workstations here, and I'd appreciate some feedback. I've given preliminary approval, but if you see any weak spots and would like to comment it would be welcome.



We're a fabrication shop, and most of our SW stuff is sheet metal and weldments. The parts for the workstations are coming from Newegg for about $1425. We typically keep our eng workstations for 3 years then pass them on down the food chain.



I'll typically have SW07 with maybe 10 parts, an assembly and a couple drawings, DWG editor or ACAD LT with two dxf files, Jobboss, excel with one worksheet, outlook and IE, Ncell or Nc express (nesting software) open at any one time.



Here's the spec's:



ASUS P5W DH deluxe/wifi-ap lga 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel motherboard Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4 ghz lga 775 processor Kingston 2gb (2 x 1gb) DDR2 sdram DDR2 667 - room on the mobo for 8 gb PNY Quadro FX1500 256mb gddr3 pci express x 16 video card Seagate 7200 80gb sata hard drive - (95% of our work is saved on the network) Sony combo drive - CRX320EE/B2S COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case


any feedback is welcome, thanks, Diego



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R

Only thing I can think to mention is against the Intel CPU. Nothing against Intel at all, it's just that SolidWorks doesn't play well with Hyperthreading to the point it seems to actually slow SW down. The last systems we've purchased have been AMD due to this since the systems are primarily for SW.

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Y

Is it the hyperthreading, or multiprocessors that SW07 has problems with? I have heard of programs that will force a program to run on a single processor in XP.

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M

It's hyperthreading. I bought a box with an Intel hyperthreaded processor and it benchmarked far slower than slower processors. I was also unable to turn off the hyperthreading due to a bios/mobo limitation.

I sent the Intel box back and got an AMD dual core processor and it flies in comparison.

SW works fine with multiprocessors and dual core. Depending on what type of work you do, it may not get much benefit from the additional capacity, but for multibody work in particular, it seems to access both processors, and certainly for drawings and assemblies, fea, rendering, etc.

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D

Core2Duo does not do Hyperthreading. That was a method Intel used to try to make up for some of the deficiencies of the P4 chips. Core2Duo is another animal, and not a bad choice at all. The fastest Core2Duo is currently faster than the fastest anything from AMD. I'm not sure how price/performance works out on the lowere speed grades, but you won't go far wrong if the E6600 isn't the best deal.

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Y

If you really want to know if you have the best hardware for your needs, go to tomshardware.com and ask the people there to rate your system. Make sure that you tell them that you are doing CAD work on it. That way they won't make fun of your graphics card.

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B

More ram. 2gb is nice. 4gb is nicer.

:~)>

bob z. p.s. been through the desert on a horse with no name...

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