Custom build for dad

[Dman877]

My dad is going into consulting and is less then thrilled with the performance in solidworks of his current machine (P4 2.8, onboard graphics, yeah yeah craptastic). Anyway, I'm having some difficulty finding benchmarks of this program, apparantly it's part of a specperf benchmark but that's all I know.

Does anyone here use the app? From visiting their website, it seems that solidworks is videocard intensive (which seems strange for something running straight calculations imo). Anyway, he wants models to render a lot faster than his current box. Does that mean he'll have to shell out for a 700$ video card? Do dual core procs help at all in this app? Of course, the intel/amd and ati/nvidia questions also arise...I think he wants to keep the price reasonable, prolly in the $1000 - 1500 range.

Any help will be appreciated.

 

[kmrivers]

X2 or Opteron, i am pretty sure solidworks supports smp. So Dual Core will definetly help you.

and yes, if you want good performance you will need a workstation card. The Quadro FX series is your best bet. You can pick up pulls from HP workstations on eBay pretty cheap. There are some consumer cards you can change the firmware on and get them to work the same way, although i think this stopped with the 6600 but don't quote me.

 

[LiquidImpulse]

Originally posted by: kmrivers
X2 or Opteron, i am pretty sure solidworks supports smp. So Dual Core will definetly help you.

and yes, if you want good performance you will need a workstation card. The Quadro FX series is your best bet. You can pick up pulls from HP workstations on eBay pretty cheap. There are some consumer cards you can change the firmware on and get them to work the same way, although i think this stopped with the 6600 but don't quote me.

 

[Extelleron]

X2 4200+ - $357
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103547

2GB (1GBx2) Patriot RAM 2-3-2-5 Timings- $149 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220040


Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI- $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128301

PNY Quadro FX1400 PCI-Express- $499
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133142

Maxtor Diamondmax 200GB HDD- $83
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144183

Antec SLK3000B Case- $49.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129152

Thermaltake 500W PSU- $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153028

TOTAL- $1311.98

 

[Operandi]

I would assume it would be more CPU intensive then GPU so I would focus there. Until Conroe ships from Intel there isn't really much of a debate at all, go AMD. Start with the X2 3800+ with 2-4GB of RAM, and see if you budget will allow for anything more. Other then that I'm not familiar with that program personally so I can't really give specific recommendations elsewhere.

I do however have a friend that works in the audio industry and I think that might be one of the programs he works with on a daily basis. If you want I can see what has to say about it as far as specific recommendations.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Extelleron
For some reason I feel like I'm missing something..... price seems too low.

RAM?

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: Extelleron
For some reason I feel like I'm missing something..... price seems too low.

RAM?

Ahh, knew it!

 

[kmrivers]

Rendering in solidworks is completely gpu intensive. What seperates a 7800GTX and a Quadro FX4500 is drivers. Using a consumer card to render is a complete waste of money.

 

[pkme2]

I just got a V3100 on eBay for less than $80 delivered. I saw a V5100 for a super price. The V5100 is midrange workstation. This is the perfect card at the perfect price. It sells retail upwards around $750.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: kmrivers
X2 or Opteron, i am pretty sure solidworks supports smp. So Dual Core will definetly help you.

and yes, if you want good performance you will need a workstation card. The Quadro FX series is your best bet. You can pick up pulls from HP workstations on eBay pretty cheap. There are some consumer cards you can change the firmware on and get them to work the same way, although i think this stopped with the 6600 but don't quote me.

rofl.......another AMD dude throwing down AMD when he actually doesn`t know for sure if Solidworks supports AMD...lol

 

[theMan]

Originally posted by: kmrivers
X2 or Opteron, i am pretty sure solidworks supports smp. So Dual Core will definetly help you.

and yes, if you want good performance you will need a workstation card. The Quadro FX series is your best bet. You can pick up pulls from HP workstations on eBay pretty cheap. There are some consumer cards you can change the firmware on and get them to work the same way, although i think this stopped with the 6600 but don't quote me.

actually, the only ones that modded were the AGP 6800nu/gt/U. so, he could get one of those ASROCK boards that are agp/pcie and use one.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Extelleron
X2 4200+ - $357
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103547

2GB (1GBx2) Patriot RAM 2-3-2-5 Timings- $149 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220040


Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI- $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128301

PNY Quadro FX1400 PCI-Express- $499
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133142

Maxtor Diamondmax 200GB HDD- $83
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144183

Antec SLK3000B Case- $49.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129152

Thermaltake 500W PSU- $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153028
TOTAL- $1311.98

Personally I would stay away from thermaltake PSU`s....
You will be more than happy getting a Fortron..


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104934

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: kmrivers
X2 or Opteron, i am pretty sure solidworks supports smp. So Dual Core will definetly help you.

and yes, if you want good performance you will need a workstation card. The Quadro FX series is your best bet. You can pick up pulls from HP workstations on eBay pretty cheap. There are some consumer cards you can change the firmware on and get them to work the same way, although i think this stopped with the 6600 but don't quote me.

rofl.......another AMD dude throwing down AMD when he actually doesn`t know for sure if Solidworks supports AMD...lol

That makes no sense at all. It all runs the same code; if it will run on an Intel CPU then it will run on an AMD. Aside from specific SSE instructions there isn't anything to support.

 

[kmrivers]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: kmrivers
X2 or Opteron, i am pretty sure solidworks supports smp. So Dual Core will definetly help you.

and yes, if you want good performance you will need a workstation card. The Quadro FX series is your best bet. You can pick up pulls from HP workstations on eBay pretty cheap. There are some consumer cards you can change the firmware on and get them to work the same way, although i think this stopped with the 6600 but don't quote me.

rofl.......another AMD dude throwing down AMD when he actually doesn`t know for sure if Solidworks supports AMD...lol

That makes no sense at all. It all runs the same code; if it will run on an Intel CPU then it will run on an AMD. Aside from specific SSE instructions there isn't anything to support.

Thanks operandi. (JEDIYoda) Funny how you also recommended an AMD processor how can you be so sure it supports solidworks? and I run solidworks on a Dual Opteron 265 machine and haven't had any problems whatsoever. So hold your tongue next time you decide to be an @$$hole.


Also, I just threw AMD out there. I know for sure solidworks supports smp. So, an intel D would do just fine as well. SMP is universal.

 

[gotsmack]

maybe just pick up a decent but cheap workstation card off ebay (maybe in the $200 range, assuming he has an open AGP slot) and see if that works out for him before spending the big bucks?

I'm looking at the recommended cards on the solidworks webpage and it looks like you want to go with a quadro FX 1100 since it offers the most features for the newest version of the program (for the money).

I heard rumors that 3dlabs/wildcat might go under or get bought out so I would stay away from them.

Looks like the 2003 version does NOT take advantage of SMP, so just hold off on any major upgrades. Just make sure he is maxed out on ram, and get a decent videocard.
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/cpu/amd-athlon-64-fx-57.html