Upgrading Desktop PC for CAD Work

Jotho

Senior member
Dec 29, 2004
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Hey guys, I've been trying to figure out what would be some of the most important hardware components to upgrade for a computer at work. It is primarily used for SolidWorks 2007 and the user often complains of poor performance and sometimes instability. Any ideas which components would provide the most benefit?

Current System:

Intel P4 630 3GHz HT (not dual-core)
2 x 1GB PC2-4200 (running in dual-channel)
Seagate 7200.7 80GB SATA
Samsung 40GB 5400RPM (dedicated 1.5GB pagefile)
ATI FireGL V3100

I realize that SolidWorks has a mini-guide on their website with some recommendations, but they give very little indication as to which would be the most important upgrades.

Any input or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
 

Wags1974

Member
Feb 6, 2005
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our workstation at work has dual xeon processors @ 3.2ghz each and they seem adequate, we also have 2gb ram and a raid5 array if Im not mistaken.

I use my amd 3200 windsor with 1gb of ram and a6800gt graphics card to run solidworks 2007 on one computer at home. Id say the amd is alot faster even in large assemblies and that is due to the work computer having a ati1300 graphics card, and my home computer having a 6800gt. Whilst my new computer (see sig) flies in most games It runs solidworks so poorly I switched back to my old amd.

In your system it looks to me like the processor would be the largest bottleneck. I would suggest moving to a core2duo or at the very least a amdx2 , there is motherboards for both which would support your existing workstation video card.
 

Jotho

Senior member
Dec 29, 2004
223
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Thanks Wags. I was wondering whether anyone thought a dual-core CPU might be of benefit.

Any other ideas would be much appreciated.
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,719
44
91
is solidworks 2007 smp/smt aware? when i spec'd a machine out for a buddy, i believe 2k5 was not smp/smt aware. we ended up going with a 6300 and will o/c when necessary because the machine is used for other stuff and the prices are so darn good :)

it sounds like more of a computer problem - not necessary a solidworks related issue - the instabilty - i would definately do the orthos/memtest test first to rule out any power/ram issues and make sure the machine is clean maintenance wise - defragged, no spyware, etc. how big are the parts being worked on?