Thread: New 'puters

Ah, a fellow Draffee!!!

Well, almost - I'm not technically a draughtsman anymore, I'm now a "Draughting Systems Administrator" (or 'Cad Manager' without the title and associated pay rate.)

Originally Posted by Rosco

My current thoughts are to wait a few weeks until Win 7 is available and then go the 64 bit option.

From all I've heard and read - this would be wise.

Originally Posted by Rosco

1st Q .. 64 bit .. What's the go? Will current 32 bit apps run OK ?
We're talking Acad 2010, Revit, structural analysis packages (Spacegass, Aries 2000 etc + Office 2007) .. generally upper end apps I make a living from so need stability and performance.

All of the Autodesk apps will run fine on a 64-bit OS, but I can't help with Spacegass or Aries 2000 as I haven't used them. If it's any help, Ansys runs fine on 64-bit Windoze.

I'm currently using ACAD 2010 (various flavours) plus Inventor Pro on XP Pro x64 with no problems whatsoever. I also do a lot of development work with Office 2007 (Mainly Access/SQL) on the same OS, and the only significant thing I've found is that you need to be aware of the WoW 64 environment as far as file path coding goes (i.e. "Program Files" vs. "Program Files (x86)"), but unless you're developing applications then this most likely won't affect you one bit.

I have to ask, though, why would you want to run 32-bit versions of the Autodesk Apps? I know that all of the ACAD stream are available in 64-bit, and I thought that Revit was too.

Originally Posted by Rosco

Also laptop ... the following Asus has been recommended ..

U50VG-XX049C
Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 2.53Ghz (6MB Cache), 15.6” HD/LED Widescreen Colourshine TFT, 2GB DDR2 800MHZ SDRAM, 500GB SATA HDD, Dual Layer Super Multi-Drive, nVidia GeForce G 105M with 512MB VRAM Dedicated Graphics, 1.3.MP Built-in Webcam, 802.11n Wireless, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, Full Size Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, Bluetooth, 3 x USB 2.0 Ports, E-Sata Port, VGA Out, Built-in Card Reader, HDMI, Headphone & Microphone Port, PC Express Slot, Altec Lansing Speakers, 2 year global warranty free pickup-repair-return, Microsoft Vista Home Premium (No bag or mouse included)


Your thoughts .. ?

ASUS used to be regarded as a top brand, but they've fallen slightly (but only slightly) in my opinion since I had a string of trouble with a couple of their top end mobo's over the last 18 months or so. (When I pay over $400 for a board, I expect that it will perform - sadly, this was not the case.)

That said, I've still had a great run out of their peripherals (routers, wireless adapters, etc) and my Mum has an ASUS laptop that, apart from some Vista related issues, has been pretty solid.

As far as the spec goes, I would only make a few suggestions:

i) If it's at all possible, go for a bigger screen. I used to have a 15" Compaq a few years ago (Never again! But that's a whole different story.) I currently have a 17" widescreen MSI and it's been absolutely magnificent - hasn't missed a beat in the 18 months that I've had it.

ii) More RAM - I've got 10 Gig in the the workstations I look after, and that's just about right for the Inventor assemblies that we work with.

iii) Check that you can get an Autodesk Certified driver for your graphics card before you buy! Whilst not as critical as it was say, 5 years ago, this is still worth keeping in mind. Other than that you've got the right idea with the dedicated video RAM - shared RAM is next to useless for a draughting workstation.

Anyway, there's my 2 bob, hope it helps.

Cheers,...Jon.

BTW, My MSI laptop runs Inventor Pro and ACAD fine on Vista Home Premium. Though granted I really don't push it hard with them, as it's my own personal machine, not the company's.

I have to ask, though, why would you want to run 32-bit versions of the Autodesk Apps? I know that all of the ACAD stream are available in 64-bit, and I thought that Revit was too.

Mainly because the exist systems are fairly old .. 3+ years



As far as the spec goes, I would only make a few suggestions: ...

I have been wondering about a bigger screen ... though it is not expected to be used mainstream for cad apps .. only from time to time.

Also I've decided to go for an extra 2Gb of ram. As I understand it 32 bit only utilises 3.5 Gb with anything above wasted ... ??

Whereas 64 Gb virtually unlimited .. a figure of 17E6 Tb has been touted ??

[/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Rosco

Mainly because the exist systems are fairly old .. 3+ years

I'm not sure I follow.

It makes no difference to the files whether they were created with an application running on a 32-bit or 64-bit OS, they still interchange perfectly well between either one.

The only concern I'd have on that front is the file format change between AutoCAD 2009 & 2010, but even then just go to Options, Open and Save, File Save:, and set it to use the 2007 DWG format.

Originally Posted by Rosco

I have been wondering about a bigger screen ... though it is not expected to be used mainstream for cad apps .. only from time to time.

That's fair enough, then. You may have to decide between portability and screen size. I know that My 17" laptop does get heavy if you're lugging it about a lot, so if I needed to do that then it's a consideration I'd have to keep in mind.

Originally Posted by Rosco

Also I've decided to go for an extra 2Gb of ram.

Good move, you won't regret it!

Originally Posted by Rosco

As I understand it 32 bit only utilises 3.5 Gb with anything above wasted.
Whereas 64 Gb virtually unlimited .. a figure of 17E6 Tb has been touted ??

Well yes, and no...

With the correct tweaking you can convince 32-bit XP to make much better use of RAM, up to 4GB. (search for "/3GB switch")

With a 64-bit OS I believe that the theoretical physical limit is 16 Exabytes (which is near enough to the number you gave), however I think there is a code based restriction to 128GB of physical RAM and 8 TB of virtual memory ('page file') per process thread.

That said, though, as yet you'll struggle to find a motherboard that will take more than 32GB, so it's all still theoretical for even the high-end consumer systems. Also, as I said earlier - I've got 10GB in this box and I haven't managed to run out of RAM yet, and not for lack of trying.

Originally Posted by Jonno_G

....... I'm not sure I follow.

All I meant was they're both fairly ancient PC's and both running 32 bit OS (XP Pro), now that 64 bit is becoming more used I was inclined to head in that direction with the replacements.

theres some sweet arse HP laptops about to hit the deck in about 3 or 4 weeks time, i.e. I7 Quaddies, my say is wait for them to hit and then dont bother getting desktops, just get a few of them babies. thats what i am waiting for.

p.s. where in brisbane are you ?
i am in the game and might be able to recommend somewhere to go get em from up there.

Rosscoe

Originally Posted by Rosscoe68

theres some sweet arse HP laptops about to hit the deck in about 3 or 4 weeks time, i.e. I7 Quaddies, my say is wait for them to hit and then dont bother getting desktops, just get a few of them babies. thats what i am waiting for.

p.s. where in brisbane are you ?
i am in the game and might be able to recommend somewhere to go get em from up there.

Rosscoe

Thanks for the heads-up mate. East Brisbane ... just up the road from the Gabba.

Originally Posted by Rosco

All I meant was they're both fairly ancient PC's and both running 32 bit OS (XP Pro), now that 64 bit is becoming more used I was inclined to head in that direction with the replacements.

Ah, now I get you!

I thought you were suggesting that you wanted to run 32 bit ACAD etc. on a 64-bit OS, and I was scratchin' my head at that...

Oh, BTW, Rosscoe's (the other one) suggestion of quad core is a good one, too.

I'm running quad core Xeon's here, and they actually seem more stable, as well as faster.