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#1
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*Good MB & Chip for a fast CAD machine
I'm reseaching parts for a good CAD PC. I would be running Autocad 2008,
SolidWorks 2008, and Autocad Mechanical. At least (2) 20" monitors. I would start with one of the Core 2 processors. I'm not a gamer. I don't want to spend a lot of money on uneeded speed/capability. Any ideas, opinions would be appreciated. TIA, Dennis |
#2
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*Good MB & Chip for a fast CAD machine
Dennis Lubots wrote:
I'm reseaching parts for a good CAD PC. I would be running Autocad 2008, SolidWorks 2008, and Autocad Mechanical. At least (2) 20" monitors. I would start with one of the Core 2 processors. I'm not a gamer. I don't want to spend a lot of money on uneeded speed/capability. Any ideas, opinions would be appreciated. TIA, Dennis E6850 $270 (make sure motherboard supports FSB1333) 65nm technology 65W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115028 E8400 $240 or less (make sure motherboard supports FSB1333) 45nm technology 65W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037 Those are dual core processors. My assumption would be, that your software is not multicore aware, and there is not a lot of parallel threads possible. You'd need to check with the software vendor, to see if a quad core processor makes better sense. The advantage of the above two processors, is they run at 3GHz. A similarly priced quad, runs at 2.4GHz. It can do more work, but only if the software knows how to use a quad well. With regard to clock rate, the computing power of a processor is related to: CPU_core_clock * IPC The Core2 processors have a higher IPC than the previous generations of P4 or Pentium D processors. The "3GHz" that the above processors run at, is actually equivalent to 4.5GHz or more, of a P4 processor. So don't assume, when seeing the 3GHz number, that it is the same speed as the 3GHz P4 you already have. It is 50% or more faster. The E8400 is a few percentage points faster than the E6850 (on real work, not benchmarks). The problem right now, is supply of the processor. Intel hopes to sell more of its inventory of 65nm processors. The E8400 is not available in North America. It seems to be more available, the closer you get geographically, to the plants making them. You can use this simple minded integer benchmark, as a way of comparing old processors, to new ones. This benchmark is multicore aware, so will favor the quad processors. To read this chart, you have to know your processor model numbers pretty well :-) Some quads and some $1000 processors, sit higher in the chart, than the two I picked above. If you live in North America, chances are, today, you'd be buying an E6850. http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_20...72&cha rt=410 For a motherboard, pick something with an X38 chipset. That will give full bandwidth on two video card slots, if you need them. The X38 also supports ECC on DDR2 memory only (doesn't handle ECC on DDR3). If you select some DDR2 memory with ECC, and assuming the motherboard really supports ECC, that might be a more reliable computing platform. So far, I have not read any postings, of *demonstrated* working ECC operation on an X38. One poster discovered that ECC didn't work on the X38 he bought, so more research is required. (And who you'd ask, is a mystery to me. I doubt anyone knows. Pre-sales support would just read the crap on the advertisement to you, and you need proof.) The capability is listed on the Intel site, but the BIOS and the OS also play a part in whether it works. You can probably get all the graphics performance you need via one video card. The video cards come with two connectors for monitors. But you probably know the software better than we do, as to how best to equip the graphics capability. Perhaps the Autocad site has some suggestions for graphics, and you can extrapolate from there. Paul |
#3
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*Good MB & Chip for a fast CAD machine
Paul wrote in :
Dennis Lubots wrote: I'm reseaching parts for a good CAD PC. I would be running Autocad 2008, SolidWorks 2008, and Autocad Mechanical. At least (2) 20" monitors. I would start with one of the Core 2 processors. I'm not a gamer. I don't want to spend a lot of money on uneeded speed/capability. Any ideas, opinions would be appreciated. TIA, Dennis E6850 $270 (make sure motherboard supports FSB1333) 65nm technology 65W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115028 E8400 $240 or less (make sure motherboard supports FSB1333) 45nm technology 65W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037 Those are dual core processors. My assumption would be, that your software is not multicore aware, and there is not a lot of parallel threads possible. You'd need to check with the software vendor, to see if a quad core processor makes better sense. The advantage of the above two processors, is they run at 3GHz. A similarly priced quad, runs at 2.4GHz. It can do more work, but only if the software knows how to use a quad well. With regard to clock rate, the computing power of a processor is related to: CPU_core_clock * IPC The Core2 processors have a higher IPC than the previous generations of P4 or Pentium D processors. The "3GHz" that the above processors run at, is actually equivalent to 4.5GHz or more, of a P4 processor. So don't assume, when seeing the 3GHz number, that it is the same speed as the 3GHz P4 you already have. It is 50% or more faster. The E8400 is a few percentage points faster than the E6850 (on real work, not benchmarks). The problem right now, is supply of the processor. Intel hopes to sell more of its inventory of 65nm processors. The E8400 is not available in North America. It seems to be more available, the closer you get geographically, to the plants making them. You can use this simple minded integer benchmark, as a way of comparing old processors, to new ones. This benchmark is multicore aware, so will favor the quad processors. To read this chart, you have to know your processor model numbers pretty well :-) Some quads and some $1000 processors, sit higher in the chart, than the two I picked above. If you live in North America, chances are, today, you'd be buying an E6850. http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_20...el1=1096&model 2=872&chart=410 For a motherboard, pick something with an X38 chipset. That will give full bandwidth on two video card slots, if you need them. The X38 also supports ECC on DDR2 memory only (doesn't handle ECC on DDR3). If you select some DDR2 memory with ECC, and assuming the motherboard really supports ECC, that might be a more reliable computing platform. So far, I have not read any postings, of *demonstrated* working ECC operation on an X38. One poster discovered that ECC didn't work on the X38 he bought, so more research is required. (And who you'd ask, is a mystery to me. I doubt anyone knows. Pre-sales support would just read the crap on the advertisement to you, and you need proof.) The capability is listed on the Intel site, but the BIOS and the OS also play a part in whether it works. You can probably get all the graphics performance you need via one video card. The video cards come with two connectors for monitors. But you probably know the software better than we do, as to how best to equip the graphics capability. Perhaps the Autocad site has some suggestions for graphics, and you can extrapolate from there. Paul Great info Paul. There are too many choices out there. It really helps to get some help, to narrow things down a bit. thnaks alot, Dennis |
#4
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*Good MB & Chip for a fast CAD machine
Dennis Lubots wrote:
I'm reseaching parts for a good CAD PC. I would be running Autocad 2008, SolidWorks 2008, and Autocad Mechanical. At least (2) 20" monitors. I would start with one of the Core 2 processors. I'm not a gamer. I don't want to spend a lot of money on uneeded speed/capability. Any ideas, opinions would be appreciated. TIA, Dennis Greetings, I am running a setup similar to what you are describing. I run Carlson Civil Suite within Autodesk Map3D 2008. I also have two monitors connected to one video card. Often, I have images running on one monitor and Map3D on the other, drawing/contouring while checking with the images. Other times, I may have ArcView also running at the same time. I'm not a gamer, either. At home, my setup is an Asus P5K-E, Intel E6750, 3 GB DDR2, one PNY 8600GS card, and the E6750 is slightly overclocked with air cooling. Works like a charm. The E6750 is the best chip I've worked with. At office, my setup was Asus P5B, Intel E4300, 3 GB DDR2, one Techtronix ATI 1550X card, two monitors, and the E4300 was greatly overclocked. I state 'was' because the P5B board decided to die and I replaced it with an Intel DQ35JO board which I do not like but had no choice (only thing available in town and I could not wait). The Intel board is plain vanilla and you cannot tweak much of anything. But it is a good board. With the P5B, the E4300 was overclocked to 3.0 GZ and after quite a bit of various tweaks/tests, I believe that the only way you can destroy an E4300 is with a hammer. In fact, the E6750 outperforms it mainly due to the L2 cache in my opinion. At home, I run Vista Home Premium and at the office I have XP Home. On another box I have XP Pro. Autodesk does not include Home Premium as a supported OS but it works fine. I would recommend not buying the E6850 and get the E6750 instead. The reason is about $100.00 more for the E6850 when you are only gaining not much more in speed. The difference in cost can go towards one of the newer 45nm chips once they are more available. So make sure your board supports FSB1333 and has the X38 chip but I am fine with the P35 at home. Good luck, Crew |
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