System Recomendations

Hi Guy And Girls

The company Im working for is trying to start a 3d department, What are your personal recommendations (not Autodesk Reccomendation) on requirements as far as RAM , GRAPHICS CARD, PROCESSOR, to be running massive models with loads of detail . (Piping, Equipment, Vessels etc etc). Also any other help in way to make the modeling process more efficient in hardware or software. ie a server requirements,3d mouse or what ever else you can throw in. Please only comment if you are senior experianced in this field.

 

Regards

Tim

I'm looking at the same thing right now as I spec a new system for designing a small chemical manufacturing plant.

 

General parameters I am considering are as follows.

 

Intel Xeon or i7 2nd gen CPU (quad or six core)

RAM: 16-32GB

Video card: nVidia Quadro 4000 (2GB vidRAM)

Hard drives: Main drive = 120GB SSD, Data drive = 300GB SATA II 10,000 rpm WD Velociraptor

 

So far I have checked out systems by Xi Computers and Thinkmate. I'm looking for a third company for comparison.

 

There is also the problem, for us anyway, of what support to use for the design. I am now leaning heavily towards Bentley AutoPLANT.

No sorry, I will comment anyway.

 

Comment.

Hi Guy And Girls

The company Im working for is trying to start a 3d department, What are your personal recommendations (not Autodesk Reccomendation) on requirements as far as RAM , GRAPHICS CARD, PROCESSOR, to be running massive models with loads of detail . (Piping, Equipment, Vessels etc etc). Also any other help in way to make the modeling process more efficient in hardware or software. ie a server requirements,3d mouse or what ever else you can throw in. Please only comment if you are senior experianced in this field.

 

Regards

Tim

ReMark's post definitely sums up the type of computer you'll want to budget for if you're in the slightest way serious about an efficient CAD machine that can handle the load you have described.

 

To expand with your other requests, a 3D mouse would be very efficient if you're using the right software. Here is a link to the top brands: http://www.3dconnexion.com/

 

A good setup to have is to utilize Autodesk Navisworks to manage the file you're working on. With Navisworks you can fully coordinate and "walk/fly around" the model with ease using a 3D mouse. It's not that you can't in whatever software you'll be using, it's that Navisworks specializes in model navigation with a much more intuitive interface and with absolute ease. Every time you save your model you can refresh it in Navisworks for live coordination review.

 

You're looking for a hardware budget of around $6k-$8k (I assume, have not confirmed), and Navisworks is not cheap either. Just FYI.

ReMark's pretty much dead on correct.

 

Just adding that you can save alot of cash if you get a high end gamer's card over a high end workstation card. something in the order of a few thousands bucks. something like the nVidia GTX 580 (2xSLI) or a single 590 would be considerably cheaper than getting a upper mid range workstation card, it'll have similar performance but unless you really need that very high power processing gamer cards should work fine.

 

also a Intel Quad, Hex or Octo core CPU is best choice, especially if handling very large models AND the software supports multi-CPU or multi-thread.

If the program does not support either of the processing choices, instead of getting CPU with many cores or threads, opt for the fastest 4-core CPU you can find. if the program (such as Autocad) can only use one core/CPU, having lots of cores won't do anything to make processing fast. Speed is what counts, faster the GHz the better.

 

Triple channel memory or quad channel memory, although I've yet to see any kind of performance improvement over 2-channel. it's unlikely you'd ever need that much bandwidth.

I don't think CAD applications support gaming cards in SLI or Crossfire mode. Maybe in rendering, but not in the active program. I could be wrong, I've just known that this question has been asked before but it's been a couple of years.

I don't have to much experience with different configurations but the one we have at work seems to work well with the 3d parts we throw at it and is extremely good on a budget.

 

I can't remember all the specs but I'll put down what I can remember and I if you want more info just ask I think it's somewhere on my amazon account!

 

intel 2500k Processor (I think it's around a 2.7ghz quad core),

8gb ddr3 ram,

no graphics card (the inbuilt graphics in the 2500k actually beat most graphics card below the £50 region), so we decided not to use one

I can't remember what case etc we used but we got the whole kit and kaboodle for about £300 excluding vat and software.

 

By no means do we run the most advanced 3d models, but it handles everything we do run!

A nVidia Quadro 4000 will set you back approximately $800 when purchased as part of an overall system. More if you buy it separately.

 

I will never order a CAD workstation and spec it with an onboard graphics chip. In my opinion you're only asking for problems done the road.