mobiledynamics Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 I need to add a couple of cad stations for freelancers. We have a bunch of precisions-cad stations setup already. This is for just freelancers for a project on which I am short staffed. Primarily 2D Autocad 2011. Bearing it's a single threaded app....will I get just as good/great performance with a Core 2 Duo vs...the Xeon Procs we have in the Precisions. I've read on/ off the debate on video cards, $$$ for *workstation drivers* etc, but a thiking E8600 3.3 proc wih 12gigs of memory should be sufficient for these freelancer stations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29xthefun Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 If money is now worry get the best you can. But if they are doing 2d work then the graphics card is not such an issue. Make sure the card is compatible and has about 512MB of memory and the PC has 4GB of memory at least. That along with a fast dual core and a 64bit operating system should be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irneb Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Another option is using remote desktoping from a few low-end PCs to a hugely-multicore & large RAM & good GPU PC. That way you could have say 3-4 cheap (even 2nd-hand) PC's linked to a powerhouse at the same time. Nice thing is you're adaptable, since you do have the Powerhouse for itself if needed. Just watch out for software licensing issues - you may need some roamable license for ACad if you have multiple concurrent users on the same PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 12GBs of RAM for doing 2D work? Overkill. Unless of course you're going to 3D down the road. Same for the Xeon's. Overkill for 2D work. Just my opinion. You can spend your money any way you want. Personally I think you could set your freelancers up on dual-core systems and run LT rather than full-blown AutoCAD unless you need / use lisp routines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Roy Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Agree with all the above. Personally, I'd go dual-core, x64 (if buying the OS new, why not for the same cost?), 4-8GB RAM, older model (*cheap) workstation graphics card or decent gaming card, and the lightest version of ACAD you can get by with. If you're not doing 3D, don't build for it. So...yeah, prolly same thing ReMark said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irneb Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 12GBs of RAM for doing 2D work? Overkill.Unless your 2D drawings are very complex and you tend to have several of them open at once (to Copy-n-Paste between them). This is probably the biggest reason I like 64bit! Previously with the 2-3GB limit in 32bit I ran out of RAM VERY quickly on 2D drawings, never mind 3D! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I'd be more inclined to pare the RAM down to between 4-6GB and put the money I saved into the graphics card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irneb Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I'd be more inclined to pare the RAM down to between 4-6GB and put the money I saved into the graphics card.Probably depends on your usage. Each to their own I suppose :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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