Computer for Mechanical Dynamics Simulators

Our company is in the process of adopting Solidworks. We are about
to purchase some new computers for this with the following specs;

-Dell optiPlex GX280 SMT
with Int Broadcom® GbNIC Intel® Pentium® 4
Processor 550 (3.40GHz, 1M, 800MHz FSB) 34GT

-Memory; 2.0GB DDR2 Non-ECC SDRAM,533MHz, (2DIMM) 2G2N52

-video; NVIDIA QUADRO FX 1300 with 128meg DDR memory on PCI express

We are also strongly considering using Cosmos Motion in the future. I
recall reading that there is no significant benefit to using
dual-processors for Solidworks. Therefore the money is better put
towards more and faster memory and video. But, I wonder if the Cosmos
Motion software is different...

Would Cosmos Motion take advantage of a dual-processor system?

Which is the most common bottle-neck for Cosmos Motion... memory size
or processor speed?

Joe Dunfee

 

Before you buy the Dell's, bear in mind, that their motherboards are unique
to Dell and a replacement will cost you around £285, without fitting.
As Shown in PC Magazine.




Our company is in the process of adopting Solidworks. We are about
to purchase some new computers for this with the following specs;

-Dell optiPlex GX280 SMT
with Int Broadcom® GbNIC Intel® Pentium® 4
Processor 550 (3.40GHz, 1M, 800MHz FSB) 34GT

-Memory; 2.0GB DDR2 Non-ECC SDRAM,533MHz, (2DIMM) 2G2N52

-video; NVIDIA QUADRO FX 1300 with 128meg DDR memory on PCI express

We are also strongly considering using Cosmos Motion in the future. I
recall reading that there is no significant benefit to using
dual-processors for Solidworks. Therefore the money is better put
towards more and faster memory and video. But, I wonder if the Cosmos
Motion software is different...

Would Cosmos Motion take advantage of a dual-processor system?

Which is the most common bottle-neck for Cosmos Motion... memory size
or processor speed?

Joe Dunfee

 

Aren't optiplex computers plain office PC's? I would stay away from
the optiplex's.

 

Yes, they are intended for "plain office," but our company has had a
good relation with them for several years, and are the computer brand
we use by default. However, we can purchase other systems if we wish.

The Optiplex line is the next level below their workstation series,
which feature the ability to use dual-processors. However, our
computer services guy seems to think the Optiplex is the best bang for
the buck if we don't want dual-processing. (I quit years ago trying to
keep up with computer technology, and things like which type of memory
is the fastest)

 

We use the Dell Precision series and are very pleased with them.

WT

Our company is in the process of adopting Solidworks. We are about
to purchase some new computers for this with the following specs;

-Dell optiPlex GX280 SMT
with Int Broadcom® GbNIC Intel® Pentium® 4
Processor 550 (3.40GHz, 1M, 800MHz FSB) 34GT

-Memory; 2.0GB DDR2 Non-ECC SDRAM,533MHz, (2DIMM) 2G2N52

-video; NVIDIA QUADRO FX 1300 with 128meg DDR memory on PCI express

We are also strongly considering using Cosmos Motion in the future. I
recall reading that there is no significant benefit to using
dual-processors for Solidworks. Therefore the money is better put
towards more and faster memory and video. But, I wonder if the Cosmos
Motion software is different...

Would Cosmos Motion take advantage of a dual-processor system?

Which is the most common bottle-neck for Cosmos Motion... memory size
or processor speed?

Joe Dunfee

 

Don't forget about fast hard drives. They can make a noticeable
difference in the performance of Windows and SolidWorks whenever you're
working on large models.

If you can afford an extra drive or two (RAID 0) for your windows
pagefile, cosmos "work" directory, and current projects in use, you'll
see a big performance increase. Don't keep anything on a RAID 0 array
you don't want to lose, i.e. backup daily.

The Western Digital Raptor SATA drives are the fastest out there now,
as far as I know, without going to SCSI.

-Denny Trimble

 

Old Dell Precision and no complaints yet except for the Old part. I hope to
swing something new and powerful this year but I don't have too much pull in
the finance department.

Corey

Our company is in the process of adopting Solidworks. We are about
to purchase some new computers for this with the following specs;

-Dell optiPlex GX280 SMT
with Int Broadcom® GbNIC Intel® Pentium® 4
Processor 550 (3.40GHz, 1M, 800MHz FSB) 34GT

-Memory; 2.0GB DDR2 Non-ECC SDRAM,533MHz, (2DIMM) 2G2N52

-video; NVIDIA QUADRO FX 1300 with 128meg DDR memory on PCI express

We are also strongly considering using Cosmos Motion in the future. I
recall reading that there is no significant benefit to using
dual-processors for Solidworks. Therefore the money is better put
towards more and faster memory and video. But, I wonder if the Cosmos
Motion software is different...

Would Cosmos Motion take advantage of a dual-processor system?

Which is the most common bottle-neck for Cosmos Motion... memory size
or processor speed?

Joe Dunfee

 

What the ell is the point of having a raid array if you have to backup
daily?

 

Well, there are different types of RAID arrays for different purposes.


Most engineers store their project files on servers, and probably copy
their work to and from their computers daily. So, reliability of the
workstation isn't as critical as reliability of the server.
Conversely, speed of the workstation is more important than speed of
the server (unless you're working over the network, in which case
ignore all of this).

RAID 0 (striping) is the cheapest way to get faster disk speed, but
also the least reliable. Each file is split and stored on multiple
drives, but if one drive fails, the file / stripeset is lost.

RAID 1 (mirroring) is more reliable than a single disk but offers no
speed increase.

RAID 5 offers a speed increase and more reliability but several disks
are required and a hardware RAID card as well, which gets expensive and
requires a large case, power supply, etc. Usually this is only used on
servers.

I've actually had good luck using RAID 0 with Windows Disk Manager
(windows 2000, no RAID card needed). You can't boot from it, but
putting project files and my windows swap file on a striped drive has
shown the biggest increase in system responsiveness (opening files /
programs, saving large files, switching windows between programs, etc)
per dollar spent.
See www.tomshardware.com for more info....

-Denny Trimble

 

Much faster reads & writes of large files to & from the disks.
IIRC RAID 0 is akin to a stripeset. It's not redundant and
even the redundant arrays (RAID 3 IIRC) should be backed up.
You never know when more than one drive in them might fail or
if it will all actually work when only one does. That one might
fail & nobody notices til a second one does and all comes
crashing down ..... with no backups.
Then the controller might fail too & perhaps corrupt the data
(I suppose) or a flood, fire, theft, etc.