new workstation for Diego

We're building 3 new workstations here, and I'd appreciate some
feedback. I've given preliminary approval, but if you see any weak
spots and would like to comment it would be welcome.

We're a fabrication shop, and most of our SW stuff is sheet metal and
weldments. The parts for the workstations are coming from Newegg for
about $1425. We typically keep our eng workstations for 3 years then
pass them on down the food chain.

I'll typically have SW07 with maybe 10 parts, an assembly and a couple
drawings, DWG editor or ACAD LT with two dxf files, Jobboss, excel with
one worksheet, outlook and IE, Ncell or Nc express (nesting software)
open at any one time.

Here's the spec's:

ASUS P5W DH deluxe/wifi-ap lga 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4 ghz lga 775 processor
Kingston 2gb (2 x 1gb) DDR2 sdram DDR2 667 - room on the mobo for 8
gb
PNY Quadro FX1500 256mb gddr3 pci express x 16 video card
Seagate 7200 80gb sata hard drive - (95% of our work is saved on the
network)
Sony combo drive - CRX320EE/B2S
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid
Tower Computer Case


any feedback is welcome, thanks, Diego

 

Only thing I can think to mention is against the Intel CPU. Nothing
against Intel at all, it's just that SolidWorks doesn't play well with
Hyperthreading to the point it seems to actually slow SW down. The
last systems we've purchased have been AMD due to this since the
systems are primarily for SW.

 

Is it the hyperthreading, or multiprocessors that SW07 has problems with? I
have heard of programs that will force a program to run on a single
processor in XP.

 

Get 1000 mHz memory

 

It's hyperthreading. I bought a box with an Intel hyperthreaded
processor and it benchmarked far slower than slower processors. I was
also unable to turn off the hyperthreading due to a bios/mobo limitation.

I sent the Intel box back and got an AMD dual core processor and it
flies in comparison.

SW works fine with multiprocessors and dual core. Depending on what type
of work you do, it may not get much benefit from the additional
capacity, but for multibody work in particular, it seems to access both
processors, and certainly for drawings and assemblies, fea, rendering, etc.

 

Only thing I can think to mention is against the Intel CPU. Nothing

Core2Duo does not do Hyperthreading. That was a method Intel used to try to
make up for some of the deficiencies of the P4 chips. Core2Duo is another
animal, and not a bad choice at all. The fastest Core2Duo is currently
faster than the fastest anything from AMD. I'm not sure how
price/performance works out on the lowere speed grades, but you won't go
far wrong if the E6600 isn't the best deal.

 

If you really want to know if you have the best hardware for your needs, go
to tomshardware.com and ask the people there to rate your system. Make sure
that you tell them that you are doing CAD work on it. That way they won't
make fun of your graphics card.

 

More ram. 2gb is nice. 4gb is nicer.

:~)>

bob z.
p.s. been through the desert on a horse with no name...