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New computer

New computer

New computer

(OP)
I am in the process of just finishing my basement office/media room.  It has been a work in progress but is finally nearing completion.  I have wired the room for a ceiling mount projector and surround sound.  I purchased logitech Z-680 speakers (very, very impressive) and last night we watched our first movie.  It was vey cool on a  5 ft screen and excellent surround sound.  I will never go to a movie theatre again, as I now have one in my basement.  I have plans to run tv through my computer so that I can watch and record live tv.  My current computer is 5 years old and I am in dire need of a new computer - one that will handle my multimedia stuff, but equally as important be setup for proper SolidWorks use for the work I do on the side.  I have been fairly impressed with what I have seen of Windows Media Center Edition, but don't know if it would be alright for using SolidWorks.  As I understand it basically is windows XP pro with some extras on top, however you can't upgrade from XP.  If I don't go with Media Center Edition, I have also been contemplating going with XP 64 bit edition.  I know there are a lot of issues for various software vendors to address as well as hardware vendors with their drivers, but if I am going to be using the computer for the next 3-4 years then I think XP 64 bit edition would position me a little better for longer use.  On the hardware side I am thinking about the AMD Athlon 4000+ or the dual core 4800+.  I know SolidWorks would not take much advantage right now of dual core, but that could change over the next few years.  It would also benefit for running multiple applications at a time such as when I'm working away and my wife is watching tv on the big screen.  On the build side, I am looking at Cyber Power Systems, as they seem to have the best prices by far, but would not outrule Xi.  The only beef I have with Cyber Power is that I can't seem to get a quadro card from them.  I guess I'm just looking for a little advice on the things that I mentioned.  It's mostly OS related, but feel free to jump in on anything.  My time frame is sometime in the next month or two as I would like to be able to watch college football on the big screen.  Thanks in advance.

Pete

RE: New computer

IMO, XP Pro is the best OS.
I may also go with CyberPower Systems and buy the video elsewhere, or build system.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

RE: New computer

(OP)
ctopher,

   I would agree with you for the current state, but I'm wondering if getting XP Pro 64 bit Edition would position me better for longer term use of this computer, or if it will be a lame duck OS waiting for Vista to come along and push more demand on hardware software vendors to make their product 64 bit compliant.  I'm wondering if waiting another couple of months would shed some more light on the issue, or if there is enough info right now to pull the trigger on either OS.  My fear is that support for 64 bit edition would stagnate from hardware and software vendors until Vista comes along and provides a much bigger incentive.  I know there are others on the NGs that have been messing around with 64 bit edition.  For those people, what are your thoughts on support for the OS so far and your thoughts on how this might improve?  I can't wait for Vista to come along - its either 64 bit or not (or Media Center if that proves OK with SolidWorks).

RE: New computer

We have one user running XP Pro 64. He said it works fast with no problems, especially fast with Cosmos. SolidWorks verison for 64 bit is due out end of this year.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

RE: New computer

I would check the manufatures sites for the hardware you want to use on this computer and see if they  infact have drivers yet for the win xp 64. If not I still would get the amd athlon 64 or the dual core processer from amd they should be a viable procesor for some time to come.

IMO I would go with the Dual core becouse the software dosent have to be writen for a dual processor to get the added binifit the dual core.

RE: New computer

Forgot to mention, the pc we have is also a dual core.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

RE: New computer

I would recommend two things:  Check out which gaming video cards can be modded to act like workstation cards, and make two installations of windows on your computer.

My setup is with a radeon 9800 card that is working as a gaming/multimedia card in installment 1, and as a firegl x2 in installment 2. The installments is made on seperate disks, and I choose between them by switching wich disk is booting first in bios. There may be more elegant solutions to this, but it works wery satisfactory for me.

The all in wonder series of ati probably have cards that is moddable to workstation performance, so I would check out this link http://forums.guru3d.com/forumdisplay.php?s=532c5250f9c9bfb784e0f0244f751a4c&forumid=18  to see if any of the cards can soit your needs.

Solidworks performance is wery good on my pc, but the prosess to modify the drivers to make the card go workstation is somewhat cumbersome.

Best of luck.

RE: New computer

I would just have two computers one for running SWx/MCAD applications and the other for multimedia.  The needs are completely different allbeit the gap is getting smaller the end result is different.  Anyway, you can build two very fast computers for a reasonable cost.  that's my two cents.

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 4.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1400
      o
  _`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

"There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea"  Bernard-Paul Heroux
 

RE: New computer

My client gets excellent results out of a multiple-processor box running Win 64-bit.  You may be right--it will probably be a lame duck in a while, so waiting a couple of months may be the best option--just to see what will happen.  (Remember Windows ME?  Neither do I.)

Heckler's advice regarding running two systems seems the most sound to me.  This way, you can knock together a relatively inexpensive PC for the media works and wait a while for the other PC to see what happens in the near future with the OS support in 64 bit.  Plus, you'll see whether Vista is worth anything.  Regardless, XP is aging, and I'm sure Microsoft will want to dump support for XP soon after they release Vista--so there's not a lot of reason to get another XP box when you know Vista looms on the horizon.  (Unless 64-bit Vista is a long way off.  Who knows?)

I use a system built by Xi and love it.  It's almost two years old, and I'm fairly sure my upgrade box will also be with Xi.  Check the reviews from Cadalyst and see who puts together the best box per application per price.  Xi has always won in the past (by quite a margin), so it seems to me a no-brainer.  Boxx was considerably higher $$$ for the same stuff when I bought mine.  Check the reviews--I would imagine Xi would fall off the top of the pile soon and be replaced by someone else.


Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reality is no respecter of good intentions.

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