New Workstation
New Workstation
(OP)
I have been given the opportunity to spec a new workstation. Currently I have a Dell Precision 690, dual 3.72Ghz Xeon w/ 3gb RAM and a Quadro FX 4500, running 32bit XP. For some of our large machines this is barely enough. Even with simplified models, top level drawings can take 30mins or else crash swks.
The new workstation will be 64bit and can be configured however I want. It has to be a Dell.
Since our parts are almost all simple prismatic shapes I am thinking I should go with a step or two down from the highest available quadro (4600 vs 5600), and max out my CPU (3.13GHz vs 2.5GHz) and 8GB RAM. Does a RAID 0 setup offer any real advantage?
Others here feel we should go with the 5600 and 2.5GHz CPU
Anyone have any experience or recommendations.
The new workstation will be 64bit and can be configured however I want. It has to be a Dell.
Since our parts are almost all simple prismatic shapes I am thinking I should go with a step or two down from the highest available quadro (4600 vs 5600), and max out my CPU (3.13GHz vs 2.5GHz) and 8GB RAM. Does a RAID 0 setup offer any real advantage?
Others here feel we should go with the 5600 and 2.5GHz CPU
Anyone have any experience or recommendations.






RE: New Workstation
Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
Certified DriveWorks AE
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog
Dell M90, Core2 Duo
4GB RAM
Nvidia 3500M
RE: New Workstation
Other indicators might be assembly sizes, part complexity, etc. SolidWorks makes use of multi-core processing only in limited areas (big area is rendering in PhotoWorks), so the additional cores traditionally won't help quite as much in modeling as a single super-fast core. However, if you tend to run lots of crap in the background (like I do) the additional cores can help float everything with more stability.
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
RE: New Workstation
Stefan Hamminga
EngIT Solutions
CSWP/Mechanical designer
Searching Eng-Tips forums
RE: New Workstation
Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
Certified DriveWorks AE
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog
Dell M90, Core2 Duo
4GB RAM
Nvidia 3500M
RE: New Workstation
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
RE: New Workstation
Stefan Hamminga
EngIT Solutions
CSWP/Mechanical designer
Searching Eng-Tips forums
RE: New Workstation
Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.
RE: New Workstation
Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
Certified DriveWorks AE
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog
Dell M90, Core2 Duo
4GB RAM
Nvidia 3500M
RE: New Workstation
You mentioned the use od a RAID 0. I run this set up at home currently. When it's running it is very fast to access data and to write, however given it's name, it is not a true redundant device. Because you run one striped pair of hard disks, half of your data is on one disk and the other half resides on the other disk. If one disk goes bad, your data is half gone. I would reccommend a RAID 5(min 3 disks) or 0+1(4 disks). I use a RAID 5 with 3 disks at work and soon will be upgrading to a RAID 5 at home as well.
Regards
Mike
RE: New Workstation