I am needing to buy a new computer for the house and was wanting to know what others have done for machines that will run SolidWorks at a limited capacity. It will be a home PC for the most part but I would like to do a little cad. All this for under $1000. That's the hard part.
Thanks

Michael McMillan
http://cadtechie.blogspot.com/

Check out this thread on the SolidWorks forum.

https://forum.solidworks.com/thread/55131

Cheers,

Anna Wood
SW2011 SP5, Windows 7 x64
http://www.renderbay.com
http://www.solidmuse.com
http://www.phxswug.com

For general 'how do I get the fastest computer for my $?' questions, I recommend checking out tom's hardware here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/

His focus is on computers for gaming, which I think is a good match for an all around home machine that will be used for CAD occasionaly. The one issue is using a gaming card vs. a solidworks approved card. I have an Nvidia GeForce gaming card and haven't had a problem, but since it's my home machine and I don't have to depend on it for CAD I'm cool with the occasional glitch. If this was a production machine and it was critical that it be rock solid then stick with the approved cards such as Nvidia Quaddro. More expensive, but also optimized for CAD.

-Kirby

Kirby Wilkerson

Remember, first define the problem, then solve it.

Thanks for the info on the GeForce Cards. I have always wondered how it did. Good bit of info.

Michael McMillan
http://cadtechie.blogspot.com/

The Falcon Logical Increments PC Buying Guide.

As stated above, the only real difference between a CAD-oriented machine and a gaming PC is the graphics card; accuracy vs. speed, vertex calculation vs. shading, etc. A decently high-powered gaming card will breeze through most SW operations on all but the most complex assemblies.

"Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems." -Scott Adams

Try Apple

Most of the ATI Fire Pro cards run solidworks exceptionally well and don't cost an arm and a leg. I've never had any issues with GeForce cards running SolidWorks well but don't expect to get tech support from anyone other than me cause If it's not on SolidWorks list of approved cards your Tech Support calls will typically end with an "It's not on the approved list so FU click" The only thing you won't get with a GeForce is a hole in your wallet and Real View graphics supposedly there are ways to trick your machine into thinking it has an approved card but I have not witnessed this. The GeForce I had wasn't one that had a driver from an approved card that could be used.

I use an ATI Fire-Pro 3750 on my home machine and it's a certified card with Real View capability. You could get actual Tech Support with one of those.

Michael

"It's not the size of the Forum that matters, It's the Quality of the Posts"

Michael Cole
Boston, MA
CSWP, CSWI, CSWTS
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