Hello,
The topic of CPU’s was discussed on the UGS Solid Edge user group. The following thread was posted by one of the users, who’s opinion we regard very highly, on 20 November 2006.
And I quote:
“Edgelings,
Last night I built our first Core-2 Duo workstation running 'plain' 32-bit
WinXP Pro (SP2 +) configured as follows:
Asus 'P5WDG2-WS Professional' mainboard
Intel Core-2 Duo E6600 (2.4GHz, 2 x 2MB cache, 1066FSB)
4 x 1GB non-ECC DDR2 533MHz SDRAM (interleaved)
Dual 10k U320 SCSI drives
nVidia Quadro FX1400 PCIe (128MB) graphics adaptor
Win XP Pro +SP2 + updates (NOT using /3GB switch ... yet!)
The Asus mainboard was selected as being one of the only models
which supports both Core-2 Duo processors AND has 64bit PCIx slots.
The E6600 processor represents the 'sweet-spot' for price vs perform-
ance at present, with a BIG price-jump to the E6700 at only 2.66GHz.
My current workstation is configured as follows:
Iwill D800 Dual-Xeon workstation mainboard
2 x Intel 3.06GHz Xeon (Tahoma, 800MHz FSB)
2GB non-ECC PC3200 DDR SDRAM
Dual 15k U320 SCSI drives
nVidia Quadro FX700 AGP-8x (128MB) graphics adaptor
Win XP Pro +SP2 + updates
As an indicative benchmark, I tested placing a view of a fairly highly-
detailed assembly onto a blank Draft sheet. The part-count is meaning-
less - what is significant here is that the components in the assembly
are detailed 'as made' and no part- or assembly-simplification is used,
since this particular project requires every thread, tooth and fillet to
be displayed in the documentation.
I measured the time taken to 'draw' the View in Draft, from clicking to
place the selected (isometric) view to when the 'wait' cursor (hourglass)
disappeared.
2.4GHz Core-2 Duo: 9.58s
Dual 3.06GHz Xeon: 17.02s
This is not intended to be a definitive benchmark, just an indication of
what excellent value the Core-2 Duo processors represent. There are
still improvements to be made to the new system (full-speed SDRAM,
15k SCSI drives, /3GB switch in XP etc.) but initial observations are
extremely gratifying.
DO NOT BE MISLED by sneaky advertisements for 'Core Duo' systems!
This was a devious (dubious?!) marketing ploy for a 'dog' of a processor
series which doesn't come near the Core-2 Duo range for thermal eff-
iciency or performance. Dell's M90 is a sad (and VERY expensive)
example of this technology.
Just as Intel's oddly-named DX4-100 was the undisputed hotrod of its
day (and far faster than the original 'toaster' Pentium 75) the Core-2
makes Pentium4 look like a bad, power-hungry dream.
Rick's $0.02 with (intense) interest!”
End of quote
Whether Solid Edge uses multi cores or not doesn’t matter. The fact is that the new dual cores are a lot faster. When investing in hardware you don’t want it to be outdated within 6 months. It should last you at least 2 years. Let’s say you want to go over to Vista a year from now, you don’t want to buy new hardware again. Maybe it is a good time now to invest in a decent CPU.
Solid Edge V19 SP1 on WinXP SP2
