What computer hardware is working well with working with 100 mb files?

[rrummell]

We are growing large in file size (100 mb) and we seem to be running into very slow speeds on our computers and I wanted to see what other people are using for computer specs before we spend alot of money to find out that we are heading in the wrong direction.

 

[Theophilus]

How much RAM do your current systems have? And are you using up all your RAM at this point (sounds like that could be why you're having slow speeds).

Search this forum for "RAM" and you'll see some recent posts regarding this issue.

I recently added another 1GB of RAM (for a total of 3GB now), plus enabled the /3GB switch because I ran into some huge assemblies that were sucking up my RAM. This combination was inexpensive and solved my problems.

Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reason trumps all. And awe trumps reason.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Here's a (very) little bit from SW; (See under RAM)

http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/SystemRequirements.html?PID=252

What are your current computer specs?

Are you using the /3GB switch with suitable VM setting?

​

Helpful SW websites faq559-520​

How to find answers ... faq559-1091​

SW2006-SP5 Basic ... No PDM​

 

[rrummell]

We have 4 GB of memory with the three GB switch, ati v3100 video card 128mb, windows Xp, 80 hard drive. We are growing large in file size (100 mb) and we seem to be running into very slow speeds on our computers and I wanted to see what other people are using for computer specs before we spend alot of money to find out that we are heading in the wrong direction.

 

[Theophilus]

What sort of processor do you have? That's probably the biggest factor regarding speed if you're not running out of RAM.

I'm running an AMD FX-60 (64-bit, dual-core) chip with an nVidia FX-1400 graphics card (256MB memory, I think). Dual 160GB SATA drives. So far, so good. The coputer was built by Xi Computer.

Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reason trumps all. And awe trumps reason.

 

[JMirisola]

When you say you're speed is slow, what do you mean? Is it slow to open? Is it slow to rotate? Add/delete features?
Are your video drivers up to date?

My present computer is a Dell M90 (specs in my signature) and it works great. My last set up had a Pentium 'D' dual core, 2 GB RAM, nVidia Quadro 3400...never had a problem with it, either.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
CAD Administrator
SW '07 SP1.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2MB RAM, nVidia 2500M

 

[rrummell]

I have a Intel Pentium d 3.2 ghz dual processor.

The slow downs we are having here is that we have about eight configurations in the assembly so that when we create the drawings we can build up frames in steps for ease of the welders to have a clear picture and we have seperate sheets for each configuration in one drawing file. The big slow downs are flipping between sheets in the drawing, saving, rebuilding, and opening it can take up to 10 to 15 minutes or longer. Also dimensioning the parts can take up to two minutes to get one dimesion.

 

[JMirisola]

What kind of graphics card are you using? Are you working locally or off your network?

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
CAD Administrator
SW '07 SP1.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2MB RAM, nVidia 2500M

 

[rrummell]

ati v3100 video card 128mb and it doesn't seem to matter if I am working locally or on the network.

 

[pdybeck]

We have had trouble with the ATI v3100 cards. I just replaced four of them with nVidia Quadro FX 560's. They are much better. They are faster and stable. The specs say that they have 3 times the memory bandwidth over the ATI card that you have. Not saying that this is the cause of your issue, but it would help other aspects at the least. Is your assembly file 100 MB? And you have 8 configurations in the assembly file? And you have a multisheet drawing of this assembly file? And your drawing contains views of all 8 configurations? How many parts are in your assembly? I think you may be asking a lot out of this data set. If the assembly has a fair amount of parts, then I don't know how much time you could realistically reduce. I would imagine some, but you could be pushing the limits somewhat and expecting results that may not be realistic.

Pete

 

[rrummell]

The assembly file 100 MB and I have 8 configurations in the assembly file. And I have a multisheet drawing of this assembly file and my drawing contains views of all 8 configurations but one configuration per sheet. With about 250 parts in the assembly.
Would it benfit me to save each configuration off as a sub-assembly then assemble them in a full assembly then hide show components in the drawing? does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[JMirisola]

First, I agree with Pete, the ATI cards aren't any good. The fact that it doesn't seem to matter if you're working locally or off the network suggests that it's a hardware issue. More often than not, working locally is many times faster than trying to pull info from the network.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
CAD Administrator
SW '07 SP1.0, Dell M90, Intel 2 Duo Core, 2MB RAM, nVidia 2500M

 

[meintsi]

Drawing rebuild time was addressed in SW2006 when a seperate process was started just for drawing view updating freeing up the main SW process for other tasks.

When we were using 2005, we had found out that the time required for drawing views to update was directly proportional to the processor speed. We proved this out by running the same update on the same drawing on an old worksation and on a new workstation during our hardware upgrade.

Remember...
[navy]"If you don't use your head,[/navy]
[navy]your going to have to use your feet."[/navy]

 

[pdybeck]

rrummell,

When you are updating your drawing, check your task manager - how much memory are you using? I know you have the 3G/B switch enabled. Also, do you have the Userva=2900 swtich also enabled? By checking the memory useage, we could tell whether you are just running out of memory - which would tell you whether it might make sense to have more than 4GB ram with a 64 bit version of SolidWorks runnning in XP 64 bit edition. If its not that, then get rid of the intel P4 processors. They are slow compared to the new Core 2 Duo processors or some of the AMD Athlon 64 or Opteron processors. You could always find a more qualified machine to benchmark this data set and record the times to compare it against your machine. Computer vendors, other users on the forums, or your VAR may be willing to do this for you.

Pete

 

[rfus]

can you suspend auto rebuild and set components in the assembly to lightweight.

 

[SBaugh]

Lightweight is controlled by the Tools\Options\System Options menu - look under Assemlbies and performance for Lightweight mode. You can also select Lightweight whan you do a File\Open

You cannot suspend a rebuild to my knowledge.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[rfus]

If you bring the number of components down for large assembyly mode you can suspend rebuild:

 

[SBaugh]

Thanks rfus! I missed that option!

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[rrummell]

I have done the suspend rebuild and the lightweight option and that didn't help, but we replaced my ATI V3100 video card b/c it doesn't have a approved solidworks 2007 driver with a FX 1400. I am seeing improvements in speed and I also have been round triping parts by saving them off as a parasolid and re-importing them for parts such as grating and thread plates.

 

[eemotor]

It appears that SolidWorks has certified driver version 8.163.1 for Fire GL V3100 for use with SolidWorks 2007.