Computer Specs

[Rion Atkinson]

So I was thinking about how I have gone through 3 upgrades on my computer in order to run CAD decently. This last upgrade should makes everything run smoothly.

But that got me thinking about what everyone else uses to run CAD and how well that works for them.

The computer specs for the computer I will be using (when the parts come in...)
Windows Pro 64-bit
Nvidia Geforce 9800GT Graphics Card
6 gigs DDR3 RAM
Quad Core 2.8 Ghz Processor

This should run quiet well see as its quiet the step up from the last computer.

What does everyone else use, and how well does it work?

[Akash Rastogi]

Similar specs on 3 of my CAD computers:

Pentium 4 Northwood OC'd at 3.6ghz (3.7 isn't fully stable even with my water cooling)
Abit ic7 mobo
3 gigs DDR2
Ati 1600xt
XP Pro

AMD Opteron X2 OC'd at 2.2ghz
DFI LanParty mobo
2 gigs DDR2
EVGA GeForce 6800gt
XP Pro

Most used:
Intel i7 at 2.66ghz (just replaced my C2 Quad)
Intel dx58s0 mobo
6gigs DDR3
Waiting on my new upgrade card- GeForce 9800gt
Booting XP 64x, Vista Ultimate 64x, and Windows 7 (yea yea yea calm down)

Sadly, I need a better laptop with a legit graphics card to run any modern software. Pentium M 1.6ghz with 512 ddr. The desktops work great, obviously the quad core is best.

[Tristan Lall]

At the risk of embarrassing myself, I've been continually upgrading a P4-based computer for the last six years, replacing pieces as they fail, or as technology threatens to pass me by....

Intel Pentium 4 @ 2.8 GHz (Northwood, SL78Y, 130 nm)
Asus P4C800-E Deluxe (Intel 875P & 82801/ICH5R)
2 GB DDR (PC3200) in dual-channel mode
ATi HD 3650 @ 725 MHz (RV635, 55 nm, AGP 8x) with 512 MB DDR2
10 drives (3 optical drives, 5 hard drives w/1.1 TB capacity, 1 1.44 MB floppy drive w/5-in-1 flash reader, 1 100 MB Zip drive)
Windows Vista (32-bit)

For anything processor-limited, it will get crushed (especially when pitting its primitive HyperThreading against modern multicore systems in multithreaded tasks). But the rest of the computer is reasonably competitive with modern systems. (Stripped down, the system can boot at up to 3.7 GHz, but it's definitely not stable at that speed.)

But despite that, it can handle just about anything CAD-related, at least in Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4.0. (However, Inventor 2009 just makes it angry.) To put this in perspective, I've got 5 FIRST robots open in Pro/E, 4 of which are complex sheetmetal designs with hundreds of parts, with 3 being native Pro/E assemblies and 2 being Pro/E assemblies composed of STEP import features. It's using about 727 MB of RAM, and all of the windows are responding normally, and the views render cleanly and animate at a full-motion framerate. In Inventor, I have one robot open; it's using 763 MB on its own, and the views are sluggish, normal view manipulation is occuring at around 10 frames per second, and the UI isn't responding properly.

When it comes to CAD in Pro/E my computer shows its age only when regenerating or doing things like structural and thermal analyses (which are processor-bound). The video subsystem is relatively modern, and plenty fast enough for CAD work (though the drivers are probably suboptimal). The main hard drive is fast and reasonably large (a 596 GB, 7 200 rev/min unit). More RAM would be a convenience for multitasking, but isn't a big deal here; in non-CAD use, my RAM usage is often around 1.8 GB—or exactly where it ought to be.

Despite that, I'm going to have to replace this computer reasonably soon, mainly to maintain my credibility, but also because I'm leaning toward something that's actually portable. At the moment, I'm looking out for the mobile Core i7s that are due in late September.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Win7 RC1 (I havent bothered to upgrade to the actual copy I have through school but will be doing that shortly)
1-TB Drives x2
2 GB DDR2 Ram x4
ATI FirePro 3750
Intel Core2Quad 2.4Ghz
22" Dell Monitor
700W Power Supply

Total cost of system: <$1400 shipped including OS

Planned upgrades, 3rd HDD to use as the OS drive (meaning OS reinstalls will take 30 minutes TOPS)

[DonRotolo]

Heath-Zenith Z51, with an 8086 at 4.77 MHz (with 8087 Math Co-processor), Paradise EGA video, 1 MB RAM using QEMM, 20 MB full height HD, mouse. OS is DOS 6.0 with Norton Commander.

Of course, I'm running AutoCad 1.21 here...

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

Heath-Zenith Z51, with an 8086 at 4.77 MHz (with 8087 Math Co-processor), Paradise EGA video, 1 MB RAM using QEMM, 20 MB full height HD, mouse. OS is DOS 6.0 with Norton Commander.

Of course, I'm running AutoCad 1.21 here...

That beast sounds like it could eat my PC...

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

Heath-Zenith Z51, with an 8086 at 4.77 MHz (with 8087 Math Co-processor), Paradise EGA video, 1 MB RAM using QEMM, 20 MB full height HD, mouse. OS is DOS 6.0 with Norton Commander.

Of course, I'm running AutoCad 1.21 here...

Let me guess, the RAM is above board. I have forgotten how really advanced Autocad was at that point in it's life. Our first workstation was a Tandy 1000 with 2 Meg above board RAM, a 28Meg hard drive and an external 10" Bernoulli drive for drawing storage. We quickly upgraded, settling on Autocad Ver. 3.21 for several years.
When considering CAD computers remember that CAD is video intensive so that computers that share system RAM for video will bog down. Depending on the CAD platform you are using, they usually spec minimum video card and video RAM. Follow the manufacturer recommendations or forever be waiting for numbers to crunch in the video RAM, especially during zooms and 3D views.

[JesseK]

Laptop Specs:

Dell XPS M1530
Core 2 Duo T9300 @ 2.5Ghz
4GB RAM
GeForce 8600M GT @ 512MB dedicated
15.4" WUXGA LCD Screen with a ridiculous resolution for a laptop
128GB Solid State Drive, 8x DVD R/W
Vista x64
320GB Western Digital Passport, where all of my actual files reside

It's fast. It's quiet. It's portabl-ish. It was $1700 with a 3 year warranty. I've done CAD, MatLab simulations, and a couple of games with no issues. I originally wanted a laptop that utilizes the NVIDIA Quadro chip, but alas those were ~$300 more on average and you couldn't add the same features/performance in other areas without massive $$$ upgrades as well.

Wasn't there a terminal or programming feature in AutoCad at some point? Something triggered a memory where a friend and I were joking about it and he said he CAD'ed his entire mechanical project with the keyboard faster than the pros at his internship could do with a mouse.

[JoshD]

Laptop:

Lenovo ThinkPad T61p
Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
4GB of RAM (only shows up as 3GB)
Quadro FX 570M @ 256MB dedicated (currently shown as having approx. 1500MB of memory, some borrowed from the system)
15.4" LCD screen running 1680x1050
250GB hard drive
Vista Business 32-bit
320GB SimpleTech external drive

Bought it just over a year ago, $1500 with a 4 year full coverage warranty. Runs everything I can throw at it program wise, Solidworks, Inventor, and some MatLab.

[Team1710]

Laptop:
Asus 15.6"
Core 2 duo 8600
4 gb RAM
GT240 m 1 gb dedicated vram
320gb 7200 rpm hd
Windows 7

Desktop:
Core i7 920
6gb DDR3 1600
1 TB HD
GTX 285 1 GB dedicated VRAM
Windows 7

[Rion Atkinson]

Dang! Some of these would destroy mine in a preformance... Most of them actualy.. Gives me high hopes for mine though.

Here's what I do my CAD on:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB


I just C+P'd that from the system specs... But yeah, I run all of my CAD inside of a virtual OS (A stripped down, brutalized edition), and it runs well enough that I can make a decent paycheck loaning myself out as a drafting consultant. That being said, I do most work in Solidworks, and every now and then I get an odd client who needs Inventor.

Edit: After reading this, it appears I'm one of the few who CAD's on a Mac... Am I really that odd?

[R.C.]

Alrighty:

Laptop of El doomo:
-HP
-AMD Turion x2 @ 2.66 GHz
-4 Gigs of RAM
-Nvidia 8400
-500 GB Hardrive
-Windows 7

-RC

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

Alrighty:

Laptop of El doomo:
-HP
-AMD Turion x2 @ 2.66 GHz
-4 Gigs of RAM
-Nvidia 8400
-500 GB Hardrive
-Windows 7

-RC

Dangit RC, you've got me beat in CPU (barely), and in HD internal space...

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by CraigHickman

Here's what I do my CAD on:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB

Edit: After reading this, it appears I'm one of the few who CAD's on a Mac... Am I really that odd?

No you aren't that odd (Well, yes you are but you know what I mean) I just have my desktop that I built because I wanted to have a dedicated Windows box. Until last spring I didn't have the desktop but decided I could afford to build one. The MBP is a pretty decent machine for CAD if you can get the heat issues under control. Any tips on that?