Computer Specs

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by CraigHickman

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

Lol Craig, any new stuff cooking lately?

-RC

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

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?

We have a granite table where I live, so heat is dissipated quite easily. No problems for me on that front.

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

Lol Craig, any new stuff cooking lately?

-RC

Yep. I'll have something to show off here soon enough.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by CraigHickman

But yeah, I run all of my CAD inside of a virtual OS (XP Pirated Edition), and it runs well enough that I can make a decent paycheck loaning myself out as a drafting consultant...

So... not only do you use a pirated version of Windows, but you use it for consulting?

Not only do you do consulting on a pirated copy of Windows, but you post about it on a public forum?

Originally Posted by JVN

So... not only do you use a pirated version of Windows, but you use it for consulting?

Not only do you do consulting on a pirated copy of Windows, but you post about it on a public forum?

The "Pirated Edition" is a perfectly legal version of XP that has been stripped down to the bare essentials. No more Internet Exploder, no more PIA "firewall," and entirely no bloatware. My Dad is a software engineer, and I understand the blood, sweat and tears that go into software development. It is something that I will never pirate, and software piracy is something I take VERY seriously.

I suppose I should have explained that earlier... I get this response a lot when people see the splash screen on it...

[Trent B]

Originally Posted by CraigHickman

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

Not really CPU Wise
In a benchmark i found, 2.2ghz turion can calculate 32 million digits of pi as fast as a 1.2ghz core 2 duo

Cinebench rendering a 2.2ghz turion is equal to a 1.8ghz version of your processor (same generation)

Ghz means very little now in processors, that race is over.

As for my specs
15.4" Macbook Pro (classic not unibody)
2.4ghz Core 2 Duo
4GB DDR2 667mhz 4-4-4-12
8600GT 256MB GDDR3
500GB Harddrive
Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) / Windows 7 RC (Win XP Home SP3 Before that)
3dconnexion Space Navigator PE and VX Revolution

Heat isn't really a problem. Long battery life is nice. As is thinness =P. Heat is nice in winter actually, makes my room warmer than rest of the house =P

In my room it sits on wire and wood rack i built (using a letter tray =D) that is 6" off the ground. I have used it with 100% cpu usage on my lap, burns when it hits my bare legs due to shorts but never uncomfortable. In OSX check out SMC fan control. I have had my processor at 85C for like 1 hour before mac kicked the fans in. Windows is much faster to kick them in but I think its because graphics card gets more use.

Originally Posted by Trent B

Not really CPU Wise
In a benchmark i found, 2.2ghz turion can calculate 32 million digits of pi as fast as a 1.2ghz core 2 duo

Cinebench rendering a 2.2ghz turion is equal to a 1.8ghz version of your processor (same generation)

Ghz means very little now in processors, that race is over.

As for my specs
15.4" Macbook Pro (classic not unibody)
2.4ghz Core 2 Duo
4GB DDR2 667mhz 4-4-4-12
8600GT 256MB GDDR3
500GB Harddrive
Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) / Windows 7 RC (Win XP Home SP3 Before that)

Heat isn't really a problem. Long battery life is nice. As is thinness =P. Heat is nice in winter actually, makes my room warmer than rest of the house =P

In my room it sits on wire and wood rack i built (using a letter tray =D) that is 6" off the ground. I have used it with 100% cpu usage on my lap, burns when it hits my bare legs due to shorts but never uncomfortable. In OSX check out SMC fan control. I have had my processor at 85C for like 1 hour before mac kicked the fans in. Windows is much faster to kick them in but I think its because graphics card gets more use.

SMC fan control has saved me so much heat related pain. The algorithm that Apple uses for their fan controls isn't nearly aggressive enough, and the settings on SMC take care of that quite nicely.

I'll have to check out building a little rack, as while I'm at my desk the laptop is sitting off to the side driving my monitor/keyboard/mouse.

[Trent B]

This is what I whipped up

Wood from garage, wire letter tray is meant to be stackable so the wires work quite nicely for keeping my laptop in place.

Whats odd is people always complain about heat in windows, in windows my fans kick in at 80 on the dot, on mac it cooks at 80-85 for a bit then it turns em up. Though right now where im sitting with it on my lap its fine at 50C with lowish cpu usage, streaming music from last.fm and such. So its honestly not that bad.

[vivek16]

Well, I'm in the middle of a build right now.

Microsoft XP Pro 32 bit
Intel C2D E8200 2.8ghz
2 gb RAM
Geforce 8600 - 512 mb
640 GB 7200 rpm HDD
20" Acer lcd monitor

I also use my laptop for CAD
xp home 32 bit
C2D 1.6 ghz
2 gb ram
Geforce 8600
160 gb hdd
15.4" screen

[random_guy7531]

Right now i do my cad on my laptop.

Specs:
Core 2 Quad Q9000
4gb DDR3
500gb 7200 rpm hdd
32 gb SSD
2 x GTX 260-m
17" lcd (1440 X 900)

[Cory]

Originally Posted by random_guy7531

Right now i do my cad on my laptop.

Specs:
Core 2 Quad Q9000
4gb DDR3
500gb 7200 rpm hdd
32 gb SSD
2 x GTX 260-m
17" lcd (1440 X 900)

Your screen is really 1440x900 on a 17" laptop? That sucks.

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by Cory

Your screen is really 1440x900 on a 17" laptop? That sucks.

Geez Cory just come right out and say it.... my work laptop is 17" with 1440x900 resolution. It runs things just fine, plus I don't go blind looking at tiny print!

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Cory

Your screen is really 1440x900 on a 17" laptop? That sucks.

Bah, you kids and your good vision!

[random_guy7531]

I actually havent had any problem with the screen for the most part. My desktop that I use at home is 1440 x 900 on a 19" screen (granted, its obo 3 yrs old). The upgrade to a better screen was like $300 and I thought the money was better spent on the SLI'd vid cards and a bigger HDD.

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by CraigHickman

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

I did all for CAD work for 228's 2009 robot on my 24" iMac. I started the base chassis in XP x64 VMWare virtual machine, but that became too laggy so I switched to Vista x32 in Boot Camp, which has since been upgraded to Windows 7 Build 7100.

2.8Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
4Gb PC2-6400 RAM
512Mb Nvidia 8800GS
24" 1920x1200 display
750 Gb HDD with 80 Gb Windows partition
Razer DeathAdder mouse (only $20 from Wootoff)

These specs work just fine for my use in FIRST or for academic college work. But if was ever going to do any serious CAD work, I'd definitely build a custom PC with the best sub-$300 Intel Quad Core i7, at least 6Gb RAM, and the best sub-$300 Nvidia Quadro graphics card.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by JesseK

Geez Cory just come right out and say it.... my work laptop is 17" with 1440x900 resolution. It runs things just fine, plus I don't go blind looking at tiny print!

Interesting. I didn't even know 17" laptops were made with resolution that low-pretty much every one I've looked at was 1920x1200.

I find myself wishing my 1680x1050 was 1920x1200 all the time...1440x900 seems massive.