Video Card for an older PC

[Denis01]

Hi all, I'm pretty new to the forum (my 2nd post) and brand new to Revet. Also new to AutoCad. ( I just purchased Revit Arch Suite so now I have both and am off to a 3-day Revit camp next week. I have an older HP (2003) with the following specs:

-- System : HP d330 uT (DG291A)
-- Processor: Pentium 4, 2.67 MHz
-- RAM: 4 MB DDR PC3200, 400 MHz ram
-- 320 GB internal HD
-- Graphics Controller: Intel 82865G (I assume it's built into the MB since there are no card in any slots other than an Ethernet/modem card and shares 8MB from the system memory).

I recently acquired a new 1 GB, e-GeForce 8600 GT video card w/ DVI for very good price at Micro Center. The card has a "PCI Express" interface and wont fit my MB, which 3 has PCI and 1 AGP slots. The card is going back (if the take it back), but after reading some of Wes' threads on cards I see that it's probably overkill anyway. I was also told that by another forum member the other day.

My question is what do I get to handle Revit, that has fit will fit my MB, and has DVI? When i do get the new card, what do i need to about the existing controller - disconnect it? if so, how?

Thanks in advance for any advice

[iru69]

Hi Dryfly, me again. Just a note - in the future, if you're continuing your topic, you should continue posting to your original thread rather than starting a new one.

Well, you're pretty tenacious about upgrading this computer. As I said about the RAM before, this is not a good use of funds in my opinion, but that's your call. You should see some slightly better performance with a new video card (the RAM was money down the drain), but aside from shadows (if you can even get them to work in Revit), Revit won't be significantly faster for the size projects you'll likely be working on (it might feel a tad more snappy). You will not be able to take the RAM or video card and use it in your next computer.

You'll be looking at 4X/8X AGP cards. You'll just have to look to see if they have a DVI port (most of that generation have both DVI & VGA port, but not all do). You generally only need to install the new card and the MB will automatically switch over the video to the new card IIRC. Sometimes you need to go into the BIOS and manually change a setting.

I can't recommend a specific card. There's no guarantee OpenGL will work (OpenGL off = slow shadows).

For nvidia chip cards, I'd be looking at 6600/6800 series or 7600 series. Personally, I'd lean towards one of these nvidia cards unless someone can give you a specific recommendations otherwise.

For ATI, I'd be looking at 1600 series and 2600 series.

Those should all be in the US$75-$100 range.

www.newegg.com is a good place to shop video cards.

Best of luck.

Citation originale de dryfly

My question is what do I get to handle Revit, that has fit will fit my MB, and has DVI? When i do get the new card, what do i need to about the existing controller - disconnect it? if so, how?

[Denis01]

Hello again IRU69, Firstly, please accept my apologies for starting the new thread. I did that because after I posted the original on Saturday in the "Revit Architecture-General" forum I realized that the topic really should be in the "Hardware" forum. If that was a mistake (to repost), please forgive my ignorance. I'll pay more attention to which forum I'm posting in and stay with the same thread henceforth. Thanks for straightening me out.

As for my tenacity about upgrading this computer; It's not really as much that as it is that I already had purchased the card and RAM before my previous post. That (purchase) was based on the recommendations of the tech at the reseller that sold me the Revit Suite. They both arrived today. Neither card nor RAM have been installed and can perhaps be returned (RAM package seal is unbroken, but I took the cellophane wrapper off the card box but haven't broken the seal on the anti-static bag.). You folks have a lot more experience at this than I do, and If you think that's what I should do, I will. Personally, I'd prefer to let my wife have this machine to do her thing and use it a family PC, and get my own dedicated computer for work.

Regarding the performance of what I have now; I have installed Revit 2009 and have worked through the "Getting Started" tutorial project that came with the software. Realizing that this is a very small file, and that I have no basis of reference, the shadows on that small project seem fine with Open GL either on, or off. I also tried the "Open GL" test that Wes Macaulay outlines in his post and, although the zoom is a little "jerky" it seems fine with Open GL turned on. That's with the old Intuit graphics controller. Maybe what I'll do is try to return the RAM and card and hold off on any upgrades until I can see my way through to buy a new system. Any suggestions as to what I should be considering? I'm leaning toward a portable workstation and was thinking a Macbook Pro, but am reading enough controversy on the Forum, regarding the rebooting issues, to not be convinced to go that way yet. Although it may not be for some months down the road, I could use some help with what issues I should considder to drive the portable v. desktop decision. Any thoughts and comments are appreciated.

Cheers,
Denis Dunderdale,
Cotter, AR

[iru69]

Regarding the thread: no worries.

Regarding the RAM: If you're buying a new PC, I would also recommend 4GB (because RAM is so cheap, you may as well), but you're not going to need it any time soon - it's just a waste in a computer that's headed out the door within the next year (I'm making some assumptions about your work, but a one-man operation can't be working on the buildings that big).

Regarding the Video Card: Again, if you're buying a new PC, I'd recommend getting a good one, but you don't need a fast one to operate Revit.

You're best off working with what you got. You can check how much RAM your using using the Windows Task Manager (google it if you don't know where to find it). More RAM does absolutely nothing for performance until you run out of it. If you start getting frustrated because zooming and panning and such feel slow and jerky, then you can consider upgrading your video card.

Regarding a new computer, that's a huge topic - kind of like "what car should I buy?" My suggestion would be to read through all of the relevant hardware threads at the top of the hardware forum page, then start a new thread describing the type and size of projects you work on, what you'd like to keep the budget to, and whether you want to go with a laptop or desktop. The laptop/desktop decision is driven primarily by your need to be portable and how much money you're willing to spend to get the portability and performance you're going to want. You might need a laptop if you really need to travel a lot, or you need to bring your computer between home and work, or you want to bring it to meetings at a Client's house/business. If you do a lot of the above, you'll probably want to go with a really solid laptop. Some people find it makes most sense to have a big Revit workstation in the office, and a smaller no-thrills laptop for taking with them when needed. The laptop just tends to be a costlier proposition then the desktop. Also, since hardware changes so fast, I wouldn't get too far ahead of yourself - wait until you're really ready to pull the trigger, then solicit opinions. That's just my advice.