What spec PC's are you guys using?

[robertb.65723]

Just interested in knowing what spec machines you guys are using and what size projects are you doing? Why is it that no matter how fast a PC is ya always want something faster?
Im using a HP Workstation XW4100, P4 3.4GHZ, 1GB Ram, NVIDIA FX1100 Graphics Card. Its over 6 months old but is still the highest spec in our office of 4 drafties.

[Ron Oldenbeuving]

This box is about 2 years old. Dual Xeon 2.4 GHz processors, 2 Gb RAM (another 2 Gb on order), nVidia Force FX5200 128 Mb video card, dual 80 Gb hard drives with SATA Raid and a 3DConnexion Cadman 3d controller. Running Windows XP Pro with 3 Gb switch. Using Inventor 9 (10 is on the way:-) ) designing press tools, mold dies, jigs, fixtures, gauges and special purpose machines with up to 3000 separate entities in the main assembly files.

It goes alright.;)

[robert.1.hall72202]

Xeon works great, Ive got a 2.8gh system.

[Ron Oldenbeuving]

Xeon works great, Ive got a 2.8gh system.
Advance Warning! the below works for me, use at your own risk....

I've found one way to up the ante on Xeon chips is to turn off hyperthreading in the bios. This ensures the main chip is regarded as 1 single cpu, and not 2. CAUTION - I only recomend this if you are running a single application !!!!! It helps me because I have 2 Xeon CPU's, so I can still run another application anyway.

[robertb.65723]

This box is about 2 years old. Dual Xeon 2.4 GHz processors, 2 Gb RAM (another 2 Gb on order), nVidia Force FX5200 128 Mb video card, dual 80 Gb hard drives with SATA Raid and a 3DConnexion Cadman 3d controller. Running Windows XP Pro with 3 Gb switch. Using Inventor 9 (10 is on the way:-) ) designing press tools, mold dies, jigs, fixtures, gauges and special purpose machines with up to 3000 separate entities in the main assembly files.

It goes alright.;)

Sounds like a reasoable PC but what about the graphics side of it. Is that not just a $100 gaming card??? How does it perform?

I've found a link on how to set my PC with 3GB switch. What does it actually do and what should I expect to gain from doing this?

[Ron Oldenbeuving]

Sounds like a reasoable PC but what about the graphics side of it. Is that not just a $100 gaming card??? How does it perform?

I've found a link on how to set my PC with 3GB switch. What does it actually do and what should I expect to gain from doing this?
Robert,

1. As I understand it, the 3Gb switch sets aside 3Gb of of memory for applications (the max allowed in XP) as opposed to the default of XP sharing equally between itself and applications. This can be further fine tuned using the USERVA switch This allows Inventor a larger amount of memory to work in. If somebody has a more concise explanation, please, feel free to correct me.

Attached is my own boot.ini file. Note the use of the timeout to default to normal mode. CAUTION - THIS WORKS ON MY COMPUTER, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK !!!

2. This system was built (2 years ago) before I started with this company, by a technician who didnt understand the requirements of CAD systems. This is currently under review (read that to mean I'm trying to con the IT manager into getting me a 256 Mb Quattro).