The hardware connection - processors and graphic boards

[sosawyer]

I am a designer, not a computer techie or programmer. I design mechanical devices and piping systems in 3D... usually in 2D wireframe or else the process takes forever.

We have been thinking of upgrading several of our workstations that concentrate on 3D cad as that is the most intensive. The questions that arise are, if you don't want to spend a fortune to just go out and buy the bleeding edge technology, what is the best direction to go in, based on how AutoCAD operates. Does it support hyperthreading? Etc.

In other words, the AMD processors seem (and I stress 'seem') to have some advantages over the Pentium chips. Then there is the question of whether to run dual processors or just a single processor... or is a single dual-core processor a significant advantage with AutoCAD over... or do you bite the bullet and go with dual dual-core processors?

I presently run on a Pentium 4 with 1GB of ram. When I have multiple viewport sections of a model in paperspace, the regeneration time is horribly slow... if the model is of a site where the axis is not aligned with the world coordinate system, the slow sections take even longer to regenerate.... probably because of the more intense calculations.

So, the next question follows whether or not to spend more on the processor/memory side or go with a high end graphics board (we rarely do fancy renderings with materials, etc.... we mostly do orthographic drawings where the outlines are visible and the hidden lines are not shown).

Any suggestions would be helpful... not so much particular brands, but what route is the most useful.

Thanks.

[jaberwok]

Up to and including A2006 acad gains no direct advantage from dual processors, dual cores or hyper-threading. Check the autodesk website for info on A2007.
You're right to work in 2d wireframe as much as possible.
Under the circumstances, I don't think there is any point in going to a top-end graphics card (but I could be wrong), just stick with the mid-range.
Do you know that you can temporarily "switch off" pspace viewports through their properties?

[Mike.Perry]

Hi

AutoCAD 2007 - Features & Specifications (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=5127273) via Autodesk.com

Have a good one, Mike

[sosawyer]

Up to and including A2006 acad gains no direct advantage from dual processors, dual cores or hyper-threading. Check the autodesk website for info on A2007.
You're right to work in 2d wireframe as much as possible.
Under the circumstances, I don't think there is any point in going to a top-end graphics card (but I could be wrong), just stick with the mid-range.
Do you know that you can temporarily "switch off" pspace viewports through their properties?

Thanks, for the info, jaberwok. I've seen the system requirements, but figured that was a minimum... it is just hard for me to believe that something as intense as 3D cad could not (or would not) be altered to run better with all the 'new' technology (although dual processors have been around for some time).

So, it looks like we don't need to waste money... apparently just brute force in a single processor with adequate memory and disk space is the key... and a moderate graphics card.

[dervin]

Look at Whipthread in help.