Recommended desktops for Revit

[Don Sutherland]

I was looking at the PC table, which one is a good one to get? Best buy has a Tosiba M Process725, w/ 512 MB PC22700 DDR Sdram for $1399.00. I was going to up grade the ram to 1 GB.

Any comments if this would be good w/ REVIT?

[iru69]

I was looking at the PC table, which one is a good one to get? Best buy has a Tosiba M Process725, w/ 512 MB PC22700 DDR Sdram for $1399.00. I was going to up grade the ram to 1 GB.

Any comments if this would be good w/ REVIT?

Well, you'd have to be a bit more specific about the model number, but what I think you're looking at is the P M 725 (1.6 GHz) with a 1024x768 (14.1") screen and Intel Extreme Graphics 2 integrated video.

For a general purpose computer, it's pretty cool. For Revit, it would not be a good choice for all but the most simple models.

The CPU is under powered (I wouldn't consider anything less than a 755 for a new laptop), the screen resolution is boderline inadequate (all the toolbars won't fit on the screen at the same time), and the Intel graphics just doesn't cut it.

[Don Sutherland]

Thanks for your comment:

Toshiba direct has also a model:
Tecra® M4 Tablet PC
with The 760 custom order processor and the the display at 1400x1050.
and could add 1 - 512 ram for $80.00 for a 1 GB total.
At the tosiba web page the total would be $1800.00.

I'm Not sure if is worth paying extra for the PC Tablet type computer.
For use on the plane and in the field it would be great.

Would this work OK?

[iru69]

I'm Not sure if is worth paying extra for the PC Tablet type computer.
For use on the plane and in the field it would be great.

Would this work OK?

I can't comment on the make or model (maybe someone else can), but just by the specifications, yes, that should work with Revit adequately - certainly seems like a good traveling laptop. You should make sure you can return it if it doesn't work with Revit the way you'd like.

(btw, selecting a computer is an involved process. The questions you pose is kind of like someone saying that they plan to drive from New York to California and they're thinking of buying a Toyota Corolla - is that a good car for the trip? The answer depends on a lot of things. You might get more responses if you frame your question with a little more info about how you plan to use it, will it be a second computer or your main computer, and so on. The chances that there's someone using Revit who uses the models you've mentioned will read this, is rather slim, so if other people are going to help with advice, it might help to give a little more to work with. Also, it may be a little late now, but you might have been better off starting a new thread on your specific topic. Good luck! ).

[BomberAIA]

Is there an advantage running Revit on a Duo Core Laptop for speed? Is the Mac graphic card better?

[patricks]

Blads,

Thanks for trying to track down the maker of the card. The Quadro FX 540 'should' work with Revit. Since there have been reported problems with some brands of the 540, it would be great to know which brands are working. Thanks.

I have been running an Nvidia Quadro FX500 AGP 8x interface in my machine at work for nearly 2 years running Revit. It's been working decent so far w/ 1.5 GB DDR memory.

However I'm about to upgrade to an FX3000 and 2 GB memory tomorrow or Friday, can't wait to see how she runs!

[kshawks]

We are looking at upgrading and I just wanted to run a couple systems by the everyone and see if we are going in the right direction.
system 1:
xps 400
pent d 830 w/ dual core 3 ghz 800fsb
256 nVidia Geforce 7300le turbocache
2 gb dual channel ddr2 sdram at 533mhz
250 gb serial ata 3gb/s 7200rpm w/ 8mb cache
19inch e196fp analog flat panel

system 2:
xps600
p4 670 w/ ht 3.80 ghz 800fsb
256pci express (dvi/vga/tv-out) nVidia GeForce 6800
2 gb dual channel ddr2 sdram @ 533mhz
160 gb serial ata 3 gb/s 7200rpm w/ 8mb cache
same monitor

system 3 (laptop):
inspiron e1705
intel core duo processor t2600 2.16ghz/667mhz fsb
17in ultrasharp wide screen uxga w/ truelife
2gb shared dual channel ddr2 sdram @ 533mhz
60 gb 7200 sata hard drive
256mb ati mobility radeon x1400 hpermemory

any comments or suggestions would be great

[iru69]

Here are a few comments:

2GB is good. Unless you're doing a lot of video work (movies), just about anything is fine for the hard drive in my opinion. You hopefully have an office file server anyway?

I have the 19inch e193fp analog flat panel at home, and it sucks compared to the Ultrasharp 1901FP I have at work... these days there's hardly enough difference in price to justify getting the e195 - I'd highly recommend getting the Ultrasharp 1907FP instead (there's a reason why they're giving the away the e195 for free).

My feeling is that the Pentium D @ 3GHz isn't fast enough for a brand new computer. The dual cores will be helpful for rendering, but I'm already bogged down on an 18 month old P4 @ 3GHz at work... I just don't think that's a good investment. Don't know much about the GF7300LE, but it's at the rock bottom of the nVidia line... so that says something.

If you're going to get a Pentium, I'd definitely go with the P4 @ 3.8GHz... there's a big difference in speed (compared to 3GHz) for Revit in everything but rendering. The GF6800 should be fine.

The XPS is oriented towards the home gaming/entertainment segment... have you checked out the Dell Precision 380? I think it's more appropriate for the office than the XPS. Has a decent 3 year on-site warranty to boot. You don't mention price, but I'd check out the Dell Precision 380 w/ P4 67x @ 3.8GHz, 2GB RAM, ATI FireGL 3100 card and 80GB HD - you should be able to price a system around ~$1,500 - not including any fancy DVD burners, monitor, etc.

It's really too bad that Dell doesn't build systems with the Athlon x2... that's the winning chip - we're a Dell office, but I just built a system (for personal use) using the Athlon X2 4800+ that is really fast. Unfortunately most of of the pre-built systems based on AMD are either too oriented towards gaming or just too expensive.

The laptop looks good based on specs (I don't have personal experience with that particular laptop)... my only complaint is that I absolutely detest the "truelife" LCD screens because they don't have an adequate anti-glare coating and the reflections from light drive me nuts - but that's a personal preference. If you're not familiar with the "truelife" screens, I'd suggest checking one out at a local store (even if you can't see the Dell version, there are lots of laptops out there that have basically the same thing). Also, not so sure about the graphics chip, but it should be adequate. I'd recommend checking out the Dell Precision M90 laptop... more of a workstation class laptop compared to the Inspiron.

Hope that helps.

[kshawks]

Well I have revised my search to the following to systems:
System 1:
precision 380
p4 660 3.6ghz/800mhz/2x1mb l2 cache HT
2 gb 667mhz ddr2 sdram, ecc
160 gb sata 3.0gb/s w/ NCQ & 8mb databurst cache w/out raid
48xcd & 48xcd-rw/dvd combo
19inch ultra sharp 1907fp vga/dvi
128mb pcie x 16ati firegl v3100 dual monitor vga or dvi/vga

system 2 (laptop)
precision m70
pent M 770 (2.13 ghz, 2mb l2 cache, 533fsb) 15.4 wuxga lcd
2 gb, 533, ddr2 sdram
80 gb hd 7200 rpm
nvidia quadro fx go1400 256mb opengl graphic

I have two concerns, first i believe i have read elsewhere in the forums that there might be a problem with the pcie cards with revit. The second concern is the processor speed on the m70 is it enough for 9.0.

[iru69]

System 1:
precision 380
p4 660 3.6ghz/800mhz/2x1mb l2 cache HT

That's almost as fast as you can get with a Dell without getting into the "funny money" level of dual xeon processors. Can I get you to spend just another $180 for the P4@3.8GHz. That's a $1.70 extra a week over two years. I understand you've got to draw the line somewhere, but come on, you deserve it... a starbuck's coffee is more than $1.70.

system 2 (laptop)
precision m70
pent M 770 (2.13 ghz, 2mb l2 cache, 533fsb) 15.4 wuxga lcd

Did you look at the m65? For less than a $100 more, you could get the Core Duo T2600 @ 2.16 for almost the exact same setup. The graphics chip on the m65 isn't as good, but the 1400 is overkill anyway, and you'll appreciate the speed of dual cores more than the speed of the graphics.

I have two concerns, first i believe i have read elsewhere in the forums that there might be a problem with the pcie cards with revit. The second concern is the processor speed on the m70 is it enough for 9.0.

There's nothing wrong with PCIe cards. There seems to be more issues with certain nvidia cards than ati cards, but I don't think you'll have any show-stopper problems with any that come with the Dell computers - but if you're concerned about it, check to see if you can send it back if you have any problems. If you stay with the m70, I'd definitely try and convince you to bump the CPU up a level or two. If you go with the core duo, the T2600 is as fast as they come at the moment. Very roughly, you can use a factor of 1.6 multiplied by the Pentium M/Core Duo to arrive at an equivalent P4 speed.

Please keep in mind that I'm not "recommending" any particular brand or model of computer but rather recommending hardware based on specs (i.e. I know a bit about CPUs, video cards and RAM, but I have no idea whether a Dell m70 is a "good" laptop or not).