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New Computer Build - Help Needed


TAB

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Hi all,

 

I'm in the process of trying to figure out what PC to buy to run Vectorworks. 

I'm an interior designer, specifically kitchens, so don't need to draw up anything hugely demanding, but high quality renders nonetheless.

 

Unfortunately, my knowledge of computing is pretty limited, so wanted to run a possible option past you to see whether there is anything you would change. - At present, budget is a bit of a factor, so the ability to upgrade in the future is important:

 

Lenovo C30 ThinkStation

CPU: 2x Intel Xeon E5-2667 - 2.9GHz, 6 Cores, 12 Threads, 15MB SmartCache each (12C / 24T total)

MEMORY: 32GB ECC, (DDR3 ECC / Reg)

HDD: 1x 250GB SSD + 1x 1TB SATA Storage Drive

GRAPHICS: Quadro K2200 4GB DDR5

 

Would this suffice for VW 2020 or is it back to the drawing board? 

 

Thanks in advance! 

T

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3 hours ago, TAB said:

Unfortunately, my knowledge of computing is pretty limited, so wanted to run a possible option past you to see whether there is anything you would change. - At present, budget is a bit of a factor, so the ability to upgrade in the future is important:

 

So in this case,

why don't you look for a Mac ?

 

Is there any Windows only Software you rely on ?

VW is running at least as good than on Windows and there is beautiful

Software available for Macs.

 

But beside that,

no, that is not a very optimized configuration for Vectorworks or far from

best bang for the money. OK, it is deprecated already, so maybe a good

deal for a used machine.

But that is a (lower level) Workstation for typical more conservative

CAD systems

 

But basically,

VW doesn't really profit from expensive dual Xeons with ECC RAM support

vs standard consumer/gaming CPUs which are cheaper and likely faster.

Same for the GPU. You listed a Pro GPU, which offers special driver to accelerate

3D/CAD Apps like from Autodesk, Catia, .... but VW will just see a low level

old fashioned GPU. It would run much faster on a current gaming GPU.

 

So if you look instead for any gaming PC that fits your budget

(If it does use reasonably quality vendors parts)

you will get more bang for the buck.

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7 hours ago, TAB said:

Hi all,

 

I'm in the process of trying to figure out what PC to buy to run Vectorworks. 

I'm an interior designer, specifically kitchens, so don't need to draw up anything hugely demanding, but high quality renders nonetheless.

 

Unfortunately, my knowledge of computing is pretty limited, so wanted to run a possible option past you to see whether there is anything you would change. - At present, budget is a bit of a factor, so the ability to upgrade in the future is important:

 

Lenovo C30 ThinkStation

CPU: 2x Intel Xeon E5-2667 - 2.9GHz, 6 Cores, 12 Threads, 15MB SmartCache each (12C / 24T total)

MEMORY: 32GB ECC, (DDR3 ECC / Reg)

HDD: 1x 250GB SSD + 1x 1TB SATA Storage Drive

GRAPHICS: Quadro K2200 4GB DDR5

 

Would this suffice for VW 2020 or is it back to the drawing board? 

 

Thanks in advance! 

T

 

Hi Zoomer,

Thank you for your response. 
 

I should have mentioned that I use Solidworks, so despite using a Mac as my personal computer, I want to keep everything CAD related on one PC.. (I’ve had issues with partitioning hard drives in the past, so want to avoid that).

 

Would an alternative be something of this nature?:

i7-2600 3.40GHz

GTX 750 Ti 2GB GDDR5 

16GB DDR3 Ram

1TB Hard Drive ( HDD )

120GB Solid State Drive ( SSD )

 

I could swap out the GTX750 for an RTX2070 if you think that would make a significant difference? 
 

Thanks in advance,

T

 

 

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I think Solidworks recommends and makes use of Quadro cards.

 

Your new specs are about the min specs recommended for VW

but it should be ok. Yes, I would go for the newer RTX 2070 or 2060

if possible, as it has much more VRAM and should be much faster.

So it would be ok for VW.

But because of Solidworks, I would also ask on their forums, as

it would be bad if such a more gaming oriented PC would slow

down your 3D viewports in Solidworks.

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On 11/21/2020 at 12:15 PM, zoomer said:

...Same for the GPU. You listed a Pro GPU, which offers special driver to accelerate

3D/CAD Apps like from Autodesk, Catia, .... but VW will just see a low level

old fashioned GPU. It would run much faster on a current gaming GPU.

Ugh - is this true for newer Pro cards?

 

I've been having card issues with VW only (not autodesk Maya) and I bought an AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 to try and rectify...

 

As  I migrate away from autodesk should I be looking more towards a gaming card?

I dropped for a Quadro in my Surface Book too!

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A year ago or so Linus Tech Tips had a nice video about if we still need Quadro Cards.

He said that some Pro Apps won't even give you any support if you are running any non-Pro GPU

and had tests that many Pro Apps 3D Views profited much from even lower level Pro cards.

 

So if you are not using any of those supported Apps it will simply not be worth to pay more.

VW may even have some problems or poor performance if you choose the wrong of both

driver versions (Nvida only ?)

But sometimes the Pro Cards are the only option, like when you will need more VRAM than

you could get with Gaming cards.

 

I personally have only 3D/CAD Apps that don't profit from Pro Cards at all.

Even Microstation was ported to DirectX in early 2000s, to work well with standard

Gaming GPUs.

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  • 1 month later...
Guest Paulo Ferrari

Hi @TAB 

 

I would change this graphic card for one Geforce RTX 2060 or something more powerful.

 

This Quadro K2200 4GB DDR5 have only 640 Cuda Cores (It's too weak to usign with Vectorworks 2020/2021).

Comparing the RTX 2060 have 1920 Cuda Cores

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