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The more cores the better. My last computer had (2) Quad cores, for a total
of 8 processors when looking at Task Manager. Pro will not utilize them all
but other applications will. The thought is that you can have Pro or
Mechanica chugging away on some processors while Outlook, Excel, Word, and
IE are using others.
I don't have XP x64 but my understanding is that the 3gb switch is not
necessary for XP 64.
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You don't have to configure it for x64. It will use all your memory
automatically. As for cores, more is better. Although Pro won't use more
than one (not sure about Mechanica, but expect not), other programs can use
unused cores for their work allowing you to multitask better/quicker. We
use a different FEA program that does use multiple cores.
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Not sure if dual or quad is better. For analysis I use WinXP 64 and a Quad
Xeon. The 3GB switch is ONLY needed in 32bit operating systems because they
can't address as much RAM. 64 bit systems are able to address way more RAM
than you could even put in your system, I think. Either way, the 3GB switch
does not exist in WinXP64.
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Pro/E can't take advantage of multiple processors (except maybe in assy
retrieval?), so dual or quad (or even single) doesn't matter. Processor
speed is more important to Pro/E than number of cores. Given the choice
between more cores and more speed, take more speed.
Mechanica, on the other hand, I believe can use multiple cores, I believe.
I'm not a mechanica user, so I'm not certain.
If you're running 64 bit windows you don't need the 3 gig switch, in fact it
probably isn't even available. I think you may need to be running 64 bit
Pro/E to take advantage of the extra memory.
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While Pro/E does not take advantage of multiple CPUs/Cores, the system as a
whole can. You can run Pro/E on one core while the OS, Office and other apps
use the other core(s).
The 64bit version of Pro/E is required to take advantage of the extra
memory.
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Would multi-core processors still help? Even though Pro/E might not be able
to use them directly, would they allow other things running on the machine
to be shuffled off to another processor, thereby effectively giving Pro/E
more resources?
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I am not a Computer Processor expert by any means.
As for the question about RAM. The 3 gig switch for Windows XP is only
related to the 32bit version of the OS. A 32bit OS can't see anything
larger than 3 GB of RAM. If you are running a 64bit OS, you don't need to
do anything in order for all the RAM to be visible and usable by the OS.
This however does not mean that a software application is optimized for
using that RAM or Multiple Processor Cores.
I believe that Wildfire 4 supported multiple processors for threading an
assembly but not sure how much support Pro/E has for multi-core setups
across the board. I am running Wildfire 5 on Windows 7 Professional
64-bit. We have 6GB or Ram on some systems and 12GB on others. We are
running Quad Core's but I could not tell you if Wildfire 5 is taking
advantage of them.
Pro/E supports multi-core, but I think it's only for specific operations.
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I don't think you can find processors without multi-cores anymore. I can
only hope Pro/E or CREO Elements/Pro will support them across all functions.
I seriously don't think PTC will be using many resources on CREO
elements/pro anymore, so the real question will be if CREO 1.0 will support
multi-cores across all functions. It would be nice.
I do agree that your entire system will benefit from multi-core even if
Pro/E does not. If you run other apps outside of CREO elements/pro, you
will benefit from the additional processors and RAM.
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I also think that with i7 chips, there is some internal "shenanigan" that
allow things to run faster with multi-cores... Sorry if I got too
technical... Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk! 😉
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As I understand the 'shenanigans' with the i7 & i5 (but not the i3, I
believe) is that it will allow 'overclocking' for short bursts. In other
words, the processor runs at X speed most of the time, but it will go Y%
faster for short bursts.
Mike Johnson
Senior CAD Designer
Carlisle Industrial Brake & Friction
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812-334-8797
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