hardware performance...

[nrollins]

Hello all.



I just read an interesting couple
<">https://forum.solidworks.com/message/238910#238910> of threads
<">https://forum.solidworks.com/message/216857#216857> on a SW forum
regarding hardware performance and CPU's vs. Video cards, etc. I think we
all are subject to, at some level, continually thinking about our next PC.
There are two things I took away from reading these threads that I would
like to ask you - my fellow Pro/E users.

1) The statement was made that, generally speaking, your money is
better spent on a high end CPU than on a high end video card. Another way
to say it: buy the best CPU you can afford before spec'ing a more expensive
GPU. (This, of course, changes when you do a lot of rendering or
animation.) I remember, waay back in the day, being told the exact opposite
of this for Pro/E. Have things changed? Is the above advice only true for
SW?

2) I also am still under the impression that nVidia Quadro cards are
the line of choice for running CAD - especially Pro/E, but the thread showed
a fairly convincing chart plotting price/performance results comparing
nVidia Quadro and ATI FirePro cards that put ATI significantly ahead. Other
comments in the thread tempered the results with OpenGL support
considerations, historical driver issues, and all the other things I "grew
up" to believe. Olaf's benchmark results still put nVidia Quadro's at the
top - but maybe that is for the same reason - experienced Pro/E users shy
away from "the competition".? Who out there has good things to say about
running ATI products with Pro/E? The newish Quadro 2000, etc. has had some
issues with drivers. Is this simply an issue linked to how Win7 deals w/
graphics now - or maybe Intel putting graphics processing on the CPU?



Thanks a lot for reading - and even more so if you respond!



-Nate


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[nrollins]

I got three replies. Basically, the consensus is that:



Yes, spend money on CPU first. And I was taught wrong; it was always like
that. There seems to be some disagreement about multi-core CPU's, however.
The statement was made "Pro/E is a not a multi thread software app."
Concluding that fewer cores w/ a higher clock speed is better than vice
versa. Now I need someone to teach me the difference between i3, i5 and i7.



Yes, nVidia pro class cards are allegedly better due to better, more
advanced OpenGL support and superior drivers.



Hopefully this summary sparks some more discussion.



Thanks for your time and interest!



-Nate