Graphics Card

[jlbmech]

I'm working on a Solid Edge v20 and having performance issues with it. We have all of our drawings on our server, we work off of our server and our SE license is a server license. We are trying to correct our performance issues, so we are looking at our graphics cards. I'm looking for a list of graphics cards that work well with SE, or some recomendations for one.

Thanks

SE v20 SP7 WinXP SP2

 

[KENAT]

Have you looked on their website, they used to list some there, though it tended to be minimum specs as I recall.

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[jlbmech]

Yea, I've looked at their website. They only list requirements, but not a specific graphics card. Before Siemens bought them they used to have a list of cards and how well they performed, but no longer.

SE v20 SP7 WinXP SP2

 

[PatCouture]

I'm using a Quadro FX1700 and it's pretty good for us. Our biggest assemblies doesn't extend beyond 3000 parts in which there is approx 500 different parts.

Patrick

 

[RSRCHSR]

I'd like to hear what works as well. We've upgraded to ST2 and are looking at new workstations now. Always nice to hear what works first hand

 

[Gemnoc]

Hi,

We have all of our drawings on our server, we work off of our server

You don't explain exactly what your performance issues are.

If you're talking graphics issues, as others have said, go with Nvidia Quadro cards. Depending on your work and budget, current models are FX380 (cheaper 256MB VRAM), FX580 (512MB VRAM) and FX1700/FX1800 are better but more expensive. I've read that going over an FX1700 gives a marginal gain in performance and therefore difficult to justify.

-----

Other performance issues may be caused by the speed of your network, the number of workstations connected to it...

Are your computers connected to the network through 1000-BaseT (1Gigabit) network cards, cable and switch? 1Gigabit amounts to 125MB/sec, divide that by the number of people working simultaneously...

At my previous job, our connexion to the network was only 100-BaseT, which means 12.5MB/s speed read/write. Just saving a 50MB assembly was such a pain (and I have a policy of saving often) that I ended working locally and saving back the files to the server at the end of the day.

 

[jlbmech]

Gemnoc,
Our performance issues are extremely slow part assembly (bringing a part into an assembly and locating it). Our large assemblies do not turn around they chop around, and other funny things that seem to point to graphics issues. Currently we are using FX1500 cards with the latest drivers.


SE v20 SP7 WinXP SP2

 

[Gemnoc]

Yea, I've looked at their website. They only list requirements, but not a specific graphics card.

Sure they do:

http://support.ugs.com/online_libra...pP&v1=00010&v2=00015&v3=7&v4=00192&status=ics

 

[jlbmech]

Surely this can't be right though. I'm running on XP PRO (32-bit) SP3 and according to the list there is only one card that they have tested? Surely not....

SE v20 SP7 WinXP SP2

 

[Gemnoc]

Ouch, if you already have FX1500 cards, there's a problem. It shouldn't do that, it's good hardware... :-\

Back when we were on subscription and I had access to the UGS forums, some knowledgeable people used to say that using the latest drivers didn't give the best performance.

Maybe check on the listing I gave you for FX 1500 drivers that are certified to meet expectations. I see 84.26 (WinXP Pro SP3), 91.65 (XP SP2)... Those are old.

 

[beachcomber]

What size assemblies do you have, in number of parts?
Do you still have problems if you hide most of your parts?

bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.

Where would we be without sat-nav?

 

[ProDarwin]

My work setup:

P4 3ghz Dual Core
2 gb ram
Quadro FX 3450/4000SDI


Its pretty crappy. The network makes it even more crappy. My home computer with a gaming video card is like 10x faster. Talking to our former IT guy, the CAD cards aren't worth the insane premium over a decent gaming card. The speeds are similar but the price difference is huge.

Home pc:

E8400 (3.0Ghz Core 2 Duo)
8 gigs ram
GTX 275
9600GT

 

[jlbmech]

Beachcomber,

The assemblies we do probably average out to about 600-700 parts per assembly. We do go as high as 1400-1600 parts per assembly and as low as 70-200 parts per assembly. As for hiding some of the assembly; it helps but it still runs extremely slow. I must point out that in our assemblies that run in the area of 70-200 parts we don't usually have issues with them. Our main problems are with the assemblies from the 600 part range and up.

SE v20 SP7 WinXP SP2

 

[beachcomber]

I would consider all those to be small assemblies, and the graphics card should cope easily.
My last job had 256MB FX 1500's or 1700's and we had assemblies far bigger.
OK they were not quick but they coped OK.
Have you got textures on etc?
Are the parts very complex?
Current work machine has 256MB FX3500, other places I worked had 768MB FX4600 - same as I have at home.
And the pro cards do make a difference, but the system has to be balanced.
In ProDarwins post it's easy to see where the better performance is coming from.


bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.

Where would we be without sat-nav?

 

[ProDarwin]

I bet the pro cards make a difference over a comparable consumer card. But for the same price as just a pro card (Quadro FX 4000 = almost $600), you can the PC I use at home which blows this weak setup out of the water.

If I had a budget of XXX to spend on a CAD PC I'd build a pc with a powerhouse processor, ram, and a gaming card. The only way I'd dump the $ on a CAD card is if money was no object.

 

[fun4sparkie]

Most of the people I work with run the Quadro FX 4600/4800.
We started on Quadro FX1700 and switched to FX4600. We do use large assemblies (5000-40,000 parts easy) and the FX1700 wasn't working for us at all.

We started to get some issues with the graphics being choppy. Weird issues with SE. I found out it was the driver for the 3d connection mouse that was the problem. So, it may not be a graphics problem, but that is where you are seeing the problem. Do you use a 3d mouse? Make sure you are using a driver that works with SE.

Jamie
HP xw8600, Xeon Quad Core
64-bit 8gb Ram
Quadro FX5800

 

[jlbmech]

Fun4sparkie,

We are currently using a 3dconnexion "Space Pilot". So my next question is where can I go to see what driver works best with SE v20?

SE v20 SP7 WinXP SP2

 

[KENAT]

So, it seems it may be more of a general 'large assy' issue than graphics card specific.

There have been quite a few threads about working with large assy's, take a look. There are hardware aspects and things within SE you can do to improve things.

We (mainly a former colleague) did a lot of work on this and got some help from Siemans (or was it still UGS) at the time.

Going to a faster network connection helped a little.

More RAM, and some variation of the 3GB switch, even better.

My suggestion is "MORE RAM".

We now have a couple of machines set up 64bit with 16GB or so of RAM. They handle the large assy's a lot better, however, they are still a little crash happy, at least the one I use most. Not sure it's the PC 64bit set up or size assy's or what but it can be annoying.

I'm still on V19 too.

As regards CAD cards V gaming cards, according to the good folks at then UGS at the 2006 PLM world. They may be virtually the same hardware. However, the CAD cards are, or should be, extensively tested and certified etc. This is what you are paying for. Or something like that.

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[beachcomber]

jlb,
What is the rest of your computer spec?
I would tend to agree with Kenat - it sounds more like a general issue rather than just graphics card.

bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.

Where would we be without sat-nav?

 

[PatCouture]

jlbmech

I'm using a Space pilot too and I didn't find any ressources that can give advice on which driver to use.

I'm using 3Dx Ware
Release version 3.7.12
(Driver Version 6.7.11)
Firmware Version 3.12

I don't see any issue but I don't work with such big assemblies.

Win XP Pro SP3
Intel core 2 duo E8400
4 gig of ram
NVidia Quadro FX1700

Cheers

Patrick