Hardware Spec For SW-2007

[pgp001]

Our company will be updating from SW-2006 to 2007 when it is released later this year, I have tried to make our IT department aware of the fact that our three year old P3 computers are probably not really up to the job anymore.
They said if I can get a specification together of what I need then they will look into it.
Can anyone give me a brief rundown of the appropriate hardware that should run 2007 with ease, I do not want to spec a minimum requirement machine, but one which will have a bit in reserve so to speak.

We are also running PDM works on these PC's by the way.

Thanks
Phil

 

[Heckdogg]

try this link

http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/SystemRequirements.html?PID=252

SolidWorks 2006 SP3.1
Intel Xeon 2.8GHz 2GB Ram
NVIDIA Quadro FX3000

 

[StefanHamminga]

as long as you don't use more eye candy than in SW2006 the performance of SW2007 is very similar to SW2006, even a bit faster in some cases. You can turn on more eye candy though, so it's a bit depending on your users. My centrino laptop (pentium mobile 1600MHz / 1GB ram) runs it just fine.


Stefan Hamminga
EngIT Solutions
CSWP/Mechanical designer/AI student

 

[neilc78]

If I were you I'd wait for a couple of months after the 2007 SP0 release, until they get to Sp3 or SP4 before I'd upgrade. There are bound to be problems with the earlier SP's and you won't know if they are SW problems or PC hardware problems. I doubt the PC spec will vary much from release to release.

 

[kcarpenter]

If I were you I'd wait on those specs until the new Intel Conroe (Core 2 Duo) is released. All the initial tests show it beating AMD FX CPUs.

Kevin Carpenter
CAD Systems Specialist
Invacare Corp.

 

[dezignstuff]

If you keep waiting for the next great thing, you'll never get anything.

Here's a recommendation (without any idea what kinds of designs you work with):

- core duo (intel) or AMD FX 60 (big bucks dual core) or Athlon 4800+ (dual core)
- 1 Gb ram min, depending on what you're doing maybe more
- 10000 rpm hdd
- nVidia 1400 video card or better

Dell is obviously a good choice, but you can only get Intel from them. They have recently purchased Alienware, though, so you might get the same service deals from Alienware, who can set you up with AMD. The best bang for the buck with AMD is Xi Computers.

Dual core brings more benefits than people are mentioning. I have an AMD fx57 (single core) sitting next to an Athlon 4800+ (dual core), and on some things the difference is amazing (dual core faster). Single core is still faster at certain things.

Anyway, good luck.

 

[kcarpenter]

It's not like he's going to have to wait until next year to see Intel's new chip. It should be close to the time SW2K7 gets released.

What I'm trying to say is I wouldn't get all worked up over specs until he's close to getting the upgrade and then he should start shopping for hardware. He could spec. out an AMD now which would be great, but he could do better if he were to sit tight until he's truly ready for it.

The specs you given are very good, the only thing I would concider upping is the memory to 2GB. min. (but of course you've alreadys said more based on what he's doing).

Kevin Carpenter
CAD Systems Specialist
Invacare Corp.

 

[StefanHamminga]

I would recommend against the FX 1400, it currently is surpassed by the FX 1500, a card with twice the amount of RAM and seems to be a very good performer! (I have it's bigger brother, the FX 3500 and it is definetly a good improvement over a FX 1400). The FX 1500 comes in at about the same price.

While AMD was the brand of choice for SW, the newer core2 cpu's seem to be a vast improvement over the Athlon64, but then again, nobody seems to have done any exhaustive stability testing yet...

If I were you I'd stick to proven hardware, eg:

AMD Athlon64 X2 (as fast as you can afford, a 1MB/core cache CPU is better)

2x 1GB low latency ram (I have a Corsair TWINX2048-3500LLPRO set)

Proper Socket 939 mainboard (I've had several, the DFI CFX3200-DR is by far the most stable)

Quadro FX 1500 256MB (the 256MB ram will allow you to handle much larger or more detailed assemblies)

2x WD Raptor GD740ADFD series drive, in RAID 1 setup.


Stefan Hamminga
EngIT Solutions
CSWP/Mechanical designer/AI student

 

[bloodclot]

My new Dell purchase looks like this:

Dell Precision 670
3.6 Xeon processor (dual capable)
3 Gig RAM
Nvidia GeForce FX3450
160 HD (7200 rpm)

About $2700 with our Dell discount

This will be our second system like this and with SW2006 it is absolutely great. Should be no differnt with 2007. We are also running DBWorks on these machines.

Hope this helps,
Bloodclot

What do you see when the Pillsbury Dough Boy bends over?

Doughnuts