Improving system performance

[Arcadia]

I was hoping to get some tips on upgrading some components to get better performance not knowing quite how Archicad uses the CPU and video card.

My current system is Vista 32bit, 3g DDR2, Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0ghz, Nvidea GeForce 8500GT 512mb.

My main complaint is how long it takes to update a layout when there are a lot of drawings on the layout and how long it takes to update 3D documents - particularly complex ones. Also the ability to do quicker renders or run a high res render plus have another instance of AC open and be doing other stuff as well would be good at times.

I don't think RAM is my problem as this doesn't seem to max out on my meter much. So I'm left with the CPU and graphics. Would a quad core improve AC speed? I've heard the lower clock speeds of a quad core may result in less performance for certain applications. Also will going to a high end graphics card help while rendering?

I've noticed that when I update a 3D doc neither of my cores max out so how can I pump more CPU power in? Rendering usually maxes both cores especially when I have another app running as well.

Thanks for any help. As mentioned this is purely Archicad/Lightworks speed I am after as my system is fine for everything else i do.

[Anonymous]

quad core will give you more speed when rendering but if the clock is lower than you could possibly have a decrease in speed on all other apects of archicad which uses other cores only from time to time.

changing graphic card will give u more performance in the 3D window an plan redraw (not rebuild) and NOT in rendering.

[Arcadia]

Thanks that's interesting. Since I can't get a quad core with a higher clock speed (at least that I am aware of of that is a reasonable price) I might be stuck with what I've got.

What difference would going to 64 bit windows make?

[Anonymous]

ac 12 is 32bit so there would be no gain.
anyway 64bit is not about speed. even if ac13 will have a 64 bit version (which i doubt) it won't be faster than the 32 bit version. If you want you can compare the 32/64 versions of 3dsmax

[henrypootel]

Getting 4-cores instead of 2 will give you a huge speed boost for generating 3D, rebuilding elevations etc..
Don't worry about the clock speed, as you will have twice as many cores which will more than make up for it.
While generating elevations, my Quad-2.66 takes just under half the time that another machine here with a Duo-3.0 does to do the same thing.
It'll also help your multitasking too, although I would advise that you get some more RAM, and upgrade to Vista x64 so you can use more than 4Gb(ArchiCAD can use max 4Gb, but if you want to run other apps along with it, they will use the rest).

[Anonymous]

"Arcadia" wrote:
Thanks that's interesting. Since I can't get a quad core with a higher clock speed (at least that I am aware of of that is a reasonable price) I might be stuck with what I've got.

....quote]

The i7 processor line permits "overclocking" by users (the system clock in not locked) as long as internal processor monitors show the cores are within defined operational temperature bounds. Outside those bounds, the processor slows down until temperature returns within prescribed limits. See Intel site for technical details on i7. There are improvements associated with i7 systems: the 1.65v maximum that its memory can (properly) run; how memory channels operate; and the "front side bus" (FSB) is replaced by QuickConnect (tm).
Cheers too,
Didrik

[Arcadia]

I wouldn't have a clue how to overclock a CPU. I reckon I will start by getting a quad core and see what improvement I get. Thanks for the info.

[Anonymous]

In the war of (minor?) features, it can explain why non-Dell buyers, perhaps, ocasionally see a particular processor advertised to run at a "faster speed" than the apparently same processor in a competing system. I have no hands-on experience with the i7 so I do not know how the user accesses this capability or whether it's easy.