What is the ULTIMATE AC PC Computer?

[Anonymous]

I am doing the research as we speak to upgrade to the ULTIMATE computer for ArchiCAD + PlotMaker on a Windows PC. I have been reading a number of posts within the Hardware section - very informative.

I would like to have your opinions on what would be the ULTIMATE dedicated system for ArchiCAD + PlotMaker. I will network it to my current PC and have all other software; Word, Outlook, Excel, etc remain on it. I am hoping to need to purchase a seat belt and helmut as well because I am looking for some very serious speed in both 2D + 3D .

I am $ conscious, however, I am quite willing to go for a top end Graphics Card for around $700au as opposed to $300au as I think the extra speed in the long run will outway the initial cost. This rule of thumb applies for virtually all items.

The nVidia GeForce FX 5900 Ultra or nVidia GeForce FX 5950 Ultra are front runners for the Graphics card. Any thoughts on these?

My technitian wants to know -
How crutial is H/D access speed i.e. - time it takes to read/write to H/D when generationg Sec/Elevations, 3D models etc?

KEYBOARD BONUS
Just a note to mention that I have always maintained that CAD users should have the numeric keypad on the left hand side of the keyboard so that you don't have to reach across sideways to input with the left hand or take the right hand off the mouse/trackball. Check out the Logitech web site at- http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/AU/EN,CRID=1,CONTENTID=7321
... and see one of the most stunning keyboards on the market - with the Detached MediaPad™ (numeric pad+) to top it off that can be placed anywhere, including the LEFT HAND end of the keyboard. Sensational!!!

Look forward to your responses.
PS - After final purchase, install and a bit of hands on work, I will post a review on the end product for others to note.

[Anonymous]

The nVidia GeForce FX 5900 Ultra or nVidia GeForce FX 5950 Ultra are front runners for the Graphics card. Any thoughts on these?

My technitian wants to know -
How crutial is H/D access speed i.e. - time it takes to read/write to H/D when generationg Sec/Elevations, 3D models etc?


Hi there,
instead of getting GeForce FX 5900 Ultra or nVidia GeForce FX 5950 Ultra,
i would advise to go for ati's 9800xt.
as i just shifted from ti4200 to 9800xt.
and the result, SUPERB in 2D and 3D
although it's rather pricey.

as for your HDD, get yourself 4 hddrive running at raid 0/1 for each pair.
for eg: 2 x 120gb@8mb buffer running at Raid 0
2 x 120gb@8mb buffer running at Raid 1
so that you will have ultimate speed, while backing up all your files!

hope these help!

[stefan]

Mayb no help, but to me the ultimate computer is the one that is released next year, running the programs from last year...

I'm afraid that any new computer won't be fast enough once you drop enough CAD objects onto it.

---

That said, I read everywhere that ATI Radeon cards beat the nVidia cards these days, but both should be good. As long as you can afford a good OpenGL-card, ArchiCAD will love it.

And then as much RAM as possible. Start with 1 GB.

A dual 3 GHz will be nice (it won't improve ArchiCAD, but it'll improve using more then one application at the same time, e.g. Plotmaker and ArchiCAD).

HD/access? When loading models & libraries this will have a big effect, but during work? Maybe the caching will work smoother, but RAM-speed & size will have a bigger impact on program speed.

P.S. I run ArchiCAD 8.1 on a P3 600 MHz with 256 MB RAM on Windows XP. Not quite an ArchiCAD-PC 🙂 but at least it runs.

[Anonymous]

Stephan,

I agree with your assessments. Processor speed & RAM (up to a point) matter most. The video card is a much bigger deal now with OpenGL navigation in 3D.

I have found that hard drive speed makes almost no appreciable difference. I don't think ArchiCAD spends much time accessing the drive compared to all the other stuff it's doing.

[JCovarrubias]

Dell Inspiron XPS

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1526276,00.asp

1920x1200 .... imagine how small the text would be though , but so sharp