Best PC Today for Mid-Size Firm - Processor, Video Card, Ram

[Anonymous]

Starting with 4 new PCs right away, we need to replace about 60 workstations in May. I would appreciate recommendations for optimum configuration: processor speed, video card size, how much ram. (Macs have been eliminated as an option so please, no further comments.)

I know virtually nothing about PCs, but our IT Manager would like to know what's best for ArchiCAD 10/11; maybe one with enough ram for Cinema 4D & Maxwell Render.

What's hot on the market? What are you buying? What's coming out in the next few months?

Thanks,

[Andy Thomson]

http://architosh.com/news/2006-08/2006a0828_dell-v-macpro.html

You said not macs, but even running windows, these will still kick the crap out of Dell. Plus, like 10% of the IT overhead.

If they insist on PC, look at the same hardware that's in a mac, as indicated in this article...Shuttles are still a nice space saving thing....

A

[Anonymous]

Andy, do you really think I would give up on Macs without a fight? It's 2 of us switching vs. the whole office; the PC system is well-managed, and the difficulty of autocad users relearning the keyboard...

Thanks for the link, great comparison, lots of good info; I've sent it to the IT manager.

Mabe

[Aussie John]

looks like you can have your cake and eat it too. Buy four Macpros, run 1or 2 as macOS with parallels windows and rest as bootable PC. See how they settle in.

[Anonymous]

Mabe wrote:
...and the difficulty of autocad users relearning the keyboard...

So plug in a Windows keyboard. With Boot Camp installed a MacPro is just a really good PC in a cool box (and cheaper than the equivalent Dell).

[Andy Thomson]

Matthew wrote:
With Boot Camp installed a MacPro is just a really good PC in a cool box (and cheaper than the equivalent Dell).

Exactly. Then the PC guys can even keep getting their worms and viruses as they are accustomed to. It must be said, if you have not booted windows on a mac and used it as if it were a PC (which it then is, in fact) - you really can't compare. You need to try this out. I can ask Apple to lend you a few workstations if BAR would be interested in checking this out on the floor...


😉

[Anonymous]

andyro wrote:
You need to try this out. I can ask Apple to lend you a few workstations if BAR would be interested in checking this out on the floor...

oooh.....this would be a great solution. I have tried every angle, this could be compelling. If you really think Apple would do this, we need to chat (or skype?)

...With 30" Cinema displays?

Mabe

[Anonymous]

Well.... if you end up going with a pc, this is what i am about to order, having 6 already very similar systems (the old Core 2s). I did a fair bit of research and found this to be the best "sweet spot" with cost v price. Of course everyone has a different opinion, particularly on the video card (being a workstation card) and amount of ram. But this video card kicks arse in 3d, and i can have several processor/ram demanding programs open with the dual core and 4gb of ram working without any slow down. Ram is also very good for rendering in programs outside of ArchiCAD. Note ArchiCAD can only use 2gb (currently) so don't bother going over this unless you plan to have other things open, which i think is almost always the case.

PS, with this spec i never hear a complaint from any of the operators, except when the server slows down (my next port of call).

Case : mAtx mini tower with 400w power supply (Macron 385 Black)
Fdd : Nil
Hdd : 80g SATAII, 8m cache, 7200rpm (Seagate)
Cpu : Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4Ghz, 2m l2 on-die cache, 1066 Mhz fsb,
socket 775, EM64T & XD (Intel)
Motherboard : Intel DG965 chipset, 1s / 1p / 6usb2 port with 4 x SATA, udma & fdd controller on board (SSCK Intel)
Memory : 4 x 1024m ddr2-533 PC-4200 (Kingston)
Video card : 256m PCIe 16X graphic accelerator (nVidia Quadtro FX1500 Leadtek)
Monitor: Dual 17" Monitor. That widescreen 24" (and up) is still a little to pricey, hopefully the price will drop a little more...

[Laszlo Nagy]

Mark wrote:
Well.... if you end up going with a pc, this is what i am about to order, having 6 already very similar systems (the old Core 2s). I did a fair bit of research and found this to be the best "sweet spot" with cost v price. Of course everyone has a different opinion, particularly on the video card (being a workstation card) and amount of ram. But this video card kicks ar..se in 3d, and i can have several processor/ram demanding programs open with the dual core and 4gb of ram working without any slow down. Ram is also very good for rendering in programs outside of ArchiCAD. Note ArchiCAD can only use 2gb (currently) so don't bother going over this unless you plan to have other things open, which i think is almost always the case.

PS, with this spec i never hear a complaint from any of the operators, except when the server slows down (my next port of call).

Case : mAtx mini tower with 400w power supply (Macron 385 Black)
Fdd : Nil
Hdd : 80g SATAII, 8m cache, 7200rpm (Seagate)
Cpu : Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4Ghz, 2m l2 on-die cache, 1066 Mhz fsb,
socket 775, EM64T & XD (Intel)
Motherboard : Intel DG965 chipset, 1s / 1p / 6usb2 port with 4 x SATA, udma & fdd controller on board (SSCK Intel)
Memory : 4 x 1024m ddr2-533 PC-4200 (Kingston)
Video card : 256m PCIe 16X graphic accelerator (nVidia Quadtro FX1500 Leadtek)
Monitor: Dual 17" Monitor. That widescreen 24" (and up) is still a little to pricey, hopefully the price will drop a little more...

Why such a small Hard Drive?
I would understand it in case of a notebook, but with a desktop, 300-500 GB would be much more appropriate.
Speaking of Hard Drives: with Serial ATA hard drives, there is a new technology you will hear more about: it is called NCQ. It stands for Native Command Queuing. If the given hard drive supports it, it means it can optimize in which order read and write operations should be performed. This leads to increased performance because the hard drive's head does not have to move as much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Command_Queuing

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your input and to Andy for not heeding my warning about macs. Our IT Manager is hammering out the specs and negotiating trial boxes with the local apple and pc reps. I will post the decision which is out of my hands. Regardless of the outcome, I feel that all platforms will have been thoroughly evaluated.

Mabe