I’m looking into the specs required for a PC dedicated for 3d modeling with intent to 3d print. I will be using Solidworks or AutoCAD. The processor and ram requirements are pretty easy but what about video cards? Any tips from those with experience with this software?
I know what the general requirements are based on the software websites but am looking for real world input for excellent realtime working and rendering performance.
Any gaming card will do, unless you want to use vertex shaders in SolidWorks (“Realview”). I use it every day without. AutoCAD also runs fine on gaming hardware, though I haven’t used it in so long I don’t know what features may now require a CAD-specific video card. If you want all the features, the low end Quadro (NOT NVS) from the current generation will easily handle anything up to machine tool models, as far as geometric complexity is concerned. I have a 5 year old Quadro 530 that can handle a vertcal mill, along with the cabinet, the controls enclosure, chip conveyors and two fixtures. SolidWorks will be cpu-limited long before the graphics are a bottleck. Another example is modeling the Prusa i2 on my 7 year old laptop’s GeForce 7300. Graphics were fine, but the old Core2duo and the HD choke.
Really you just need a modest game box, unless you might someday get into graphic artistry or something else requiring enormous textures or intense vertex processing. Spend your money on cpu, ram, and an SSD.
Edit: Charles Culp on the forums hosted by SolidWorks used to regularly publish a list of recommended hardware. I believe those forums can be read even without a login. Look that up if you’d like specific recommendations. Anna Wood also has her head screwed on tight when it comes to hardware for SolidWorks.
I use solidworks on a 1.6ghz netbook. As long as my files don’t get too large, it works like a charm.
Make sure you have openGL support on the graphics card.
I use Solidworks on a daily basis and I’ve found that, for most medium-complexity parts and assemblies, all it needs is a single, fast CPU core (so ideally a dual-core with turbo), any modern entry-level GPU (an Intel HD4000 will take you a long way) and 4GB Ram at most. A faster processor will make more complex actions faster (like creating huge patterns or doing simulation runs), more RAM and a mid-spec ($100) GPU is only required if you deal with really complex assemblies. Realview works like a charm on any non-professional GPU as well if you know how to do some googling.
Ram, and gpu are most important. I shut real view off anyhow. Like @Thomas_Sanladerer says, 2 cores is more than enough for modeling, only the fea uses multi core anyhow.
2 cores is enough for SolidWorks, agreed. Even though more and more of it is able to use more than 1. More cores are cheap though, and handy for those times when you want to do more than use SolidWorks.
@Thomas_Sanladerer , I thought the manufacturers had defeated the hacks that allow the workstation card drivers to run on consumer cards. Oh well. I never cared enough about Realview to bother keeping track. Or is there a way now to make SolidWorks not care about drivers?
@Eric_Moy , did you mean to say cpu is important instead of gpu?
@Andrew_Bougie , are you sure you need a box just for CAD?
Thanks for all the suggestions. @Dale_Dunn , it will not be used just for CAD. I’ve been looking to purchase/build a new PC for a while and will be using it for many other things such as video editing, but wanted to get a feel for the specs required if I were to just run a 3D CAD program. It sounds like a machine that can handle modern gaming and HD video editing would breeze through most 3D CAD tasks?
Also, I’m seeing more SolidWorks mentions than AutoCAD. SolidWorks is better? For what reasons?
Yes, any game box or video editing machine (video editing machine with 3D-accelerated card, of course) will run CAD fine these days.
SolidWorks gets more mentions, I think, because it is considered superior for mechanical design. AutoCAD has solid modeling ability, but not parametric.
@Eric_Moy Solidworks rarely uses more than one core - the two intense tasks that i found make use of many cores are meshing for FEM (two cores, the actual solver runs on only one core) and Photoview rendering (all cores). Did i miss any tasks that use more than that? I think it’s quite sad overall, we’ve had multi-core processors for many years now, yet i get the best performance when i shut down two or three of my i5-3570K’s cores and overclock the remaining core(s), like back in the dark ages of the Pentium4…
@Dale_Dunn No special drivers required. The RealHack enables realview on any GPU, i believe it’s just a registry hack that’s being applied.
Thanks for the info on the RealHack. I’ll look it up, just to see what it is.
SolidWorks drawings have been multithreaded (1 per drawing view) since 2008, I think. Not very relevant to 3D printing, just saying.
@Dale_Dunn1 I meant gpu. I have an ok computer at home with a 20 dollar graphics card, and the images get gummed up but my cpu does ok.
@Thomas_Sanladerer Yeah, we asked the rep why our processors never pegged out on our 4 core i7 stations and he admitted that normal modeling didn’t really use more than a single thread. At least I shut off hyper threading. Never tried overclocking a core, I think IT would have a fit.
@Dale_Dunn I didn’t realize that drawings used multiple cores, good to know
Oh, $20 graphics. That could be a problem.
Well, it depend on what kind of $20 graphics card we’re talking about. My laptop has both a Intel HD4000 and a Nvidia GT620M, which i’d say both perform well enough for anything that i’d want to throw at my printer (well, even a printer’s CAD file itself is fluid enough). Intel has a notorious reputation for buggy drivers, and even though it works fine in SW2013, i’ve seen some serious slowdowns in SW2012 and older.
So, my point is you don’t need a $200 gaming graphics card for Solidworks. A $50 one will do just fine, and if you get an Intel CPU with the HD4000 or HD4500, you’ll probably even get along with that.
@Thomas_Sanladerer just double check it has openGL support and you are golden.
@Camerin_hahn i don’t know, are there even modern cards that don’t support OpenGL?
Maybe Matrox, or something with a VIA chip? S3? I’d stick with ATI or Nvidia, or the previously mentioned Intel graphics at rock bottom.
@Thomas_Sanladerer If you are in the 20 dollar range there are still some hold overs.