Hardware recommendations

[FIRFIRIKIS]

maybe i should try another gpu (if some friend can give me a quadro) to see what happens...
thank u so much for your comments!

[thomthom]

maybe i should try another gpu (if some friend can give me a quadro) to see what happens...
thank u so much for your comments!

I have Quadro FX 3800 (I've had 3500, 3700) and I still see degrading with such models.

[Brodie]

I'd agree with thomthom. GPU helps some, but with sketchup it won't help much.

-Brodie

[FIRFIRIKIS]

ok!!! but if a SU-user (like me) wants to upgrade his gpu what's your advice???
someone talked about the fx1800 and the fx3800.
i cannot understand the diffs of opengl support and opengl hardware... is that true that the opengl hardware of the quadros makes the difference in SU?

[Brodie]

ok!!! but if a SU-user (like me) wants to upgrade his gpu what's your advice???
someone talked about the fx1800 and the fx3800.
i cannot understand the diffs of opengl support and opengl hardware... is that true that the opengl hardware of the quadros makes the difference in SU?

You can take a look at this website. It was a test done awhile back (within the past year or so) testing various graphics cards and how they respond within viewports. Be sure and read his conclusions at the bottom.
http://www.cgarchitect.com/news/Reviews/Review076_1.asp

The long and short of it is that although you can pretty well chart on a linear graph how well a graphics card is going to do in a traditional gpu test like cinebench based on it's price and how new the card is, that gets thrown out the window when it comes to viewports. With the SU viewport in particular, what difference there is between cards is very small. My conclusion is that if you use your computer for anything besides SU, you're probably best off basing your card choice on that other function. As long as you get a card that doesn't cause bugs (like ATI cards used to), then you'll be fine.

As for opengl, I think the current version that most cards are supporting is like 4.x or something whereas SU only uses 1.5, as I recall. Point being, if you find a card made within the past 5 years or so, you'll be fine.

-Brodie

[takesh h]

did i reach the limits of su?

I often build SU models like 50-60MB. My PC, although it is 64bit, doesn't even have separate graphic card. It's "on chip".
When I navigate within models like it, I always turn off shadows and sometimes even turn off "use sun for shading" option.
This trick helps me a lot most of the time, however when that is not enough, I turn off textures in "Face Style" (i.e., checking "shaded" or "hidden lines"). BTW I'm totally content with my PC.

[Gaieus]

When modelling (and navigating), do not use shadows at all. They are "enough" when you want to make your final presentation (whatever output)..

Use layers to hide parts of the model you are not working on. (Remember; only put grouped geometry/components on layers other than Layer 0).

Finally, there are a couple of plugins that can use sort of "proxy" components (degraded versions of your components). There is TIG's Matrix Proximity plugin that (once set up) will swap three versions of your components depending on scenes or Fredo's Ghost Component plugin for instance.

In this model of mine I also had some 1.2-1.3 million edges and over 300,000 faces but I made it on a single core (2.7 GHz) machine with a video card (Ati X550 or what, I think) that had such a poor support that in the OpenGL settings I did not even have antialiasing options (but at least did not give errors). The whole file is smaller than 7 Mb however (extensive use of components of course).

[sketch3d.de]

ok!!! but if a SU-user (like me) wants to upgrade his gpu what's your advice???
...is that true that the opengl hardware of the quadros makes the difference in SU?

no, SU doesn't take advantage of a Quadro FX, go for a fast GeFroce as e.g. GTX 560Ti/570 or maybe 580 if affordable which is much faster than a Quadro FX for the same price.

The highest clocked Core i7-2600 CPU combined with a GeForce GTX580 is currently the fastest system on the market, neither a Xeon CPU nor a (paybale) Quadro FX will show any significant improvement for SU.

If speed with high poly count models is still an issue for you, you might want evaluate over-clocking the CPU if feasible, fo doing this improving the cooling system (better/bigger fan, water cooling) is often helpful.

hth,
Norbert

[modelhead]

Most people I know hit the SU performance wall the first day they open the box and there is a good reason. From that day forth if they want to be modelers, they find ways to make bigger models with less overhead. There are always new modeling methods and new tricks to push that old cpu/gpu further....and further. Look at your models, clean them up. If that doesn't work look at them again.

[solo]

Besides bad modeling (a noobie thing we all guilty of) most folk even experianced modelers do not know when to stop modeling. When is it finished?

[thomthom]

Besides bad modeling (a noobie thing we all guilty of) most folk even experianced modelers do not know when to stop modeling. When is it finished?

And scale - all to easy to get caught up in details when you pan,orbit and zoom around the model. Working out roughly what your camera positions will be is essential in order to know how much one needs to model.

[rock1]

What is the website where I can view this survey's results?

[seanheadrick]

i just got the Asus with the i7 processor, 2g nvidia graphics card and oodles of memory. Seems lighting fast to me

[jdadesignstudio]

Im running an Xi laptop (not sure if anyone has heard of them) and have been very happy with it. Although calling it a laptop is a bit of a quirk as its a big 17" and weighs a ton. It has a 2.83ghz quad core, 8gb ram, and an nvidia geforce 9800m gtx 1gb. It handles all of my models quite well and I have some that are multi-million face models. That being said, I do still use layers to isolate areas that I am currently working on to help performance. Also, if shadows are turned on it slows down considerably.

Thanks for the survey-hope it helps!

[Scooter-C]

I've been looking at the pcspecialist website and I've come up with the following spec for £1300. Is this good value for money? Will it give me a really fast computer capable of dealing with several intense programmes and the internet all running at the same time without any noticeable slowdown?
<SNIP>
[Your Spec list]
<SNIP>

I'm just so clueless about all this stuff.

======================================
I'm not clueless, but no expert. May I suggest going to TigerDirect.com or get their phone number.
They can put together a base system (or whole System) you can add to.

I've worked with them for 15+ years in building my own machines. I have not had any major problems in delivery or customer service. If any component doesn't work it is replaced. Even in these hard economical times I rely on their advice. I am totally new to SketchUp. I just started in the 3D world, but have been a Misc. Metals Detailer (Draftsman) for 29 years. My machines MUST work, period and significant downtime is not an option. I am on my 3rd Home Built machine (from Tiger) and each one has been an upgrade from the last, because of the component improvements.
I have absolutely no regrets or complaints.

Good luck and
Take Care,
Scooter

[sketch3d.de]

an interesting post how to speed up SU by using fast styles can be found at the official SU Blog.

Norbert

[danny]

Great thread, very informative.

I guess I just want to get my $0.02 in as far as my experience with SU and hardware. I'm an old fart that love to game at times and get into some Photoshop and Illustrator but love to create in 3D models in SU. So about a year ago I built a rig that would let me play and work when I needed to.

Granted I've experienced the glitches early on as I was using ATI cards at the time as a matter of fact I'm still using a ATI/AMD GPU setup to this day. I think since Catalyst 9.5 I have not experience any bugs or glitches in fact it's been very smooth for me. I may not run those mega file like you pro but I've had my share of almost mega file with very smooth navigations.

These are the specs of my old humble play/work rig...

MB: Asus POG Rampage II Extreme
CPU: Intel i7 920 D0 @ 4.2GHz
RAM: Corsair Dominator GT (12GB) 2065mhz
GPU: XFX ATI Radeon HD 6990, 4GB, DDR5 (UPDATED 12-11-11)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDC-2202B Blu-Ray
HD Primary: Western Digital VelciRaptor 300GB
HD Storage: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB (x4)
OS: Windows 7 64Bit, SketchUp 8 Pro
Monitors: Samsung 245T 24" (x3)

Since I game using Eyefinity technology here is a shot of SketchUp at a resolution of 5760x1200. Even at this resolution SU is very smooth.

Hope you guys like it and if you have any question fire away.

[Gaieus]

Wow, you definitely have space for new toolbars!

[irwanwr]

quite impressing arsenal list. heavy artillery.

[danny]

Gaieus@ Oh yeah! Three 24"s gives me a lot of room to work with. I really don't work at that resolution, I tend to have SU on the center while watching a movie on the left and surfing the Internet doing research, opening folders to the right monitor.

Thanks irwanwr, it was, wasn't it. I'm afraid that with the new crops of PC games recently my heavy artillery needed some air support so Santa's putting some very cool fire power under my Christmas coconut tree early this year.

I can't wait.

[Pg09]

Ok danny, if you don't mind i have completely unrelated questions.
Do you really live in Guam?
What do you do for a living? Something with SU or is it just a hobby?
How is the surf in Guam?

Please ignore my questions if they are too personal, just got curious a bit...

[danny]

Not at all my friend and yes I do live on Guam in the village of Santa Rita, born and raised. Presently I'm a happy caretaker for my mother. Before that I always worked with public relations agency as a graphic artist.

I discovered SU just before it was bought by Google so I'm a late bloomer. I was getting Adobe overload and when I stumbled on to SU and a whole on world opened up for me...I was hooked ever since, thank you Sketchup.

Because of my schedule I'm in hobby mode at the moment but the future is bright right!

Surfing is great, and your all invited.


Note: As a follow up to my specs, I just recently added an XFX Radeon HD 6990 4GB DDR5 to the mix. BF3 and Skyrim looks so awesome.

[Pg09]

Hey, thanks for the answer - i wasn't around earlier to read it.

I'm very jelly - must be an awesome place to live specially around xmas

Happy Festivus!

[irwanwr]

it also made me gave it a thought of moving to Guam.
i worked for advertising & printing shops here quite a while.
but never got a chance to save some to get those kind of arsenal.

[Sonder]

Now that is impressive!. I use a single 40" LED LCD monitor and thought that was pretty "bling". I need to step it up - maybe three 40" screens and a lounge chair!

[halroach]

Hi,

I'm looking to get a new desktop workstation for architectural design and rendering work. I considered getting a small render farm but I haven't a clue about programming or setting something like that up, and with my experience with vray for sketchup - it doesn't seem to support render nodes too well without bugs. So a single workstation it is, unless somebody has some better insights!?

I use the following programs:
sketchup - (of course!) multiple instances open - the more the merrier!
vray for sketchup
lumion3D (isn't too relevant with my current setup but would like to start working with it)
autocad
photoshop
3DSMAX rarely...
Might start using one of the GPU rendering software (wasn't relevant with my current setup)

so generally I need this computer to handle both live previews of what I'm working on and also for rendering as quickly as possible using multiple cores.

One optional example spec I came by is the dell XPS 8300 (around 1700$ not too expensive I think):
Intel Core i7 2600 (3.4ghz)
8GB 1333MHz DDR3
1.25GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 560
Windows 7 64bit Home premium
2TB 7200rpm HD

My questions:
1. For the above mentioned programs I use, will the Nvidia Geforce GTX 560 make me happy? maybe a different geforce would be better? I keep reading and hearing about the Nvidia Quadro's that are more expensive, slower in some instances and faster in others, but I haven't had a chance to see one in action with the programs I use. If a quadro were recommended, which would it be? price differences?

2. for a singular workstation, would there be any point in getting a different processor/dual processor from the Xeon family rather than an i7? I know they handle more memory, but aren't i7s the fastest these days? And would I need a special motherboard to get Xeons to work better than a single i7? How many cores can I get running on a dual processor setup, Would I need any special arrangement for that? I have no in house programmer on hand...

3. Motherboards!? they are rarely mentioned anywhere anymore. I imagine a motherboard would make a difference... Are there any general recommendations, or rules of thumb or magic numbers to look for?

4. Would it make a difference if I got Windows Professional vs the Home version? Would I need XP mode for any of the programs above?

5. Anything I should reconsider with the above specs that would really make a big improvement?

[Brodie]

Halroach,

Your example setup looks good to me. I'm using a Dell XPS as well and am quite happy with it (specs are in my sig below). It was the best PC available at the time without trying to do a dual cpu system (also I had no special GPU needs as you do with Lumion).

A few thoughts...

1. You might consider more memory for your system. 8 gb is good and you may start there with the option to get more later. However I find that it's not terribly uncommon for me to use up most of my memory if I have a couple things going like a render and photoshop or 3ds max and some video editing or that sort of thing.

2. Your HD. Consider how you'll back things up and how you'll eventually replace it. Having all of your resources on the same HD as your OS is a bit risky in my opinion. There are lots of options now with SSD's for the OS and a few programs and regular HD for data and such. My setup is this. I have mirrored 1tb drives in my PC but i don't really use them atm other than for the OS and programs. I have a NAS with mirrored 1TB drives with all my data so if a drive crashes there's no down time. I also have 2 external HD's. I'll back my data up to an external every month or so and then replace it with the other drive with is in a fire safe. So worst case scenario, if someone steals everything off of my desk or there's a huge fire, I lose about 1 month of data.

3. Dual xeons should make for a faster system but I don't see them so I'm guessing there's an issue there. Probably it's the fact that your cost would go up quite significantly. But if you need the fasted single computer you can get, look into it at least. Maybe post on Tomshardware.com and see if those folks know more about it.

-Brodie

[jdadesignstudio]

Halroach,

All of the things Brodie states are good advice, one company I have been very satisfied with in the past is Xi computer. I bought my current computer from them about 3 years ago and have been very happy with it. Also, they were very helpful with determining what I needed based on what type of work I do. I dont know if this is still the case, but when I bought mine it was much cheaper than Dell or HP and they do offer good customer support as well.

jon

[Sonder]

More memory is good. I have 16Gb and it is noticeable. I also have the same processer you are looking at. As for Dell, the only thing I can say is they are not what they used to be. I have had 6 dell machines fail just out of warranty in the last two years - both laptops and desktops. All failures were motherboard related. My Dells that date further back worked very well.

[valerostudio]

I just built a machine on HP with a 6 core i7, 12GB of RAM, and a 3GB NVIDIA card for less that $1,600. Shop around before buying the Dell.