# Computers System For Cad/cam



## brav65 (Aug 17, 2015)

Hi Guys I have to get a new Windows Machine to run Dolphin CAD/CAM on.  I have an iMac as my primary desktop machine.  I also have an old XP machine to run Mach3 for my CNC router.  I don't want to waist money on more machine than I need, but I also want to make sure I get a machine that can handle the CAD/CAM environment without glitches, and crashes.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Please keep in mind that I am computer literate, but not an expert.

Thanks,

Brooks


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## juiceclone (Aug 17, 2015)

Hi
the simple ans is check with Dolphin/manual and see what the minimum requirements are and make sure you exceed that.  In general Cad programs don't draw excessively on comp resources, though some do require a good video card/resolution.  ;>)


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## jererp (Aug 17, 2015)

I went to a computer store that sold used equipment and picked up a desktop with a separate video card in it that was used for gaming.  Runs solidworks really well. Like Juiceclone said, the video card is what is most important.  If buying a desktop, make sure there is room for a video card. I had a laptop on loan from a company I was doing design work for, and it didn't run solidworks nearly as well.


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## RJSakowski (Aug 17, 2015)

+1 on what juiceclone said.

SolidWorks can be a real resource hog.  You can adjust performance to put less of a drain on your system resources but an anemic computer will slow down the performance, particularly when rendering large and complex parts and assemblies.  Minimally, the video card must be open GL capable.  Ideally, you will have 1 GB of video ram or more.  

Good gaming computers have different requirements than drafting work stations, particularly in the video area.  A high end graphics card for a CAD workstation can run into the thousands of dollars.  One recommendation would be to install a solid state drive.  It greatly speeds up disk read/writes which will occur when ram gets overloaded.  The company that I last worked for had a rule that we not select laptops if we were using SolidWorks because our laptops were encrypted for security purposes and the encryption process would slow down performance.  I elected to go with a laptop but chose an laptop with a solid state drive and had no problems with slowdowns.

Previously, I had used a Dell Precision 90 which had always served me well.

For my home desktop,  _chose _an HPE 410 specifically for CAD performance.  I experienced slowdowns with my 6 GB ram at times until I upgraded to to 12GB.  (However, I tend to have multiple apps open at once.)  I use Windows 7 Ultimate currently but have had no problem with XP in the past.

SprutCAM 7 would black out the screen unexpectedly until I went to a lower performance setting for the rendering.  When running simulations, my computer will issue  unusually high processor usage warnings.

One consideration for CAD is to get the largest practical screen. zooming in and out to observe fine detail can be a real pain.  This is particularly true for laptops.  I never went with smaller than a 17" screen.  Carrying it on a plane was an issue but it gave adequate performance.  For a desktop, I use a 24" screen and wish it was bigger.

Bob


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## brav65 (Aug 17, 2015)

Thanks for the recommendations guys.


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## countryguy (Aug 17, 2015)

For the recent DolphinCAD/CAM PArtmaster versions over V12-  XP will no longer run the Simulator that they bundle with their package.  No fix that I know of on XP either.  So OS wise-  I have used Win 7, 8 and 8.1 on Dolphin w/ no issues.    From a computer standpoint-  I would not go lower than a core i5 class.   I run that just fine.  So does my really older Dell inspiron lappy - IT is a Core 2 Duo (2009ish?).   It's noticeably slower at times when on CAD, CAM and a bunch of drawings open.   The memory is 8Gb on 1 and 4Gb on another.  
I also STOP unwanted services and 'junk' from running.    I Load Spybot and AVG to keep the bloat and Virus crap off.   To Tune:  google on top 5 windows tuning tips.  Adjust the swap file space  and/or use the high speed USB drives.  

My 3cents.  Hope you have a great week everyone.
CG.


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## GSPatton (Aug 19, 2015)

Don't overlook refurbished machines on Newegg or Tigerdirect.  You can save a couple hundred easy.


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## brav65 (Aug 19, 2015)

I may spend the money and get a workstation. My son does some gaming and needs a computer for school work as well, so I can trick myself into justifying the expenditure.


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## jererp (Aug 19, 2015)

Make sure that the CAD program will run on the operating system that comes with your workstation. A few years ago I was going to buy a new machine with windows 8, but Solid works would not run on it at the time. So I bought a used machine with Windows 7 pro. I assume they are peddling Windows 10 on new machines. Do your homework on system requirements.


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## Boswell (Sep 2, 2015)

RAM is probably one thing that is often overlooked. There can be a huge difference in the "Minimum" RAM for a CAD application and the "best" amount of RAM. Generally more is better. I know know anything specific about Dolphin CAD/CAM.


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