Cadalyst - May 2008 - (Page 40)

mcadmodeling By Mike Hudspeth, IDSA Fight for Your Hardware Rights Getting the proper tools are well worth the war. ost of us know the frustration of working for a company whose IT department manages the computer hardware. These people work hard to keep everyone up and running. They can be your best friends if you have a problem. But sometimes they can be quite the opposite. To make their job easier, they will frequently mandate a corporate-standard computer for everybody. That means they always know what to expect when something breaks. Unfortunately, 3D modeling professionals tend to need more digital horsepower than the standard computer provides. Sometimes, they need a lot more. So, what do you do? You fight for what you need. Of course, if you’re going to fight, you need to know what you actually want. Let’s look at some equipment that is worth fighting the good fight. M Where to Start You can’t get much more basic than the computer itself. It may sound obvious, but many people find it difficult to pay for a workstation-class computer when everyone else in the organization can work on something that is a fraction of the price. Why are workstations so much more? Simply put, they are better. They are configured to handle much more processing than your average run-of-the-mill number cruncher. They usually have more random access memory (RAM), bigger power supplies, more expansion slots, faster (and sometimes more) CPUs, etc. In short, they are more versatile. You can do more with them. While it’s true that you certainly can run most 3D modeling and engineering software on a lesser machine, you usually won’t see the throughput that you will using a workstation. You want a workstation. Now that we have the computer decision out of the way, let’s move on to something that will definitely make your life easier — memory. When it comes to RAM, more is most definitely better. Find out how much your computer can handle and then max it out! Everything you do will happen faster. You see, RAM is where the software you run resides while you’re using it. Today’s average computer comes with bags of RAM compared with those of the past, but most don’t come with enough to simultaneously run a 3D modeling program, one or more Microsoft Office applications, a graphics program, and an Internet browser — at least not at a speed that won’t leave you waiting for something to happen. (Here’s a helpful hint: Contact the software vendor from whom you buy your applications and ask what its RAM recommendations are. You can use that recommendation in your justification.) Figure 1. Unless you like wearing Coke-bottle glasses, you are going to want a huge monitor. It’s better on your eyes and much more impressive when a client comes by your office. Lookin’ Good! As an advocate of ergonomics, I must tell you that if you are going to do 3D modeling you need as large a monitor as you can get (figure 1). Don’t skimp here! Your eyes will thank you for it in the long run. You’ll want at least a 20” monitor. If you can get a bigger one, do it. (I am waiting for a 50” computer monitor!) Owning more desktop real estate has many advantages. You can run multiple programs at the same 3Dconnexion www.3dconnexion.com Desktop Factory www.desktopfactory.com NextEngine www.nextengine.com Wacom www.wacom.com 40 time and leave them peeking out from behind each other so you can call them up with just a click of your mouse. You also can cut and paste between two documents without having to switch back and forth. One reason you may not think of is panache. You know as well as I do that no matter your company’s size, you get the occasional visitor. When they walk through your place, you want to impress them. Big monitors do that — and how! It may seem silly, but impressing a client in even small ways can make the difference down the road. Along with a huge monitor, you’ll want a high-end graphics adapter. If you get a monitor that will support resolutions of 1,600 x 1,280 but your graphics card won’t do more than VGA, you aren’t going to see the real benefits of a larger screen. You see, the bigger the screen, the bigger the pixels. If you don’t change the resolution you will still have the jaggies — only worse because the pixels will be bigger. There are many graphics cards out there from different companies that will fit the bill. I like NVIDIA products. They are really good and have power to burn. I’ve seen many products from ATI that are good, too. www.cadalyst.com cadalyst May 2008 http://www.3dconnexion.com http://www.desktopfactory.com http://www.nextengine.com http://www.wacom.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - May 2008

Cadalyst - May 2008 Contents Editor's Window Cad Central A Solid Job in AutoCAD Today’s Power — Quad-Core Workstations Performance — Tomorrow’s Possibilities Reverse Engineering an Antique Italian Treasure Trends in Reverse Engineering NextEngine 3D Scanner — Reverse-Engineering Tool Setting CAD Standards Fight for Your Hardware Rights The Jack and Jill of Ergonomics Technology for Civil Infrastructure Cad Cartoon Issue Indexes Shortcuts and Solutions

Cadalyst - May 2008

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