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    • D Offline
      dsarchs
      last edited by

      I was just responding to an earlier question about whether or not you could use different types of cards for cross-fire/sli.
      As for directx, I was saying that the benefits of directx 11 are useless unless you get the top level of cards. I know that SU doesn't use cross-fire or dx, but presumably the machine will be used for programs other than su. GPGPU rendering/processing is coming soon to say nothing of games πŸ˜‰
      Besides, if SU is the sole reason for investing in new hardware your money would be better spent on cpu/cooling/ram or something and just getting an 8800gt video card.

      Knowledge is a polite word for dead but not buried imagination.

      -e.e.cummings

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      • Y Offline
        yukonhoo
        last edited by

        I haven't read through this entire thread (couldn't do 22 pages!), so I apologize if this has been mentioned already, but I'm looking to get some kind of external storage, or something to back up my system because my computer has been acting up lately.

        I was wondering if there is a particular storage system/brand/type that is most reliable for long-term storage of sketchup files? and then also a system that is best for accessing files more often?

        Thanks a lot guys!

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        • brookefoxB Offline
          brookefox
          last edited by

          So its been a year and a half or so since the survey got under way? Are the results buried in here somewhere, or buried somewhere somewhere?

          ~ Brooke

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          • D Offline
            Dennis_n
            last edited by

            hi there,
            did anyone come across the ATI Radeon HD 3200 on a laptop?

            also, If I buy a laptop in a store, and prepare a flash card with a viewer and a fat skp file, what is the best SU test I can do to compare available models?

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            • brodieB Offline
              brodie
              last edited by

              @dennis_n said:

              hi there,
              did anyone come across the ATI Radeon HD 3200 on a laptop?

              also, If I buy a laptop in a store, and prepare a flash card with a viewer and a fat skp file, what is the best SU test I can do to compare available models?

              I ran across a ruby awhile back that allows for a SU benchmark http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10750#p75785

              If you continue through the following pages you'll find several benchmark skp files that people posted and subsequent results.

              Also have a look at http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=20076

              -Brodie

              steelblue http://www.steelbluellc.com

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              • brookefoxB Offline
                brookefox
                last edited by

                Uh..., that's a seriously useful re-direct.

                Thanks.

                ~ Brooke

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                • brodieB Offline
                  brodie
                  last edited by

                  haha, sorry about that first link. I thought it would link directly to my post. The link was supposed to redirect you to the 4th page of this thread where I bring up the Test.time_display ruby πŸ˜„

                  By the way, it doesn't seem to work unless you capitalize that first "T". In other words, it must be Test.time_display NOT test.time_display

                  -Brodie

                  steelblue http://www.steelbluellc.com

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                  • brookefoxB Offline
                    brookefox
                    last edited by

                    I wasn't being sarcastic: I just tried the second, thread, link, which was useful to me.

                    ~ Brooke

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                    • keea1111K Offline
                      keea1111
                      last edited by

                      HI,

                      I just moved onto a used Mac os x 10.5 DUAL 2 GHz PowerPC G5  8 GB DDR SDRAM.  It has a 128 VRAM ATI RADEON 9600 video card.  I know that is the minimum video card sketch recommends, especially for the PRO version.  I am wondering if I need to bump it up to 512 VRAM.  Will I notice a big difference in this leap, or is it more subtle and unnecessary?  I do quit a bit of design work within SU/LO, so I do want to get set up the best I can within reason.  Does anyone have any insight into this need?  thanks,
                      

                      KEEA

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                      • AnssiA Offline
                        Anssi
                        last edited by

                        Keea,

                        In real life VRAM is mostly relevant if you have a lot of large textures or multiple large screens. I can run SU quite OK with my old laptop that has Nvidia graphics with 64 Mb VRAM, and my other old computer that has an ATI card with 128 Mb, drives a 1080 x 1920 widescreen display quite well too.

                        Anssi

                        securi adversus homines, securi adversus deos rem difficillimam adsecuti sunt, ut illis ne voto quidem opus esset

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                        • B Offline
                          beau21
                          last edited by

                          I'm looking to buy a desktop at the end of the summer and was hoping to get some opinions on the model I'm leaning towards..

                          Specs:
                          27" iMac
                          2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
                          8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB
                          1TB Serial ATA Drive
                          ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB

                          What does everyone/anyone think of this configuration? Would that be good for modeling programs such as Sketchup, CAD, and the like.

                          Any/all opinions welcome.

                          Thanks!

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                          • brodieB Offline
                            brodie
                            last edited by

                            @beau21 said:

                            I'm looking to buy a desktop at the end of the summer and was hoping to get some opinions on the model I'm leaning towards..

                            Specs:
                            27" iMac
                            2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
                            8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB
                            1TB Serial ATA Drive
                            ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB

                            What does everyone/anyone think of this configuration? Would that be good for modeling programs such as Sketchup, CAD, and the like.

                            Any/all opinions welcome.

                            Thanks!

                            Nice computer, you'll be in very nice shape. SU only uses one core but in my experience with large hospital models 2.8 GHz will do you just fine and your graphics card should be plenty good. For the rest of your programs which use multiple cores it'll be a very nice setup.

                            -Brodie

                            steelblue http://www.steelbluellc.com

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                            • R Offline
                              red44
                              last edited by

                              beau21

                              How did you go with the Imac? Any news? Just ordered one but worried now about the ATI reviews...

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                              • R Offline
                                red44
                                last edited by

                                Anyone else any ideas on the 4850 ATI card? In the the Imac preferably, but not necessarily...

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                                • A Offline
                                  archtrot
                                  last edited by

                                  We have been dealing with 80MB models in my office lately.
                                  I'm considering buying a couple of computers with the following spec:

                                  Windows 7 64 bit
                                  AMD Athlon 3.5Ghz dual core processor
                                  8 Gb RAM
                                  PNY Quadro 580 with 512 Mb RAM graphics card

                                  I can get this package built for around $2000.
                                  Can I do any better than this without doubling the cost?

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                                  • D Offline
                                    danbig
                                    last edited by

                                    Wow--this is a long topic. I made it through about six pages before I jumped here to ask my question:

                                    What is more important for SketchUp: system RAM, or video RAM?

                                    Does anyone have any suggestions for a notebook computer that will do well with larger sketchup files?

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                                    • AnssiA Offline
                                      Anssi
                                      last edited by

                                      @danbig said:

                                      Wow--this is a long topic. I made it through about six pages before I jumped here to ask my question:

                                      What is more important for SketchUp: system RAM, or video RAM?

                                      Does anyone have any suggestions for a notebook computer that will do well with larger sketchup files?

                                      Vram only becomes critical if you use a lot of very large textures. Su is a 32-bit application, so system RAM is not so critical either.

                                      What you should look for in a SU notebook is

                                      • processor speed, number of processor cores is not so important, as SU uses only one
                                      • SU benefits from the TurboBoost feature in the latest Intel multicore processors
                                      • a real graphics card (Nvidia seems still to be more reliable)

                                      securi adversus homines, securi adversus deos rem difficillimam adsecuti sunt, ut illis ne voto quidem opus esset

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                                      • S Offline
                                        seanheadrick
                                        last edited by

                                        Hello,
                                        My father, a long time CAD user was wanting to give SU a try and is having a problem downloading the software. He currently uses Auto Desk on the same laptop, so I found it hard to believe his suggestion that his computer was not capable of running SU was likely. I referenced below his laptop configuration. Could anyone tell me if it seems like he should or should not be able to run SU, and if not what the problem may be. I haven't been able to trouble shoot with him much so I don't know yet if he may just be doing something wrong when installing. I thought I would rule this out first.

                                        Thank you,
                                        Sean

                                        Toshiba Laptop
                                        2.3 GHz
                                        4 GB RAM
                                        235 GB remaining

                                        AMD Turionβ„’ II Dual-Core Mobile Processor M520
                                        AMD M880G Chipset
                                        ATI Radeonβ„’ HD 4200 Graphics with dynamically
                                        allocated shared graphics memory

                                        DO OR DO NOT, THERE IS NO TRY.

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                                        • thomthomT Offline
                                          thomthom
                                          last edited by

                                          The problem is that he can't download it? That would not be due to the hardware.

                                          What problem is it? Incomplete download? Errors?

                                          Thomas Thomassen β€” SketchUp Monkey & Coding addict
                                          List of my plugins and link to the CookieWare fund

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                                          • D Offline
                                            Dennis_n
                                            last edited by

                                            I'm about to buy a new notebook. I wanted to confirm that for SU productivity buying i-7 CPU vs i-5 is a waste of money. Sony Vaio F series carry i-7 but these laptops are about twice the price of the vaio E series. The principal difference between two laptops is the CPU.
                                            Please, let me know what do you think about i-7 vs i-5 for SU.

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