sketchucation logo sketchucation
    • Login
    โ„น๏ธ Licensed Extensions | FredoBatch, ElevationProfile, FredoSketch, LayOps, MatSim and Pic2Shape will require license from Sept 1st More Info

    Hardware recommendations

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved SketchUp Discussions
    sketchup
    409 Posts 97 Posters 81.1k Views 97 Watching
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • C Offline
      chango70
      last edited by

      @eduardonl said:

      Thanks for the quick reply Remus!

      Would this be any good?

      Intel E5200 Core 2 Duo
      Geforce 9300 512mb
      4096mb / 4GB DDR2 800Mhz
      500GB 7200rpm

      AMD Phenom X3 8650+
      Geforce 8300 HDMI, DVI
      4096mb / 4GB DDR2 800Mhz
      750GB 7200rpm

      Whats your budget?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • R Offline
        remus
        last edited by

        Not a core i7 budget going by those specs ๐Ÿ˜›

        http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • C Offline
          chango70
          last edited by

          No but getting a smaller Hardrive like 250GB and a better Graphics Card would be a good trade off. I only use 160HD on my laptop. Just dump all your work on a external HD. They are dirt cheap anyway.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • P Offline
            peweuk
            last edited by

            @plot-paris said:

            I do! I do!!! and as a matter of fact, I am writing this with the bespoken beast on my lap, listening to 'Air' by Johann Sebastian Bach from it's in-built 5.1 Cinematic Surround Sound speaker system (with subwoofer - in a laptop!).

            (and, admittedly, my shoulders are still sore from carying it during my travel from London to the south of Germany two days ago ๐Ÿ˜‰ )

            Which spec was this (ie processor and video card? - and how do you find it for performance with SU?

            @unknownuser said:

            If not I recommend http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk you can build one with 512MB Nvidia 9600M GT graphics card for under ยฃ1000 pounds.

            I couldn't see any option for choice of graphics on their laptops!!!

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • C Offline
              chango70
              last edited by

              As a reference, my latest Unibody Mac managed 15.8 fps on the cube test. So yeah yours sounds like a beast.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • P Offline
                peweuk
                last edited by

                I'm waiting for my new Aspire to arrive and will test it out.

                I just ran the test on my desktop with the following results

                Scene 1 = 38.6 F/ps
                Scene 7 = 0.2 F/ps

                It'll be interesting to see the comparison.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • J Offline
                  Jackson
                  last edited by

                  Jakob,

                  The second of those 3 skp files isn't my cube test, it's the same as the first skp file.

                  I did a full OS reinstall a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd run the cube test again- I got 15.0 fps on the 3rd run, my 3-yr-old laptop specs below. That's actually a 2.9 fps improvement on when I ran the test a year and a half ago (hardware unchanged except for new bigger C:drive, but same speed). Either SU got faster (don't think so), updated graphics drivers really work or the full reinstall has really paid off! ๐Ÿ˜„

                  Jackson

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • plot-parisP Offline
                    plot-paris
                    last edited by

                    It has quite formidable specs with an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU with 2.5 GHz, 4.0 GB of ram, two 300 GB hard drives and a NVidia Geforce 9650 Grafic Card.

                    it runs really smooth with SketchUp (better than any other computer I called my own so far). you can test it yourself. use the attached benchmark_test.skp model to try your old computer for comparison (simply open the model, then open the ruby console (under Window > Ruby Console) and type in Test.time_display. hit enter and wait for the results to be displayed.
                    benchmark_test.skp
                    The Acer Aspire 8920 running with SketchUp 7 under Windows 7 Beta achieved the following results (average of three runs each):

                    Scene1 = 51.5 fps
                    Scene7 = 0.4 fps

                    with Jackson's Cube model it did it with 17.3 fps
                    SU Frame Rate Test File 080710.skp
                    I am sure, this laptop isn't exactly best value for money - to be honest it is hardly a real laptop (more a portable desktop). but if you want some serious power, and most importantly, an 18.1" True HD widescreen display alongside a Blue-Ray drive, this machine will make you a happy man!

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • plot-parisP Offline
                      plot-paris
                      last edited by

                      thanks, Jackson. corrected it in the above post.

                      your observations are quite interesting. so either it was the reinstall of the OS that boosted the performance, or graphic drivers improvements.
                      or did you use SU 7 with your latest test and used SU 6 previously? perhaps we should to some testing there as well (SU7 vs SU6).

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • J Offline
                        Jackson
                        last edited by

                        I haven't noticed any general improvement in SU speed between SU6 and SU7 and I'm pretty sure Google never mentioned anything about a performance increase in SU7. I can only assume the better frame rate is the result of updated graphics drivers and maybe a cleaner system thanks to OS reinstall, but I'm suprised to see such an improvement.

                        Jackson

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • plot-parisP Offline
                          plot-paris
                          last edited by

                          that is really illiminating: I just ran your Cube Test with SketchUp 7 on an old, dirty Windows Vista and got an average of 7.8 fps

                          then I ran it (on the same Acer Aspire 8920 laptop!) again with SketchUp 7; but this time on a reasonably clean Windows 7 Beta (a few months in use).
                          and this time I got an average of 20 fps!!!

                          so same test, same model, same SketchUp version - but a different Operating System. the difference is absolutely amazing. almost three times the speed! ๐Ÿ˜ฒ
                          (therefore a bit of advertising here: if you are running on Windows Vista you MUST upgrade to Windows 7 as soon as it is released (for the beta is sooo much more stable and fast than Vista. it hasn't crashed once since I installed it)

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • thomthomT Offline
                            thomthom
                            last edited by

                            @plot-paris said:

                            that is really illiminating: I just ran your Cube Test with SketchUp 7 on an old, dirty Windows Vista and got an average of 7.8 fps

                            then I ran it (on the same Acer Aspire 8920 laptop!) again with SketchUp 7; but this time on a reasonably clean Windows 7 Beta (a few months in use).
                            and this time I got an average of 20 fps!!!

                            so same test, same model, same SketchUp version - but a different Operating System. the difference is absolutely amazing. almost three times the speed! ๐Ÿ˜ฒ
                            (therefore a bit of advertising here: if you are running on Windows Vista you MUST upgrade to Windows 7 as soon as it is released (for the beta is sooo much more stable and fast than Vista. it hasn't crashed once since I installed it)

                            Or, it could be due to old vs new installation of the OS.
                            But I can also recommend Windows7 when it's released.

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

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • W Offline
                              Wazzer
                              last edited by

                              Hi Guys

                              I have been a sketchup user for a couple years now and just love it!
                              I have recently started work at a new company and introduced them to SketchUp and they have been blown away.
                              The problem is the new company laptop i have been provided with just isnt upto the job
                              The company will upgrade my laptop for me and I want to make sure my chosen one will be Suitable for Heavy SketchUp use

                              My chosen Laptop is the
                              IBM ThinkPad Lenovo T61P 6460-E8A
                              Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 2.6GHz
                              4GB DDR2 667MHz RAM
                              250 GB S-ATA Harddisk 5400rpm
                              15.4" UXGA Screen 1920 X 1200
                              256 MB Nvidia Quadro FX 570M

                              It has to be an IBM im afraid

                              Can anyone tell me weather this will do the Job as well as i hope?
                              I am also upgrading to SketchUp 7 Pro at the same time

                              I am currently using my personal laptop which is an old Dell Inspiron 6000 with Radeon x300 and 1.7ghz processor. This laptop performs surprisingly well but i hope the Lenovo laptop stated above will be a significant upgrade

                              many thanks for your time

                              Ben

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • J Offline
                                Jackson
                                last edited by

                                @wazzer said:

                                My chosen Laptop is the
                                IBM ThinkPad Lenovo T61P 6460-E8A
                                Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 2.6GHz
                                4GB DDR2 667MHz RAM
                                250 GB S-ATA Harddisk 5400rpm
                                15.4" UXGA Screen 1920 X 1200
                                256 MB Nvidia Quadro FX 570M

                                Sounds good. SketchUp 7 will only use one of your CPU cores, but 2.6GHz is a respectable speed.

                                Jackson

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • R Offline
                                  remus
                                  last edited by

                                  The other core will help with multi-tasking, as well ๐Ÿ‘

                                  The only thing i can think you might want to upgrade is the hard drive, its quite small, but then again external hard drives are very cheap, so you could always just pick one up if you need some extra space.

                                  http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • W Offline
                                    Wazzer
                                    last edited by

                                    Thanks for the fast feedback guys

                                    just found out that someone else in the office has a very similar spec Lenovo T61P laptop
                                    so will get him to run the Cube test adn see what results it gets.

                                    By the way my Dell Inspiron with 1.7ghz and Radeon X300 with 2Gb ram get on average 10.3 Fps

                                    What is a good score to hope for?

                                    Thanks

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • AnssiA Offline
                                      Anssi
                                      last edited by

                                      @wazzer said:

                                      My chosen Laptop is the
                                      IBM ThinkPad Lenovo T61P 6460-E8A
                                      Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 2.6GHz
                                      4GB DDR2 667MHz RAM
                                      250 GB S-ATA Harddisk 5400rpm
                                      15.4" UXGA Screen 1920 X 1200
                                      256 MB Nvidia Quadro FX 570M

                                      You should be OK with it, if your models are not too big. The graphics card is one of the "low-end" Quadros, so not the fastest, we used to have desktop versions of that. With 256 Mb of memory you should check the performance with an external monitor too, if you are going to use one when at the office.

                                      I would guess that this machine is not one of the cheapest. If money is no object, you could also check the W series "workstation" laptops, they have on offer the more modern Quadro FX 2700 and 3700 cards.

                                      Anssi

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

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • W Offline
                                        Wazzer
                                        last edited by

                                        many thanks

                                        I will look into the W700 it looks like a very nice machine and the 1GB Quadro FX3700 should certainly get the job done!!

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • A Offline
                                          AkaBear
                                          last edited by

                                          Currently looking at this new Dell model for myself and recommending for my office. Am interested in feedback if it is a reasonable setup for:
                                          Sketchup, Vray, 3dsMax, Photoshop and some games but not high end.

                                          • some applications will be work only.
                                          • price is important as it is 2/3 the cost of XPS 730.

                                          Dell Studio XPS 435 specs:

                                          PROCESSORS Intelยฎ Core?i7-920 processor(8MB L2 Cache, 2.66GHz)
                                          OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vistaยฎ Ultimate SP1, 64-bit
                                          WARRANTY AND SERVICE 3Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis edit
                                          MEMORY 6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs
                                          HARD DRIVE 1TB Performance RAID 0 (500GB SATA 7200 RPM HDD)
                                          OPTICAL DRIVE DVD+/-RW
                                          MONITORS Dell 20 inch Ultrasharp
                                          VIDEO CARD ATI Radeonโ„ข HD 4870 1GB
                                          SOUND CARD Creative PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
                                          SPEAKERS No speakers
                                          KEYBOARD Dell Wireless Desktop Keyboard & Mouse
                                          MOUSE Mouse included in Wireless, Laser or Bluetooth Package
                                          MODEM No Modem Option
                                          ACCIDENTAL PROTECTION Complete Care Accidental Damage Protection, 3 Year
                                          OTHER15-in-1 Card Reader
                                          EXPANSION SLOTS PCI: 1 slot, PCIe x1: 3 slots ,PCIe x8: 1 slot ,PCIe x16 (Graphics): 1 slot

                                          • Max processor available Coreโ„ข i7-965 processor (8MB L3 Cache, 3.2GHz)
                                          • Up to 24gig Memory
                                          • Not so interested in Dual Drives with a Blu-ray Disc (BD) Burner
                                          • Did read somewhere about its capacity to have dual Video Cards but not sure on that one.

                                          Reference
                                          http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/desktop-studio-xps-435?c=us&cs=19&l=en&ref=dthp&s=dhs

                                          Any feedback would be most appreciated.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • R Offline
                                            remus
                                            last edited by

                                            That appears to be a quality machine, the only thing i can think to check is how good the openGL support is for the graphics card, it can be quite variable.

                                            If youve got any spare cash id up the ram a but, although 6GB should be enough for most stuff.

                                            http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • 1
                                            • 2
                                            • 3
                                            • 4
                                            • 5
                                            • 20
                                            • 21
                                            • 2 / 21
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Buy SketchPlus
                                            Buy SUbD
                                            Buy WrapR
                                            Buy eBook
                                            Buy Modelur
                                            Buy Vertex Tools
                                            Buy SketchCuisine
                                            Buy FormFonts

                                            Advertisement