Recommended SketchUp PC within $3.8k-$4.0k- Needs advice

jeff hammond

and good on Apple for showing confidence in AMD, however ..

im not quite sure if they're showing confidence in AMD or if they're just mad at nvidia
probably the latter..

but yeah, maybe there are still some kinks to work out.. i didn't realize apple has started putting amd in all the macbook pros recently.. i'm glad i upgraded my laptop with the last version using nvidia.. i won't have to worry about upgrading my laptop for a few more years so hopefully the kinks will be worked out by then..

fwiw, this is a message from the mac rhino developers regarding their latest beta builds..

@unknownuser said:

Bugs:
The Apple 10.7 OpenGL driver for ATI graphics chips is buggy and crashes often if antialiasing is not set to None. This affects most newer Apple laptops. The Rhino OpenGL antialiasing preference setting is currently ignored on these Apple computers and antialiasing is always disabled. Rhino checks for specific ATI graphics driver versions and disables antialiasing for known buggy versions.

so yeah, maybe that 27" iMac isn't looking too sweet at the moment

solo

@pitrak said:

Solo,
I don't want to hijack this thread, but can you elaborate a bit on the nvidia vs AMD idea?

I'm in the market for a laptop based on a clevo barebone and I have the choice between the Geforce 560M (3Dmark06 15000) and AMD 6990M (23000). Nvidia was my obvious choice at first, but when I started looking for the advantages of CUDA I started doubting. Some minor accelerations in adobe CS5 for supported CPUs (slower or way more expensive quadros), CPU rendering in Octane (which I don't use).

For the rest I have the impression most software developers support both AMD & Nvidia. OpenCL seems the way to go, although it's not clear how well it will work and how widely it will be adopted. I hope CS6 will be OpenCL and not CUDA accelerated, but that's not clear yet.

So any other good reasons to go for the slower and cheaper 560m?

I expained above what I feel concerning AMD?ATI cards, however after reading your post again I noticed the last sentence.

I say there is NO good reason for going for a 560m as that is an integrated chip, my advice is never to get a machine with an integrated graphics card, rather spend a few extra $$ and get a dedicated card.

pitrak

Thanks a lot for all the advice, I'll stick with nvidia then!

Solo, this is the laptop card, it's a dedicated one: NVIDIA GeForce GTX560M 1.5Gb GDDR5, PhysX + CUDA ready

It's a BTO laptop (dutch, sorry). I was doubting between this and the Radeon 6990m. But when looking again at their site, it seems they have removed the GTX560m option! Now I can only choose between the Radeon and the GTX580m which is really expensive..

Or take the cheaper P-book with the GT555 (no cuda, does have optimus, which is good for battery life.

Buggers, I thought the choice was made...

Gaieus

Well, the gtx 580 is a really good card. If you have this big budget, why not go for it?

solo

@unknownuser said:

Solo, this is the laptop card, it's a dedicated one: NVIDIA GeForce GTX560M 1.5Gb GDDR5, PhysX + CUDA ready

Ah, okay I thought it was integrated chip like this:

utiler

SO what model NVIDIA card are you running, Pete?

Actually, what is the make up of your main components? Processor / RAM / GC?

IMO, I don't see the point in a large monitor like a few of you guys are sugggesting. Unless the monitor is sitting across the room from you!!! I work at a 1.0m deep workstation and have a 24 inch Samsung SyncMaster which is just right for viewing.... The other thing to note on larger screens is how fast your mouse needs to operate as well as having to lift and roll the damn thing just to get across the screen!!!!!

brodie

I've got 2 ViewSonic VP2365wb's ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116421 ) and really like them. One of the least expensive monitors out there with an IPS display and 23" is a good size for me with dual monitors. Much bigger and you'd be turning your neck a lot. Also the stands are wonderful - very sturdy and crazy adjustable.

-Brodie

solo

@utiler said:

SO what model NVIDIA card are you running, Pete?

Actually, what is the make up of your main components? Processor / RAM / GC?

IMO, I don't see the point in a large monitor like a few of you guys are sugggesting. Unless the monitor is sitting across the room from you!!! I work at a 1.0m deep workstation and have a 24 inch Samsung SyncMaster which is just right for viewing.... The other thing to note on larger screens is how fast your mouse needs to operate as well as having to lift and roll the damn thing just to get across the screen!!!!!

I have a few desktops (networked) that all run Geforce 260's and a Viao laptop with a geforce gt 410.

Rich O Brien

We should start a 'show us yer workspace' thread. It'd be fun and very revealing.

utiler

mmmmm....Just out getting a smoothie.

Gaieus

Ah, it's getting Summer down under, Andrew, right?

Rich O Brien

Here's mine.........and no one sees what i do

utiler

@gaieus said:

Ah, it's getting Summer down under, Andrew, right?

You bet, Csaba... preparing for hot summer night, cold beer, prawn skewers and boardshort....

Krisidious

I have to disagree with the 42" not being good for rendering or computer usage, I use one and it's about 2 foot from my face. renderings look fantastic on it and I get better frame rates that my 3 Digital monitors, whats-more when working on 24x36 inch standard architectural drawings it's a wonderful thing to have it up to that scale. as for retinal burn... I spend many hours a day staring at all these screens. I haven't had any issues that I know of, I have astigmatism and have for many many years.

brodie

@krisidious said:

I have to disagree with the 42" not being good for rendering or computer usage, I use one and it's about 2 foot from my face. renderings look fantastic on it and I get better frame rates that my 3 Digital monitors, whats-more when working on 24x36 inch standard architectural drawings it's a wonderful thing to have it up to that scale. as for retinal burn... I spend many hours a day staring at all these screens. I haven't had any issues that I know of, I have astigmatism and have for many many years.

Hehe, nevertheless, reminds me a lot of this story I found a long time ago.

http://tosh.comedycentral.com/blog/tag/employee-of-the-month/

-Brodie

solo

I run on a 42" Vizio Edge Lit Razor LED LCD HDTV, and the color and image is superb, I sit 4 feet away from screen, I have a Samsung Syncmaster 24" also that is closer (L shaped work area)

I have now used TV's as main monitors for almost 5 years without any eye issues.

jeff hammond

@solo said:

I have a Samsung Syncmaster 24" also

so that's three people in this thread that own a 24" syncmaster (i have one too).

mine is a little over 5 years old and it recently quit working.. (still powered up-- just a blank black screen though) i had it fixed for $70..

so, when you guys' samsung takes a dive, consider taking it in for a repair instead of trashing/rebuying (or, if you know how to solder, fix it yourself for $5 worth of capacitors)

solo

@unknownuser said:

@solo said:

I have a Samsung Syncmaster 24" also

so that's three people in this thread that own a 24" syncmaster (i have one too).

mine is a little over 5 years old and it recently quit working.. (still powered up-- just a blank black screen though) i had it fixed for $70..

so, when you guys' samsung takes a dive, consider taking it in for a repair instead of trashing/rebuying (or, if you know how to solder, fix it yourself for $5 worth of capacitors)

Mine is also about 5 years old, so far the screen is fine, the hinge on the arm gave out after a year but that's no problem as I McGyvered it.

Gaieus

Mine is only 22" and just about 2.5 years old so I think I still have some time.

utiler

Just not for me guys, I think I'll stick to my 24' and be done with it. Interesting though that TV's work well as monitors....