new computer

[gene]

What would be better for working with aspire ?
Windows 7 or 8 , would 2 gb ram be sufficient ?
Video card , what do i need to look for or avoid ?
THANK YOU ALL MUCH !

[ron_moorehead]

This is the computer recommendations on the Vectric web site. That said I have also read that the more memory you have the better it will run especially when you go to calculate the tool paths.


For running Aspire, VCarve Pro and Cut2D we recommend a slightly
higher minimum PC specification:
Computer:
2 GHz Pentium 4
1Gb with Windows XP
2Gb with Windows Vista & Windows 7
60 Mb Disk space (Program)
Additional disk space required if you wish to store
the tutorials and clipart supplied, on your hard drive.
(Aspire - 7.7GB, VCarve Pro 2.25GB)
Display: 1024 x 768 Graphics display
Operating System: Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 with 2Gb RAM
or Windows XP with 1Gb RAM
Other: A PDF reader program (such as Adobe PDF Reader) is required to read the documentation.

[srwtlc]

Gene,

While Win 8 would work, you'd likely be happier with Win 7. Although, with the upcoming Win 8.1 update, you can configure it to boot to desktop and skip the new tiled interface. You can also install some free or cheap programs to make the start button more familiar/useful. You will however still have the other frustrations of the new interface (charms bar, hot corners, touch centric interface etc.).

If you plan on doing large complex 3D reliefs, the more powerful the processor the better. Calculating toolpaths for these is highly processor intensive. Not real sure which brand processor is better, Intel or AMD, but think that the higher end Intel ones are faster (core i7 or i5). I have an older core i7 and a comparable AMD quad core and the core i7 is a bit faster when calculating/recalculating toolpaths.

More memory is always better and with prices as they are now, I'd go with at least 8G and at the higher speed ratings of the motherboard manufactures recommended ram list.

Get a large hard drive for all the large files you're going to make. I like the 1TB Western Digital Blue drives with a 64 mb cache (the Black versions are good too).

The video card doesn't play into the calculating of toolpaths much at all, but it will come into play when trying to view and move (twiddle) the 3D view around on screen and possibly during sculpting. I have a good mid-range AMD Radeon HD 6870 (2 year old now) video card on one machine and it works nicely. A comparable GPU would work nicely. A better one may just make things smoother yet when working with the model. I do have one machine with onboard graphics that works ok, just not quite as quick with twiddling the view.

I'm in the process of building a small form factor unit to test on the Bot and it is going to have one of the newer processors with graphics on the chip, so I'm interested to see how one of them perform. Will have to do a review.

If you plan on getting into more modelling, you may like a pen tablet like some of the Wacom ones.

A large screen is nice for sure (23" - 30" maybe) and two side by side would be great.

There are others that will have varying opinions on components, so please add to this or correct me on anything mentioned above. James Booth and Brian Moran would be good people to ask also as I'm sure that they are using computers at the top of the scale.

[adrianm]

I've got Windows 8 on my main design computer along with the Start8 program from Stardock.

That puts a Windows 7 style menu and gives you the option to turn off all the other Windows 8 features that make no sense unless you're using a touchscreen.

There are some nice features in Windows 8 such as storage spaces and much improved library handling which is why I've stuck with it rather than going back to Windows 7.

The amount of memory you install depends on which version of Windows you're using. If you're using a 64 bit chip with 64 bit windows then go for 6 to 8 gb of ram. If you're on 32 bit then there's no point in going over 4gb as it won't be used.

Note that Aspire is a 32-bit program so no matter what version of Windows you're running it can't use more than 2gb of memory for itself.

The setup I use for Aspire is Windows 8 Pro 64 bit, 6gb ram, Intel Core i7-950 quad, nVIDIA GTX 460 video card and two main 24" screens with a switchable third 32" one. Not cutting edge these days by any means but it flys through everything I do on a daily basis.

[t_vandemark]

Yesterday i bought the new Windows tablet Pro, and it is AWESOME!!! It has enough jam to run aspire and also has the power to run my PRS Alpha. I was a little skepticle at first but the salesman asured me that it would do everything that my laptop would do. We will be putting it through its paces again today and will let you know how it performs. It is fully dust proof and very responsive. So far im very happy with this experiment.

[Chuck Keysor]

Hello Adrian. I noted that you have Windows 8 Pro. I have a new PC running Windows 8.1 preview right now, and will soon need to decide if I should go with Windows 8.1 standard or Windows 8.1 Pro.

In looking at the features unique to 8.1 Pro,
"If you need corporate network features like Windows domain join, Group Policy support, and the ability to be a Remote Desktop server, you pay the extra 80 bucks or so. Hyper-V virtualization is only supported on the Pro edition...."

I am just one person running my new 64 bit PC in my house, so the first features are of no use to me. But what is "Hyper-V virtualization"? Is that something that would be of anyone using Aspire, Rhino, Photoshop, and/or Illustrator?

Comments are appreciated, thanks, Chuck

[adrianm]

No, Hyper-V is not something that would be of interest to you really from what you say of your usage.

It's basically used for running other versions of Windows inside Windows 8 if you have programs that don't run in any of the compatibility modes or if you're developing software for multiple platforms.

[Chuck Keysor]

Thank you Adrian for your useful/helpful reply! Chuck