Hardware question

[tsachi]

I'm currently working on a large project (my "work" file is almost 70MB).

The setup i have currently is an i5-3470@3.20 with 16GB of RAM. The vid card is an NVIDIA GT630.

Is it worth while to upgrade the CPU to an I7?

Currently i am not doing any rendering or shading so i think the vid card isn't an issue.

Thx.

[dasindog]

I work with 70+MB files often. I'm working on a similar machine as you and the best performance upgrade I've had is installing an SSD as my main harddrive and increasing RAM. Harddrive and file server/network will be the biggest bottle neck. If you aren't experiencing any headaches then I would suggest to not make changes to your setup.

[Jay_B]

I'm currently working on a project that has a surface in that size range with very similar hardware.

What is causing your file to be 70MB? More specifics will help to understand possible solutions to manage the file size.

[tsachi]

Hello,

The file conains several surfaces, the main survay surface is ~32MB on it's own, i have 4-5 roads with their corridors, profiles, surfaces and what not. I Also have a combined surface of the original survay and grading surfaces for volume calculation purposes. As you can imagine the file is quite large.

I know I should be worjing via the project managment  (data link?) options in civil, but i'm new to civil and still learning.

Right now i have a priority project that once it's done, i will have time to sort the mess my file is in.

[Jay_B]

Look into Data Shortcuts. This will increase your performance a lot if your not currently using them.

My 74mb surface is no problem when Data referenced into other files (it also has a companion .mms file that is 76mb).

[pinwards]

Another important reason for using data shortcuts and having different pieces of a project in multiple files is the always-present risk of corruption.  If your file gets corrupted you could lose everything in one shot the way you are working, not to mention the slowdown from working on such a large file. However, if you have the existing ground surface and survey information in one drawing, and another for your alignments/profiles, and another for corridors & xsecs, etc. you limit your corruption-risk to more manageable chunks and can have smaller file sizes. 

P

[tsachi]

Thanks.

I recived some explenation on data short cuts a few weeks ago. Is there an online explenation on how to use data shortcuts?

[Jay_B]

There's the Help for Data Shortcuts and Youtube is always a good place to research unfamiliar topics.

The Civil 3d Best Practices Guide also has useful information on data management.

Also check out the Project Management Tutorials.

[tsachi]

Thanks, will do.