Autodesk Inventor

[#1]

Thanks, 2grumpy,

I need to have these notices go away that state my PNY (nVidia) Quadro FX 4000 graphics card is not getting enough power.  They seem to be false because the performance was adequate until the size of the project started slowing down performance to the point that it became evident my hardware had to be replaced if I was to make adequate progress.  Research on the replacement is now occupying considerable time, but I believe it will be well spent.

I’m certain that after my research is done and I’ve taken the hardware advice provided so far there will be a marked increase in performance.  I was only considering Quadro based graphics cards in the beginning, but the feedback has convinced me that nVidia’s GeForce GTX 590 (or another licensed mfr) is the way to go.  EVGA seems a good choice for the mbd and graphics at this point.

One thing you wrote that was interesting was that your project also has approx. 10,000 parts, and that you are using 2012 with better performance.  Are you able to quantify the IDW performance?  Are you able to produce parts lists of your assemblies without problems? I assume your parts lists must be pretty large if you have 10,000 parts.

[#2]

in addition to that - i got my Video card through internet from Amazon.com for about US$ 800

[#3]

This message is in reply to information provided by Brian.

You list your EVGA nVidia graphics card as: Nvidia GTX-590 Classified - 275.33

First of all, what does the "275.33" referr to?

The EVGA GTX-590 Classified comes in two flavors.  One is water cooled (hydro copper).  I didn't see any reference to water cooling on your GPU, so I assume it uses a fan.  The fan cooled model is at:

http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=03G-P3-1596-AR&family=GeForce%20500%20Series%20Family&s...

The “Hydro Copper” model is listed at the following link:
http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=03G-P3-1599-AR&family=GeForce%20500%20Series%20Family&s...=

A YouTube video describes the “Hydro Copper”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iIwPMycyvVA

This is a very expensive GPU at an MSRP of over $880.  That means it can be bought for less by shopping.  How much less?  Can’t tell yet.  But this GPU has a lifetime warranty as does the EVGA fan cooled model.  That’s great support for their products.  They claim the water cooled model will run at a max temp of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).  That’s fantastic!  What gets lost in such considerations are requirements to cool the room where the computer is running, so a good cooling system can pay for itself.  Thanks for recommending this manufacturer to me, Brian. 

There is a helpful “Hardware Buyer’s Guide” web page that lists all compatible components required to build a high end system for around $2800 that includes all components from the case to the CPU:

http://www.geforce.com/#/Optimize/Guides/hardware-buyers-guide

The water cooled system is about $140 more, as far as I can tell, so it would cost around $3200 + the water circulation system.  I haven’t looked into how much more that would be as yet.  Let’s say a reliable water circulation add-on is $500 (probably far too high), and then the price tag would be $3700.  I really don’t like the idea of water circulating in a case full of electronics, which brings on nightmares of a leak and ruined hardware, or worse (a fire) but the superior cooling is a compelling argument.

While $3700 seems high (I’m sure that price can be lowered a bit) a system with less than half the capability would cost nearly $10,000 to have a custom build from Dell.  And Dell would provide their vanilla one-size-fits-all case.  When I started making inquiries I began emailing Dell and discovered they would not disclose the ventilation specs on the system I’d customized.  They considered it “proprietary information”.

[#4]

Hi,

we manage parts list showing subassembly only if necessary. That reduces parts list length but adds number of drawing showing more detailed assembly. The final assembly is sort of illustration - photographic style to easy read by persons not having technical qualifications.

i have been trying to find way to compare performance of the graphic cards and have find that Quadro (workstation) cards are listening number of calculation per second that card can do. On the other hand gaming cards are given sort of performance ratings on prepared tests. is any way of relate this two?

[#5]

If you're getting low power warnings are you sure your psu is up to the job?  (and take note that the GTX590 will need a decent psu too).

use a calculator like the link below to check you're at least within the ball-park:

http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/

The 275.33 after the graphics card is the driver-version.  With the move to DirectX there's no need to worry about certified drivers - just use the latest available from Nvidia.

[#6]

Hi Sam,

Thanks for the reply.  My power supply is 610 watts.  My graphics card is a PNY nVidia Quadro FX 4000.  The specs say it draws 75 watts.  When I contacted PNY support they said the PS was sufficient.  There are no other big power draws, other than the processor.  The card requires 2 power cables to be attached, which they are.  I checked the PS with a testor and it checks OK.  The card seems to perform OK, but I think the message could be a false positive.  When I build the new workstation it will not be with a PNY graphics card, or a PC POWER & COOLING power supply (part of the OCZ Technology Group).  But I will use EVGA from this point forward as it seems they have a good reputation among users here.

My previous post was, among other things, a link to a GeForce website that provided all the necessary compatible components to build a high end workstation.  EVGA has a water cooled add on to their GeForce 590 graphics card.  It runs at 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).  If you have any thoughts on water cooling they will be much appreciated.  I haven't looked into the cost of what must be addes on to circulate the coolant, but I suspect it may be more than I originally thought.  Friends have a salt water fish tank and a unit that keeps the water temperature within a certain range.  I suspect that is what might be needed if water cooling is used on a workstation.  This particular card draws 365 watts, which is a lot of heat to dissipate.

[#7]

Boy, I wish I would have seen this thread when I built our new workstations.

I built 4 machines with Quadro 6000's, one machine with a Quadro 5000, and another with a Quadro 2000.

They worked great in IV2010, but as soon as we installed IV2012, we saw a huge drop in framerate when we run in our preferred shaded with edges mode. We have to turn off edges to get a decent framerate.

Quite disappointing considering how much $$ we spent on all these Quadro cards.

Can anyone link an Inventor benchmark of a Quadro 6000 vs. a GTX 580?

I have used gaming cards for Inventor in the past, and had many 2D & 3D issues, and have basically stuck with Quadro
ever since, but maybe the move to DX and away from OGL has changed all of that.

Basically, I am disappointed with IV2012 performance in these very expensive Quadro 6000 cards.

I really need to figure out a solution to this piss-poor framerate of IV2012 in shaded with edges/wireframe modes.  I have a bunch of engineers complianing.

[#8]

You probably need to have all concerned address their complaints to Autodesk.  I believe the current state of the economy is causing companies to cut corners.  One way of doing that is a cutback in validation of hardware drivers to work with the software, which to my understanding is quite expensive.  Autodesk has been linked to Quadro graphics cards for some time and works with the graphics card manufacturers to see to it that they get the best performance out of the graphics cards via specialized drivers.  Apparently that is where the corner-cutting is taking place.  So Autodesk, given the current environment, needs to keep their customers’ best interests in mind and drop support for Quadro cards or develop good drivers for them.

[#9]

Quadro cards suck. they are way Over Priced and you can get SLI GTX 260's to out perform a quadro and its cheaper! Called a soft mod guys...

[#10]

I fully agree that Autodesk has not seen to address the overall opinion that Quadro cards have fallen out of favor with users for reasons of cost and performance.  Most seem to prefer "gaming" cards with nVidia graphics engines.

I'm considering eVGA cards of the most recent release.  They are mentioned throughout these forums as being preferred for performance and quality reasons.  One thing that stands out is that eVGA puts a lifetime guarantee on what they manufacture.  From my experience graphics cards have seemed to be the first components to fail for heat related reasons, so any manufacturer that can stand behind their product with a lifetime warrantee signifies that they are confident that it will be reliable for most users.  These are costly components, no matter who manufactures them for Autodesk Inventor usage, especially on large projects.   Replacement is time consuming, especially in my experience with some manufacturers who want to discourage replacement by delay tactics in contacting Tech Support.

I started building workstations after a bad experience with one of Micron's workstations (no longer in business), and found out later many others were having the same problems getting failed components replaced.  In my case, right from the get-go, this company showed itself to be dishonest.  I had ordered extra memory, and it came to me without the added memory, even though it was part of the bill.  I had to order the extra memory and then refuse to pay for it in order to keep from being cheated by employees that obviously knew what had been delivered, and what had been billed.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPC_Corporation