Autodesk Inventor

[#1]

After shelling out a pretty penny for Inventor 2012, my boss set me up with a less-than-adequate off-the-shelf PC. I don't need faster visualizations as I'm not dealing with super complex assemblies, maybe 100-200 parts. I also don't care about ray-tracing while modeling. My problem is it took 24 hours to render a 65 second animation (about 1000 frames).

LUCKILY, my boss is going to allow me to build a new, more inventor optimized workstation. I am using studio to do fairly complex animations. Fades, camera changes, constraint animations, all rendered with higher quality. I need a computer that will render quickly, and possibly higher quality if available.

I don't fully understand the whole "Direct X vs Open GL" stuff. What should I spend my money on, knowing that rendering, not modeling is where I need improvement. I am thinking AMD system to save $$. Any CPU/GPU recommendations are greatly appreciated. Also, what to look for, fast bus, cache, etc. I'm so lost!!!! Multiple cores, ram, anything will help. Just remember, I need faster RENDERING in STUDIO ANIMATIONS. Thanks!!

Small side note, will a computer optimized for Inventor rendering be good if we chose to upgrade to Showcase down the line?

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Here is the basics...

-Windows 7 (64 bit)

-3+ ghz multi-core processor (the more cores the faster the rendering) but you need the 3+Ghz speed for anything that isn't multi-threaded (ie..can only use 1 core)

-Nvidia graphics card with min 1Ghz onboard RAM.. (like a NVIDIA GTX 5 series card like the GTX 580)

-8 or more Gigs of RAM

-fast hard drive (if working locally) like a SSD (solid state drive) or 10K RPM or better regular hard drives.. SSD is the way to go.

and why Nvidia you might ask...IThey have been proven to work better with Inventor than ATI cards in recent benchmarks hands down.

[#3]

Very helpful to know. I guess my current system has compatibility issues, as I have had to constrain Inventor.exe to one core to render without crashing.

I am definately using Win 7 Pro N, as well as a SSD. As far as the processor, I will go for 6 or 8 core, 3ghz or higher, but what are the other key CPU specs? I've heard people mention L2 Cache, and issues with Hyper Threading. Again as rendering is the main use of this workstation, what else should I be looking for in a processor?

Also, if we make the next jump to Showcase, would this GPU/CPU setup be adequate?

[#4]

that processor you stated above should be fine for showcase

showcase may require a more powerful gpu

since it mainly uses the gpu

what gpu do you have?

[#5]

Still shopping, and if that is the only thing I need to upgrade, than that would be acceptable. I'm liking what I see with the GTX 580 reccomended above, now I need to pick a processor and good MB and I should be rolling.

[#6 · Accepted solution]

At this time if I was buying it..I would buy the Intel Core i7-2600K processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

and a Nvidia GTX 580 graphics card

and have 12 Gigs of RAM

AND I HIGHLY suggest building a system at http://www.cyberpowerpc.com

They are GREAT!!!

They will even overclock it for you and deliver it right to your door just ready to eat stuff up..

[#7]

Id get the GTX 680 over the 580 same price but 680 was just released its definatly faster and will support 3 monitors instead of 2. The motherboard will depend on what socket you are using but ASUS and Gigabyte (make sure there is no on board video card though) is what I have used on the 20+ computers Ive built for my company. Check out the Socket 2011 Intel i7 Hex Core Sandy Bridge-E 3.2Ghz. RAM will also depend on motherboard whether it be dual tripple or quad channel try to stick with 12gig+ DDR3-1600 or higher (DDR3-1866, DDR3-2133, etc)  G.Skill, Corsair and Kingston are all good names in RAM. Cooler Master and Antec are both great for cases. Dont skimp on a power supply either Antec, Corsair, or Seisonic 650 watts +. OCZ, Intel and Crucial all great SSD brands.

Other Recommendations:

Use Artic Silver 5 thermal paste

Maybe a closed loop Corsair Liquid Cooling unit for the processor

Keep it clear of dust and keep it cool =)

[#8]

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ComputerGuru666 wrote:

Keep it clear of dust and keep it cool =)

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True that... I just blew out my whole computer using compressed air and dropped temps by 8-10 deg C across the board...

[#9]

the computer spec'd by ComputerGuru666 is almost spot-on the what I have come up with so far for a new machine,

considering the original post mainly was for rendering how would this machine run for Inventor in just shaded mode as opposed to RENDERING in STUDIO ANIMATIONS, tho I do do some ray-tracing in ShowCase

Also anyone know if Inventor utlizes dual video cards
?