Another Will this run Civil 3D post

[AllenJessup]

I'm looking for opinions on whether this Dell optiplex 9020 will run Civil 3D 2014, shall I say, reasonably or fairly well. I know it's not going to be the best. But we've been offered them on a take it or leave it basis. The only change I'll be allowed to make is more RAM. So it will have at least 16GB. I know this exceeds the min. specs. for the program. I also know that those specs. are only good enough to open the program and do the tutorials.

So I really need to know if there is any reason this just wont work. I can't get a different model, I can't add a better video card or a SSD. We either take these as replacement for our Dell Precision T690s & T720s running XP or we don't get the upgrades. I have to say yes or no. If I say yes then I can't come back and say oops we really can't use them.  They're not the most expensive machines in the world but we'd be getting 6. So it's a bit of an investment.

My opinion is that they will run C3D 2014 reasonably well unless it's a fairly large project.

Allen

[michael.robertson]

We're running Dell 9010

i5-3470 (3.2ghz)

16gb Ram

7200rpm drives

nVidia GeForce GT 640

Runs C3D 2014 acceptably.

[AllenJessup]

Thanks Mike. So the only thing I might have to be concerned with is possibly the video card. It's not the CAD level card. But it may do alright.

Allen

[neilyj666]

Should be alright if you don't do much with Infraworks

[sboon]

I suspect that the video card will be OK.  I can't find it in the Certified Hardware page but that doesn't mean much anymore.  Frankly its worth even a bad video setup if it allows you to move from XP to Win 7 with an option for Win 8.1  Even if the video absolutely doesn't work for you it wouldn't be all that much to get something better in a few months.

Steve
Please use the Accept as Solution or Kudo buttons when appropriate

[AllenJessup]

Thanks Neil. No one does anything with Infraworks and those that might have better computers. Our Engineers are more management that design. But getting them machines that they can open the current versions on will be a good step.

Allen Jessup


Civil 3D 2012 SP 3 / IDSP 2014
Dell Precision T3610, Xeon CPU 3.70 GHz
Win 7 Pro, 64-bit, 32 GB RAM, Nvidia Quadro K4000
Samsung SSD 512GB
HGST (WD) 512GB drive

[AllenJessup]

Steve,

I work for a County government. The only reason they're abandoning XP is because Microsoft is dropping support. The next time the County, as a whole, will be upgraded is probably when Microsoft drops support for Windows 7.

So I'm not going to count on getting any better graphics cards. I think it will be fine for the level of the users that will get these machines. We buy better CAD Workstations for the power users - when we have the money. The shame is that these will be replacing good Dell Precision T 690 & 720 machines with good Nvidia graphic cards. But our IT won't put Windows 7 on them since they were Vista computers backgraded to XP. But in today's world you take what you can get.

Since I was only given to the end of the day to confirm they will run the software. I'm going to say yes and roll the dice on the graphics. 3D will probably be poor. But the program should function.

BTW. Even the AMD cards that are certified haven't been tested with Civil 3D or most of the programs in IDSP.

Allen

[Jeff_M]

Couldn't the nVidia cards from the old pc's be yanked and placed in the new ones, if needed?

[AllenJessup]

Jeff

I was thinking of that. But I don't know if I can shove a Workstation grade card into an Optiplex. I figure I'll look into that once we have the machines. I just wasn't going to count on it.

Allen

[jmayo-EE]

Can I ask how much that's going to run you?

I think I need to tell the powers that be that they don't need $10k machines to run this app...

[AllenJessup]

Hi John,

It's on the Dell site for $1,029. I don't know what the County will be paying but I'd imagine it will be under $1,000. It's going to be part of a County wideupgrade. We have over 1,000 users (not CAD users) so that should get us a good discount. I think IT has learned some lessons and realize the computers will have to last 5 - 7 years so are getting a little better quality. I think most of them will be the lower end Optiplex and they are going to the high end for CAD capable computers.

This is the first time that they have agreed to supply computers that are capable of running CAD. So I'm actually pleased that we can get everyone on a 64 bit OS at once. We usually have to do it one at a time as we get money and that happens a lot less than it used to.

Allen

[AllenJessup]

OK. NOW they say they're not springing for the Discrete video. I know that it wont run on integrated video.

PHOOEY!

Allen

[sboon]

That brings this back to Jeff's post.  Dell should be able to tell you if the existing video cards can be installed in the new box, or you could get one on loan for testing.  I'm currently running an Optiplex that came from Dell with an Nvidia Quadro card in it, because our IT department listens to users.

Steve
Please use the Accept as Solution or Kudo buttons when appropriate

[AllenJessup]

I asked and according to IT - they wont fit. This kind of rots because buying a video card separately is much more expensive than when bundled with a new computer purchase. Also we'd have to pay for it rather than it comming out of the capital project for the upgrades.

Allen

[michael.robertson]

We are running C3D 2014 on our laptops with Intel HD 4000 & 440 video (not discrete cards) and it works fine. Other than rendering, we can't tell a discernable different between the ones we have with discrete Quadro M cards.

[rkmcswain]

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@AllenJessup wrote:

I'm looking for opinions on whether this Dell optiplex 9020 will run Civil 3D 2014, shall I say, reasonably or fairly well. 

---

We are running C3D 2013 on a few of these exact machines, for what we might call 'part-time' users, (in other words, not the 9-hour a day designers). I think the performance is OK for the price, and I plan to keep these machines as lean as possible, meaning to not install a bunch of fluff applications. Basically C3D, Office, AV, and a couple of other utilities needed around the office.

You know how Windows gets over time, bogged down and sluggish. I think the degradation of performance will be felt more on these machines.

[AllenJessup]

That's good to know. These would be for "part-time" users also.

Do you have a discrete video card or integrated graphics?

Allen

[AllenJessup]

Thanks Mike. It looks like we may still be able to use these for low end users. We'll probably try them without a graphics card and if they don't perform we'll have to try and find the money for some cards.

Allen

[rkmcswain]

As far as I know, the stock IG. I can verify next week.

[AllenJessup]

It can be they were special orders as our IT is getting. However, all the the configured models on the Dell site have separate video cards if they have an i7 processor. That's what confused us at first. When we checked the specs on the model they said would be provided there was a video card. Now we've been told they're not getting the cards.

I understand that for 98% of their users there is no need for a graphics card. I just irks me that they wont consider customizing any for departments that have need of a better machines. They did agree to buy extra RAM and install it after they get the computers. If we can't live with the integrated graphics. We may be able to buy some lower end cards.

Allen