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2012 vs 2013

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Message 1 of 21
helavagal
1109 Views, 20 Replies

2012 vs 2013

looking into upgrading to Inventor 2013 from 2012 - what are your thoughts?  does it seems to run faster to you?  we have a very fast computer with 32GB RAM but it stills seems VERY sluggish....

 

Any input is appreciated 🙂

20 REPLIES 20
Message 2 of 21
helavagal
in reply to: helavagal

also is it worth upgrading windows to 8 and not use 7?

Message 3 of 21
mpatchus
in reply to: helavagal

From what I understand Autodesk does not officially support Windows 8 at this point in time.

Mike Patchus - Lancaster SC

Inventor 2025 Beta


Alienware m17, Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10980HK CPU @ 2.40GHz 3.10 GHz, Win 11, 64gb RAM, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super

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Message 4 of 21
mrattray
in reply to: helavagal

Although it's still not near 100%, 2013 is much more stable then 2012.

Mike (not Matt) Rattray

Message 5 of 21
helavagal
in reply to: mrattray

do you find it is faster though?  we are experiencing lag times....  we are beginning to think that it is the content server being on a busy netwrk server....

Message 6 of 21
mrattray
in reply to: helavagal

I barely noticed a near negligible difference, but I don't work with very many large files. However, I also have problems with server lag and, if anything, the lag is worse.

2012 was a horrendous cluster of instability for me, so it was a huge sigh of relief when I upgraded.

 

Edited by
Discussion_Admin

 

Mike (not Matt) Rattray

Message 7 of 21
j_berry
in reply to: helavagal


@helavagal wrote:

we have a very fast computer with 32GB RAM but it stills seems VERY sluggish....

 


I also have 32 GB of RAM (windows 7 64 bit and two 6 core dual processors), but I have a HDD and not a solid state hard drive, so this limits my "windows experience level" to a 5.9 (two 7.8 scores and two 7.4 scores otherwise).

 

When I first installed and worked with Inventor I was surprised how sluggish it was. Not all the time, primarily when constraining parts in assemblies that require constant zooming in/out and rotating views. I found out through google'ing and searching the forums how to set up levels of detail, multi level subassemblies in large assemblies, monochrome for the visual styles, no fancy appearances applied, and different workflows in general. This definitely helped some of the larger assemblies, but it will still pause for this new massive assembly I am currently working on.

 

Based on what I've read on this forum and from google searches, I have come to the conclusion that although my machine is much more capable than anything I've used before, the limiting factor is the HDD.

AutoCAD Electrical 2013 SP2
Windows 7 Pro SP1
Message 8 of 21
mrattray
in reply to: j_berry

Those 12 cores aren't doing you any good in the assembly and modeling environments. Inventor only uses 1 core for these operations. What's the clock speed of the individual cores? If it's a small number, then this is likely your bottle neck.

Mike (not Matt) Rattray

Message 9 of 21
j_berry
in reply to: mrattray

2.3

AutoCAD Electrical 2013 SP2
Windows 7 Pro SP1
Message 10 of 21
dgorsman
in reply to: j_berry

I'd call that a 'bingo'.  CPU speed for heavy duty CAD applications should be on the order of 2.8 - 3.0 GHz or faster.  Machines for very heavy lifting should be 3.4 GHz or factory-overclocked to faster.

----------------------------------
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.


Message 11 of 21
j_berry
in reply to: dgorsman

Do users typically run multiple sessions of Inventor to take advantage of multiple cores?

AutoCAD Electrical 2013 SP2
Windows 7 Pro SP1
Message 12 of 21
sam_m
in reply to: j_berry

not really - it's like having an undesirable graphics card, you're kinda stuck with it until you change hardware, sorry to say.  And thus why a high clock i5 would probably be a better buy than a mid-range dual Xeon and that's before you compare the price of the 2 machines...

 

Inventor does use more than 1 core at times, but arguably not enough to warrant anything more than an i7 (or even i5 for a lot of users)...  FEA and rendering use all (but I've sometimes noticed FEA only using one of mine) and with 2012 (and newer) each view on an idw can use a separate core (so it is far quicker generating/refreshing multiple views on a page).  But general part modelling and assembly work, you're limited to 1 core.

 

We all have multi-core machines so there is obviously a desire to have multi-core support, so hopefully something will happen in the future but the linear nature of part modelling (extrusion1 needing to be processed before extrusion2, etc) then the opportunities to parallel the calculations might be limited.

 

Here is a benchmark table showing how processors stack up when only using 1 core:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

 

Mainly down to clock speed (and I guess newer technology chips having better memory management)

 

*edit*

running multiple sessions of Inventor can cause problems...  Not to mention the memory requirements to have a decent dataset in use on multiple instances of Inventor.  From memory (tried it years ago but may be better now) Inventor can only deal with 1 project in use at any time - so if you have copy 1 running 1 assembly, load copy 2 and change project then copy 1 is going to get really confused.  Not to mention the confusion it would get into if you tried to work on the same data-set on multiple copies.  And this is all before anyone mentions the licence rights and whether you're in breach of your EULA by working with 2 or more copies at the same time.



Sam M.
Inventor and Showcase monkey

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Message 13 of 21
LT.Rusty
in reply to: sam_m


@sam_m wrote:

 

running multiple sessions of Inventor can cause problems...  Not to mention the memory requirements to have a decent dataset in use on multiple instances of Inventor.  From memory (tried it years ago but may be better now) Inventor can only deal with 1 project in use at any time - so if you have copy 1 running 1 assembly, load copy 2 and change project then copy 1 is going to get really confused.  Not to mention the confusion it would get into if you tried to work on the same data-set on multiple copies.  And this is all before anyone mentions the licence rights and whether you're in breach of your EULA by working with 2 or more copies at the same time.


 

With 2013 there's little benefit to running multiple sessions at once, because everything that 2013 does that would give me time to work in another session is now multithreaded.  When we had 2011 though, I would frequently have 4-5 sessions open at once, and be modelling in one and have FEA going on in the other 3 or 4 sessions.  Because I would always make sure to have different assemblies open in each one I never really ran into the problem of Inventor getting confused.

 

With 2013 the only reason I usually find to have multiple sessions is if I'm working on one part that has similar features compared to another part, and I'll keep one session with the new part on my right monitor, and a second session with the old part open on the left monitor, so that I can more easily take measurements, compare back to my sketches, etc.

 

As to possible license issues, we're on a network license, so Inventor checks back to the license server every time it starts a new session that's using any of the Pro features.  Based on the number of licenses we have, compared to the number of people I know are using Inventor at any given time in my company and the number of sessions I've had active at once, and taking into account the fact that the network license manager doesn't throw a fit about it ... it seems to me that Autodesk has given at least tacit approval to the practice, whether or not it's been specifically spelled out in the EULA.

Rusty

EESignature

Message 14 of 21
sam_m
in reply to: LT.Rusty


@LT.Rusty wrote:

 

As to possible license issues, we're on a network license, so Inventor checks back to the license server every time it starts a new session that's using any of the Pro features.  Based on the number of licenses we have, compared to the number of people I know are using Inventor at any given time in my company and the number of sessions I've had active at once, and taking into account the fact that the network license manager doesn't throw a fit about it ... it seems to me that Autodesk has given at least tacit approval to the practice, whether or not it's been specifically spelled out in the EULA.


I wasn't necessarily being serious about the licence thing, but it does make you think...  So, are you saying that each copy you have running takes a licence from the network server (which could be fun for other users - possible early morning prank loading multiple sessions and sucking up all the dept's licences before others have loaded Inventor) or you're free to do what you want until you load a Pro feature?

 

As for EULA, I was more thinking it was equivalent to running your "home" copy at the same time as your "work" copy, and thus a breach.  At the end of the day, if you've got a valid licence to run 1 copy of Inventor I can't imagine AD moaning that you're trying to run a 2nd (or more) instance on the same pc.



Sam M.
Inventor and Showcase monkey

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Message 15 of 21
LT.Rusty
in reply to: sam_m


@sam_m wrote:

I wasn't necessarily being serious about the licence thing, but it does make you think...  So, are you saying that each copy you have running takes a licence from the network server (which could be fun for other users - possible early morning prank loading multiple sessions and sucking up all the dept's licences before others have loaded Inventor) or you're free to do what you want until you load a Pro feature?

 

As for EULA, I was more thinking it was equivalent to running your "home" copy at the same time as your "work" copy, and thus a breach.  At the end of the day, if you've got a valid licence to run 1 copy of Inventor I can't imagine AD moaning that you're trying to run a 2nd (or more) instance on the same pc.


 

No, running multiple instances doesn't actually check out multiple licenses, whether or not you're using pro features.  When I run 5 instances, using pro features in 4 of them and just modelling in the 5th one, it still only checks out 1 license, and that gets checked out when I start a pro feature in the first instance that uses one.

 

As for my home copy vs office copy ... my home copy has a different license key from my office copy.  🙂

 

(Of course, I can't run them both at the same time, because I don't bring my laptop to work with me very often.)

Rusty

EESignature

Message 16 of 21
j_berry
in reply to: dgorsman

Sorry for bringing up a dead topic, but I can't stop thinking about the system requirements for AI 2013.

 

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=15402497&linkID=9242018

 

Clock speed recommendation for complex models is 2.0 ghz. I did not order my own machine. Someone else more than likely looked up the system requirements and put together something from Dell.

 

I see the recommendations for 2014 for complex models is 3.3 ghz. Does this mean my machine, purchased mere months ago, is already severely underpowered if I ever want to upgrade from 2013? (2.3 ghz)

AutoCAD Electrical 2013 SP2
Windows 7 Pro SP1
Message 17 of 21
blair
in reply to: j_berry

Not sure why you would be looking at IV2013 when IV2014 is about to ship.

 

 


Inventor 2020, In-Cad, Simulation Mechanical

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Message 18 of 21
j_berry
in reply to: blair

I have 13. I got it along with my machine in November.

AutoCAD Electrical 2013 SP2
Windows 7 Pro SP1
Message 19 of 21
dgorsman
in reply to: j_berry

Notice they make a distinction in processors - older (Pentium 4 and equivalent) vs. newer (Core 2 and equivalent).  They don't do the greatest job of laying it out, I'll grant you that, think that can be chalked up to junior technical writers.  The speed of various processors cannot be directly compared between different generations, so while a 3 GHz older processor might be borderline, you could get the same performance from a 2.4 GHz newer processor.

 

If your computer is marginal now with 2013 it will probably be only slightly more noticeable with the 2014 release.  I wouldn't say "severely underpowered" though.  With good work processes most users won't notice a difference between processors at 2.4 and 3.0 GHz on comparable vintage processors.

----------------------------------
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.


Message 20 of 21
j_berry
in reply to: dgorsman


@dgorsman wrote:

If your computer is marginal now with 2013 it will probably be only slightly more noticeable with the 2014 release.  I wouldn't say "severely underpowered" though.  With good work processes most users won't notice a difference between processors at 2.4 and 3.0 GHz on comparable vintage processors.


Ok, that is reassuring. Based on what I've been reading I got the impression that clock speed was everything and multi cores are not utilized aside from IDWs, simulaions, and renderings (and more features to come hopefully).

AutoCAD Electrical 2013 SP2
Windows 7 Pro SP1

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