Would this be a good computer?

[SATX]

The guys at the Microsoft Store said this would be a good computer for Revit. It has a fast quad core processor, plenty of memory, and a good video card. But, this was built to be a gaming computer. I guess the video card is a gaming video card. I acknowledge this isn't one of the video cards listed by Autodesk, but it would be impossible for them to list every video card that would work. Is there something about a gaming computer such as this that would be less effective for a professional application like Revit, or will it work like a champ?

http://www.maingear.com/custom/desktops/potenza/

[Jrobker]

I have that exact computer with a few different specs.

It has a 7.6 out of 7.9 windows rating. Boots up in less than 30 seconds and can dominate any software....except Revit.

We did extensive testing when we purchased our first one these CPUs.

There were definatley time savings when doing exact tasks such as SWC. Albeit, maybe just 3 seconds diffrerence here or there, but if you multilpy that 3 seconds over the course of a day. Whamo, you just broke even in time and made up for those 3 different crashes, just because you were trying to change the CFM on a terminal.

Noticably...and the only deciding factor was the solid state drive and MAX out the RAM. Everything else is just bells and whistles.

Unless you're a gamer...

[SATX]

What task is SWC?

Is the graphics card the component that is out of sync with Revit, or is it something else?

It sure will be a disappointment if this doesn't work out.  I bought a laptop from the Microsoft Store that they were sure would run Revit with no problems.  It turns out that it would bog down and run slowly, so they gave me full credit and let me get the gaming computer, which they said would REALLY run Revit.  If this doesn't work out then I will have to start completely over again.  Very time consuming!

[chuckconley530]

When you begin using 2014 the CPU will be used more so the video card will not have to be as powerful as it does in 2013. Most high end video cards work fine but you can not beat a cheaper Quattro FX card by any means. I build gaming PC's and my specs blow away any CAD machine execpt the Video card and my HP Elite book blows my $2500 desktop away in Revit. I just get to much Ghosting when rotating models in 3d view tring to trace my lines to mach sure I have the clearance when routing duct. just my 2 cents..

[SATX]

Are you saying that your gaming computer causes ghosting while your HP book does not, so your HP book is better than your gaming computer?

[Jrobker]

SWC is sync with central. We would do it on our older machine and than on the new. keep track of time differences.

We did this will all kinds of commands, i,e. attaching to duct, deleteing elements, rotating 3D views, etc.

This machine was faster in all tests. I would refuse to use revit unless using this machine.

Like chuckconley530 said, 2014 has major improvements with performance, it's still poor, but is a major improvement.

There is a bottleneck somewhere with this software. You can throw whatever top of the line hardware you want at it, and it's going to make a small difference. Like I said before, all those small differences add up over the course of the day.

[chuckconley530]

Yes, the Video card in my HP is a Quattro FX card which makes it perform better.

[SATX]

I may have initially misunderstood you. Are you saying that you would prefer to use the Maingear Potenza, or this not the correct computer?

[Jrobker]

I can be easily misunderstood. I have mixed feelings about this revit thingy.

You will undoubtedly get the best performance using the Maingear without question.

[SATX]

Thanks for the clarification! I thought you were saying that the Maingear was the cause of the crashes! Now I understand that you are saying tht the Maingear is a good computer for Revit, but that Revit crashes on its own regardless.

Just so you will know where I am coming from, I am a 50 year old PE who has decided to go out on my own. I used to have guys do AutoCad for me, but I never used it. When I decided to start my own company, I decided to go with Revit because it looked a lot easier and faster than AutoCad because I don't have to draw duct one line at a time or fool with layers. I also understand that the industry in moving towards Revit, so I might as well come on board. I have been told that it is to my advantage that I never became an AutoCad Jedi.