SolidWorks on a Dell XPS??

[jmcglynn]

I'm looking at buying a new Dell XPS to run SolidWorks on. My local reseller advised me to get an M6300. I can buy a lot more machine with the XPS, but the graphics card isn't listed as supported on the SW website.

Anyone have any experience with this?

The graphics controller is:
NVIDIA®SLI™Dual GeForce®8700MGT with 512MB GDDR3 Memory

[ger21]

The SLI probably won't help you with Solidworks, but it should run fine. I've seen it run OK on a geforce 6800GT. The workstation will probably work better if you have complex assemblies due to the better workstation video cards.

I got an XPS at work about a year ago to run AutoCAD, for the same reason. It was cheaper than their workstations and you get more as well. I was actually surprised how nice of a machine it was. The only downside is that the case is massive. But it's prewired for a bunch of extra drives, and is really a sweet setup.

[highspeedmazak]

Yeah I use solid works and on a dell xps laptop and let me tell you I run solidworks,bobcad,mastercam all at the same time and while online and this computer is soo fast nothing that I tried slows it down at all. (The best computer ive owned yet. I highly recomend it.

[JerryFlyGuy]

I tried it w/ a 'non rated' system earlier this year and it wouldn't display.. i ended up getting a '6300'.. works like a hot darn.. I don't remember which system it was.. but thats a bit of coin to be spending.. and not knowing if it's going to work or not.. if it was me.. I'd go w/ the certified system.. oh.. wait.. I did!!

Before I bought something that wasn't cert'd I'd test it on a buddies or something.. better safe than sorry...

FWIW

Jerry

[jmcglynn]

Yeah, I guess I should look more seriously at the 6300...

[DareBee]

The Dell I got a few months back has a 8600M GT (256) and it runs SW 08 really well and real view even works.
Bear in mind that for me this is NOT a primary use machine.
If you are looking for something that will be used a lot with SW buy NOTHING but a machine with a Quadro (such as the 6300).

BTW as mentioned, SLI does zero for SW

[cam1]

Hi:
I purchased the previous version to the Dell 6300 (Precision M90) and am running SolidWorks Office premium, SolidCam, and various other math intensive applications. I am entirely satisfied with the performance. The machine makes small work of big jobs.I purchase it because I wanted to have a Laptop with system matched components, targeted for CAD. It delivers in every respect.
You could probably find a used one.....

regards

[JerryFlyGuy]

DareBee.. do you know what system that was? Curious more than anything.. I'd sure love to have a gaming laptop which would do the full deal w/ SW.. that way I could entertain myself as well as do work when on the road.. my 6300 does VERY well on the entertainment side but I know it could be better..

It's getting time to build a new desktop w/ Nvidia's new Gt.. 1GB of ram baby! SLI THAT! I'll be having nightmares after play COD4

[DareBee]

Jerry
Inspiron 1520 I also got the best LCD upgrade they had on it, very nice, but only 15 inch.
Basically I went to Dell.ca and clicked on "systems available with XPP" and this was the only laptop they had preconfigured with XPP at the time. I did want to go up to a 17, but it wasn't a necessity and this machine had great options otherwise.
It was on sale and saved me about $1G over the Quadro systems (6300?).

A few years back I decided to be proactive and I built 1 of our systems with XP64, It has caused me a lot of grief over the years, because of this (and some of the older peripherals and applications) I use, I am staying away from Vista for a couple of years yet - or until SW forces me to upgrade.
Terrible run on sentence bad use of punctuation but you get the drift right maybe yeah

[JerryFlyGuy]

Yup, I got my 6300 w/ XPP as well.. I won't TOUCH vista for as long as is possible.. I've seen dulplicate machines one running xp and one vista and the vista one was incredibly slow in comparison.. If I can avoid it... I will...

[jmcglynn]

OpenGL is the key bit that SW uses I believe, and both the Quadro 3600M and GeForce 8700 support the same level (OpenGL 2.1). Both support the same shader version, and both support DirectX 10.

Specs are here:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce...techspecs.html

and here:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/quadrofx_3600m.html

The SolidWorks web site says that the video card requirement is "A certified OpenGL workstation graphics card and driver.", but of course they have only tested the Quadro cards.

Part of the appeal of the XPS is that it has bigger/faster hard drives available. Plus it comes in red

[jmcglynn]

Oh man, stay far, far, far away fro Vista.

It's terrible. It uses a ton of memory. Right now, with just MS Outlook and Firefox open it using 1.09GB just idling along. My XP box would be at about 300MB to 400MB in the same state.

Plus, it's really unstable. It crashes all the time -- it usually recovers without re-booting but you will get a message "windows has stopped responding and is being restarted"

Yup, I got my 6300 w/ XPP as well.. I won't TOUCH vista for as long as is possible.. I've seen dulplicate machines one running xp and one vista and the vista one was incredibly slow in comparison.. If I can avoid it... I will...