Optimal PC Hardware Questions

[dlewis1000]

I don't know that much about how mcam uses the PC's recources. I thought it was mostly using the GPU to process things. In my tests using 2019, 2019 for SW, and 2020 it seems to be only using the processor. Then on top of that it is only using at most 30% of it. I have already went into my nvidia settings and made everything point to the high performance GPU. I'm trying to understand how mcam processes things, and what the optimal setup would be to run both it and solidworks with no hiccups. Below are my PC specs. I know the processor is a little outdated. Some surfacing toolpaths take an extremely long time to generate, especially if I have a lot of check surfaces selected. In this one case, I have 14 flowline toolpaths all with the same check surfaces. There are 216 total check surfaces in each. When I go to regen them, I'm stuck waiting about a half an hour. Anyone have any suggestions?



Computer Specs

Windows10 64 bit
I7-4770K 3.5 GHz
28GB RAM
GTX 1080 8GB

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[cnc-exit]

You need vector graphics not gtx series. Quadro nvidia series

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[dlewis1000]

What is the difference? I have a quadro in my home PC and it runs flawlessly so I can see this being true. Is there any way to force it to use some of the GPU? Is the processor use I'm seeing maxing out the onboard intel graphics in this case?

[cadcam]

As of the versions you speak Mastercam does not look at using the GPU at anytime for processing. As of 2021 the systems is starting to to go in that direction.

[1 Infinite Loop]

I run Siemens NX but I assist the systems manager with all our cad/cam hardware and software, including MC.

As for GPU processing...Recently when we were upgrading the last of our MC workstations to 2020 (we sit back and watch everyone else do bug testing for one version cycle) and I saw some GPU related messages during install on computers with older drivers and they mentioned GPU processing. So, yes I would definitely pay attention to your GPU and CNC Software recommends Quadros. Have you considered a SLi setup?

As for your cpu it is a 4-core so if you're doing something that's at 30%, most likely just one core is pegged with some smaller tasks firing off too. If you want a cheap upgrade you might be able to find a used i7-4790K. In cad there are some things that are multi threaded such as boolean operations and perhaps silhouetting but cam uses a lot more multi-threading not to mention we can also generate many operations at the same time. Depending on what you do will determine your core speed and number of cores. I hesitate to elaborate too much other than on the Intel side it seems 6-core cpu's are common but really with the release of the AMD Ryzen 3rd gen cpus the game has changed drastically if you are considering a new build. A note on that later.

If you run out of ram you definitely need more and MC will crawl if you run out so keep a close eye on your ram usage. MC seems fairly ram friendly until you need to crunch a large stock model then it eats ram like candy. 32 GB has been barely enough for our MC programmers but only for one stock model at a time; two stock models at the same time will cause us to run out of ram and go the disk which is waaay slower. Speaking of disks you didn't mention if you had a SSD or not. You should have one if you don't already.

If you are thinking of upgrading I wouldn't go more than 20% of, say for example, an average $2500 new computer. If you build a computer then that opens up all kinds of possibilities such as an AMD Ryzen 3rd gen CPU which has a price/power ratio that absolutely smokes Intel at the moment and they also support ECC ram if that's important to you. Not sure about Ryzen multi-socket support although with the large core count you can get with an AMD, multi socket support might be moot. I'm looking at benchmarks closely at the moment and just might bail on Dell Precision Xeon workstations if the new AMD Ryzens are that good.

[cadcam]

I run Siemens NX but I assist the systems manager with all our cad/cam hardware and software, including MC.

As for GPU processing...Recently when we were upgrading the last of our MC workstations to 2020 (we sit back and watch everyone else do bug testing for one version cycle) and I saw some GPU related messages during install on computers with older drivers and they mentioned GPU processing. So, yes I would definitely pay attention to your GPU and CNC Software recommends Quadros. Have you considered a SLi setup?

As for your cpu it is a 4-core so if you're doing something that's at 30%, most likely just one core is pegged with some smaller tasks firing off too. If you want a cheap upgrade you might be able to find a used i7-4790K. In cad there are some things that are multi threaded such as boolean operations and perhaps silhouetting but cam uses a lot more multi-threading not to mention we can also generate many operations at the same time. Depending on what you do will determine your core speed and number of cores. I hesitate to elaborate too much other than on the Intel side it seems 6-core cpu's are common but really with the release of the AMD Ryzen 3rd gen cpus the game has changed drastically if you are considering a new build. A note on that later.

If you run out of ram you definitely need more and MC will crawl if you run out so keep a close eye on your ram usage. MC seems fairly ram friendly until you need to crunch a large stock model then it eats ram like candy. 32 GB has been barely enough for our MC programmers but only for one stock model at a time; two stock models at the same time will cause us to run out of ram and go the disk which is waaay slower. Speaking of disks you didn't mention if you had a SSD or not. You should have one if you don't already.

If you are thinking of upgrading I wouldn't go more than 20% of, say for example, an average $2500 new computer. If you build a computer then that opens up all kinds of possibilities such as an AMD Ryzen 3rd gen CPU which has a price/power ratio that absolutely smokes Intel at the moment and they also support ECC ram if that's important to you. Not sure about Ryzen multi-socket support although with the large core count you can get with an AMD, multi socket support might be moot. I'm looking at benchmarks closely at the moment and just might bail on Dell Precision Xeon workstations if the new AMD Ryzens are that good.

Good reply 1 Infinite Loop and lots of good info.

Just a few notes to some of your thoughts. One is the thought of SLI you will not find any increase running SLI with Mastercam at this time.

As for CPU I would go with a min of 4 cores but looking at pricing look at the 6 core. Also look for the max amount of cache as that helps when crunching paths.

Now for the AMD Ryzen not sure about it in the case of Cad-Cam software. As I know know one has tested these new CPU's in our office and we do suggest Intel.

As for ram it really matters on what type work you do and how big your files get . I run 32 to 64 gigs of ram but some of these file can get up to a GIG real fast.

Good luck in your adventure of computer hunting.

[1 Infinite Loop]

Edited:
Sorry, I posted in the wrong thread! In another thread we were talking about NX lol. Thanks for catching that!

Make sure hyperthreading support is turned ON in the computer bios for Mastercam.

[cadcam]

So you know this not an issue with Mastercam so please do not turn it off.

[Green0]

Get the best computer you can. Get a quadro with a minimum of $700 cost. get an I9, 64MEG ram, M2 memory, liquid cooled.

[sterkgixr1]

Computer hardware and software parts sometimes occur technical issue. I faced the same technical issue with my hard disk . My hard disk drive was not responding and could not access any data from drive. Then I format the OS but all data lost from drive. I was searching the data recovery service center for backup my data. If anyone has any information then suggest to me.