Hardware Guide for X3

[lbuttery]

3) A 64 bit OS is a must have.

Windows 7 64-bit is the best OS to run X3 on. X3 will ship as a 32 bit application.

The main reason to go 64 bit is that your extra memory will be used by the OS and other applications making your system faster when dealing with large models in Chief.



CA and most other software is moving to 64-bit rapidly

why buy a 32-bit PC that will be out-dated soon ....

get a minimum of 4 GB and 8 GB would be even better

don't wait for Chief if you need a PC now, get one that will be good for
the next 4 - 5 years

Lew

[Sledge]

Lew I think you missed my question. I know all about 64 bit for the OS. Read your own quote:

X3 will ship as a 32 bit application.

I'm asking about the actual X3 software in 32 bit and 64 bit flavours.
(Perhaps I should have used the quote above as a lead in to my own question and the one below to set the discussion)

ie quote from autodesk website:

Native 64-bit Support: New native 64-bit support enhances Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 software’s ability to handle large projects and improves performance and stability for memory-intensive tasks such as rendering, printing, model upgrading, and file importing and exporting.

How does Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 work with large teams and projects?.
The native 64-bit version of Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 surmounts the 4-gig memory limitation found in all 32-bit applications, which enhances the software’s capability to handle large projects. As a result, users of the 64-bit software may see improved performance and stability for memory-intensive tasks such as rendering, printing, model upgrading, and file importing and exporting compared to the 32-bit versions of the Revit platform products.

[lbuttery]

Rod:

I think we are on the same page

My main point was if X3 is not 64-bit then X4 most likely will be
so buying 32-bit PC's should be a no-no


Lew

[Keith Jeffery]

Why is there no 64 bit version of X3?

Porting to 64-bit is not free, time-wise. Simply put, like other features that don't get completed in a version, it wasn't high enough on the priority list this release.

[Sledge]

Keith,

Thanks for that. I don't have my tinfoil hat on, so whilst the 64bit OS can access >4Gb or RAM, is there any X3 32 bit memory limitations? I recall something about a 2GB threshold.

I know there's a switch parameter you can add to the boot.ini that forces the OS to contain itself to the amount of RAM you designate by this parameter and I was wondering if this was the reason (ie 2GB application limitation) such a switch was used.

Lew,

It's all good - cool bananas

[Keith Jeffery]

Thanks for that. I don't have my tinfoil hat on, so whilst the 64bit OS can access >4Gb or RAM, is there any X3 32 bit memory limitations? I recall something about a 2GB threshold.

Yes, Windows puts limits on how much memory an application can access. A 32-bit application is only allowed to access 2 GB of memory, even though, in theory, they could access 4 GB of memory. This limitation still exists in the 64-bit versions of Windows.

I know there's a switch parameter you can add to the boot.ini that forces the OS to contain itself to the amount of RAM you designate by this parameter and I was wondering if this was the reason (ie 2GB application limitation) such a switch was used.

Yes, you can set how much memory is divided between "user space" and "kernel space", but the application has to be built with IMAGE_FILE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE, which Chief is not.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...8VS.85%29.aspx

[Sledge]

Thanks for all that handy info Keith.

You can have a banana too!!!

[Bradley Boltz]

Doug,

How does one know if they have a multi-core system? Your hardware guide note is cause for some concern as I am one of those fortunate users that have virtually no operational problems with my x2. I have no idea if my now (2010) five-year-old Dell Dimension 8400 series is multi core computer.

It has Windows XP Pro, 32-bit, Pentium 4 processor 540 (3.2HHz) w/HT Technology and 1 MB Cache. 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM @ 100mhZ. 250 GB hard drive. All of which is Greek to me.

Frank

Frank, you have a system that's getting a "little long in the tooth" but with a decent processor speed. I noticed that your memory size seems a bit low and you may benefit from bumping up from that 512 to 2048mb if your motherboard can handle it. My older AMD's are operating at the minimum of the recommended specs and improved a bit by increasing the memory.-Brad

[Bennie]

What is Raid? What is the difference between 0 Raid and 1 Raid? Do I need to get this on my new computer?

[lbuttery]

Bennie:

rather than type lots of info here

try a google search on wiki Raid backup

or raid backup


Lew

[cadstudio]

Keith, what about SS HDDs? Have you done any tests with them to determine if they're worth it with X3?

[Doug Park]

We don't have any information on SSDs (solid state drives). I would wait a bit before investing in them. Instead look at getting a hard drive with a larger disk cache as that will most likely help more than an SSD. But since we haven't benchmarked these we don't know for sure. Other here may have experience with them.

[PhoenixConstruction]

In my new system, I'm using an OCZ Colossus 500Gb SSD, and I'm telling you, this thing RIPS! As soon as someone comes up with something to benchmark, I'll put a test on it. At any rate, I'm using it for Win7 OS, and all of my programs.

[Allen Brown]

In my new system, I'm using an OCZ Colossus 500Gb SSD, and I'm telling you, this thing RIPS! As soon as someone comes up with something to benchmark, I'll put a test on it. At any rate, I'm using it for Win7 OS, and all of my programs.

George, what CPU?

[PhoenixConstruction]

I thought you'd never ask