Upgrade CA10

[emac6]

Hi Everyone,
Its been a couple years since I have used CA, but I am very proficient w ca10.Just got a contract with small commercial projects and I am looking to upgrade. This user group has always been valuable in knowing about bugs, problems and such. I used to frequently read up in the background and stay in tune. With advances in computers, changes in software, and versions of Windows so much in the time frame I am feeling really too 'stupid' to know what works on what platform. I have a first generation i7 computer w Win7 pro 32bit 4gb ram, but the system that I always ran CA on is dual core with 32bit XP Pro. Do I need or want 64bit? How stable is v5 in which platforms and processors? What will compel me to spend the money? I love CA, I am also proficient in autocad 2000 lol and Microstation PowerCivil. I will need to export to both at times for reference, butmy models and sheet files will always be CA. Sorry to make this such a long question, thanks in advance for any advice

[Joe Carrick]

Chief X5 is compatible with the current versions of Windows 7 & 8 (both 32 & 64 bit). X6 is due to be released in Q1 of 2014. If you buy X5 now you would get X6 at no additional cost.

I would suggest a good gaming system (ASUS would be my choice). Chief is designed to work best on that kind of system.

[Bradley Boltz]

I would see about upgrading your ram to 8gig (min.-12 or more would be better for the future). The multi-core i7(is yours quad core) is what Chief recommends. If you can upgrade your graphics card to a 3 gig (min)Nvidia, that might be beneficial also. I'm getting ready to upgrade the anemic 1gig ATI that came with my Dell i7 (xps 8300 running Win 7 Pro, 64 bit). Since Chief is available in both 32 & 64 bit, I wouldn't imagine any issue with having a 32 bit operating system).

Would he be able to or benefit from upgrading his Win 7, 32 bit to 64bit?

As far as upgrading to x5, If you're proficient with those other two CAD systems, you will want to upgrade to x5 and I would recommend getting SSA which will cost you $400 per year and then all your future Chief upgrades will be "free". Plus you get all the tech support etc. I have two site licenses in SSA which costs me $600 per year. It's a business expense and well worth it to me when Chief comes out with a new version. You will find a little learning curve between v10 and the X-versions but with your ability to use those less user friendly CAD programs, the transition should be a breeze and a pleasure for you since they've added a lot more features and better tools. -BB

[David J. Potter]

I agree with Bradly and Joe, time marches on and as software becomes more sophisticated, it requires, updated, modern hardware to match and support it. I maintain XP x32 for older legacy applications like version 10 and use the latest hardware and OS for the newest applications since such applications were developed for the OS and hardware of their day.

DJP

[HumbleChief]

I think there are very few compelling reasons to upgrade to a 64 bit OS at least none that have been mentioned here. (see below for a couple compelling reasons) IMO your Win 7 Pro 32 bit OS will serve you just fine. (Again, see below)

4 gigs of RAM is the minimum and I'd also recommend for more for a total of 8. Chief is not a huge RAM hog.

If I were you I'd do a search for 'computer' or related in the forum and you'll find a ton of info on which function needs what with Chief.

Basically the CPU (in your case the first gen i7) is utilized for 'RayTracing' duties and your video card takes care of the 3D 'Rendering' duties.

Not much you can do with your current CPU other than overclock it (which makes quite a difference in RayTracing) but you don't say what your current video card is or your budget?

The prices just dropped across the board for NVidia cards and the 760/770 are right in the sweet spot. IMO A new vid card, more ram and you should be good to go until the next upgrade cycle come around.

[Doug Park]

For the vast majority of people running 64 bit is the best way to go. And if you want to access more than 3GB of ram you will need to do that anyway.

The only reason to stick with 32 bit is if you need to run 16 bit software.

[perryh]

I think there are very few compelling reasons to upgrade to a 64 bit OS at least none that have been mentioned here. IMO your Win 7 Pro 32 bit OS will serve you just fine.

4 gigs of RAM is the minimum and I'd also recommend for more for a total of 8. Chief is not a huge RAM hog.

The reason for the 64 bit is so you can use more memory, 32 bit can't even use 4gb, so for me 64 bit is a must.

[HumbleChief]

Good points and I agree but I wonder - what are the genuine performance differences between 32 and 64 bit OS when running Chief?

[perryh]

Good points and I agree but I wonder - what are the genuine performance differences between 32 and 64 bit OS when running Chief?

A lot better with large plans

[David J. Potter]

I run both 32 and 64 bit versions of X5. That is so I can easily access and use 32 bit Trimble -3D Warehouse Sketch Up symbol files (import the sketch up symbols via the 32 bit version of x5 which then easily translates to the 64 bit files and version).
I do that as a personal preference and additional freedom of choice.

Like Perry has said and has been also originated by Chief Architect Inc software Engineers-Architects, 64 bit operating system enviroments makes handling large, complex plan files easier for a PC per unit of time, better than 32 bit systems.

DJP

[emac6]

Thanks for all the advice. I am still on the fence about 64 bit. There are so many other programs that I use that won't go there. My i7 is quadcore 2.83, and of course only recognizing 2.99gb of the 4gb stick installed. And actually I haven't even moved CA10 to it, wasn't sure that I could get the last upgrade files since it has been so long. Will I need to install CA10 on this machine before I upgrade? BTW I do have a new video card to add its a GT630 invidia w 2gb memory

[HumbleChief]

All of your computer gear will slow down as the models get large and there's no substitute for computer horsepower. If it were me (and it was) I would just wait until your plans get more complex and upgrade then. No use to have a super computer if you're doing smaller models as any high horse power stuff you buy today will be much cheaper tomorrow.

[Joe Carrick]

Thanks for all the advice. I am still on the fence about 64 bit. There are so many other programs that I use that won't go there.

I wouldn't worry about that. A 64 bit computer will run 32 bit programs just fine.

However, as Larry said - if you don't need to work on larger (more complex) projects then you can probably get by with the 32 bit machine. It just means that you will have more data being paged out to disk. That's where things can get slower.

[emac6]

I run both 32 and 64 bit versions of X5. That is so I can easily access and use 32 bit Trimble -3D Warehouse Sketch Up symbol files (import the sketch up symbols via the 32 bit version of x5 which then easily translates to the 64 bit files and version).
I do that as a personal preference and additional freedom of choice.


DJP

Sorry to be so long getting back, I am exactly dumb on the difference between 32 and 64 bit. Some have said you can run 32bit programs on 64bit operating systems? It looks like what you are saying though, is that is not the case. So the 2 versions of X5 you are using are different platforms? Or is it only the Trimble and other programs that don't play nice with 64bit?

FYI, the reason I was so long getting back is the client that I was working with, and going to do all kinds of high end buildings, turned out to be a thief Engineer running Academic versions of ACAD. Dropped him like a lead balloon! Still going to upgrade somehow soon though.

[Kilgore Trout]

You can run both the 32 bit version and the 64 bit version of Chief on a 64 bit machine.

You can only run the 32 bit version of Chief on a 32 bit machine.

You can't import sketchup files using the 64 bit version of Chief. You can run the 32 bit version of Chief to do the import.