Testing Comes to an End

After running through some normal functions with AutoCAD and assorted support software, I came to conclusion that this is not the time for 64-bit WinVista. Several programs run on 32-bit WinVista from what I found by installing and checking them on my personal Acer notebook but they either will not install at all on 64-bit or refuse to operate on 64-bit after installation.

Thus, I've recommended we go with 32-bit WinVista for the CADstation. That still means we'll have a few program difficulties. CADzation's AcroPlot Pro does not operate on WinVista at all as of February 2007 as indicated in their "help" statement which, in my opinion, is not exactly conducive to making friends when chastising people for making the change to WinVista.

I initially recommended sticking with WinXP so as to limit the degree of change we'd experience with new CADstations and upgrading to AutoCAD 2008 but the desire by others on the management team led me to concede that we might as well add one more change factor to the mix. The physical change-out of machines was tough enough but the trade-off of a newer much faster machine might ease the difficulties of becoming familiar with new software.

On the new machine, I installed a demo copy of Cenatek's RAMDiskVE software to determine if using a ram disk would enhance a 64-bit PC as much as it did a 32-bit machine. It was not as much of a help as I had experienced with 32-bit WinXP. Nonetheless, this is what happened when testing a plot session of the 100-drawing Sheet Set to DWF files. Seems like there it more balanced activity across the CPU cores but that bounced up and down across the four cores throughout the plot session.


I suspect the benefit of running the ram disk was either offset by the use of a 64-bit OS and CAD program or the test which loads one drawing at a time simply could not throw as much as possible at the machine to test push the limits. I do know that a ram disk on 32-bit WinXP definitely makes a difference with AutoCAD. Put the temp and reference files on the ram disk instead of the hard drive and the program is much faster. It might also be that a ram disk would be proven more beneficial after a machine is used for six-twelve months and the hard drive accumulates miscellaneous files with the associated fragmentation.

My final recommendation to the management team was that when the time came to move to BIM (Building Information Management) software, most likely Autodesk Revit MEP Suite, we would assess the impact of running BIM software on the existing 32-bit WinVista OS. If at that time, we decide it's too slow or other limitations appear, we could switch to 64-bit WinVista and likely have better results. It would also give us the ability to double the RAM on the motherboard to 8GB from the current 4GB.

So what will we end up with as a CADstation? A Dell Precision 390 with an Intel 2.4GHz Quad-Core CPU with (2)2GB RAM modules on a motherboard having four memory slots. We started out with a budget for each new CADstation and no one can seem to recall how that number was determined. Now we're up by another 33%. The hard drive will only be a single 80GB 3GB/s SATA. I'd like to go larger simply to improve the real-life drive access time for AutoCAD (big-time virtual memory user) but that's a sacrifice to be made at this stage. 32-bit WinVista Business will be the OS.

We are also moving to 19" dual-monitor LCD systems (1280x1024). Some time last year, an employee did the two monitor routine on their own by providing a second LCD and new graphics card. Since then a couple of the senior staff running CAD have opted for dual screens and do like it once they're accustomed to the look and feel. I'm running a Dell 24o7WFP at 1920x1200 resolution. I'm different from others in the office in that I prefer to run at max resolution to see more of the drawing.

We are having to get more LCD monitors that originally expected. I made the point recently that if one puts a new 19" LCD monitor on a desk right next to the five-year-old 19" CRT, we'll be buying another bunch of monitors.

I had one of those CRTs and realized one day that when lifting my glasses and putting my nearsighted eyeballs close to the screen, the clarity was lousy. I brought in an Envision 19" LCD (1600x1280) I had recently acquired for home to swap with the CRT and was shocked at how dramatic the difference was. After that I requested the Dell 24" and got it after little bit of high-level stonewalling.