[freeformz]

I purchased a PRO4848 kit last week. I don't have a spare windows machine / laptop to move out to the shop (pretty much all macOS here), so I am looking to buy a laptop to run Mach4 on.

Avid's website lists 16GB RAM (I assume this is for Mach4 + OS + plugin) / 1Ghz CPU recommended.
Mach support lists 1GB of RAM (I assume that is just for Mach4) / 2Ghz CPU / video card w/512MB+ of RAM recommended.

These are somewhat contradictory. Also, it's hard to find a low cost laptop with 16GB of RAM that I think will be reliable.

Can anyone provide real world guidance on RAM, CPU, video card requirements for running Mach4 with any plugins needed to drive the PRO4848 machine?

Thanks

[ger21]

A lot of people are using Mini PC's these days, like this.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...WVC4Y3MJ&psc=1

[freeformz]

A lot of people are using Mini PC's these days, like this.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...WVC4Y3MJ&psc=1

Hence my confusion. That PC has 4GB of RAM and uses an Atom chip. I *think* it's probably totally fine, but seems to go against recommendations on Avid's website.

[nlancaster]

As a computer enthusiast, I will say RAM and CPU performance will make the computer faster. That mini PC may well feel slugish while using it, even if it is more then fast enough to run mach4.

If you want a mini PC I would lean more towards something like this.

https://www.newegg.com/hp-prodesk-40...9SIA6ZPAAU3665

Multi core CPU, with Real graphics processor hardware built into the CPU.

[Sterob]

I would have thought that the RAM requirement would relate more to the Operating System being used., to a certain extent.....
Windows 10 likes more ram than XP.....Also your CPU has to be able to take advantage of all the RAM othewise its a waste of money.
Its a bit of juggling....
Personally, I do not use laptops, but there lots here do use them.....I use the fastest second hand( cheap ) PC I can find at the time and review the RAM and add to it, if a bit on the low side and the Mobo allows it.
It all depends.....

Steve

[ger21]

If Artsoft says 1 Gig, then Mach4 needs 1Gig free. Windows 10 can use a lot, but if you are running Mach4 only, I think the 4 Gigs would be fine.
I just loaded a file into Mach4 with 8 million lines of code, and it used about 500Mb of RAM.

No way you need 16Gb of RAM. I have a 32Gb system, and have to try really hard to use more than 8Gb at one time. This takes multiple programs, each using really big files.

[Tigerflyer]

I think the 16mb requirement is for running the CAD/CAM software not Mach4. I have a miniPC running my Avid machine with Mach4 and Win10 and no issues at all.

I have Aspire but it runs on a dedicated machine with a good graphics card and 8megs of RAM. It can get a bit sluggish on intensive 3D carve toolpath generation

[joeavaerage]

Hi,
I run my machine with a dual core Atom Mini-ITX single board PC, using the on chip graphics, 4g RAM and 64g SSD.
I loaded 32 bit Windows 7. Because of the 32 bit OS it can only address about 3g of RAM and the video shares that so the
effective RAM is probably about 2.25g.

All-in-all this PC is very low powered and underspec even by NFS standards yet it runs Mach4 just fine.

The only time it struggles is if you load a large Gcode file, 5Mb or larger. Its slow to load and slow to draw the initial toolplath.
Once the file loads and the toolpath is drawn it works fine.

My recommendation is to grab yourself a cheap as chips PC, even secondhand. Mach4 is not a hugely intensive program. If you want to
load and run CAD/CAM software on the same machine....that's a different story.

Craig

[ger21]

The only time it struggles is if you load a large Gcode file, 5Mb or larger. Its slow to load and slow to draw the initial toolplath.

I tried to load a 100Mb file on my 6 core i7 with 32Gigs of Ram, and it took over 10 minutes to load.

[joeavaerage]

Hi Gerry,
about the biggest files I ever run are PCB isolation routing files, and 5Mb is quite big for such a file. If I load it on my Atom PC it takes three to
four minutes to load and calculate/display the toolpath.

If I load the same file on my i7 laptop, a few years old now, 4 core, 8G RAM, it takes about 20-30 seconds to load and draw. Heavens knows how long it would take
to load a 100Mb file, or even worse how my little Atom PC would fare!!

To OP, if you are loading big files, say 3D profiling files then a high power PC with plenty of memory is required otherwise you will have to be patient. If however you are
loading engineering milling files for which 1Mb would be big then low power PC is adequate.....maybe the laptop the kids threw out a couple of years ago because it
wouldn't play the game d'jour.

Craig

[freeformz]

Thanks everyone. I ended up grabbing this nuc: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E1685615...-066-_-Product

Addedv16GB of RAM & a small ssd. Based on the replies and my experience so far it will be way more than enough to run Mach 4.

[freeformz]

Now, I just need to wait for the balance of my system to ship.

[waterdirt]

Thanks everyone. I ended up grabbing this nuc: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E1685615...-066-_-Product

Addedv16GB of RAM & a small ssd. Based on the replies and my experience so far it will be way more than enough to run Mach 4.

How did this NUC work out for you running Mach 4? I'm awaiting receipt of my new AVID 4824 and I would like a dedicated mini pc to run just Mach 4.