[deerhunter]

I am in the proccess of getting all the parts together for 4'x4' build, I have a few unaswered qeustions, what what are the minimum requirements for the pc to run everything ( mach 3 vectric and whatever else I need) . is their a thread out there that addresses all of the basic build issues

[Jesse B]

Pretty much any modern PC will have enough power to run control software.

[Pplug]

I have a couple of dell GX270's I bought from my school district for $1 each. They run mach 3 and techno's interface great. I do all my designing on a custom built quad core q9550 3.8ghz desktop with a nvidia GTX 260 video card.

The computer that runs mach doesn't need to be a workhorse. If you do 3d design work, a faster comp would benefit you.

[Jesse B]

Even if you're doing CAD, you *can* do it on almost any computer; however, if you want it to be efficient and render quickly, you'll need a decent computer.

Do you already have a computer that you're wondering whether it'll work, or are you planning on purchasing a new computer?

[ger21]

You really should have a dedicated computer to run the machine. I use an old Dell GX150 - $20 on Ebay.

You don't want to be doing anything else on the PC while the machine is running.

Vectric's Aspire will run better with the fastest PC you can get. V-Carve Pro can run on anything made in the last 5 years or so.

[CNCRim]

I agree with Ger21, have one computer just for NC, you put punch other program in the same computer than it change the registry and crash the NC part as well.

My 2cent, I think it's better you get computer that is the about the same age as your software, so it is compatible I found Window 7 I have is not except many of my older software so now I have to keep my old computer incase I need for older application. DON"T get rid of your old computer yet, you might need it some day.

[Pplug]

If you use a computer the age of your software, it will probably be really slow. I think better advice would be to buy a new computer and put an older version of windows on it for compatibility with your software. That way you get better speed with compatibility.

To save money I would build your own. It's easier than you think.

[ger21]

If you use a computer the age of your software, it will probably be really slow.

Actually, it'll be as fast as it was designed to be. They don't develop software to run on computers that don't exist yet, they develop them on what's current.

[Jesse B]

Actually, it'll be as fast as it was designed to be. They don't develop software to run on computers that don't exist yet, they develop them on what's current.

Exactly. I can't imagine that any of this software is multi-threaded yet.

[ger21]

Not sure what you mean, but multi threaded software has been around for many years, well before dual core processors were around. I've been using dual processor PC's since the Pentium 166Mhz was the fastest processor around.

[Pplug]

Software has always been designed and built ahead of the hardware. Software designers program the for current generation of computers as the minimum requirements for the program they are designing. By the time the software is released the hardware that it was minimally developed for is a generation or two old. If the program is not very demanding, then they lower the requirements. There is one thing software developers count on.... computers are always getting faster with more memory.


Software drives the hardware!

[CarveOne]

Software has always been designed and built ahead of the hardware. Software designers program the for current generation of computers as the minimum requirements for the program they are designing. By the time the software is released the hardware that it was minimally developed for is a generation or two old. If the program is not very demanding, then they lower the requirements. There is one thing software developers count on.... computers are always getting faster with more memory.

Not so. It is a collaborative effort between electrical, mechanical, software engineers and management. Feature creep can hold up any part of the project if not rigidly controlled by management.

I have worked on many types of electronic systems development. In every case the hardware has always been ready for production release before the software is ready for production release. The software loads have always outgrown the memory capacity that was allocated by the software developers during engineering specifications development. Software release cannot usually happen until the hardware design is stable and the final software changes are tested on the production ready hardware.

Software drives the hardware!

How much software code have you seen running without hardware? I have seen lots of hardware running perfectly well without any software.

Oh well, I guess the flame war has begun Gerry. I just couldn't resist.

CarveOne

[Pplug]

Well... I certinly don't want to start a flame war! I was just stating my view of software and hardware development for the past 20 yrs. I just remember waiting 10 min for artcam to calculate a relief when current hardware can do it before my mouse can move to the next function!

[CarveOne]

Well... I certinly don't want to start a flame war! I was just stating my view of software and hardware development for the past 20 yrs. I just remember waiting 10 min for artcam to calculate a relief when current hardware can do it before my mouse can move to the next function!

I was afraid that I may have started one.

As for computers, I remember when Lotus 123 spreadsheet fit on a 360K floppy disk and ran on a 2Mhz processor. I wonder what it would do on a 3Ghz Core Duo. I used to run PC Write directly from RAM because it was so slow on a 4Mhz PC-XT with 20Mb hard drive. I think it's a case of the new software revisions always swells to exceed the available hardware capacity so new hardware has to be developed to fit the new software. This is all because assembly language fell out of favor. (chair)

CarveOne