Apple MBP and Possessor intensive ( CAD ) Applications in XP

Understandably the apple is not an XP machine. But it can be understood that its hardware is equally capable in running XP natively as say a Dell Computer can ( with equal hardware )

Last week i purchased a MPB 2.2 with the 128mb Nvidia card. amazing machine. I would like to change all my work flow over to the Mac side, but unfortunately I use Solid works heavily as part of my professional work. So.. I installed boot camp, and solid works - I was very disappointed to see that my 2 year old dell I9300 was faster at rebuilding objects, and was more capable at 3d rendering during part manipulations. I could not configure the computer to perform better. either it was stuck in single core, or the video drivers in boot camp where not stellar, i could not improve things.

Sadly I returned the apple, and they waived the 10% restocking fee. Went home and ordered a dell M6300. Identical i believe in all the specs except the dell has a 512mb Video card tuned for CAD work and the 1900x1200 res screen

I just got a call from dell saying it will be another month before they could send my m6300 computer out.. Completely unacceptable.. Im already behind in work ( old dell sh|t the bed)

before i cancel my order and find another computer ( needed it now) , i want to ask is there any reason a MBP would not be able to handle Solid works as well as a 2 year old dell laptop. My Regen times and graphics ability where not better in any respect?

If you guys have any tips let me know, are apples with equal hardware as a dell equally capable in the same operations? is the 2.2 Mac book Pro going to have the same performance as the dell M6300?


Basically Wait a month for the dell or go buy the Mac book and configure it correctly.

Regards.


Picture - Returned MBP and the old dell ( now **** the bed )

 

Do you find that the MBP performed SolidWorks at an unacceptable level? Since you use it so much, I would say that the above question really decides whether or not the MBP is suitable for you.

 

I'd have to guess video drivers?

The rendering, I don't get. The video card does not really have anything to do with the render, ie to a file.

Screen redraws, Open GL model manipulations and stuff like that though, could point to poor aspects of the BootCamp drivers for nVidia.

Maybe try different video drivers.

I'm my experience, the MBP runs XP and Vista _at least_ as good as a Windows computer. The only sort of issues are it runs a wee bit more hot and the battery life is not as good. But performance wise, I've been quite pleased.

 

that is some pretty serious graphics software your useing...
is it even tested on the Macs ?
and kool that you have it working on a laptop instead of a workstation

 

Im using Autodesk Inventor 2008 on my MBP with Vista and it seems to work fine. If you want to give the MBP another shot, try drivers from laptopvideo2go.com. I'm using drivers from there and Inventor runs very smoothly.

 

If you're largely going to be using CAD programs, I would recommend purchasing a laptop with an NVIDIA Quadro or ATI FireGL graphics chip. Macs have desktop-grade GPUs that aren't ideal for the type of work you'd be doing.

 

One reason you would be having problems with redraw times is probably the graphics card. While it's certainly much newer than what you have in the i9300 (I'm assuming a Go6800), it's only got a 128 bit memory bus, meaning transfers of textures are slower since the memory bandwidth is lower. This isn't a problem for games, as textures are usually drawn with a fairly low complexity and quality to improve framerates. However, if your Solid Works settings on the MBP are set to higher quality, then the textures of complex models will start to be too large for the 8600 to transfer quickly. It could also be a driver problem, which is what you probably should have tested first before you returned it. Also, when I first got my M90, for some reason the settings in nVidia Control Panel had set global AntiAliasing to 16x... that made games and complex CAD models crawl at times (though they all looked fantastic).

The problem in your case is that the Precision M6300 is not going to net you much benefit. The Quadro FX1600M is, in fact, simply a slightly modified 8600M GT, the graphics card in the MBP. Consequently, it still has the same 128 bit bus, and your memory bandwidth is still going to be much lower than with the 6800, which has a 256 bit bus and a memory bandwidth of about 35GB/s (vs. I think 17GB/s for the 8600). The Quadro FX 1600M doesn't have the bandwidth to handle 512MB of graphics memory, so it's kind of pointless.

Now, all that being said, the performance still shouldn't be unacceptable. A few of the CAD computers running Pro/Engineer at my office are Dell Optiplexes running a GMA 950 and are acceptable for general use. If you're using large, high res textures, then you're going to have issues no matter what 8-series card you go with (until the 8800 anyway). You should probably look at a desktop or an older 7-series based Quadro card (like the Quadro FX 1500M or FX 3500M). If you're not using really high resolution textures, then it sounds like your first MBP had a driver issue or some other hardware problem.

In response to saturnotaku's post, I don't really recommend you to get a Quadro or FireGL card in a laptop. FireGLs have horrible reputation and driver support, often severely messing up the appearance of complex models. And unlike desktop Quadros, mobile Quadro cards are simply re-branded Geforce mobile cards with a specialized BIOS to improve image quality and OpenGL performance. That's about it. The higher cost doesn't outweigh the advantages, unless you need ISV certification for some reason.

EDIT: Just noticed that the Quadro FX1600M is only a 512MB TurboCache card... only 256MB are dedicated. Something else to consider, but as I said, the Quadro FX1600M can't really process 512MB of information quickly enough anyway.

 

I have a MBP and I constantly use AutoCAD on it with 3D rendering, the Macbook I have is pretty solid. Well its not as fast as my 64bit PC. But its very fast from what im used to.

And Paul is totally right about the Quadro, its overrated. Some (most) of the drafter in our office use basic computer with Intel GMA or X1300, and they draw all day (yes in 2D but still).

 

Just to fix something since it's not for the first time...

This "simply a slightly modified 8600M GT" is called the 8700M GT and has a memory bandwidth of 25.6GB/sec.

The 8600M GT has a memory bandwidth of 22.4GB/sec.

 

well. That dell 9300 is a sweet machine.

 

Of course, you can't know that we voted and officially proclaimed the white bumpers for the ugliest thing ever...

 

I'll take white bumper over green tail lights....

ill buy a pink inspiron if they put a 8800GT in it and keep the current pricing.

The go 6800 at the time was an amazing inclusion i thought. that thing also had DVI and good battery life, was pretty light for it's time too. I think the current 17inch inspirons actually managed to be heavier and bigger.

the 9300 will forever be a legend

 

There weren't green lights at that time, and we haven't voted recently...

And after these comments you should change your title or I'll report you..., since you are no longer a "Pillar of good taste"... *sigh*... everyone can be bought these days...