HELP!!! New computer just as slow as others.

[hmddesigns]

Hello all,

 

Lately I have been doing most to all of our offices 3D work, consisting of Shetchup work and recently I have been learning and using Rhino. I have dabbled with rendering programs, and I hope to learn 3ds max and Vray soon. Although, in this message the files I am referring to are large Sketchup files and the exporting of jpgs from them.

 

With this said my problem is with my two computers and the lack in their abilities to do a lot of this work… well at least with any sort of quickness. My main computer (T3400) seems to move pretty easily when it comes to doing general modeling and interacting with the model but it can’t do much of the jpg exporting and rendering scenes we want to do and do all of the time. So I switch to a extra office shared computer (PWS690) we have which on the other hand seems to do a better with exporting these views. BUT, even though it is supposed to be all around better PC it is the opposite when comes to general modeling and interface things, it will freeze up the CPU a lot of times when simple moving around or even clicking toolbars, etc.

 

So, about 98% of the times I tend to have to jump back and forth between these computers when having to model and do exports from a file. I work on the files on my pc and export the many views we need on the extra pc. This has become a huge problem with tight deadlines and in general. Most of these files take 5-10+ minutes to save, to open, to export, basically to do anything. I know you get the point by now.

 

So, in turn, I talked to our IT director about this and we decided to order me a new pc for modeling. One that is supposed to be up to date. And that is when we order the t7500 workstation listed below. In general it does seem pretty smooth but there is still a snag. While I was waiting on the computer to ship, the local IT guy here and I started doing a small test on the existing two computers. We opened a 90mb Sketchup file on my computer and on the extra computer and timed it. On my computer, supposedly the weakest, it took 4 ½ minutes to open. On the extra pc it took about 7 ½ minutes or so. Both of these numbers reflect the program using about 50% or so of the cpu when I looked at the task manager.

So when I received the new 3d workstation I decided to test it also. It took 8 and half minutes to open @ about 11-12% usage of the cpu. What gives? It seems better that it takes less cpu usage to run, but why isn’t it faster and using more cpu? How do I make it faster? Is there any way to tell it to use more of the CPU when using these programs? Or is this even the problem?

 

The only thing I am aware of is our lack of RAM. At only 3.25gb from the 4-1gb sticks in each of the machines, I know this low. But this is all that we can use since we are running XP 32 bit OS. I wanted to up my machines, or at least this new 3d machines to a 64 bit OS, but the IT director said that we can’t until our firm switches to Windows 7, when it comes out.

 

So does anyone have any advice on what to do, or what setting to change to optimize its performance and get the most out of it? Or general knowledge to help me understand this situation? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for ready and sorry for the length of this message, or should I say story. Below are my PC’s specs.

 

thanks again,

-Henry

 

Personal Main PC:

Dell Precision T3400 Workstation

Intel Core 2 Duo CPU

E8400 @ 3.00GHz

2.99 GHz, 3.25 Gb of RAM

 

Secondary Extra Office Computer:

Dell precision PWS690

Intel xeon cpu

e5320 @ 1.86GHz

1.86GHz, 3.25 GB of RAM

 

New 3d PC Workstation:

Dell Precision T7500 Workstation

Dual Quad Core Processor E55202.26GHz,8M,5.8GT/s,Dell Precision T7500

4GB DDR3 ECC SDRAM Memory,1066MHz,4X1GB,Dell Precision TX500

Dual 768MB PCIe x16 NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800 Quad Monitor DVI + 2DP Dell Precision TX500

300GB 3Gbps SAS, 15K RPM Hard Drive, 3.5 Inch, Dell Precision TX500

[quizzy]

so thats the new i7 based cpu's right? first thing to do when you're using mostly single threaded software is disabling the Hyper Threading.

How many processors do you see in the task manager??

[BrianKitts]

Sketchup does not support multi-threading (doesn't support hyperthreading either), so it can only utilize one processor (core) for processor intensive work such as the import exporting that you are attempting. Which means in a dual core you could hit 50% (100 divided by 2), but in a dual quad you won't top 12.5% (100 divided by 8). That being said the fastest machine will be the one with the fastest single core. If you bought a cheap quad core processor, it won't be faster using sketchup compared to a higher end dual core processor.

 

As for the modeling and working tasks that is solely dependent on your graphics card, better card = faster it can handle the graphics, this part has nothing to do with your processor.

[hmddesigns]

Thank you guys for your quick responses.

 

Quizzy: I don't believe it is a new i7 core cpu. It is only 32bit instead of 64 like the i7's and it is also listed as a Xeon on the tower. And it shows 8 core processors in the task manager.

 

BrianKitts: This sounds like a great answer to what i have been wondering about as far as the program/computer relationship goes. I am oblivious to this kind of information.

If i understand this information correctly then i will always be able to open sketchup files faster on my regular machine (t3400) in comparison to the new 3d workstation (t7500)? Or should it be equal?

 

Is this a problem Sketchup is going to fix? Anyway around it? Any other tips or info on this situation?

 

thanks again for your responses. Please keep the responses coming in if you have more info to share.

 

-Henry

[Tommy L]

I think all the computers you have will be able to run fairly smoothly if you learn how to optimize your scenes.

However, you have not listed what graphics cards are in the computers. This could well be the bottleneck, especially with complex scenes.

I used to use my Dell Inspiron E1705 laptop (which was virtually the same processor as your worst machine listed but with only 2g ram) for modeling/rendering and it was fine. I think if you put a Nvidia 7800 or higher in there it will be serviceable. That will only set you back around $100 or less.

But you do need to know how to work efficiently with scenes. I dont have any Sketchup experience, so Im the wrong one to help out with that.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NVIDIA-8800-EVGA-512-P3-N800-AR-GeForce-8800-NEW_W0QQitemZ280383725756QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Video_TV_Cards?hash=item41482c20bc&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Edited September 10, 2009 by Tommy L

[BOXXLABS]

when scenes/files take that long to load, its almost ALWAYS the case that the machine (or application) has run out of RAM, and is having to cache temp data to the hard drive.

 

Open up your Windows Task Manager and take a look at "Available/Free Memory" If it says "0" then you have run out of RAM.

 

If this is case, the ONLY thing you can do to improve performance is to join the age of 64bit computing.

[BrianKitts]

BrianKitts: .......If i understand this information correctly then i will always be able to open sketchup files faster on my regular machine (t3400) in comparison to the new 3d workstation (t7500)? Or should it be equal?

 

I can't image there would be a huge noticeable difference between those two, but yes the old (3.0ghz) would would be slightly faster than the 2.6

 

 

Is this a problem Sketchup is going to fix? Anyway around it? Any other tips or info on this situation?

 

It's been griped about for quite some time and there's been no mention on Google's part as to if or when they'll jump to supporting multiple processors.

[Slinger]

Actually the T7500 system is based on Nehalem architecture(i7). Even it being a slower clock for clock to the e8400, the new tech of the i7 should be quicker.

 

I use sketchup everyday at my firm and actually have an t3400 but with a e6750 proc and QuadroFX1500. I have been using 40mb sketchup files on my system and it runs smooth. The only time it lags down is when shadows are on. I simply turn off shadows, do my workflow, setup my scenes and then enable shadows, update scenes.

 

All three of the systems you have should be running sketchup fine. The only thing I can think of is a drivers issue with the gfx cards and some tweaks to settings possibly being needed.

 

I'll look at my config tomorrow at work and let you know.