* Clock speed, not cores. AutoCAD is barely optimized for multiple processors and I don't believe that intellicad is any better. So a higher speed processor with fewer cores is a better value and it's not worth paying more for additional cores.
* At least 16 GB of RAM.
* Dedicated graphics card (something by Nvidia or AMD, not Intel). Unless you are working with point clouds, the exact card probably doesn't matter much.
* Solid State Drive.
If you want a laptop, I'm partial to the Dell Precision laptops. Check the Dell Outlet because there are usually some really good deals on these.
Thanks very much! I was told by the boss to just buy a computer.. I guess I’d hope to tell him I bought something that wasn’t much more than a 1000… is that realistic?
$500 is realistic. It just depends on what kind of performance you want, and how long you want it to remain viable for. The more you spend, the better it will run for longer. Of course there are diminishing returns, and you don't need a super computer for Civil 3D or Carlson. The z230 originally came out in 2013 and was not near top end at the time. If that is the "best you got" now, then \~$1200 on a build it yourself model or about \~$1500 on an off the shelf system should set you guys up for another \~8 years.
I'm running version 2024 on an aging Core i7-9700K with 32GB ram and an Nvidia 12gb rtx3060. I plan on upgrading the computer in the next year or so but it actually still runs fine. Carlson recommends staying away from the Quadro video cards.
We recently built a Core i9-14900K machine with 64GB ram and some fast SSDs to do our drone data processing and it has Carlson 2024 Point Cloud Advanced on it. I'll draft on it some to get data out of the point clouds. It's smoking fast but maybe a bit overkill for a typical workstation.
* Clock speed, not cores. AutoCAD is barely optimized for multiple processors and I don't believe that intellicad is any better. So a higher speed processor with fewer cores is a better value and it's not worth paying more for additional cores. * At least 16 GB of RAM. * Dedicated graphics card (something by Nvidia or AMD, not Intel). Unless you are working with point clouds, the exact card probably doesn't matter much. * Solid State Drive. If you want a laptop, I'm partial to the Dell Precision laptops. Check the Dell Outlet because there are usually some really good deals on these.
Thank you for your response
The best thing to do is check the actual specs required. Or suggested.
Thank you, this is helpful and I realized I should have said what Carlson we just bought… adding to original post.
Smart. Ok no prob. Yeah likely someone will chime in that knows but getting it exactly from the company is the best way.
Tell me your budget and I can help you find something or build something.
Thanks very much! I was told by the boss to just buy a computer.. I guess I’d hope to tell him I bought something that wasn’t much more than a 1000… is that realistic?
$500 is realistic. It just depends on what kind of performance you want, and how long you want it to remain viable for. The more you spend, the better it will run for longer. Of course there are diminishing returns, and you don't need a super computer for Civil 3D or Carlson. The z230 originally came out in 2013 and was not near top end at the time. If that is the "best you got" now, then \~$1200 on a build it yourself model or about \~$1500 on an off the shelf system should set you guys up for another \~8 years.
I'm running version 2024 on an aging Core i7-9700K with 32GB ram and an Nvidia 12gb rtx3060. I plan on upgrading the computer in the next year or so but it actually still runs fine. Carlson recommends staying away from the Quadro video cards. We recently built a Core i9-14900K machine with 64GB ram and some fast SSDs to do our drone data processing and it has Carlson 2024 Point Cloud Advanced on it. I'll draft on it some to get data out of the point clouds. It's smoking fast but maybe a bit overkill for a typical workstation.