Need to make my design pc faster....

[madbob28]

Hello,
I currently use FormZ for 3d design work and repetier host for printing, how ever my computer seems to struggle!

I think i need a graphics card (instead of using onboard) and I would like some advice on the best choice for me. My current pc is a i7 skylake cpu, 16gb ddr4 ram and a m2 ssd - so it should be fast. Running windows 10.

Budget around 300 dollars - give or take.

Many thanks

[curious aardvark]

never heard of formz.

But your biggest problem is windows 10 !
It's the worst bit of crap microsoft have ever released and that includes vista.

The intel onboard graphics aren't a patch on the amd ones - but they're not awful.

IF your design software actively accesses the graphics card then yes that could help.

Ram should be fine. Though with a setup with ddr4 ram, you might want to check the settings on the motherboard bios are correct.
Oh that's right you can't because you have windows 10 (sorry couldn't resist).

There are certain settings that generally need to be adjusted for faster ram that doesn't happen automatically.

The m2's are good ssds, don't personally rate any intel cpu - but it's certainly fast enough.

The best thing you could actually do is load windows 7 on the computer.

Failing that, make sure your cad software is able to make use of a decent graphics card and get a $200 nvidia card. they're more compatible with intel cpus than the ati cards.

[Ama-fessional Molder]

You need to identify the source of your problem first. Are you having issues with modelling framerates? In which case, a GPU is the answer.

I do a lot of moderately complex modeling with my 3770k (now on a 6700k) and a GTX Titan, and I have never once seen a slowdown in modeling or significant issues rendering anything, running a small simulation, or in the two cases I have ran a slicing program (dont have a printer just yet) it was all very quick, even with thousands of faces in the model.

As for compatibility with with intel CPUs, that's only partially true.

Some AMD cards have FAR greater general compute capabilities and are much more optimized for opengl, so even amd/intel fighting aside they are much much faster in those instances when comparing cards in the same price range.

It depends on what software you are using. If you have a software that supports CUDA, go buy a gtx 970 right now. If you are using opengl and opencl in open source modeling and slicing software than wait for the AMD R480, which will beat the 970 for $200.

Or, it could just not be a GPU issue at all. Need more info.


And windows 10 has nothing to do with the BIOS. Come on now.

[iDig3Dprinting]

It could also be an issue of whether the software has multicore support. This can slow programs down quite a lot.

[curious aardvark]

And windows 10 has nothing to do with the BIOS. Come on now.

really ?

you ever tride to get into the bios on awindows 10 machine ?
none of your f keys work, neither do del or esc. This is because the pox-be-damned uefi boot system takes immediate control of the system boot mechanics and bypasses the usual bios options.

If you have access to windows and spend ten minutes going through menus then you can get access to normal bios controls.
But if you're doing a repair on asystem where windows won't boot - you are screwed. Can't access boot menu for rescue discs, can't get into bios to change boot options.

Speaking from more than a little experience, windows 10 has many many poor qualities but the disabling the bios and boot menu - for me is the worst.

[madbob28]

Basically I am having frame rate issues when trying to rescale models. I find slicing slow and find the whole process like walking in mud. I have a choice of open Gl or direct x in my design program , Windows 10 shouldnt make a real difference. Looks like a new Graphics card should help, so I will pick up a 979 card this week.

You need to identify the source of your problem first. Are you having issues with modelling framerates? In which case, a GPU is the answer.

I do a lot of moderately complex modeling with my 3770k (now on a 6700k) and a GTX Titan, and I have never once seen a slowdown in modeling or significant issues rendering anything, running a small simulation, or in the two cases I have ran a slicing program (dont have a printer just yet) it was all very quick, even with thousands of faces in the model.

As for compatibility with with intel CPUs, that's only partially true.

Some AMD cards have FAR greater general compute capabilities and are much more optimized for opengl, so even amd/intel fighting aside they are much much faster in those instances when comparing cards in the same price range.

It depends on what software you are using. If you have a software that supports CUDA, go buy a gtx 970 right now. If you are using opengl and opencl in open source modeling and slicing software than wait for the AMD R480, which will beat the 970 for $200.

Or, it could just not be a GPU issue at all. Need more info.


And windows 10 has nothing to do with the BIOS. Come on now.

[Ama-fessional Molder]

really ?

you ever tride to get into the bios on awindows 10 machine ?
none of your f keys work, neither do del or esc. This is because the pox-be-damned uefi boot system takes immediate control of the system boot mechanics and bypasses the usual bios options.

If you have access to windows and spend ten minutes going through menus then you can get access to normal bios controls.
But if you're doing a repair on asystem where windows won't boot - you are screwed. Can't access boot menu for rescue discs, can't get into bios to change boot options.

Speaking from more than a little experience, windows 10 has many many poor qualities but the disabling the bios and boot menu - for me is the worst.

I have windows 10 on no less than 3 computers in my house. All three of them get into bios with either F2 or delete. Same is true for the laptop I am sitting on here at work.

I have never seen UEFI lock down the BIOS on anything other than a system specifically configured to do that. If you have a corporate supplied, prebuilt, or otherwise secured computer - then yes.


But that is NOT a default reality.

[Ama-fessional Molder]

Windows 10 sucks for a network consultant, but not an average user, is what I am saying. It isn't OP's problem.

And the UEFI problems mostly occur with windows 8 BS big box store computers. It's less... painful for 10. Slightly.

The simple solution is to just build a PC yourself with hardware that doesn't have UEFI. *shrug*