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Alibre Design on a laptop

S

SPiche

Member
Alibre Design on a laptop

Hey all,


My question to everyone out there is anyone running alibre on a laptop? And if so, what make/model and how is the performance?
Probably going to be traveling alot with a new position I just accepted, but still need to do plenty of 3d cad.

thanks for all your help in advance!!!!

Steve
 
J

jwknecht

Alibre Super User
Alibre on a notebook

Yes. I am running it on...

http://www.emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=eMachines_M6805

It runs great. Great notebook for the money if you are spending your own. But if you are traveling and need it for other applications more than the CAD it is heavy and the battery won't last as long as you might like. I would suggest a Centrino processor (Intel's new mobile chip)if you are going to lug it around alot and need longer times on the battery. Make sure you have at least a dedicated 64mb memory video card, and 512MB RAM or more. I like the widescreen (great for DVDs in the hotel room too). If you can afford it, it wouldn't hurt to get a fast (7200rpm) hard drive (not common and expensive in notebooks). I went with a full size 5 button programable mouse rather than a notebook mouse (I prefer to program the shift and control keys on the extra mouse buttons for Alibre).

One note about the Centrino... don't be fooled with the low processor speeds. They benchmark up there with the good Pentium 4s. That goes for the AMD chips too (benchmarks are available on the web). My AMD is the 64bit, which is good on the benchmarks plus ready for 64bit software (a consideration for me because I plan to not buy another notebook for as many years as I can get out of this one).

Happy shopping.
 
W

Willbur

Member


That's a somewhat more powerful machine than mine - I'm running it on an hp Pavilion xz295 and it runs pretty well (kinda bogs down on larger assemblies, but my desktop does that too). Basic specs:

Intel P4m 1.6GHz
1 GB DDR266 (PC2100) SDRAM (although 32MB of this is allocated to the video)
S3 Graphics ProSavage DDR (came with the notebook)
80GB 5400RPM hard drive
DVD/CDRW, USB, etc.
15.4" TFT LCD screen (1024 x 768 max, although I can run a monitor off it at 1200x1600)

One advantage to this machine is the weight - only about 5lbs (I travel a bit too) - the battery generally lasts about an hour and a half when doing modeling.
 
H

HeliDev

Member


I bought an LG 1.7 centrino first, too it back to the shop after a week because it couldnt handle running alibre.
Now I have a toshiba satellite A30, P4 3.2G HT, 512 RAM, ATI 9700 graphics card with 128MB.
Its all I use, because I need to be portable, I dont have the room for a desktop now.
Its OK, you will notice the difference between the laptop and the desktop. You get a little chunking every now and then but other wise pretty good.
One of the nice things is the dual monitor capabilty, especially when using split view.
I plan to upgrade my ram to atleast 1G, in the hope of reducing the chunking, otherwise its pretty good.
Batt life isnt to bad, usually 4hrs, however you can also get an adapter for airplane or car cigarette lighter.
 
J

jwknecht

Alibre Super User


After hearing that response... I guess I will highly recommend the AMD64 bit. Because, I am very happy with the performance of my notebook. The battery life is about 2 hours, but that is about average. For large assys, it is a bit choppy, but so is my desktop with the P4. I have not added RAM on either (I have 512 on both systems). My notebook is heavy (about 7 pounds).... but it is a desktop replacement model.
 
B

base729

Member


I have the Dell Precision M60 workstation. 1Gig of ram and the Nvidia 128 graphics card. I'm somewhat disappointed with Alibre when it comes to the workstation laptop. When I run alibre, I have to use software enumeration. If I crank up the settings on the video card, the solid models look great... too bad you can't see sketch planes. If I'm working in just assembly, or photorender, I'll adjust the settings. I wish I had gotten a normal laptop for Alibre instead of a work station one.

Joe Caulfield
BASE729, Inc.
http://www.base729.com
 
Mibe

Mibe

Alibre Super User
Re:

base729 said:
I have the Dell Precision M60 workstation. 1Gig of ram and the Nvidia 128 graphics card. I'm somewhat disappointed with Alibre when it comes to the workstation laptop. When I run alibre, I have to use software enumeration. If I crank up the settings on the video card, the solid models look great... too bad you can't see sketch planes. If I'm working in just assembly, or photorender, I'll adjust the settings. I wish I had gotten a normal laptop for Alibre instead of a work station one.

Joe Caulfield
BASE729, Inc.
http://www.base729.com
Click to expand...

Have you tried the old trick - 16 bit color resolution instead of 32 bit?
 
A

Auspex

Member


I use Alibre at home on a Dell Precision M60, 2Gb RAM, 128 Meg QuadroGo 1000 graphics card. It runs better on it than a P4 machine that I use at work. It does have really high specs for a laptop though.

base729,
I have excellent performance out of my M60 with or without gpu acceleration. Graphically, it performs as well as some of the Dell Workstations we have at work. Perhaps you should try a different driver.
 
M

macinc

Member
Trouble with Pentium M?

I have a Centrino w/ M Pentium 1.4, 512k ram, ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32 meg dedicated. Acad 2002 runs fine, Alibre runs fine except when editing a sketch. I put an example below. The file has only one sketch, and the file size is 250k. I can open the file, extrude it fine (the example is an unfinished test file, haven' finished trimming out all of the large circle) it extrudes and renders fine, photorender works great, but when I pick edit sketch one, the processor maxes out at 100% for 10-15 seconds, and I can't do anything untill it's done. It will do the same each time I try to trim a piece of the big circle, takes 10 seconds or better to trim each piece. Page file usage is under 350k, commit charge is ok. I am wondering if I am doing something wrong, as I am new to Alibre, or if the M Pentium is not cut out for all the math needed for 3d cad? I don't think my sketch is very complex, but maybe I am wrong? Any advice is welcome.

wheeljpg.jpg
 
J

jemmej

Senior Member


Depending upon the size and complexity of the arc, I have run into this myself. It has to do two things, recalculate two arcs (the left over trim and and the bigger piece) AND recalculate any sketch constraints. It usually happens when I have a lot of sketch constraints already placed. I believe AD reevaluates all sketch constraints after each operation, but I could be mistaken.

Jim
 
M

mrgadget

Member
Re: Trouble with Pentium M?

I have a Centrino w/ M Pentium 1.4, 512k ram, ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32 meg dedicated. Acad 2002 runs fine, Alibre runs fine except when editing a sketch.
Click to expand...

The problem with slow performance after many trims is not related to poor laptop performance. This effect is easily reproduced on my workstation-- 3.0 P4, 2gigs Ram, 256m Graphics card.

I have roughly the same laptop configuration as you and the issue is easily reproduced on both with nearly the same result.
 
swertel

swertel

Alibre Super User


Actually, your sketch is very complex.

A more robust modeling method would be to sketch the outer circle and extrude/protrude a cylinder.

Then sketch one of the scalloped cutouts and extrude/cut through all.

Then circular pattern the cutout.

The above method will give you a more robust model, easier to edit, quicker to modify, and probably smaller file size.

--Scott
 
M

macinc

Member


Jim, that is exactly what it seems to be doing, recalculating the constraints. I made it a little more forgiving by limiting sketch 1 to the small pockets and extruding out the bigger arcs with a second sketch. Seems like avoiding these things will be easier once I am over the learning curve, but I am also thinking of going to an AMD 64 cpu for a bit more oomph in the math dept. I have read that the mobile pentiums are great for multitasking and are more efficient with office apps, but trade off horsepower for math intensive applications which are normally run on desktops.

Matt
 
B

base729

Member
Re:

Auspex said:
I use Alibre at home on a Dell Precision M60, 2Gb RAM, 128 Meg QuadroGo 1000 graphics card. It runs better on it than a P4 machine that I use at work. It does have really high specs for a laptop though.

base729,
I have excellent performance out of my M60 with or without gpu acceleration. Graphically, it performs as well as some of the Dell Workstations we have at work. Perhaps you should try a different driver.
Click to expand...

Which driver are you using? I don't have my laptop with me, but the most recent one on Nvidia's side does not fix it.
 
M

macinc

Member


Thanks for the replies, it seems like the best way to speed up my laptop will be with more operator experience!

Matt
 
L

leeave96

Senior Member


Well, I'm trying to put off buying a new/laptop PC as long as possible - because I'm cheap :lol:

But the time is drawing near (no pun intended).

I was reading through this post and wanted to ask a quick question:

What laptop PC are you using today? It's been a while since this thread was started.

Thanks!
Bill
 
W

warburton1

Senior Member


Hi Bill,

I upgraded my laptop about a month or so ago and this is the one I picked up. Alibre runs very well on it, even with fairly large assemblies, I guess thats where the 2Gb Ram helps out.

Gateway MX7520
AMD 64 bit 3700
2Gb Ram
256 Mb Graphics (128Mb dedicated - 128Mb Shared)
17" Widescreen monitor
80Gb HD

It runs using XP Media Centre Edition, and although unsupported by Alibre, has never yet given me any problems.
 
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