Most custom computers built through my company are assembled from tried and true components. Every now and then a customer will hit us with a build for a specific application and have explicit requirements. In those cases we have to create a solution.
Two weeks ago a customer challenged us to build a new platform to run his expensive design software. During our initial interview he gave me a budget of $2,000.00 and requested a system that could render CAD drawings in less time than his current $3,000.00 computer from another vendor.
Before throwing money at the build I had to take a look at traditional bottlenecks and hindrances. Processor throughput came to mind first. Second was memory lag. Of course with any graphics software, video cards are a factor. But I chose to look at the hard drive.
For this build I chose a relatively new solid state technology I haven’t used before and made it the focal point of the build. Instead of using a traditional SATA interface, I went with a drive that connected directly to the motherboard. Though it wasn’t cheap, the manufacturer claimed incredible speed.
Until this point I haven’t designed a system for use with this particular CAD software so I had to research how it utilizes the hardware. Basically any processor on the market today could handle the software. All of the final rendering of the drawing is handled through the video card and hard drive.
We chose to use an eight core processor with both high bandwidth and processing frequency to allow smooth design. During most of the computer’s life the CPU will never be fully utilized, but for those times when the power is needed it will be there and will be incredibly fast.
Memory plays a major role in how smooth a computer functions. The old way of thinking about memory was the more the merrier. However, a more refined way to look at memory is to have the fastest. For this build I installed 32GB of the fastest memory both the processor and motherboard would support. Large amounts of very fast memory allow the operating system and software to stay resident in the memory without relying on the hard drive for temporary storage.
Video cards play a major part in how a computer handles images and graphics. The CAD software my customer chose uses the graphics card during the rendering process. Gaming systems, on the other hand, use the graphics card throughout the game. Having a very fast card with a reasonable amount of memory streamlines all processes and limits lag and choppiness.
Another way to look at bottlenecks is to imagine emptying a large bucket of water through a drinking straw. If the straw is changed to a 3″ pipe the bucket will empty much faster. Think of a computer as a series of buckets dumping from and filling another. It doesn’t matter how big the buckets are, what matters is the size of the pipes connecting them.
Even though I’ve mentioned in previous articles technology has reached a plateau, there are many things we can do to create ridiculously fast systems. Focusing on bottlenecks and reducing them goes a long way to increasing speed. With my most recent system builds I was impressed with hard drive speeds that were six times that of traditional drives. My customer, on the other hand, was impressed with a computer that renders his drawings in half the time of his old system.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him at (978) 919-8059 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)