It’s easier to have a localised machine to get my work 60% of the way, and then send it to a larger rack based machine if needed.
Lot’s of software can run over the multiple CPU’s or utilise the full thread count, mainly CAD and visualisation stuff. It mainly handy for running multiple software or multiple instances of the same software. Yes, you need custom software in almost all cases but thats not as much work as I first thought and companies will specialise in supporting you through those processes.
Keyshot, Deltagen and Catia can leverage this out the box almost, a lot of software providers will complete custom work for you so that it’s supported (but its not an advertised service in a lot of cases, so I wont mention any more just in case).
A lot of custom animation software (or to be more accurate, custom plugins for well known animation software).
Original assets are also generally very big CAD files, a full vehicle assembly will be in the GB’s and thats when it’s in curves. Once you convert anything to polygons you can times the original size by (a lot!).
So the TLDR is:
-Having a computer able to run multiple tasks/jobs at the same time
-The benefit of having a small localised machine rather than a rack system
-Powerful enough to work with complete vehicle CAD files once converted to polygons
Hi all. A friend who will be new to SketchUp is deciding on a new laptop. We found an i5 on sale that meets his current needs. I’m pasting in the specs to get your opinion if this will work for most SketchUp projects. Should we add more memory right away or see how it works first? Thanks !
Model: I5570-5521SLV
The Dell® Inspiron 5570 features the 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-8250U Processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.4 GHz). 15.6" HD non-touch anti-glare display, works well, especially outside or in bright light. With increased performance this laptop has 8GB of memory along with 256 GB SSD hard drive. Dramatic graphics with the Intel® UHD Graphics 620.
15.6-inch HD (1366 x 768) Anti-Glare, LED-Backlit Display
8th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-8250U Processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.4GHz)
Memory: 8GB 2400MHz DDR4 up to [32GB], (additional memory sold separately)
Thanks Anssi, I agree and would go that route with a desktop build. We’ll check to see if such is available for this laptop - and if it’s “affordable”. Major use would be contractor/architect quick 3D mock-ups of home interior/exterior remodels and such so may not need the video power as much as others’ uses. Friend is an ex-contractor due to shoulder injury - still has a great envisioning talent - likes the idea of moving up from pencil sketches after seeing some things I’ve done.
In my opinion the screen resolution of that display is too low for Sketchup. if you can find a laptop within your budget you should look for a 1920x1080 resolution because that will give cleaner lines and allow you to view more detail on screen.
Thanks AK_SAM for your opinion - I totally agree, personally. I had long ago recommended him to get a desktop with a 27" or better hi-res monitor for his foray into SketchUp and CAD programs. Just last night he was sorry for not going that route. As the old expression goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink it.” But in his case, something is better than nothing - his old I5 laptop died - literally. So for now he’s looking to get a full size monitor, run it off the laptop and I, and the community here will help him build a desktop that will be excellent.
Now if I can just get back to that build thread, we’ll get started.
I’ve been wondering, lately, how a liquid-cooled Intel i3-7350k (overclocked to 5ghz) would perform with SketchUp. Has anyone seen such a setup and how it responds? I saw one in this old article and it made me wonder.
Cinebench single core is at the level of an i7 8700K. ~7% slower than a 9900K.
The problem is that there is still no benchmark for SU and the adaptive degradation (which btw. kicks in earlier since 2016 - with longer regeneration times) makes it impossible to get consistent results with selfmade test scenes…
I have a liquid cooled i7 overclocked to 4.4GHz. It has never struggled with SketchUp (within reason, unless I am going over 1GB file) and has served me well over the years.
Edit: I never overclock my CPU anyway, only twice in 5 years. So its only running at 3.6Ghz
Thanks for the replies! I was imagining how a budget system that was low on cores but high on “clocks” might act with SketchUp. It would be nice to see how it would handle a complex (2 million edges) model. Of course, the video card would be a factor in performance and price. The Radeon RX570 gets a good value mark from VideoCardBenchmark.net, while the Quadro RTX 6000 costs over six GRAND by itself!
RAM and CPU are probably more important for SketchUp in terms of large models rather than the GPU.
I have a few RTX 6000 in work and I can tell you that models run no better on it than machines with lesser cards but with comparable RAM and CPU.
With SketchUp you seem to hit a ceiling where by throwing massively more expensive hardware at it does not drastically improve performance. I have tested it on a machine used for vehicle crash test simulations and it ran not much better than my personal computer at home.
Any i7 chip or later with 32GB RAM and a regular GTX card will see you through most projects if you are not rendering.
I’m not liking 4k at the moment myself because it’s too high for CAD use - lines and points become too ‘fine’ and icons too small. 4k also requires a lot more graphics processing grunt to ensure good performance.
This may improve once all software allows interface scaling.
as you surely know, the OGL support of the AMD Crimson driver is regularly sub-par because optimized for speed in gaming and therefore Radeons are not recommended, a GeForce GTX is the choice for hassle free SU display output. A Quadro or FirePro isn’t needed in general because near to no, if anyhow, advantages for SU but burning money only.
I’ll bet, that the vast majority of uses do not need more GPU power (for native SU) than a GTX 1060/1070 … besides for rendering extensions.
SketchUp is a single core application so single core performance is what matters most.
What rendering application are you going to use? The number of CPU cores is important unless your renderer (like V-ray, for instance) supports GPU rendering. Anyway, for any serious 3D work, a real graphics card (I prefer Nvidia) is a must. Most GPU renderers support Nvidia cards only.
You might get by with 16 GB of memory, but if you have a choice, take 32. Modern laptops often have no way of adding RAM later.
