Hardware advice

[Flip]

Hi everyone. I am brand spanking new to CAD. I am looking for a more stable and suitable system to run FreeCad on. My current setup doesn't seem that great.

Current setup is:
Windows 7 Home
Pentium Dual Core CPU E5300@2.6 GHz
4 gig ram
32 bit

I'm thinking of a used laptop for under $500 (which there are several decent ones). I will be using it almost exclusively for FreeCad.18. I'd love some advice on what sort of configuration I should look at (OS, ram, etc). Thanks in advance.

Flip

[openBrain]

Use Linux

[Flip]

I'm thinking I will add that once I get the new hardware.

[drmacro]

I'd second the "use Linux", even on your new hardware when you get it.

And, upgrade to FreeCAD 0.19

I routinely run on the lower cost systems seen at Logical Increments: https://www.logicalincrements.com/

I typically use 4 or 8 GB of memory.

[OficineRobotica]

Use Linux

And FreeCAD 0.19 lol....I don't know how heavy your projects can get and if you need a dedicated video card but I highly recomend a 1080p IPS panel. Modern laptops with amd/radeon-vega apu are really capable with good to excelent linux support, long battery life and a price range from 500 to 700€ here in Europe. I talk from personal experience so take it as it is ....personal. Bare in mind that you have a new product warranty.

That being said, if you find a good deal with a GOOD dedicated video card go for it. Just don't fall for the base line videocards there only for marketing reasons. Do your research.

Best regards.

Code: Select all

Operating System: KDE neon 5.19
KDE Plasma Version: 5.19.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.72.0
Qt Version: 5.14.2
Kernel Version: 5.4.0-48-generic
OS Type: 64-bit
Processors: 8 × AMD Ryzen 5 2500U with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx
Memory: 6,8 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: AMD RAVEN

Code: Select all

OS: KDE neon User Edition 5.19 (KDE//usr/share/xsessions/plasma)
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 2020.10.13.14555 (Git shallow) AppImage
Build type: Release
Branch: (HEAD detached at FETCH_HEAD)
Hash: bb9ae8c4442badbfeb5ad4e13908472287604c7d
Python version: 3.8.6
Qt version: 5.12.9
Coin version: 4.0.0
OCC version: 7.4.0
Locale: English/United States (en_US)

[GeneFC]

Ha ha,

The linux bigots are at it again.

If you look through the Install/Compile forum you will find vastly more problems with linux systems than with Windows systems.

And don't even get started on talking about Mac problems.

Gene

[drmacro]

The linux bigots are at it again.

If you look through the Install/Compile forum you will find vastly more problems with linux systems than with Windows systems.

And don't even get started on talking about Mac problems.

Probably because there are just vastly more Linux users installing and compiling...

[OficineRobotica]

If you look through the Install/Compile forum you will find vastly more problems with linux systems than with Windows systems.

P.S. I don't recommend installing Linux right away on a new laptop because of warranty reasons.
Proud linux bigot here

[Flip]

Thank you everyone. Looking forward to using this forum a lot!
Be safe

[GeneFC]

Probably because there are just vastly more Linux users installing and compiling...

I believe this came up a few months ago and one of very most senior developers said the FreeCAD Windows users outnumbered the linux users by some very large factor.

I use linux routinely on a non-FreeCAD computer. I find it flexible, but incredibly clunky to use.

Gene