Empathy List Archives

A

Anet

Thu, Oct 22, 2020 1:31 PM

Hello,

I am a total beginner and I want to do some simple 3D modeling with OpenSCAD
(example: a small box with a lid, or a toy for animal). I am buying a new
notebook, because my old i3 Dell definitively has its best days over, let's
face it.
I am thinking about Asus TUF Gaming FX505GT-BQ018T, would it be a good
choice? To give an overview of the hardware: Intel Core i5 9300H Coffee
Lake, 15.6" IPS 1920 × 1080, RAM 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB, SSD
512GB. Or is there something better in the same price cathegory maybe?
Much appreciate your help, thank you!

A

--
Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/

Hello, I am a total beginner and I want to do some simple 3D modeling with OpenSCAD (example: a small box with a lid, or a toy for animal). I am buying a new notebook, because my old i3 Dell definitively has its best days over, let's face it. I am thinking about Asus TUF Gaming FX505GT-BQ018T, would it be a good choice? To give an overview of the hardware: Intel Core i5 9300H Coffee Lake, 15.6" IPS 1920 × 1080, RAM 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB, SSD 512GB. Or is there something better in the same price cathegory maybe? Much appreciate your help, thank you! A -- Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/

M

MichaelAtOz

Thu, Oct 22, 2020 1:44 PM

Anet wrote

Hello,

I am a total beginner and I want to do some simple 3D modeling with
OpenSCAD
(example: a small box with a lid, or a toy for animal)

That's fine for 'simple 3D modeling'.
I didn't look it up, I presume nowadays they are all SSD's.
When you progress to complex, you may want 16GB memory.
ATM you want max clock speed ahead of multiple cores.
GPU's not too important.

Other power users may want to comment.

OpenSCAD Admin - email* me if you need anything, or if I've done something stupid...

on the Forum, click on my MichaelAtOz label, there is a link to email me.

Unless specifically shown otherwise above, my contribution is in the Public Domain; to the extent possible under law, I have waived all copyright and related or neighbouring rights to this work. Obviously inclusion of works of previous authors is not included in the above.

--
Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/

Anet wrote > Hello, > > I am a total beginner and I want to do some simple 3D modeling with > OpenSCAD > (example: a small box with a lid, or a toy for animal) That's fine for 'simple 3D modeling'. I didn't look it up, I presume nowadays they are all SSD's. When you progress to complex, you may want 16GB memory. ATM you want max clock speed ahead of multiple cores. GPU's not too important. Other power users may want to comment. ----- OpenSCAD Admin - email* me if you need anything, or if I've done something stupid... * on the Forum, click on my MichaelAtOz label, there is a link to email me. Unless specifically shown otherwise above, my contribution is in the Public Domain; to the extent possible under law, I have waived all copyright and related or neighbouring rights to this work. Obviously inclusion of works of previous authors is not included in the above. -- Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/

JB

Jordan Brown

Thu, Oct 22, 2020 4:50 PM

I sometimes use my six-year-old near-bottom-of-the-line HP laptop, and
mostly it's fine. I only recently bumped it up to 8G of RAM.

My primary system is an HP desktop from about the same era, with 12G of
RAM. I believe it was $600 at Costco, to give you an idea of the level
of system. It's an "AMD A10-6700 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 3.70 GHz".

But it depends on your model, and your patience. I've never paid real
attention to how complex my models are, but I'd guess they are sort of
"intermediate". Most of them preview immediately and render in a few
seconds; a few might take a couple of minutes to render. You can look
at some examples at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4264614 . I'm
sure that if I tried to render all of the furniture at the same time, it
would take a very long time.

Net, if you're not too demanding my bet would be that almost anything
that you can buy today would work.

I sometimes use my six-year-old near-bottom-of-the-line HP laptop, and mostly it's fine. I only recently bumped it up to 8G of RAM. My primary system is an HP desktop from about the same era, with 12G of RAM. I believe it was $600 at Costco, to give you an idea of the level of system. It's an "AMD A10-6700 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 3.70 GHz". But it depends on your model, and your patience. I've never paid real attention to how complex my models are, but I'd guess they are sort of "intermediate". Most of them preview immediately and render in a few seconds; a few might take a couple of minutes to render. You can look at some examples at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4264614 . I'm sure that if I tried to render all of the furniture at the same time, it would take a very long time. Net, if you're not too demanding my bet would be that almost anything that you can buy today would work.

RW

Ron Wheeler

Thu, Oct 22, 2020 6:28 PM

You also have lots of ways to play with settings related to the level of
detail for rendering that make a huge difference.

$fa=0.5; // default minimum facet angle is now 0.5
$fs=0.5; // default minimum facet size is now 0.5 mm
will render hundreds of times faster than
$fa=0.05; // default minimum facet angle is now 0.05
$fs=0.05; // default minimum facet size is now 0.05 mm

Disk speed and number of cores probably do not make that much of a
difference.

Ron

On 2020-10-22 12:50 p.m., Jordan Brown wrote:

I sometimes use my six-year-old near-bottom-of-the-line HP laptop, and
mostly it's fine. I only recently bumped it up to 8G of RAM.

My primary system is an HP desktop from about the same era, with 12G
of RAM. I believe it was $600 at Costco, to give you an idea of the
level of system. It's an "AMD A10-6700 APU with Radeon(tm) HD
Graphics 3.70 GHz".

But it depends on your model, and your patience. I've never paid real
attention to how complex my models are, but I'd guess they are sort of
"intermediate". Most of them preview immediately and render in a few
seconds; a few might take a couple of minutes to render. You can look
at some examples at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4264614 . I'm
sure that if I tried to render all of the furniture at the same time,
it would take a very long time.

Net, if you're not too demanding my bet would be that almost anything
that you can buy today would work.

OpenSCAD mailing list
Discuss@lists.openscad.org
http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org

--
Ron Wheeler
Artifact Software
438-345-3369
rwheeler@artifact-software.com

You also have lots of ways to play with settings related to the level of detail for rendering that make a huge difference. $fa=0.5; // default minimum facet angle is now 0.5 $fs=0.5; // default minimum facet size is now 0.5 mm will render hundreds of times faster than $fa=0.05; // default minimum facet angle is now 0.05 $fs=0.05; // default minimum facet size is now 0.05 mm Disk speed and number of cores probably do not make that much of a difference. Ron On 2020-10-22 12:50 p.m., Jordan Brown wrote: > I sometimes use my six-year-old near-bottom-of-the-line HP laptop, and > mostly it's fine. I only recently bumped it up to 8G of RAM. > > My primary system is an HP desktop from about the same era, with 12G > of RAM. I believe it was $600 at Costco, to give you an idea of the > level of system. It's an "AMD A10-6700 APU with Radeon(tm) HD > Graphics 3.70 GHz". > > But it depends on your model, and your patience. I've never paid real > attention to how complex my models are, but I'd guess they are sort of > "intermediate". Most of them preview immediately and render in a few > seconds; a few might take a couple of minutes to render. You can look > at some examples at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4264614 . I'm > sure that if I tried to render all of the furniture at the same time, > it would take a very long time. > > Net, if you're not too demanding my bet would be that almost anything > that you can buy today would work. > > > _______________________________________________ > OpenSCAD mailing list > Discuss@lists.openscad.org > http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org -- Ron Wheeler Artifact Software 438-345-3369 rwheeler@artifact-software.com

AC

Alan Cox

Sat, Oct 24, 2020 10:49 AM

I am thinking about Asus TUF Gaming FX505GT-BQ018T, would it be a good
choice? To give an overview of the hardware: Intel Core i5 9300H Coffee
Lake, 15.6" IPS 1920 × 1080, RAM 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB, SSD
512GB. Or is there something better in the same price cathegory maybe?
Much appreciate your help, thank you!

For simple stuff openscad is fast, but as things get more complex (or
sometimes it seems just because some model triggers things) it rapidly
grows in memory and CPU usage. Some of my really complex models I've had
to move to other openscad inspired tools to get them to render in a usable
timescale. You'll probably find your old i3 is just fine for most stuff.

It's a 45W part so shouldn't be too bad despite being a laptop. I would
make sure you can upgrade the memory to more as you may need to (depends
on the models - and also what else you do with it).

OpenSCAD basically wants single CPU thread performance (so an i5 or i7
isn't going to make much difference for openscad) and plenty of RAM.
Graphics capability isn't a big deal as the 3D renders it makes are very
very simple compared with a game or something like that. The AMD option
may get you far better performance for the price overall but for single
threaded performance Intel is still holding onto the lead on most
single threaded benchmarks.

(Disclaimer: I used to work for Intel until the end of last year)

Alan

> I am thinking about Asus TUF Gaming FX505GT-BQ018T, would it be a good > choice? To give an overview of the hardware: Intel Core i5 9300H Coffee > Lake, 15.6" IPS 1920 × 1080, RAM 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB, SSD > 512GB. Or is there something better in the same price cathegory maybe? > Much appreciate your help, thank you! For simple stuff openscad is fast, but as things get more complex (or sometimes it seems just because some model triggers things) it rapidly grows in memory and CPU usage. Some of my really complex models I've had to move to other openscad inspired tools to get them to render in a usable timescale. You'll probably find your old i3 is just fine for most stuff. It's a 45W part so shouldn't be too bad despite being a laptop. I would make sure you can upgrade the memory to more as you may need to (depends on the models - and also what else you do with it). OpenSCAD basically wants single CPU thread performance (so an i5 or i7 isn't going to make much difference for openscad) and plenty of RAM. Graphics capability isn't a big deal as the 3D renders it makes are very very simple compared with a game or something like that. The AMD option may get you far better performance for the price overall but for single threaded performance Intel is still holding onto the lead on most single threaded benchmarks. (Disclaimer: I used to work for Intel until the end of last year) Alan

DM

Doug Moen

Sat, Oct 24, 2020 1:54 PM

If OpenSCAD is the only 3D modelling program you are going to use, then single core performance is important, but not multicore. Lots of memory is good. Memory speed has an impact, so dual-ported memory is slightly better than single-ported. (eg, two 8GB modules instead of a single 16GB module). You don't need a discrete GPU: Intel integrated graphics is fine.

If you get more heavily into 3D modelling, you'll find that OpenSCAD isn't best for all purposes, and you'll want to use different tools for different jobs. In that case, multi-core performance and having a fast GPU become more important.

On Thu, Oct 22, 2020, at 9:31 AM, Anet wrote:

Hello,

I am a total beginner and I want to do some simple 3D modeling with OpenSCAD
(example: a small box with a lid, or a toy for animal). I am buying a new
notebook, because my old i3 Dell definitively has its best days over, let's
face it.
I am thinking about Asus TUF Gaming FX505GT-BQ018T, would it be a good
choice? To give an overview of the hardware: Intel Core i5 9300H Coffee
Lake, 15.6" IPS 1920 × 1080, RAM 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB, SSD
512GB. Or is there something better in the same price cathegory maybe?
Much appreciate your help, thank you!

A

--
Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/

OpenSCAD mailing list
Discuss@lists.openscad.org
http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org

If OpenSCAD is the only 3D modelling program you are going to use, then single core performance is important, but not multicore. Lots of memory is good. Memory speed has an impact, so dual-ported memory is slightly better than single-ported. (eg, two 8GB modules instead of a single 16GB module). You don't need a discrete GPU: Intel integrated graphics is fine. If you get more heavily into 3D modelling, you'll find that OpenSCAD isn't best for all purposes, and you'll want to use different tools for different jobs. In that case, multi-core performance and having a fast GPU become more important. On Thu, Oct 22, 2020, at 9:31 AM, Anet wrote: > Hello, > > I am a total beginner and I want to do some simple 3D modeling with OpenSCAD > (example: a small box with a lid, or a toy for animal). I am buying a new > notebook, because my old i3 Dell definitively has its best days over, let's > face it. > I am thinking about Asus TUF Gaming FX505GT-BQ018T, would it be a good > choice? To give an overview of the hardware: Intel Core i5 9300H Coffee > Lake, 15.6" IPS 1920 × 1080, RAM 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB, SSD > 512GB. Or is there something better in the same price cathegory maybe? > Much appreciate your help, thank you! > > A > > > > -- > Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/ > > _______________________________________________ > OpenSCAD mailing list > Discuss@lists.openscad.org > http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org >

RW

Rogier Wolff

Sat, Oct 24, 2020 5:29 PM

On Thu, Oct 22, 2020 at 06:31:11AM -0700, Anet wrote:

To give an overview of the hardware: Intel Core i5 9300H Coffee
Lake, 15.6" IPS 1920 × 1080, RAM 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB, SSD
512GB.

My recommendation is always to increase the amount of ram. If "common
knowledge" says that 8G is about enough these days, then you'll be very
happy with your 16G.

This statement stays true throughout the years. I bought 8M for my
first Linux-capable machine when 4M was common... (This was before
Linux) Xwindows ran Soooo much better on 8M than 4M!

On my recent server purchase I went from the recommended 8G to 32G
with room to spare to upgrade to 64G.

Unless the workload is very special, RAM is so much faster than disk
that you'll almost always benefit from more RAM.

Roger.

--
** R.E.Wolff@BitWizard.nl ** https://www.BitWizard.nl/ ** +31-15-2049110 **
** Delftechpark 11 2628 XJ Delft, The Netherlands. KVK: 27239233 **
f equals m times a. When your f is steady, and your m is going down
your a is going up. -- Chris Hadfield about flying up the space shuttle.

On Thu, Oct 22, 2020 at 06:31:11AM -0700, Anet wrote: > To give an overview of the hardware: Intel Core i5 9300H Coffee > Lake, 15.6" IPS 1920 × 1080, RAM 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB, SSD > 512GB. My recommendation is always to increase the amount of ram. If "common knowledge" says that 8G is about enough these days, then you'll be very happy with your 16G. This statement stays true throughout the years. I bought 8M for my first Linux-capable machine when 4M was common... (This was before Linux) Xwindows ran Soooo much better on 8M than 4M! On my recent server purchase I went from the recommended 8G to 32G with room to spare to upgrade to 64G. Unless the workload is very special, RAM is so much faster than disk that you'll almost always benefit from more RAM. Roger. -- ** R.E.Wolff@BitWizard.nl ** https://www.BitWizard.nl/ ** +31-15-2049110 ** ** Delftechpark 11 2628 XJ Delft, The Netherlands. KVK: 27239233 ** f equals m times a. When your f is steady, and your m is going down your a is going up. -- Chris Hadfield about flying up the space shuttle.

AB

Aneta Brunová

Sun, Oct 25, 2020 8:13 AM

Alright, so the RAM always makes a difference. This is probably the biggest
limitation of my old Dell with 4 GB RAM.

Thank you!

Anet

---------- Původní e-mail ----------
Od: Rogier Wolff R.E.Wolff@BitWizard.nl
Komu: OpenSCAD general discussion discuss@lists.openscad.org
Datum: 24. 10. 2020 19:30:15
Předmět: Re: [OpenSCAD] Choosing new notebook to work with OpenSCAD
"On Thu, Oct 22, 2020 at 06:31:11AM -0700, Anet wrote:

To give an overview of the hardware: Intel Core i5 9300H Coffee
Lake, 15.6" IPS 1920 × 1080, RAM 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB,

SSD

512GB.

My recommendation is always to increase the amount of ram. If "common
knowledge" says that 8G is about enough these days, then you'll be very
happy with your 16G.

This statement stays true throughout the years. I bought 8M for my
first Linux-capable machine when 4M was common... (This was before
Linux) Xwindows ran Soooo much better on 8M than 4M!

On my recent server purchase I went from the recommended 8G to 32G
with room to spare to upgrade to 64G.

Unless the workload is very special, RAM is so much faster than disk
that you'll almost always benefit from more RAM.

Roger.

--
** R.E.Wolff@BitWizard.nl ** https://www.BitWizard.nl/ ** +31-15-2049110 **
** Delftechpark 11 2628 XJ Delft, The Netherlands. KVK: 27239233 **
f equals m times a. When your f is steady, and your m is going down
your a is going up. -- Chris Hadfield about flying up the space shuttle.

OpenSCAD mailing list
Discuss@lists.openscad.org
http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org
"

Alright, so the RAM always makes a difference. This is probably the biggest limitation of my old Dell with 4 GB RAM. Thank you! Anet ---------- Původní e-mail ---------- Od: Rogier Wolff <R.E.Wolff@BitWizard.nl> Komu: OpenSCAD general discussion <discuss@lists.openscad.org> Datum: 24. 10. 2020 19:30:15 Předmět: Re: [OpenSCAD] Choosing new notebook to work with OpenSCAD "On Thu, Oct 22, 2020 at 06:31:11AM -0700, Anet wrote: > To give an overview of the hardware: Intel Core i5 9300H Coffee > Lake, 15.6" IPS 1920 × 1080, RAM 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB, SSD > 512GB. My recommendation is always to increase the amount of ram. If "common knowledge" says that 8G is about enough these days, then you'll be very happy with your 16G. This statement stays true throughout the years. I bought 8M for my first Linux-capable machine when 4M was common... (This was before Linux) Xwindows ran Soooo much better on 8M than 4M! On my recent server purchase I went from the recommended 8G to 32G with room to spare to upgrade to 64G. Unless the workload is very special, RAM is so much faster than disk that you'll almost always benefit from more RAM. Roger. -- ** R.E.Wolff@BitWizard.nl ** https://www.BitWizard.nl/ ** +31-15-2049110 ** ** Delftechpark 11 2628 XJ Delft, The Netherlands. KVK: 27239233 ** f equals m times a. When your f is steady, and your m is going down your a is going up. -- Chris Hadfield about flying up the space shuttle. _______________________________________________ OpenSCAD mailing list Discuss@lists.openscad.org http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org "

AB

Aneta Brunová

Sun, Oct 25, 2020 8:25 AM

OK, so dual-ported memory ... I'll add that to my checklist.
It is a surprise for me to hear that discrete GPU is not needed. Most of me
friends told me I will probably need it (they either don't have much
experience with CAD though, or they only use Revit).

Regards

Anet

---------- Původní e-mail ----------
Od: Doug Moen doug@moens.org
Komu: OpenSCAD Discuss discuss@lists.openscad.org
Datum: 24. 10. 2020 15:56:20
Předmět: Re: [OpenSCAD] Choosing new notebook to work with OpenSCAD
"If OpenSCAD is the only 3D modelling program you are going to use, then
single core performance is important, but not multicore. Lots of memory is
good. Memory speed has an impact, so dual-ported memory is slightly better
than single-ported. (eg, two 8GB modules instead of a single 16GB module).
You don't need a discrete GPU: Intel integrated graphics is fine.

If you get more heavily into 3D modelling, you'll find that OpenSCAD isn't
best for all purposes, and you'll want to use different tools for different
jobs. In that case, multi-core performance and having a fast GPU become more
important.

On Thu, Oct 22, 2020, at 9:31 AM, Anet wrote:

Hello,

I am a total beginner and I want to do some simple 3D modeling with

OpenSCAD

(example: a small box with a lid, or a toy for animal). I am buying a new
notebook, because my old i3 Dell definitively has its best days over, let'

s

face it.
I am thinking about Asus TUF Gaming FX505GT-BQ018T, would it be a good
choice? To give an overview of the hardware: Intel Core i5 9300H Coffee
Lake, 15.6" IPS 1920 × 1080, RAM 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB,

SSD

512GB. Or is there something better in the same price cathegory maybe?
Much appreciate your help, thank you!

A

--
Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/

OpenSCAD mailing list
Discuss@lists.openscad.org
http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org

OpenSCAD mailing list
Discuss@lists.openscad.org
http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org
"

OK, so dual-ported memory ... I'll add that to my checklist. It is a surprise for me to hear that discrete GPU is not needed. Most of me friends told me I will probably need it (they either don't have much experience with CAD though, or they only use Revit). Regards Anet ---------- Původní e-mail ---------- Od: Doug Moen <doug@moens.org> Komu: OpenSCAD Discuss <discuss@lists.openscad.org> Datum: 24. 10. 2020 15:56:20 Předmět: Re: [OpenSCAD] Choosing new notebook to work with OpenSCAD "If OpenSCAD is the only 3D modelling program you are going to use, then single core performance is important, but not multicore. Lots of memory is good. Memory speed has an impact, so dual-ported memory is slightly better than single-ported. (eg, two 8GB modules instead of a single 16GB module). You don't need a discrete GPU: Intel integrated graphics is fine. If you get more heavily into 3D modelling, you'll find that OpenSCAD isn't best for all purposes, and you'll want to use different tools for different jobs. In that case, multi-core performance and having a fast GPU become more important. On Thu, Oct 22, 2020, at 9:31 AM, Anet wrote: > Hello, > > I am a total beginner and I want to do some simple 3D modeling with OpenSCAD > (example: a small box with a lid, or a toy for animal). I am buying a new > notebook, because my old i3 Dell definitively has its best days over, let' s > face it. > I am thinking about Asus TUF Gaming FX505GT-BQ018T, would it be a good > choice? To give an overview of the hardware: Intel Core i5 9300H Coffee > Lake, 15.6" IPS 1920 × 1080, RAM 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB, SSD > 512GB. Or is there something better in the same price cathegory maybe? > Much appreciate your help, thank you! > > A > > > > -- > Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/ > > _______________________________________________ > OpenSCAD mailing list > Discuss@lists.openscad.org > http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org > _______________________________________________ OpenSCAD mailing list Discuss@lists.openscad.org http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org "

JB

Jordan Brown

Sun, Oct 25, 2020 7:43 PM

On 10/25/2020 1:13 AM, Aneta Brunová wrote:

Alright, so the RAM always makes a difference. This is probably the
biggest limitation of my old Dell with 4 GB RAM.

Have you tried running OpenSCAD on your old system? My guess is that it
will be OK for small to medium models.

Of course, if you're just itching to buy a new one anyway...

On 10/25/2020 1:13 AM, Aneta Brunová wrote: > Alright, so the RAM always makes a difference. This is probably the > biggest limitation of my old Dell with 4 GB RAM. Have you tried running OpenSCAD on your old system? My guess is that it will be OK for small to medium models. Of course, if you're just itching to buy a new one anyway...