Looking to build a computer for handling 3D graphics for CNC

[Blacknbart]

Curious what people are using as far as processors, Graphic cards, Motherboards for rendering 2D and 3D artwork. I also plan to use the same computer or build a simple computer to run a CNC machine (Shopbot or Techno). I have been researching brands on New egg and figured I would ask the appropriate forum for help.

[glenn]

Hello Blacknbart,
welcome to the forum,
I'll give you an example of the lower end that does the job,
I have a 2002 xp service pack 2
pentium 4 cpu 1.6gh
512 megabites of ram computer


I have aspire and mach3(runs the cam) on this computer.
this setup works good for me, but I have never seen a
different system, so maybe more power is better.
I'm sure others on the forum will tell you about their
particular setups and how they get along.
I always think of upgrades, but not till this quits working
for me!
As far as building a simple computer to run the cam, if money
is an issue,I recommend buying a used dell home computer pent. 4
tons on craig's list and ebay and I've found 2 less than 85.00 bucks delivered!
Good luck,
Glenn

[signmarketingman]

i just built a I7 2600 cpu machine.
ITs is very fast running Aspire. Most render 3d work is as fast as a mouse click.
8 gigs ram
50 vid car
500 watt power supply
ssd main
1.5 terra d drive
with all the goodies such as usb, sata 3 and sata 6
etc
800 bux

[Adrian]

I'd always go for two separate PC's for running the machine and designing on. They're completely different jobs and it's always best to have a dedicated PC on the CNC so you can strip it right down so you don't have issues with anti-virus, updates, screen savers etc etc all trying to take time away from the important job of sending instructions to the CNC.

[signmarketingman]

adrian makes a great point.
That's what most others do. They run a xp dedicated computer just for the cnc controller.
Then you can design and tweak your art on the fast computer while the cnc is running in another room.

It is not a good idea to run anything extra on the controller computer while it is sending code to the cnc.