I’m a all-Mac guy and after recently taking a CNC class that used V-Carve, I see just how much I’m missing by not being able to use it. Rather than buy Parallels & Windows and install onto my MacBook Pro (which I rely on for work), I’m looking at picking up a PC laptop just for V-Carve.
I know that Vectric has system minimums listed on their site (2Ghz multicore CPU & 2Gb RAM), but are those minimums realistic for average use?
I use a Toshiba laptop with AMD Athlon II P320 Dual-core processor at 2.1GHGz with 3GB RAM and Windows 10, 64bit. It works just fine.
Cool - thanks. When I saw their requirements being Windows 7, 8 or 10, I figured that something close to their other minimums would be ok.
Yes. Plus when you set up a new project, you can keep the default settings which require a very, very modest computer. The only sacrifice that you MIGHT feel with a slow machine involves the 3D rendering resolution (TOTALLY adjustable), and the speed of uber-complex toolpath generation (like on 3d cuts), and all that requires is patience.
I pulled my machine out of a dumpster. First gen dual core processor. I put a FRESH install of 32 bit windows 7 on it and it works just fine. If it is slow on rendering you COULD add a $30 video card which would be more than capable. IMHO.
Ha! Dumpster machine - I love it!
Fortunately it’s a good time of year to be looking to buy a computer for cheap.
Yah it’s strange, people throw stuff away all the time. I’ve reconditioned many a dumpster machine. Usually it is just a bad hard drive, or they downloaded so much junk they believe their machine is too slow. Win 7, 8 and 10 actually run better and faster on slow, old technology than XP did. We’re not talking about photo and video editing or high-end gaming here, but for DVR’s, CNC’s, photo servers, social media browsers etc. There’s (literally) gold in them thar dumpsters.
Fresh install and if possible a solid state drive is the key BTY.
V-Carve doesn’t need too much power on computer requirement, but just a safe side, think about sending G code to machine. You better go a little higher standard. What you need is good Java running PC. You better think now, if your PC freeze on middle of the job, you will waste time and material cost.
By the way, like earwigger mentioned, fast data access would definitely helps for smooth communication, and solid state drives requires 64Bit operated PC. Editing my self after getting harsh commands (At least to take full advantage of SSD)
Good info, Alan - thanks.
Man I feel dirty for looking at PC’s…
I got a nice stack of computer towers in the garage most only had a month of use on them. My last job kept throwing them out and getting new ones after the IT guy quite. The computers would keep shutting off after a month lol very dusty place i tried to tell them just to blow them out. Oh well what would a guy that repairs and builds computers on the side for the past 20 years know any way. Win for me!!
I use solid state drives on all kinds of machines. 32 bit… even Raspberry Pi. It’s just a hard drive. You can even use a thumb drive for your operating system.
You’re loosing Read/Write speed. That is the reason to upgrade to Solid State Drive.
I’ll pull-up the chart to see, you may be right.
10 second boot on win 7 32 bit, so I can’t be losing too much speed! Mechanical hard drives are always the bottleneck of any system. I always include a mechanical drive for automated back ups. Because SSD’s do fail after a couple years of non-stop use.
Yes it is working with 32 bit systems, only found this on Solid State System requirement is;
AHCI enabled systems, which Some Solid State Drive Manufacturers coming up with solution for this posting different Drivers for 32 bit systems, which called cheat mode. Other wise SSD running in IDE Mode.
Here is the info I just cut and pasted;
“If you have a system that does not support AHCI, or if you fail to enable it properly, your system will run in “IDE emulation” mode, a kind of compatibility mode that mimics the functionality of the older “Integrated Drive Electronics” ATA interface. While your SSD will not display its full performance potential or be able to take advantage of all of the latest SATA functionality, it will still be able to function on your system.”
This is my real world. 
Oh, I see. Yah that would be a REALLY old machine. Typically if a mobo shipped with SATA connectors, the bios will support AHCI or there is a BIOS update that will give you AHCI. I am also sure there are plenty of exceptions. A good step is to go into bios and make sure it is set to use AHCI.
SSD will be a someday upgrade for me. Need to keep the budget lower on this machine or my wife will kill me. 
Right now I’m eyeballing this one - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-satellite-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i3-6gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-brushed-black/4517800.p?id=1219756376407&skuId=4517800
Looks perfect deal to me. While you’re on Best buy you may want to buy cheapest External Powered USB hub. Many people had USB connection issues with Laptop. At least you power-up your USB. It’s up to you.
I’m a video editor, so I’ve got probably 4 of them in a drawer somewhere. The trick is to figure out where that “somewhere” is…
If Santa brings it for you, wipe the hard drive and start over. Those name brands load so much junk on to those machines, more than 50% of your capacity is taken before you turn it on. Sometimes it’s not so easy to wipe with the wierd hybrid, half ssd/half hdd.
