Recommended hardware specs for BricsCAD 3D modelling - CPU, RAM and GPU?

kavinreed
kavinreed
in Other

Hi,

I'm looking into hardware specs for running BricsCAD smoothly, mainly for 3D modelling and larger drawings. For those of you working with it day to day, what do you consider a sensible minimum for RAM, CPU and GPU?

I'm especially curious whether BricsCAD benefits more from higher single-core CPU speed or more cores, and whether a dedicated GPU makes a noticeable difference compared to integrated graphics.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Comments

  • zoomer
    zoomer

    As all CAD or other Apps which have mostly linear calculations mandatory, single core speed is the key. Unfortunately, the most expensive CPUs and many cores, also have the best single core speeds :)


    And Bricscad is one of the Apps that, where applicable, can do many things multi-threaded. So you are not doing anything wrong with multi-core CPUs as long as they fit your budget.

    It is no more that bad as some years ago but I think a dedicated GPU is still the better option. But there are enough other bottlenecks that it may not really help to buy the best and most expensive GPU for it. There is no "Pro GPU" support so a decent Gaming GPU is fine.

    I wouldn't go with anything less than 32 GB RAM in general. For CAD and demanding Projects better 64 GB or more.

    Consider the Hardware should run for a few years and also suffice for near-future needs. A Desktop may be upgradable, a Mobile likely not.

    Currently it is not the best time to buy new hardware, especially with current exorbitant RAM, SSD and GPU prices. And that may last for some more years.

  • Its_Alive
    Its_Alive
    edited October 1

    “I'm especially curious whether BricsCAD benefits more from higher single-core CPU”
    I think so, DWG format is thread sensitive for write operations, though some read operations are multithreaded

    “Dedicated GPU makes a noticeable difference compared to integrated graphics.”
    Definitely yes, but IMHO, I don’t think you need a monster card either, I have never been able to get BricsCAD to put pressure on my 5060ti, maybe panning in a really big BIM model. I’ve never seen it consume large amounts of VRAM. IMHO an Nvidia, 3060 or better, 8GB VRAM or better.

    Prefer a desktop over a laptop as laptops tend to throttle. Minimum I9-12900k, 3060, 32gb ram, NVMe drive

  • ALANH
    ALANH

    A lot of Pc/Laptop have a Intel graphics chip as well as a Nvidia, so make sure you set CAD to use the NVIDIA.

    Simple google "set my cad program to use graphics card"

  • kavinreed
    kavinreed

    This is really helpful, thanks all. Good point on single-core speed, I'll aim for something with strong single-thread performance rather than just chasing core count. On the laptop vs desktop point, since a couple of you mentioned throttling, has anyone actually tested a mobile RTX (30-series or newer) on a big BIM model, or is the "avoid laptops" advice more general caution than something you've hit yourself?

  • Its_Alive
    Its_Alive

    "avoid laptops"

    Laptops use different processors

    Example:
    Desktop - Core i9-12900K draws ~125W, can run at 5.2 GHz full throttle for hours
    Laptop - i9-12900HX draws ~55W, can burst up to 5.0 GHz, then drops to ~2.2 GHz – 3.8 GHz sustained
    Laptop GPU will throttle too, I.e. the laptop 3060 version will draw ~60W, whereas as desktop can draw 170W, sustained

    I personally avoid laptops just because I know I need sustained performance. Most CAD users don’t need sustained performance, they’re looking at the screen thinking about what to do next, so a laptop is fine. However, if you’re doing a lot of rendering or importing models etc., you'll have to weigh the convenience vs performance

  • x4x
    x4x
    edited October 8

    Single most important metric, is Single Threaded Performance. oh and, yes, same advice as Its Alive, no Laptops!! It's a thermally constrained package on the Wintel side. macOS well that's a different universe, a Macbook Pro will smoke a WinTel desktop, so there's that.

    All these AEC class apps are relics of the 1990's, a decade and a half before multicore CPU's. Practically everything is single threaded, (besides rendering animation-maybe publishing a PDF).

    https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

    BricsCAD's graphics engine is poorly optimised, again irrespective to the GPU, you could have a 5090, it's just not going to be utilised as expected. I run an RTX 5080 and an RX 7900 XT with a 285K, paperspace performance sucks, BIM Section's Performance sucks, ugly. (RTX 5080 does baout 15 FPS more than the 7900XT)

    ZWCAD, however, rearchitected their DWG I/O resulting in significantly faster dwg opening, saving, copying etc.

    ZWCAD's graphics engine is OpenGL 4.6, legacy I know but they've done a good job with it, (beware PDMODE=35 destroys performance in shaded with edges use PDMODE=3) is night and day more performant than BricsCADs. Not pleasing visually, missing many features (i use) but performs well.

    Real world case, in ZWCAD a dwg with 1+ million 3D scaffold blocks, orbits acceptably, probably around 30 FPS, good enough. Selection and copying acceptable.

    Same DWG in BricsCAD, can barely move it and trying to select and copy, forget it, atrocious.

    Rule of thumb with hardware, is the highest single threaded performance your dollar can reach, GPU well, depends on your model complexity, sweetspot perf/$ is probably a RX 9700 XT.

    Forgot about RAM…ouch, if you posted this 1.5 years ago i'd have said 128GB, but that's insane in this RAMageddon mania. AutoCAD DWG clones don't use RAM like other apps. Current session, 3 dwgs open, 1 about 6,000 parts, one 15,000 parts, the last one 50,000 parts - BricsCAD using about 8 GB.

    Total system use right now is 27GB, BricsCAD, Teams, Outlook New, Vivialdi, Task Manager, NotePads.

  • Its_Alive
    Its_Alive

    285K + RTX 5080 is total beast! I would expect BricsCAD to crush on that system. My ol’ paint is a 9900k @5GHz, 2x RTX5060Ti-16, 64gb ram, I don’t do much 3D CAD work though, mostly compile and test 2d stuff

  • aridzv
    aridzv
    edited October 10

    About laptops:

    I use a 2023 Asus TUF F15 15.6 Screen - I7-12700H - 2TB SSD- 32GB RAM - RTX4060.

    most of the time I use it at home or office connected to a charger, external screen and keyboard.

    Performance in 2d are obviously very good.

    mechanicl 3d performance are good for small to medium project.

    with civil tin surfaces perfomance are also good.

    there are 3 issues for me to deal with:

    1. heating - I place an small object (Stapler…) under the rear part of the laptop for better fan cooling and dont have heating issues - cooling pad is of corse other option.
    2. screen quality - when using the laptop outdoors the laptop screen quality is lees then good.
    3. battery life - when working outdoors where there is no power battery life is an issue.

    so to sum up:

    for me laptop is a good solution,

    and if the work load is not too heavy and most of the work is done at home or office ,

    but there is occasionally a need for fieldwork and\or travel and one don't want to keep 2 systems (desktop and laptop),

    a good laptop is not something to be afraid of.

    thats my 2 cents…

  • kavinreed
    kavinreed

    Thanks everyone, this discussion turned into a great resource. The clock-speed comparison between desktop and laptop versions of the same chip makes the throttling concern a lot clearer than I expected, and the single-thread benchmark link is genuinely useful for comparing options directly. Sounds like the takeaway is: prioritise single-thread performance, a modest dedicated GPU is enough, and a desktop is the safer choice if sustained performance matters for bigger models.