[gis_info] GIS Computer

Michele Long michele.l.long at state.or.us
Mon Oct 4 09:40:45 PDT 2010


This question came up a while back - I'll paste the response below.  For
myself, I like to have 2 monitors so can have map open on one and file
folders and other work on the 2nd one.  Unless you can afford a really
large monitor.  They'll need some mega memory too.  Terabytes if they
are looking at keeping orthos, LiDAR, etc. I know non-profits that use
GIS and storage becomes an issue.  External drives are good for these
and they sell Terabyte external hard drives that are not too expensive.
Also, I find Adobe Acrobat Pro useful in general and on our GIS
computer.

 

>From previous posts:

"Nice compilation of the key issues for workstation specs.  Thanks.

 

I'll just toss in my $0.02 worth.  Metro/DRC just purchased a number of
machines in two "tiers".  One, workstation/workhorse model were HP
xw6400's with an Nvidia quadro pro fx1500, XP Pro 32-bit architecture
using Intel Xeon 5150 2.66 Ghz chips.  These are "quad-core" machines;
pretty sweet.  4 GB DDR2 RAM.  These are working very nicely and our
user experience has been terrific with 9.2 SP 2.

 

FYI, we got a quote from our vendor for these machines at $2918 (no
monitor).

 

Our second "tier" machine is for counter/mapping ArcView type
applications.  They are HP xw4600 duo-core workstations with an NVidia
Quadro NVS 440 video card and 2 GB RAM.   Again, a good user experience
so far.  These machines came in at $1,563 (no monitor).  

 

BTW:  both of these graphics cards support our - now standard - dual DVI
monitor configuration (2x19" LCD flat panels - once you go dual, you'll
never go back!).

 

Good luck shopping out there.  I'm happy to follow up on any questions
as well.  

 

Mark

 

Mark Bosworth

Geographic Information Systems

Metro

600 NE Grand Ave

Portland, OR 97232

Tel:  503.797.1583

Fax: 503.797.1909

email: bosworth at metro.dst.or.us

web:   www.metro-region.org <http://www.metro-region.org/> "

 

And

 

"In case anyone is interested here's what I gathered from different
folks, thank you for the responses. 

 

For a desktop aim for:

> - 4 gigs of ddr ram if possible.

> - 512 ram graphics card.

> - high end CAD cards aren't necessary unless you're doing a lot of
intensive 3D work.

> - SATA hard drive, preferably 2.0

> - They're pricy, but try to get even an entry level nVIDIA Quadro
series video card, Nvidia cards were recommended in general. 

> - Several folks recommended building your own machine to save a lot of
money.

> - As much ram as possible and don't worry too much about CPU processor
speed.

> - consider two hard drives, one for data one for programs, as it will
help draw big image files faster.

> - Consider ESRI hardware bundles they have on their website.

> 

Erik

 

> Erik Fernandez

> Wilderness Coordinator

> Oregon Wild, formerly Oregon Natural Resources Council (ONRC) 

> Protecting Oregon's Wildlands, wildlife and waters since 1974.

> 5825 N Greeley

> Portland, OR 97217

> Office (503) 283-6343 x202

> www.oregonwild.org

>"

 

-----------------------------------------------

Michele Long

Watershed Council Liaison

ODFW North Coast Watershed District

4907 Third St., Tillamook, OR 97141

(503) 842-2741 ext 237

fax (503) 842-8385

Michele.L.Long at state.or.us

 

________________________________

From: gis_info-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
[mailto:gis_info-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Tom
Ponte
Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2010 9:51 AM
To: gis_info at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Subject: [gis_info] GIS Computer

 

A local nonprofit enviro firm says they are trying to get a grant for a
new GIS computer for as much as 5k but need some pretty specific
recommendations for the grant. 5k would buy one nice machine and
monitor. Any hardware geeks out there willing to make recommendations on
a machine that nice for GIS? Probably a windows 7 machine capable of
running xp in virtualization mode for legacy software they use. Lots of
ram and a big hard drive no doubt but what processor and video card?
Also any good discount generic vendors out there online that do not add
a lot of unwanted software? 3k buys a heck of a machine and monitor
unless you're going for the latest 6 core processor which is probably
totally unnecessary right? They do not do anything more processor
intensive than say running occasional viewsheds etc. They do not do any
interactive 3d that I am aware of other than say Google Earth. Their
network is very loose and there  are no IT guys with any requirements or
any kind of plan for a hardware life cycle. They just run them until
they get so mucked up and or the software is to new and improved for the
machine and then they buy new ones as needed usually not less than 5
years - more like 10.

 

Any recommendations especially on the processor and video card?

 

Tom Ponte

GIS Analyst 

(541) 419-2113

TGIS at BendBroadBand.com

 

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