Question A graphics card for a XEON Windows 7 machine ?

[cve60069]

I have a XEON PC running Windows 7 which I spare no expense to keep alive (legacy software worth £1000's to replace) . Recently, the graphics card got fried and the replacement is not up to the job. If I found a second-hand (or new) Windows 7 era graphic card on the internet, what should I look for. My last card was a P2000 but I would like someting better.

Main software is AutoCAD 14 and Revit 14 and Photoshop 6 - Yeah, that old but it works and its paid for. Lots of 3D work.

Also, I do a lot of VBA code in CAD and Excel and I notice that AutoCAD can be slow. Are there Maths processors that AutoCAD could use - maybe the graphic card processor, bit-coin like?

Regards

Dan

 

[Eximo]

Xeon isn't exactly specific. Windows 7 can run on lots of generations of Xeon.

Complete specifications, including power supply would help.

Pascal is 10 series cards, and that is the oldest with current driver support. Larger Pascal Quadros is a potential answer. P4000, P5000, P6000. As long as you have the appropriate power supply and room in the chassis.

P2000 has 1024 CUDA cores.
T1000 has 896 CUDA cores (Turing though) (RTX 20 series, with tensor and ray tracing cores as well)

The GPUs are acting as co-processors for the system already, not really much to add. The Quadro drivers do enable certain features that help programs like AutoCAD.

Sounds more like you need a new CPU, if we know the socket could maybe find a faster Xeon, either clock speed or core count that could help you. Nothing says you can't migrate the OS to a new system, but that does come with risks and the potential to lose your activations.

Cloning the system to a VM and running it on newer hardware with passthrough is another potential option.

Photoshop 6 could probably be replaced by GIMP easily enough. Been a lot of changes since PS6.

AutoCAD 14 is also quite old, predates my even seeing AutoCAD I think. Can't quite recall what version I used in High School, but it was probably something like 16 or 17. Have you looked at FreeCAD, QCad, LibreCAD, and many others. Given the age these probably cover the actions and toolsets you need.

 

[cve60069]

Eximo

Thank you for your reply and I will try to add my system configeration as an attachment. If not, I will write it out after this comment.

The problem I have is that AutoDesk is trying to eradicate permanent licences for subscriptions and for me to have revit and full AutoCAD will cost me in excess of £2000 per year. I recently rented the latest AutoCAD (2024) and guess what, there was no difference between the two programs. For me to subscribe, it would be like dumping my car and then going out and renting it back. I choose to spend the £2000 per annum keeping my Z200 alive.

I tried moving to another machine but it meant needing to reinstall AutoCAD which is what Autodesk want as I will not be given a new activation code. (I am not condoning crime in any way but is there a way to create activation codes? - the Z200 is not internet connected - it is my software). My Z200 was plenty powerful until the P2000 leaked over the motherboard and I had to replace the lot. The PC engineer fitted an M2000 card but its not up to much so I though go more powerful and on-line the P4/6000 look good. My CPU is an X3430 and my motherbpard will only accept 32G of RAM. I thought I had 32G installed but gone down to 16G (wonder if I was robbed?).

As for the software, I have used AutoCAD since 1998, I code it using VBA, build houses in 3D and I love the parametrics. Have seen other software and nothing competes with AutoCAD. I have to work on other peoples drawings which are mostly AutoCAD - but not all. I like Revit for designing houses but it's totally crap for fine detail required for construction drawings. I laugh when I get job offers to do Architectural Technology and they are using Revit. I would have to convert the drawing to dwg and Revit cannot do the translation properly. Layers and lines everywhere. I would not want the stress and as for TurboCAD. I have to stick with AutoCAD 14 for my 3D and programming. I have LT on my other PC and its good for most things except it does not include a code developer and it will only run Lisp but not VBA.

If I could just put my hard-drive into another machine, push the button and it fires, I would do it, but, and I think you know the answer to this; the Bios and Windows Registry are all mapped together. Change the Bios and Windows has to be reinstalled including drivers and software.

I tink my plan should be to get a better card, increase the memory and, if you know if it is possible, fit a better CPU. As for photoshop, my son has the latest suite but has found an AI program that does most of the work for him. Can't wait for ChatGPT to learn how to draw.

All the best

Dan

 

[COLGeek]

I am not condoning crime in any way but is there a way to create activation codes? - the Z200 is not internet connected - it is my software).

If I could just put my hard-drive into another machine, push the button and it fires, I would do it, but, and I think you know the answer to this; the Bios and Windows Registry are all mapped together. Change the Bios and Windows has to be reinstalled including drivers and software.

No, there is no legit way to create activation codes. As a reminder, Tom's Hardware does not support any form of software piracy. None. Period.

You are operating under a false assumption. The software is not yours. You paid for a license to use a product. The two are very different.

Aside from wanting another GPU, maxing out memory, or changing to faster/larger SSDs vice what you have now are the only viable options to keep your old rig viable. Is that your intent?

 

[Eximo]

Z200, a bit worse than I was thinking. Essentially first gen core, and not the HEDT version either. There is a faster quad core available, but it would be a very minor upgrade.

If you are using this professionally, I can only suggest biting the bullet and upgrading. Adjust your pricing accordingly.

Also sounds like you just don't want to take the time to re-write your code. I can understand, but not sympathize with this. My early career was basically telling engineers that they couldn't keep their 15 year old toys forever. Some of them listened and took a few weeks to migrate code and adopt newer tools, others left the company to essentially get jobs at places still using legacy technology, and some ignored us and continuously went outside of policy and were fined by Autodesk repeatedly. We passed those lovely fines on to their department budgets and it quickly became pretty easy to justify the expense of transitioning.

Most notable was people still clinging to Mechanical Desktop, which by that point was just a UI overlay over the top of Autocad. We weren't licensed for it after AutoCAD 2010 if I recall, but we kept finding installs on the network at every Autodesk audit up until I left.

All those open source options are still worth taking a look at. Most handle DXF and DWG as their intended file type of choice. Not sure about Revit though.

 

[Misgar]

Main software is AutoCAD 14 and Revit 14 and Photoshop 6

I know someone who has stuck with CS6 since it was released. A perpetual license is much cheaper than a monthly subscription.

I was going to suggest Photoshop Elements but was dismayed to discover Adobe have stopped selling the program outright, but restrict you to a 3-year license.🙁 It's a bit like buying a car which turns into a proverbial pumpkin at midnight on its 3rd birthday. Chocolate teapot anyone? No thank you.
https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/...w-much-does-the-new-three-year-license-matter

Cloning the system to a VM and running it on newer hardware with passthrough is another potential option.

I finally got around to sorting out GPU Passthrough in Hyper-V but only after I switched over to a Gen.2 Windows 10 VM. As this guide mentions, I had to disable Dynamic Memory and Snapshots but that's no great loss.
https://woshub.com/passthrough-gpu-to-hyperv-vm/

If I could just put my hard-drive into another machine, push the button and it fires, I would do it,

I've done this many times on unimportant systems and "got away" with it. I keep a few cloned Windows SATA SSDs to test second-hand motherboards bought on eBay. Windows finds new hardware and loads appropriate drivers. Anything missing can often be found in the Windows Update list of optional drivers. For mission critical systems it's always a fresh install, but a quick and dirty test by dropping in a pre-built OS usually works well enough for my needs and saves 15 minutes reinstalling Windows from USB.

I've picked up cheap second-hand Quadro P4000 boards around the same vintage as your system on eBay. A lot slower than a modern GPU, but it prolongs the life of the system.

 

[Eximo]

It is highly likely those licensed applications rely on the BIOS/MAC Address to remained activated. Some use disk ID though.

Why a VM clone is less of a risk to try, because the original system will stay intact.

At some point the drives will need to be replaced regardless, sooner rather than later with a system of that age.

A twelve year gap between Photoshop 6 and Photoshop CS6 (ver 13) Either is fairly outdated.

 

[Misgar]

If you are using Photoshop CS6, I believe Adobe allowed you to install and run the software on two computers, provided they both used the same OS (either Windows or Mac) and you personally owned both machines. You were not allowed to activate the same license on a Windows PC and a Mac simultaneously.

Typical installations at the time assumed you'd install Photoshop on a laptop when you were on the move and the other on a desktop PC when you returned to base. With these specific provisos, CS6 and possibly earlier versions, could legally be run on two machines (but probably not at the same time).

In the event you had reached your 2-machine limit, or simply wanted to upgrade to a faster PC, you could Deactivate Photoshop on the old machine, then Activate it on a new machine, as the link below describes:
https://www.livelaptopspec.com/how-to-move-adobe-photoshop-cs6-to-another-computer/

Given Adobe's predeliction for moving from perpetual licenses over to subscription licensing, I would tread very warily before attempting to Deactivate Photoshop on your old machine. You might end up with no Photoshop functionality.

But if you still have the original installation files or DVD, plus the license documentation and (hopefully) the bill of sale or till receipt (to prove to Adobe it's legitimate) then you might consider installing Photoshop on a new computer and trying to Activate it. This might involve talking to Adobe on the phone. Best of luck!

This assumes Adobe haven't "done the dirty" and changed their Activation Servers to revoke attempts to activate old versions of CS6, et al. Cracked versions of Photoshop abound and Adobe annoyed many legitimate users of CS4, CS5 and CS6 by marking their legitimate licenses as Invalid, which caused a huge uproar in the community. You'd switch on your PC and start Photoshop, only to be greeted by a message telling you your software was pirated and had been disabled.

For more details, search the Adobe forums. You may find it's still possible to Activate CS6 on a new machine, provided you have a legitimate license purchased directly from Adobe or one of their official resellers. Adobe removed the CS6 installation files from their download servers some years ago, so any copies of CS6 you find purporting to be "genuine" or free, are nothing of the sort.