PC Configuration

We use meshfrompoints on exploded scans to create a meshed surface. Problem is that the files are large and the process slow.
Sometimes I’m on site where I have to use my laptop. Using meshfrompoints the max number of points I can process in one pass is 250,000. For a cleaned 20 million point scan (4gb) this means I have to do around 80 passes. Each pass takes around 1-2 minutes to complete. However what I need is a workstation for the office that will process these points in less than 3 passes. My laptop spec is i7-3540M-CPU, 3ghz, 16gbRAM.
Can anyone advise on what spec I should apply to the desktop PC/workstation? We use Rhino and Faro Scene. Considering getting Geomagic.

I would use the fastest processor available and lots of RAM as scanning requires a lot of memory, too. A multiprocessor configuration would enhance the workflow, but should not accelerate Rhino (McNeel-Team please update me if I am wrong here). Check if Geomagic is a multithreading application. A fast hard disk, preferably SSD should be a good investment, too. BTW, here are some useful links including graphic card recommendations:

http://wiki.mcneel.com/rhino/videocards
http://wiki.mcneel.com/rhino/hardwarebaseline

I personally use 32 Gb of RAM and a multithreaded chipset from AMD, Intel is a great solution as well. In general a silent server machine has the best ROI.

Thanks Ioannis. I’m driving over to Overclockers today to go over the specification. Once I’ve tested a spec and it appears to work I’ll list the spec here. I agree that 32gb of RAM and SSD will bet the heart of it. Apparently i5 is preferred over i7 for Rhino and Geomagic.

The only reason why i5 should be preferralbe over i7 is that you get fewer cores for less money. i5 supports a maximum of 4 cores (quad-core or dual-core w/Hyperthreading) while i7 can have up to 12 virtual cores from 6 HT cores. Since Rhino 5 hardly uses more than one core, less might be actually more here :wink: Hopefull that will change in V6…
The downside of i5 is that they have generally less cache and cache should be vital for mass memory operations.

Sweatshop, are you able to multi thread any of your passes? Ie: can you have multiple instances of rhino open doing different passes of meshfrompoints? Or is one instance alone pegging your machine?

Now I’m skating at the edge of my ice of knowledge but as I understand the work I’m doing, I’m using a single opening of rhino to work each pass. I then delete the points and move on to the next mesh. To my thinking -and possibly I’m wrong -this reduces the file size as I move along. But there’s a curious anomaly. Some of the passes appear greyed out or clear (translucent) -as though the PC has decided it only has the resources to show some of the work I’ve completed and not all. So I’m left with a zebra-striped meshed 3D scan. Odd. However if I take the scan to a more powerful machine I see the whole shape. I’m thinking that geomagic might give me the whole picture but I’m tentative about spending the money when rhino is clearly almost there and it might just be my lack of expertise.