Newbie needs appropriate equipment to run software

[designer1980]

Hello All,

I purchased Home Designer Suite 2015 for fun, but soon ran into problems because my equipment was not adequate for the task. Can anyone recommend an affordable desktop computer wherein I can continually upgrade the graphics card? I would also need a color printer, preferably a color laser or a wide format inkjet. I used a Dell i3 windows 7 prior (with a integrated graphic chip ) which was barely adequate, but every time I accepted  an  update for  Home Designer Suite 2015, I progressively lost the ability to to view even the floor plan. My print outs using a older Dell laser printer were cartoonish. My monitor showed a fairly decent rendering, but did not reflect the output of my printer. I realize that most of you are professionals, but I would be most appreciative to get your advice.  My budget for both items is around $900.00. Any hope for me?

 

Thank you,

 

Designer1980

[DavidJPotter]

Almost anything is better than integrated video (integral to the motherboard). I think the video card I have now costs less than $100.00 at Fry's Electronics and it serves me well. Please look over the published "minimum System Requirements" published on the Home Designer Website and just use that as a guide, make sure your machine is a lot better than the minimum. You do not need a "super computer" but a good gaming rig is usually good enough. If you are on a tight budget, just make sure you get the most expensive rig you can afford that does have a true video card.

If you are not a "geek" befriend one or become one at least to the degree that you can make judgement calls after reading a PC or Mac's specs, it is mainly in the nomenclature used and all words have definitions you can look up and understand.

 

 

DJP

[designer1980]

Thank you Mr. Potter!

 

Sincerely,

 

Designer 1980

[Kbird1]

I am unsure how 2015 updates would make it nearly unusable? What do you mean? While an i3 isn't the latest or greatest it should still run it even if a bit slow.

 

Are we talking about a laptop here? Did you try updating the video drivers at the Manf. Website? Not dell's Intel has released new drivers that often don't get put on the laptop makers website.

 

More ram may help , most but not all laptops allow an upgrade but perhaps it is just time to get something better ? And the more you can spend the more you will generally futureproof yourself.

 

M.

[designer1980]

Hello Kbird1,

 

Yes, my Dell laptop (Inspiron N5050, 8.00 GB Ram, 64 bit, 2 cores) is the culprit. My graphic card is integrated (Intel® HD Graphics Family)  and doesn't appear to have a driver update (I checked with Dell). I don't remember if I checked the  Intel site, but I will as you suggested. When I first began to use the CA Home Designer Suite 2015, I knew that I did not have the suggested specs to run HD Suite 2015 at its optimum, but it performed well enough for a beginning design hobbyist. As the CA updates were added, my equipment could not handle it and it got to the point that a floor plan would not be visible (forget about a "dollhouse view") etc. I keep getting error messages about the inadequacy of my graphics card.

 

I had to borrow a friend's windows 8 computer which he used for gaming to initiate a new plan which on screen came out great, but I could'nt get my older Dell (1320c) color laser printer to communicate with his laptop computer due to the fact that there was not a updated driver for that either .In short, I had to copy the plan to a flash drive and run that off an enhanced  windows 7 laptop (not mine) and then connect it to my old laser printer. The print was cartoonish and "fuzzy' so I am definitely upgrading as my meager budget will allow. I am trying to follow CA's gudelines on purchasing new equipment given the fact that my understanding of this specialized verbiage is scanty.

 

Mr. J. Potter was kind enough to point me in the right direction. I have been looking at some desktops, ex. HP with AMD A10 quad core processors, windows 8.1, 12 GB memory and 2TB hard drive for about $700.00. Would this be fairly adequate for my needs and upgradable? I am also planning on getting a wide format printer whose manufacturer will offer updated drivers.I welcome any and all direction!

 

Thank you for taking the time to help.

 

Sincerely,

 

designer1980

 

windows 7 Home premium, 8 GB Ram

Home Designer Suite 2015 (hope this is what you meant by signature)  

[LawB10]

designer1980,

 

Keep in mind what David said, you will be better off buying a video card such as Nvidia, ATI etc: with at least 2 Gig

or more memory. It's not the system specs that is the problem.

 

If you have computer skills, it may be cheaper to build your own...

[Kbird1]

At this point I don't see a need to buy a new computer, (unless you want to ) , you have win7_x64 ,8gb ram etc , I would be checking Intel's site for new HD3000 drivers but I think the Home Designer 2016 got updates (reading over on CT) that enabled it  to run on these older Intel cards too so try downloading the Trial version and see if it runs better , it maybe worth the upgrade.

 

this intel driver may work:

 

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/downloads/eula/24971/Intel-HD-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-7-8-64-bit?httpDown=http%3A%2F%2Fdownloadmirror.intel.com%2F24971%2Fa08%2Fwin64_152824.exe

 

more on this page to choose fromhttps://downloadcenter.intel.com/search?keyword=2nd+Generation+Intel%C2%AE+Core%E2%84%A2+Processors+with+Intel%C2%AE+HD+Graphics+3000%2F2000

 

intel also has an auto update tool but I find it doesn't always work but you could try it 1st on this page on the top LH side.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/

 

If your old Printer has Vista Drivers they often work on Win7 too

 

 

you can add you system specs to your User Profile so you don't need to add them every post via

clicking on your user name at the top right of the page, click My Settings, then Signature on the left.