HumbleChief

I've found it smart to buy as much of the latest technology as the budget will allow delaying the need for the next upgrade just that little bit longer. More of everything is almost always better. More storage, more RAM, more VRAM, faster CPU, faster GPU but as with most things there's a point of diminishing returns. Chief doesn't seem to access a lot of RAM during day to day use and 16 GB has always seemed to be plenty. Again faster and bigger with everything is almost always better One thing to consider when purchasing or upgrading the video card especially with Chief's new Real Time Raytracing is, do you Ray Trace? I haven't RT'd in years and my old 1080 seems to handle graphics just fine - for my needs. Will you use other programs intensely with the new rig? What do they like as far as CPU speed? RAM needs? Graphics cards? And if I were upgrading today I would seriously think about waiting until Intel's new 12th Gen Alder Lake chip reaches the market. Looks like it's available now but can we actually buy it? That single decision could put off the next upgrade for a much long time. https://www.techadvisor.com/news/pc-components/intel-alder-lake-12th-gen-cpu-3800589/

...yes, depending greatly on your local area.

I would imagine the markets in "The Midwest (specifically the Indiana area) are as specific and unique as they are in any other part of the country. For example 'specifically the California area'. Specifically which part of California? San Francisco? Los Angeles? San Diego? Or tiny hamlets like Groveland? Or Briceburg? So are you in Indianapolis? Fort Wayne? Kempton? Cutler? The point is there is no singular answer as each market is completely different than another. So the answer to your question is an obvious yes, there's "enough residential design/drafting work in the Midwest for a person to have 40-50+ hours of work per week?" Your local area? Another question entirely and only you can answer that by doing some local research. Best of luck and as always the best place to start is by getting your toes wet first and testing the local market.

A -4" offset on the block/pony wall foundation keeps the ftg from extending upwards. Anything less no effect. Interesting and thank you.

Yeah I'm thinking the same thing and have changed my mind thanks to the posts here. Still don't know why that footing blows past the outside wall up to the roof.

Thanks you guys but not what I WAS looking for but this might be a better way to build the wall? I was thinking that we could flash that exterior ledge and it would be something that could be monitored in the future whereas a flush to the block wall would simply have stucco screed. That seems the better technique, but let's say we wanted the wall to the inside of the block, can it be done without the footing blowing through to the roof? Maybe offset the ftg.?

Can't seem to resolve this footing that wants to blow past the retaining wall to the roof. Any help much appreciated. Plan below. FOUNDATION PLAN 2.plan

It looks more like the computer itself is stalling upon startup and starting X13 only coincided with that main computer startup. Takes 3 -4 minutes to startup when first booted and may or may not try and find the culprit. Bottom line is it does not look like X13 was causing a problem and a wait through that 3 - 4 minutes seems to get everything back to normal speed.

Seems like they need to be spec'd every time with a saved wall type. True?

Thanks David, appreciate the info.

Thanks David, not sure what a "Repair" is. Can you elaborate a bit? Thanks

Thanks you guys. Didn't really do anything of note, just (tried to) open a plan, and another plan as well. Weird that it locked up the entire computer with no access to task manager - nuthin. I'll check those settings Mark but of course I changed nothing but open X13 and a plan to bring about the behavior "Did you place a symbol or break the library by chance?" That was a thought Ryan and will monitor through the day as it seems to be behaving better right now. Maybe just one of those 'computer things'?

I understand these issues are not to be solved with a post in the Q & A forum but was curious if anyone else has experienced this? Yesterday afternoon X13 stopped responding with the little circle thingy just spinning away. Couldn't get to Task Manager couldn't close X13 just sat there for 5 minutes minimum and I ended up doing a hard restart. Upon the restart I opened a plan and the same thing happened, just stalled out. My wife taught that sometimes PC's just need a good night's sleep and they will fix themselves but apparently my PC did not sleep well last night and it took 3 - 4 minutes for Chief to load and has been stalling through working on today's plan. Again I understand this cannot be diagnosed in a forum but anyone else experienced this? Cure? Steps to correct? Thanks in advance.

Great points you guys. Appreciate the feedback and good luck to the OP.

Late to this thread so apologies if I'm missing some details but am curious about how many will use the Real Time Raytrace (RTR) features offered by the new 30XX series video cards? Personally haven't RayTraced in years and see no real value in the new cards but everyone has a different use and business model. The question is centered upon the apparent need for the highest level (and very expensive) new video cards. Do you really need these high end video cards for your business? Or does it just seem like you should have one?

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Yeah me too, but I almost always take the bait of any new technology - I will resist - I will resist.

Thanks for once again making my point...

Thanks Mark, helpful as always but as helpful as those articles might be it kinda makes my point. Just too much crazy to switch at this point, and no real reason other than just wanting the latest and greatest which is mostly a recipe for disaster on a working computer. Are you using Win 11? Here's an interesting review... ZDNet's Ed Bott believes Windows 11 is not so much a software refresh as it is a nudge for people to upgrade to newer hardware:

I did a little exploring and found the 'secure boot' function in the BIOS and learned that the boot needs to follow the UEFI process and I tried a couple options eliminating the 'legacy' option and the computer would no longer boot. Point is, and hope it might help others, I'll not upgrade to Win 11 until forced as spending the time to learn the intricacies of what's needed is not in my schedule for now. Anyone else have Win 11?

That sounds feasible and wonder if there's a way to avoid that through programming or through the help file or some other method because I would never guess that that would be expected behavior? I guess it would require moving the base line to a new location, depending on the new pitch? Seems a tall order but thanks for the info and perhaps there's another way? But will put this into the memory banks and hope it helps the OP.

Interesting observation Steve and thanks. Never knew that, wouldn't expect that, and to me it's a bug, not a feature.

I was really wondering if Chief is ready for Win 11? Seems like it is but like you Mick, maybe I'll upgrade on my laptop and see how it goes.

Thanks again P. My computer is not ready to upgrade to Win 11. Some BIOS tweaks or some hardware permissions I think. Probably won't bother till I have to.

I think there's a couple folks working with Win 11 and X13 but was wondering if we should hold off or are there any known problems? THANKS