AutoCAD 2012, Revit & 3DS Max - £500-600

jpdykes,

1. CPU> In 3D modeling and rendering applications, there is an advantage to a hyperthreading CPU- that is, having a 4 core / 8 thread as rendering can use all the threads. Also, a higher clock speed is an advantage. As the i5 is not hyperthreading, and to run a bit faster I would suggest >

Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2, Ivy Bridge, S1155, Quad Core 3.3 / 3.7GHz, 8MB Smart Cache, 33x Ratio, 69W, Retail > £173.81 inc VAT

http://www.scan.co.uk/search.aspx?q=Xeon+E3-1230+v2

http://ark.intel.com/products/65732/

2. Motherboard > Asus P8B-X LGA1155 Socket C202 Motherboard £133.44

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-p8b-x-intel-c202-s-1155-udimm-sata-ii-3gb-s-raid-sata-graphics-on-board-atx

> I realize of course, that this is more expensive, but I believe it would be a longer term and more productive choice, given that it's more expensive to change later.

3. GPU> The Quadro 600 and K600 are quite poor in 3D and it is extremely valuable in Autodesk and Adobe applications to have more CUDA cores for rendering. On Passmark, the 600 scores an average of 685 in their 3D test and is ranked at No. 235. the Quadro K600 averages 829 and is ranked 189, which is in the right direction, but I suggest finding a good used Quadro 2000, having 192 CUDA cores to the 96 of the 600 and the memory bandwidth of the 2000 is much better > 42GB/s to the 26 and 29 of the 600 and K600. On Passmark the 2000 scores an average of 1290 and is ranked 115. It appears there are good used Quadro 2000 for about £90 on Ebay UK. I've bought 5 used Quadros over the years and used some for 5-6 years with no problems- they're made very well and to run all the time for years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Quadro

4.WiFi adapter > I have had fantastic luck with a Linksys WMP600N PCI- it's PCI dual band, and has two small antenna. In Windows 7, the second I installed the card and started the system, it self-installed and I saw rates of up to 144MB/s. This was an item I bought in a hurry used, thinking I would replace it when I had time to consider the options, but it's run flawlessly for 5 years. I use a Linksys AE3000 USB now as my new system has only one PCI slot and I have an M-audio 192 sound card occupying it. I see the Linksys 600N on Ebay UK as "new other" for £10-15.

5. Hard Drive > a hard drive that seems to have excellent performance is the > Seagate 1TB SATA 3 Performance Hard Drive OEM ST1000DM003 t £46.78 >

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-seagate-st1000dm003-barracuda-720014-sata-6gb-s-7200rpm-64mb-cache-8ms-ncq-oem

> and also very impressive to me is the new> WD WD10EZEX 1TB Blue Desktop Drive SATA 3 7200rpm at £47.98 and with very good performance>

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-wd-blue-wd10ezex-sata-6gb-s-7200rpm-64mb-cache-8ms-hdd

> watch for the guarantees on these drives as in the US, a "bare" or "OEM" drive can mean short and nasty warrantees on the device most likely to fail.

6. Case > As you know, there are a lot of choices for the case. I've found after years of workstation years that the case needs to be both functional > good expandability for drives inside, good working room to build, front drive bays and USB ports in easy reach, and non-distracting > a non-fussy exterior and more importantly > quiet. Gaming cases often have multiple fans in the front, and often the top and sides. While good air flow is important, so is not feel you're working next to a home hurricane. Here's one >

Corsair Carbide Series 200R Compact ATX Case- Black > £47.04

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-carbide-series-200r-compact-atx-case-black-w-o-psu

The Lian Li Aluminium cases would be excellent for this use also, but I'm not seeing their full range on UK sites..

6. OS > I just bought a new system and like many others, took the option to have Windows 7 Professional instead of Windows 8. I feel Windows 8 was made for home, kids, and touch screen use and in multi-tasking, multiple applications would be frustrating. Plus, those huge icons are difficult to sort and I for one don't have room for them as I have over 60 icons on my desktop! If your friend loves Windows 8- of course that's fine- and Windows 8 is often cheaper than 7 because of the response, but be very careful in making that commitment. I still think XP Pro 64-bit was the best OS Microsoft has made and I believe I will be upgrading with Windows 9.

Adding up the parts suggested above plus, the PSU, RAM, case and etc. budgets in your list, I come up with a total of about $670. Of all the suggestions, the most important is to avoid the Quadro 600.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

1. Dell Precision T5400 (2009)> 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16 GB ECC 667> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 / Segt Brcda 500GB > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit > HP 2711x 27" 1920 x 1080 > AutoCad, Revit, Solidworks, Sketchup Pro, Corel Technical Designer, Adobe CS MC, WordP Office, MS Office > architecture, industrial design, graphic design, rendering, writing

2. HP z420 (2013)> Xeon E5-1620 quad core @ 3.6 / 3.8GHz > 24GB ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 4000 (2GB) > Samsung 840 SSD 250GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > Windows 7 Professional 64 > to be loaded > AutoCad, Revit, Inventor, Maya (2011), Solidworks 2010, Adobe CS4, Corel Technical Design X-5, Sketchup Pro, WordP Office X-4, MS Office

jpdykes,

GPU > The world of workstation GPUS has changed recently - more applications are becoming OpenGL /CL orientated, and today, it's advisable to choose the GPU according to the demands of the application. The only applications that I know today that are very demanding of a Quadro / Firepro are Maya and Solidworks.

It's possible to use a gaming / consumer GPU for the AutoCad, Revit, and 3ds applications and in fact all of those will run very well on NVIDIA GTX-series cards. So, I'd suggest your friend look carefully into his current and future needs, and which applications he is likely to ever learn or use. He well may be able to use a GTX. The Radeon HD are very good cards too, but Autodesk and Adobe are CUDA accelerated so I'd say stay with GTX. Perhaps something such as >

GeForce GTX 650 2GB > £90.84

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GeForce-GTX-650-2GB-/121186374696?pt=UK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item1c37455428

> or better >

EVGA 02G-P4-2761-KR GEFORCE GTX760 PCIE 2GB GDDR5 US $222.25 >Approximately £138.34 Buy it now This item will be sent through the Global Postage Programme and includes international tracking. Postage:US $17.09 (approx. £10.64) International Priority Shipping to United Kingdom. Import charges: US $57.53

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EVGA-02G-P4-2761-KR-GEFORCE-GTX760-PCIE-2GB-GDDR5-/251360337900?pt=US_Video_Capture_TV_Tuner_Cards&hash=item3a863e5fec

One card that is worth considering as used is the GTX 580 3GB- which is 384-bit and 512 CUDA cores, but these may well be too expensive. Excellent for video editing.

Used System > Another tactic in this would be to consider one of these- >

Dell Precision T3600 Workstation - Xeon Quad Core E5-1620, 32GB RAM, Quadro 2000 > sold for £618.00

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Precision-T3600-Workstation-Xeon-Quad-Core-E5-1620-32GB-RAM-Quadro-2000-/151108490007?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item232ec49317

> as it uses the 3.6 / 3.8GHz Xeon E5-1620- which is LGA2011, double the bandwidth of LGA1150 / 1155, and while the latter are limited to four cores, the LGA2011 could be in future upgraded to six eight, or even ten core- remember cores / threads are a benefit in rendering. These are very well made, and of course would be ready to use right away- no need to research, order, assemble, configure, test, and troubleshoot. I have a Precision T5400 from 2008 that I bought for $500 that has been perfectly reliable for four years- the HD has 12,000 hours on it. Of course, this depends on being able to find one in the right condition at the right price.

Another promising model is the Precision T7500 and which can have dual Xeons >

Dell Precision T7500 WST7500 Quad Xeon W5590 3.33~3.6Ghz+Nvidia FX-3800+Bluray Used
Ended:31 Aug, 2013 03:48:03 BST
Price:US $649.00 Approximately £403.96
Postage: US $79.29 International Priority Shipping to United Kingdom

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Precision-T7500-WST7500-Quad-Xeon-W5590-3-33-3-6Ghz-Nvidia-FX-3800-Bluray-/271258972500?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item3f284b7154

> and to this add 12GB or RAM and change the FX3800 (actually one of the better older series Quadros) for a Quadro 2000- still not far from £600.

I understand the reluctance to buy used, older technology, and importing from the US, but at this level of quality used Quadros and workstations have been a very fortuitous method for me.

My last idea is that you have a friend in the US, have him buy the parts here- ( except the case), open and partially assemble / test, and then send them to the UK as "Used" - isn't VAT / import less in that case?

So, many choices!

Cheers,

BambiBoom

jpdykes,

I was unable to view your partpicker list as it in the "private" category.

In many ways- speed of completion, convenience, fewer decisions, the used workstation idea is a good idea.

I think though, it would be better though to start with a more modern and faster processor than the Q6600 which is a 2.4 and will have a maximum speed of 1066 DDR2 RAM, and today DDR2 is more expensive than DDR3. The programmes your friend will be using - especially rendering, could be slow and frustrating. I'm currently using a system with a CPU that runs single-threaded applications- and most are- at 3.8GHz, and with 24GB of 1600 DDR3 RAM, and 3D modeling and rendering is still too slow. Even a 30MB Sketchup model seems to take forever.

I would suggest then, looking for something like this completed listing>

Dell Precision T3500 Workstation PC Xeon Quad Core 3.07Ghz 24GB Ram, Quadro 600, Windows 7 > Sold for £329.99

> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Precision-T3500-Workstation-PC-Xeon-Quad-Core-3-07Ghz-24GB-Ram-Windows-7-/171141342272?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item27d8d1a440

> and replace the Quadro 600- which selling will pay a reasonable portion of the new card- with a stronger card in 3D. This provides a higher FSB quad core Xeon that is more than 3GHz. plenty of 1333 DDR3 ECC RAM, and so on. The LGA 1366 socket was the predecessor to the LGA 2011 and there are some outstanding replacement choices including 6-core for future consideration- the x5680 3.33 six core for example.

An alternative would be to buy a cheaper T3500 with a slower processor and then choose a replacement from this list of LGA1366 CPU's>

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/socketType.html#id4

Or, here is a system with a 3.2GHz Processor and 1TB drive, but needing more RAM and better graphics card that sold for £225.00>

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Precision-T3500-Power-PC-Windows-7-3-2GHz-Quad-Core-1TB-HDD-2GB-RAM-/141097162996?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item20da0bd8f4

With this kind of approach, I think your friend could end with a high quality, and fast system still in the £4-500 realm.

Pleased to put in my 2p.

Cheers,

BambiBoom