Computer for CAD (Solidworks/Rhino)

Charles_Design,

There is nothing inherently problematic or compromised in your specification. LGA2011 to me, is the only way to go as you can have an upgrade to 6, 8, 10, and soon 12 core CPU's. In my view, the weakest component in your list is the Firepro V3900. Firepro is an appropriate choice for the applications you mention- certain features of Solidworks will not work except using a Firepro or Quadro, but Solidworks is CUDA accelerated and so a Quadro should push things along a bit better. The K-series Quadros are also more OpenGL oriented- which I believe is the Rhino world, so I'd suggest a Quadro K2000. I am having very good results on AutoCad, Solidworks, and Adobe CS with a Quadro 4000. Mech'l HD"s > My perception of the performance and in general the benchmarks is that HD's with 64MB cache instead of 32 or 16MB demonstrate higher performance. There are Seagate ES.3 Constellation enterprise drives with 128MB cache, and if I were working with video files or MATLAB, I'd have those.

If you are doing a lot of rendering and effects processing though, I would suggest a Xeon > ECC > Quadro system. The error correction makes a noticeable difference in avoiding problematic shadows, effects such as liquid, particle, reflections,and general artifacts. Using OEM components, such a system is not necessarily much more expensive >

BambiBoom PixelDozer Cadamodagrapharific Blazomatic iWorkarama WalletJoyScream 5001 ™$#©™_12.8.13

1. Intel Xeon Quad-Core Processor E5-1620 v2 3.7 / 4.0GHz 0GT/s 10MB LGA 2011 CPU, OEM> $295 (Superbiz) (Passmark CPU score= 9199, rank = No. 38) (This CPU will run the first two cores at 4GHz)

2. Noctua NH-U9DXi4 90mm SSO2 CPU Cooler > $70 (This kind of cooler is above necessity for most uses, but rendering running all the cores full bore can make very hot CPU's)

3. Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme3 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $199.99 (Though I like the C6XX chipset for Xeon workstations, the X79 is in the fastest league- very fast!)

4. 16GB (2X 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 ECC Unbuffered Server Memory >about $150. (Check current motherboard compatibility list) (Note, this suggests 8GB modules to allow for upgrade to 32Gb without discards)

5. NVIDIA Quadro K2000 VCQK2000-PB 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Workstation Video Card $420. ( This is a very good card for your uses, but if you are slightly adventurous and want a great card for the next six years, consider a "new other" Quadro K4000 (3GB) for about $550-600 off Ebahh. Quadros are meant to run all the time full speed and I've never had a failure with used ones)

6. SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) > $170 (The Samsung 840 series are among the fastest SSD's. I have a Samsung 840 250GB, and without any files- only the OS and Applications (see the list at bottom) equal about 180GB, so I have about 65GB remaining. If your OS and applications total under about 90 GB then the 120GB SSD is sufficient but otherwise I recommend the larger capacity. With the larger capacity, you can have plenty of space for an "active files" folder on the SSD and run them off the SSD while working. I could actually put a big portion of all my files (about 80GB) on. Large files such as video and big 3D models open and save almost instantly. Backups are saved to the mech'l drive at the end of a work session and then moved to the mech'l drive when finished for archiving. Again, you might be able to use the SSD in this way with a 120GB)

7. Western Digital Black WD2003FZEX 2TB 7200RPM SATA3/SATA 6.0 GB/s 64MB Hard Drive (3.5 inch) ) > $156 (This is the new, very fast 1TB platter series, 5-year warranty) (Another tactic would be to have 2X 1TB and in RAID 1 for backup- this is what I'm intending. Keep a pristine- updated but never used-system image in a partition on the mech'l drive and a copy on an external backup drive that can restore the OS, applications, and all settings in case of SSD corruption or failure)

8. SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold ((SS-650KM Active PFC F3)) 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply $120.

9. LIAN LI PC-7HX Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $100.

10. ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM $17.

11. ASUS Black 16X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM SATA Blu-ray Burner BW-16D1HT > $110 (current 12.8.13 newegg rebate =$90) (Note 16X speed)

12. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (Full Version) - OEM $140

TOTAL = $1,948

The above system could be made comparable or even lower in cost to your list by using a 120GB SSD (-$65), 1TB mech'l drive (-$65), less expensive CPU cooler (-$25) and less expensive case (Corsair Carbide Series 300R Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case >$70 (-$30) Total = $1,763.

________________________________________

Other recommendations >

1. If your budget will allow, strongly consider> Intel Xeon Six-Core Processor E5-1650 v2 3.5 / 3.9GHz 0GT/s 12MB LGA 2011 CPU, OEM > $577. (Having a 6-core / 12 thread CPU will reduce rendering times substantially and could extend the use of this system by as much as two years without upgrades- except possibly adding RAM)

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=E5-1650V2

2. Also, if budget allows, strongly consider starting with 32GB RAM (4X 8GB). You can then run 5 or 6 big applications, several big files, plus the Intertubes.

3. If you will be changing monitors, consider a 27", 2560 X 1440 by Samsung, Viewsonic, or ASUS. I use a 27" HP 2711x 1920 X 1080 and the small text quality resolution is not really acceptable for graphic design work. In Solidworks, I can sometimes barely read the tiny menu trees

4. For backup, don't use an external 2.5" - they are notoriously quirky. Importantly, they do not have switches nor cooling fans. Instead, consider > StarTech SAT3510BU3 Aluminum / Plastic 3.5" BlackSuperSpeed USB 3.0 SATA Hard Drive Enclosure w/ Fan Star Tech > about $40. This is USB 3 and has a switchable cooling fan. Add to this > Western Digital WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive, Blue - OEM > about $65-70. Run this drive only when backing up and it will be fast and reliable nearly forever. I have a Seagate 160GB (USB 2.0) in a similar kind of enclosure and run only when bakcing up- seven years old and perfectly reliable. My WD Passport 320GB, two years old and almost never run, will only recognize one partition and only work on one USB port on one of my computers. It could never be trusted and if you read comments on forums, there are many horror stories of the 2.5" USB external drives.

4. This is personal, but I have never found a keyboard as comfortable and high quality as a Dell SK-8135, which is obsolete. They do have some click / clatter, but I find it just the right amount- a kind of positive use feel. These have Windows Media controls and other hot buttons. A couple of weeks ago I bought 2 NOS ones for $25 on Ebahh, special wrist pad included.

______________________________________________________


A bit more expensive, but I believe the fast Xeon, high performance CPU cooling, error-correcting RAM, higher performance graphics card, larger capacity SSD, and faster mech'l disk are worth consideration.



Cheers,

BambiBoom

1. HP z420 (2013) > Xeon E5-1620 quad core @ 3.6 / 3.8GHz > 24GB ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 4000 (2Gb)> Samsung 840 SSD 250GB /Western Digital WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > AE3000 USB WiFi // Windows 7 Professional 64 > Autodesk Building Design Suite 2013, Inventor Pro2011, Solidworks 2013, Adobe CS6 MC, Corel Technical Design X-5, Sketchup Pro 2013, WordP Office X-6, MS Office Pro+2013 (Passmark system rating = 3815, 2D= 680 / 3D=2044) (Note > This is not using the faster current E5-1620 V2)
Backup > StarTech SAT3510BU3 Aluminum / Plastic 3.5" Black SuperSpeed USB 3.0 SATA Hard Drive Enclosure w/ Fan with Seagate Barracuda 1BD142 500GB (16MB cache) HD

2. Dell Precision T5400 (2009) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB ECC 667> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card > Linksys 600N WiFi > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit > HP 2711x 27" 1920 x 1080 > AutoCad, Revit, Solidworks, Sketchup Pro 8, Corel Technical Designer, Adobe CS4 MC, WordP Office, MS Office Pro 2007 (Passmark system rating = 1859, 2D= 512 / 3D=1097)

Application > Architecture, industrial design, graphic design, rendering, writing