Building a new CAD Workstation....Few questions..

Use 4 x 8 gig of RAM

Choose the psu after you know what the graphics card is . Highly unlikely you need that much wattage

Do you have a budget for the GPU(s) ? As far as the DRAM, yes 4x8GB would have been better, less stress on the MC (memory controller), filling the slots doesn't improve anything, mainly just there if you want to fully populate (max out) the DRAM

M.2 are supposed to be fast. Very fast. I look at my slot every once in awhile and 'hmmmm'. Either the slot or a card
however is the next big fast thing. 500GB is a good size. There are a few gotchas but it seems to be the future. Dual
SSD drives would allow for scratch and fast project files. A 2TB would then fill out the rest of the storage to start.

I'm running 3 monitors from a GTX 660 2GB. Have you perused the autodesk forums to see what people use for cards?
6 x 28" is going to be an eyeful to track around. My PLP is 14.5" + 30" + 14.5". Are you planning on making it one screen?
Basically you will be adding another 28" on my setup and I have to move my head if I go from side to side. You could do
2 Dell 30" 'ers at 2560x1600 vs your 1920x1080 plan.

A nice nVidia quadro 6000 6GB would drive that autodesk stuff but then so would an AMD FirePro W7100 8GB GDDR5 4DisplayPorts.

The best time to start the discussion is before the cash leaves the wallet. That way people can ask questions and see
what you need as opposed to what you are ready to buy. Your choices seem to head toward the single higher speed CPU
and a complete viewing platform - like big windows for every viewport or somesuch. Others would argue that Xeons are the
way to proceed with lots of threads.

WRT GPU, you need to be more specific on the CAD work you will be doing. If you will not be doing heavy 3D work, Quadro cards (and even FirePro cards) are not needed. Their customized AutoCAD drivers will not net you any significant performance benefit in 2D versus the cheaper high end gaming GPUs like the GTX 980

Also, I have to ask, as I've been working with CAD for years. What in God's name are you going to have on 6 separate screens?

Milton Hults,

Your proposed system has some good choices is going in a good direction- LGA2011-3 and Quadro K4200, but may be focused a bit more specifically for workstation use.

The following system has the same performance objections and a number of similar components.

CPU: The K and X-series i7's are fantastic for high performance but overclocking is not desirable for workstation use in the interest of stability and ECC RAM is desirable. However, the CPU is a Xeon E5-1650 v3 which is the Xeon cousin to the i7-5390K. The Xeons E5-1600 series appear to have the best cost / performance of any Xeon series made and up to an 8-core system, unless the extra PCI lanes are needed from a dual CPU system, I'd always recommend the E5-1600's.

Motherboard: The choice here is an ASUS X99-E WS for seveal reasons. First, on Passmark Performance Test, the CPU score with a Xeon E5-1650 v3 on the ASUS WS is 16454 while the next highest is 14671 on AsRock X99 Extreme 4- quite a difference. The ASUS is more expensive than the ASRock but is of a very high quality, has M.2, and the ideal slot configuration- 7X x16 PCIe 3 slots which can run 3X x16 to accommodate 3 GPU's.

Cooling: I feel that in this application, liquid cooling is not necessary and actually undesirable from a noise standpoint as a large radiator places an array of fans next to the case surface.

Monitors: The Quadro K4200 is the best visualization cost /performance GPU for CUDA acclerated visualization applications- AutoDesk, Adobe, and Dessault (Solidworks) and I'm shopping for one myself. However, you might want to reconsider using 6 monitors. I experimented with three 27" and went back to dual. The good feature is that the menus and subsidiary programs can be separated to view, but with any more than three large monitors, the problem is scanning among all that surface area. I found that even with a series of complex projects I'm doing now, where I'm running AutoCad, Sketchup /Vray, WordPerfect, Photoshop, Corel Technical Designer, Google Earth, and sometimes two broswers, I never make more than one operation from the source to the target object at a time. When changing sources, I quickly select the program in the taskbar. This is by way of saying, that you might consider consolidating the costs and run a single K4200 with dual 30" DS 1.2 color corrected monitors of the highest quality or a pair of K4200's with 3X 27-28" quality.monitors of the higher quality.

Anyway, here the generic system idea:

BambiBoom PixelCannon Cadamodelrendergrapharific iWork TurboBlast Extreme SuperModel 9300 ®©$$™®£™©™_ 6.5.15

1. CPU: Intel Xeon E5-1650 v3 Six-Core Processor 3.5 / 3.8GHz 0GT/s 15MB LGA 2011-v3 CPU> $575
____ http://ark.intel.com/products/82765/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-1650-v3-15M-Cache-3_50-GHz
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=E51650V3BX
____ http://www.amazon.com/XEON-E5-1650V3-6C-3-5G-15MB/dp/B00MU045JU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411580728&sr=8-1&keywords=E5-1650+v3

2. CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Fan > $32.

3. Motherboard Motherboard: ASUS X99-E WS LGA2011-v3/ Intel X99/ DDR4/ 4-Way CrossFireX & 4-Way SLI/ SATA3&USB3.0/ M.2&SATA Express/ A&2GbE/ CEB Workstation Motherboard > $488

____ http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-X99E-WS

4. RAM: 32GB (4) Samsung DDR4-2133 8GB/1Gx72 ECC/REG CL15 Server Memory > $460 ($115 ea.)

____ http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=D4218G4S1

5. GPU: PNY NVIDIA Quadro K4200 4GB GDDR5 PCIe Graphics Card (VCQK4200-PB) > $790.

____http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133558&cm_re=k4200-_-14-133-558-_-Product

6. Drive 1: SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-N5E500BW M.2 500GB SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version > $195
_____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147399&cm_re=m.2_ssd-_-20-147-399-_-Product

7. Drive 2: Seagate Constellation ES.3 ST2000NM0033 2TB 7200 RPM 128MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Enterprise Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive > $145

8. PSU: SeaSonic X-850 ; SS-850KM3 ACTIVE PFC F3 850W 80 Plus Gold ATX12V/EPS12V Power Supply > $146

9. Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24X SATA DVD±RW Internal Drive w/o Software (Black) SH-224DB $17.99

10. Case: LIAN LI PC-A75X No Power Supply ATX Full Tower Case (Black) CA-A75 > $179.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112387&cm_re=LIAN_LI_full_tower-_-11-112-387-_-Product

11. Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit w/ SP1 (1-Pack, DVD), OEM MSFQC04649 $138.99

________________________________________________________

TOTAL = $ 3,168

This would be adjusted for the multiple GPU’s, amount of RAM, and if you’re having a RAID for the storage drives, I suggest adding

LSI 9341 MegaRAID SAS 9341-4i (LSI00406) PCI-Express 3.0 x8 Low Profile SATA / SAS High Performance Four-Port 12Gb/s RAID Controller (Kit)--Avago Technologies > $210

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118234&cm_re=lsi_megaraid-_-16-118-234-_-Product

OR similar. Note the enigmatic “12Gb/s “,...

Cheers,

BambiBoom

HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 /4.0GHz > 16GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K2200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 4918 > CPU= 13941 / 2D= 823 / 3D=3464 / Mem= 2669 / Disk= 4764]

Pending upgrade: HP /LSI 9212-4i PCIe SAS /SATA HBA RAID controller, 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB (RAID 1)

Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro 4000 (2GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3339 / CPU = 9347 / 2D= 684 / 3D= 2030 / Mem= 1871 / Disk= 2234]

Pending upgrade: PERC H310 PCIe SAS /SATA RAID controller, 2X WD Black 1TB (RAID 1)(Converts disk system from 3GB/s to 6GB/s)

HP z420 (2013) > Xeon E5-1620 four core @ 3.6 /3.8GHz > 24GB DDR3 ECC 1600 RAM > AMD V4900 (1GB) > Seagate 500GB > Linksys WMP600N WiFi
[Passmark system rating = 2372 / CPU = 9001 / 2D= 712 / 3D= 1353/ Mem= 2261 / Disk= 712]

Pending upgrade: Samsung 850 Evo 250GB SSD, WD Black 1TB

Dell Precision T5400 (2008) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB DDR2 667 ECC> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card / Linksys WMP600N WiFi > HP 2711X, 27" 1920 X 1080 and Dell 19" LCD > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit >
[ Passmark system Rating = 1859, CPU = 8528 / 2D= 512 / 3D=1097 Mem= 730, Disk= 929]

Dell Precision 390 (2006) (Revised): Xeon X3230 quad-core @ 2.67GHz > 8 GB DDR2 ECC 667 > Firepro V4900 (1GB) > 2X WD 320GB >Linksys WMP600N WiFi > Dell 24" > 1920 X 1200 > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
[ Passmark system rating = 1458, CPU = 3699 / 2D= 431 / 3D=1350 / Mem= 885 / Disk=552]

Pending Upgrade: PERC 6/i SAS/SATA RAID controller, 146GB and 300GB 15K SAS drives from Dell Precision T5500 (Original)