Need help purchasing the correct computer

Notar01,

You mentioned that the currently available system has problems but if it is suitable for the use and only needs Windows and the programs loaded, that would be the fastest process. If the system can be restored by wiping the HD and reloading and reconfiguring you could be productive and if the system has potential, use the budget to improve it while you're working.

If the system is does not have potential, then my suggestion would be to find a used Dell Precision or HP z-series workstation that uses Xeon the E5- 1650 v2 or v3 > ECC RAM > Quadro K -series GPU. Solidworks is quite particularly tuned for this combination and is a demanding program. By the way, resist the temptation to use a GTX for Solidworks- a $175 AMD Firepro is faster in Solidworks than a $1,000 GTX Titan. I tried a GTX and had only system lockups, and never had a usable 3D model or rendering. Here's an example of the kind of system I mean:

Dell Precision T5810 Workstation E5-1650 V3 16GB 1TBX2 4GB K2200 Win8.1P WARANTY > Buy It Now $1,500.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T5810-Workstation-E5-1650-V3-16GB-1TBX2-4GB-K2200-Win8-1P-WARANTY-/281732813929?hash=item4198959469

The E5-1650 series has been one of the best cost /performance CPU's ever- the v3 is 6 cores at 3.5 /3.8GHz, so plenty of speed for modeling in Solidworks and enough threads and speed for efficient rendering. The Quadro K2200 is also an excellent performer- faster than Quadro K4000 given the cost- half the cost of a K4000. I used a K2200 for about 9 months and had excellent results in AutoCad, Solidworks, Sketchup /Vray, and Adobe CS. I recently changed to a Quadro K4200 (4GB) but so far have not pushed it hard enough to notice a substantial difference- I may have a GPU better than my drafting. I changed the K2200 to my Dell Precision T5500 rendering system and it has made a big difference in the peroformance as compared to the previous Quadro 4000 (2GB).

With a system like this one, you could productive more or less right away and in the future add more RAM, change to perhaps one of the new Maxwell Quadros M4000 ($900?) or M5000 ($1,800?) coming out next month (9.10.15), and possibly PCIe SSD and /or fast RAID controller. I think the potential would be very good.

Another tactic would be to buy a Precision T76XX / T78XX / T79XX that can use dual CPU's and if it uses E5- v3's, the life of the system would be extended a couple of years at least as you could again be using the system and gradually change to higher speed, high performance GPU and add a second CPU at some point. This would be more costly initially- I'd give it a $2,000 budget but the performance gains of dual CPU's could save substantial time if you're CPU rendering (my preference) and in effect the price per year of use could be lower in the long run.

Cheers,

BamibBoom

1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

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

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3490 / CPU = 9178 / 2D= 685 / 3D= 3566 / Mem= 1865 / Disk= 2122] [Cinebench 15 > CPU = 772 OpenGL= 99.72 FPS] 7.8.15

With Quadro 4000
[ Passmark system rating = 3339 / CPU = 9347 / 2D= 684 / 3D= 2030 / Mem= 1871 / Disk= 2234]