Custom build for CAD

IncognitoX · 25 Jan 2013 at 21:04

Hi guys,

I'm having some trouble picking parts for a machine to be mainly using CAD applications such as 3DS max, so rendering speed and power is a biggy here.

My friend has a budget of £500 for the tower.

- Don't need OS or any other parts.

Could you guys spec a machine which could handle this?

I've worked out that probably an i5 or i7 would be best, unless the AMD 8 core piledriver would be better for CAD?

Also heard somethings regarding professional GFX such as the Quadro 600?

Thanks in advance guys!

snips86x · 25 Jan 2013 at 21:25

AMD-8320:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £119.99
1 x PNY Nvidia Quadro NVS 300 Dual VGA Low Profile Graphics Card - 512MB - GDDR3 SDRAM £104.99
1 x MSI 990XA-GD55 AMD 990X Chipset (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED316GM1600HC11DC01) £69.95
1 x **B Grade** Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - O (HD-082-SA) £41.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £36.98
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £26.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £514.97 (includes shipping : £11.75).

i5:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3450 3.10GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £146.99
1 x PNY Nvidia Quadro NVS 300 Dual VGA Low Profile Graphics Card - 512MB - GDDR3 SDRAM £104.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £76.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED316GM1600HC11DC01) £69.95
1 x **B Grade** Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - O (HD-082-SA) £41.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £36.98
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £26.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £535.97 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Don't forget free shipping!

passey89 · 25 Jan 2013 at 21:33

snips86x said:
AMD-8320:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £119.99
1 x PNY Nvidia Quadro NVS 300 Dual VGA Low Profile Graphics Card - 512MB - GDDR3 SDRAM £104.99
1 x MSI 990XA-GD55 AMD 990X Chipset (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED316GM1600HC11DC01) £69.95
1 x **B Grade** Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - O (HD-082-SA) £41.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £36.98
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £26.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £514.97 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Don't forget free shipping!

+1 to the mad build

IncognitoX · 25 Jan 2013 at 22:04

Thanks guys!

I'll look into these!

Audigex · 25 Jan 2013 at 23:39

Either of those rigs will go like a rocket - I'd be tempted to look at an SSD though, dependant on usage.

lsg1r · 26 Jan 2013 at 00:22

I work with max a lot (my job) and quadro NVS is not suitable for 3ds max, it's designed for multi screen setups like in stock exchanges, it's the plain 'quadro' range you should look at. To be honest though at the low end you'd be better looking at the geforce mid to high gtx5xx series as they'll perform just as well or better in the viewport and totally outclass them if you use iray (gpu rendering built into max) due to more cuda cores.

Kepler isn't really suited to gpu rendering using iray, it will do it (you need the very latest update to max 2013) but it's not really any faster than the old fermi gpu's so I'd say look at a gtx560ti instead with either of those specs.

flippant · 26 Jan 2013 at 09:55

I'd say go with the piledriver, 8 cores for rendering will actually be twice as fast, Max is fully multi-threaded and scales accordingly, even using hyperthreading, (so the i5 is always a bad bet, i7 for max)

The quadro is pretty pointless though, and gpu rendering, even on a 580 or a 690 isn't faster than CPU rendering yet, so just be sure to get plenty of vram as Max's viewports will eat it up on a big scene.

There's a thread with a bit on the relative merits of GPUs here;

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18477627

for a spot of further reading.

As for an SSD, it's nice to have, but won't help with render speed, you're better off adding one later, when more funds are available....

lsg1r · 26 Jan 2013 at 12:50

well reading that thread.... you're not fully up on iray are you... it can use both the gpu AND cpu (although better to just use gpu's), not to mention the likes of vray rt, octane etc.

If you use the right render engine, iray is not mental ray, a fast gpu will be a great benefit and can be quicker for the renderings. There are still some limitations to gpu rendering so having a faster cpu is good too but you need to get up to date flippant.

flippant · 26 Jan 2013 at 14:54

lsg1r said:
well reading that thread.... you're not fully up on iray are you... it can use both the gpu AND cpu (although better to just use gpu's), not to mention the likes of vray rt, octane etc.

If you use the right render engine, iray is not mental ray, a fast gpu will be a great benefit and can be quicker for the renderings. There are still some limitations to gpu rendering so having a faster cpu is good too but you need to get up to date flippant.

Interesting, I haven't migrated all my systems to Max 2013 yet, iray in 2012 would only use the GPU, using both GPU & CPU certainly increases it's viability, it still lacks the finesse of some of the mature engines, but it seems to be improving.

I've tried a few render engines (Vray,(way to slow) Brazil, final render and of course the good old scanline), but so far nothing can match the speed and flexibility of mental ray for me. I'll investigate iray a bit more and see if I can get it to do anything fun.