As there seems to be two spec threads going on now this is going to seem like a big post.
This first bit is for Benji.
http://www.solidworks.co.uk/sw/support/videocardtesting.html
this is from the official solidworks site, and afaik it seems any card thats not industry rated [ie firepro/quadro series] doesnt get recognised. i know that amd gaming cards dont work [well], not so sure on nvidia but i imagine it'd be similar.
its a general trend with CAD packages, no idea why considering for the price you can get a better non-industry card. but i'd advise you make absolutely sure than your gpu choice will work first.
Good point well made but ANY GPU will work, its just Solidworks only advice certain cards.
At my placement job they had low end quadro cards (as it was a Solidworks only environment). One day i bought my phenom x 4/GTX 460 rig in to do some work (while a PC was broken) and the speed increase and detail sharpness was so much better. I kid you not.
Nvidia Gaming GPU's do work really well.
Holy Smokes those Quadros/Firepros are expensive! Would it even be worth having one of the low end ones?
As above low end one aren't worth it. You need a £300-£400 budget for a GPU alone to get a decent one.
To your Spec. You could get a very decent PC for his needs well under £1000.
This is my first idea:
YOUR BASKET
1 x
Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x
TeamGroup Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD316G2133HC11ADC01) £107.99
1 x
Gigabyte Z97-HD3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £87.95
1 x
MSI GeForce GTX 750 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (N750-1GD5/OC) £79.99
1 x
Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £67.99
1 x
Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black (CC-9011014-WW) £59.99
1 x
SuperFlower Golden Green HX 450W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x
Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £49.99
1 x
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
Total : £732.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).
16GB may be enough RAM.
(if not, there money left to add another).
a 4670k is the way to go with no rendering/simulations in mind. If he says that might be the case up it to the 4770k.
A GTX 750 will be perfect. Lots of processing (CUDA) cores too.
Case with good airflow and high-end cooler.
PSU is more than enough for that rig.
I think a 120GB SSD will be enough, as the location of the models doesn't affect the speed it runs at, as until its saved, the file is with the solidworks program itself.
If he's intent on Maxing the budget, which is fair does, This may be the way to go: (look inside spoiler)
Next!!
Hi, just a quick update they use Jewal cad and Rhino Software it will be used for cad and rendering £1000 buget.
Thanks,
Oldphart
This is a little different. Solidworks and Rhino aren't to dissimilar in their CPU requirements. The only difference is the uses. Rendering is the part of any CAD program which uses the most resources.
Another difference with Rhino is its rendering (and general use), its Very VERY similar to 3DS MAX, where it can use Vray and other types of Material rendering. It may be worth finding out here if he does big renders because if so a higher end GPU may be needed, as its MUCH quicker to render using the GPU (if the option is there) than it is to use the CPU alone.
If that is the case this build will be right up his alley (part the pun):
YOUR BASKET
1 x
Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £249.95
1 x
KFA2 Geforce GTX 770 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (77XPH6DV6KTZ) £229.99
1 x
TeamGroup Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD316G2133HC11ADC01) £107.99
1 x
Gigabyte Z97-HD3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £87.95
1 x
Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black (CC-9011017-WW) £69.95
1 x
Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £67.99
1 x
SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £55.99
1 x
Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £49.99
1 x
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
Total : £978.79 (includes shipping : £12.50).
Case choice is obviously personally but the 300R is a rock solid choice, especially at that much discounted price.
His uses much make better use of a 4770k and a higher end Nvidia GPU.