Help with a build for CAD

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Hi guys,

A colleague who knows I'm a PC gamer has asked me to help him build a PC for him to work from home a bit more. He'll only be using CAD and the usual web/office use.

However I don't have a clue what CAD would require. I'm guessing its not huge on multi-core use so something like a decent i5 would suffice but is a lot of RAM needed along with an SSD?


Ask me to build a gaming PC and no problem but I don't really know the field of CAD work.


Any help/guidance would be muchly appreciated :)
 
After those questions I guess I don't really know what he'll be doing with it.

He works with Carbon Fibre and chassis design (of vehicles).

Solid works is the name of the software but I'm not in the design department so not really clued up on what they work with. I just know how to put a PC together.


he has about a grand to play with although cheaper the better. No need for any more monitors but windows 7 is required.

I've basically got i5 k version
SSD for OS
large HDD for stoarge
plenty of RAM
half decent GFX card but not something to run games
along with a nice cooling system.

I myself have gone custom Watercooling but something like a corsair H80 if beneficial over a air cooled HSF would be a plus
 
Your right, solidworks doesn't benefit from multi-core/hyperthreaded processors (pule the i7's) when standard modelling. So for mechanical design and surface modelling a highly clocked i5 will be perfect.

The time the i7's come into there own is when rendering/simulations. Solidworks can do all types of simulations including fluid/flow/stress. The only one I can see your friend using is a stress simulation, if any atall. It may be worth asking, as the extra £70 would be well spent for stress analysis.

As you can tell, I've used solidworks and my first ever PC was built to use it, though I had a third of his budget.

As for the GPU, you are bang on, nothing too pricey. Solidworks does use CUDA so an Nvidia GPU would be beneficial. Maybe a GTX750/GTX750ti?

RAM is essential for CAD work, so as much as you can for around the budget. 16gb minimum.

Cooling, im not a huge fan of AIO water coolers. A big air cooler would be better value. The K2 is stunning for £50.

I'll do a spec tomorrow. :)
 
Hi, will keep a eye on this thread as l have been asked to build CAD PC for my son's works Jewellery they have a 3D Printer as well and l think the software they use is Solid works as well.

£1000 buget, case must have dustfilters as well.
 
Im going to be honest. I think you can do better. It may be this evening until I can spec but I have a few ideas.

EDIT: just to give you an idea of what id do.

Downgrade the GPU, Motherboard, SSD (possibly), Cooler , case and PSU. This way you can have 32gb of RAM for under budget. :)
 
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Im going to be honest. I think you can do better. It may be this evening until I can spec but I have a few ideas.

EDIT: just to give you an idea of what id do.

Downgrade the GPU, Motherboard, SSD (possibly), Cooler , case and PSU. This way you can have 32gb of RAM for under budget. :)

32GB might be a little OTT.

The largest single part I've ever worked on had a 2GB Memory requirement and an assembly of 4000 parts took about 12GB.

Single threaded CPU speed is the key thing to have as long as you have a decent amount of memory, 8GB Min, 16GB rec.

GPU perf is also important so you maintain a decent FPS rate with AA on.

Equally why the need for a 2TB HDD? The above 4000 part product takes up 8GB disk space.

So I'd go:
Top end i5
16GB
Decent cooler for a small overclock and keep he noise down
You should technically have a quadro card but a 750TI or higher GPU. (Assuming solidworks doesn't use openclgl)
PSU/mobo/case to fit.
256GB SSD (evo for £100)
 
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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.

with solidworks rebuilds and geometry are single threaded. only things like rendering and simulation are multi threaded. so unless your going to be rendering a lot of stuff then i5 or equivalent will be more than adequate.

ram wise i've always been under the information that cad is resource hungry, whilst i've never worked on any properly massive assemblies i've never really found it to be the case. never hurts though, if you go for something like 16gb with 2 8gb sticks you'll still be left with the option of adding more if needs be.
 
Holy Smokes those Quadros/Firepros are expensive! Would it even be worth having one of the low end ones?

yeah, i'm not entirely sure why, probably some 24/7 rating or something like that. or profiteering.

check out what doomspeed is saying about the nvidia gaming cards, if they do work then it'll be a much better cheaper way of doing it.
 
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!! :D

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. :)
 
Thanks for that Doomedspeed, will find out how big is the rendering they do.

I take it a 780 would be the upgrade if needed.

Cheers,
Oldphart.:)

If you can find out whether they can Use GPU rendering too that'd be handy. :)

The 780 would be better still but again its use and budget dependent, its all about the processing cores, the GTX 770 has just over 1500, the GTX 780 has just over 2300.

If it is all CPU dependant, and Very heavy files (renders take about 1-2+ hours) A 2011 rig won't be a bad idea:

Example
 
Hi Doomedspeed, had a chat with my son and he say's the rendering does no take that long as its only Jewellery often quite small.

But he says the PC that they are using falls over now and a gain when rendering, etc.

LoL, l won't tell you what they have been using, l built it nearly 4 years ago for gaming and general use say no more.

So your 1st Spec might be the thing, would it be worth waiting for the Haswell 4790k?

Again thanks,
Oldphart.:)
 
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