need system advice for CAD based workhorse

rockinrick2012 · 14 Feb 2014 at 20:19

Hi all

So I have my now ageing system which is an x9770 and 8gb of ram, but have now started doing CAD design work and it just doesn't have the processing power to do it, so am looking for a new system. I don't really play games anymore just need a work horse for my CAD stuff.

Now I have been out of computers for ages, so was after a bit of advice on what would be best. I first of all spotted the i7 (2011) processor and motherboard but then noticed you could get xeon processors, then found you can get motherboards that take two of either chips. I then looked up processor benchmarks and found for roughly the same price I could get two Intel Core i7-4930K @ 3.40GHz oppose to one Intel Xeon E5-2670 v2 @ 2.50GHz (one on one scores were almost the same) but didn't know if it would be better to get just the one xeon then another one later on when I have some more spare cash, as I don't know how the different chips perform or if you have to have two to start with in which case it would be the i7 as my budget is only around 2k give of take a smidge.

I will also need a graphics card, but have a list that work best with my cad software and 64gb of memory. My current power supple is 1200w, (I over did that last time I bought one, but at least it's lasted)

Being honest building this sort of computer is new to me, so any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.


:-)

Richard

ExRayTed · 15 Feb 2014 at 09:35

Out of the two I'd go for the i7 over the Xeon. The only real difference with them is the Xeon supports EEC memory. You won't need EEC memory for CAD. Although CAD still tends to be single threaded (as far as I know), it still likes a fast CPU.

Someone with more experience will hopefully weigh in here.

Destination · 15 Feb 2014 at 09:38

What CAD software are you using?

Quixote · 15 Feb 2014 at 11:19

Just in case you aren't clear on this - If you want to use 2 processors in 1 motherboard only the Xeons can do this (& you have to choose the right models). i7 will always be single socket. The other thing to consider is that clock speed is just as important as number of cores. If you get 2 very low - speed xeons, you could end up with a syatem that's slower than 1 i7. I would be inclined to go for the 3930k setup, unless you can afford 2 xeons at nearly as high clock speed. Bear in mind also, that dual socket motherboards are quite a bit more expensive.

rockinrick2012 · 16 Feb 2014 at 13:07

Hi all

So firstly I use turbocad 20 which does use graphics card for rendering it seems, but most is just processor.

As for the two chips that's interesting because from the wording on the description sounded like you could use either, so will stick with just the one i7

So processor you said the Intel 3930K but also spotted a 4930 3.40GHz so would that be better??

So when it comes to motherboards is it just a case of reading reviews and seeing which works best?? Or are there specific mb's that work better for say cad stuff over game stuff? I won't be overclocking it, so don't need something mega fancy that overclocks best, but if that sort of mb is better even in stock form then that would be ok if that makes sense, as I've seen them ranging from £150 to £400.

Memory would be 64gb as I've found you can never have a enough with cad related stuff, so would it be a case of find a mb, then see what that maker recommends memory wise, or is it much of a muchness.

I will also get a new hard drive then transfer the old components to my spare rig that way I have a back up if I need it, so ssd wise I spotted this (Asus RAIDR Express 240GB SSD (PCI Express 2.0 x2 ) which seemed very high data transfer and would that be ok for the main?? Or would I be better off with something esle??

Lastly just thinking to how things have changed from my first Pentium 90 setup which I just bought stock as was super fast at the time, and now there is hundreds of bits to pick and choose between.

Many thanks for your help.

:-)

Richard