New Build Advice - engineering workstation

Maciej Lemanowicz

Maciej Lemanowicz

Maciej Lemanowicz

Associate
Joined
17 Oct 2018
Posts
18
I got really good advice back in 2018 on my previous build but it has since gotten old. I am hoping to get something new but am completely green, so any suggestions would be very appreciated!

The PC needs the following spec:
- primarily used as engineering workstation (FEA analysis etc) + as business computer
- very occasional gaming
- needs a wifi card
- small case (the smaller the better)
- quiet
- wireless keyboard (not too chunky) + wireless mouse
- good webcam for videocalls
- The two Acer KG271Ubmiippx 27" 2560x1440 TN FREESYNC Widescreen LED ZeroFrame Monitor I am intending to keep unless there are much better options

The budget is around £2000-£2500
 
Does the software you use, need more CPU or GPU power? Does it use CUDA?
If using GPU power, is having quadro/firepro certification important?
 
I was hoping to get a pre-built and sent in one piece from overclockers.

I'm planning on getting Tekla SD (structural engineer) and these are the hardware reqs from their website.

*Tekla Structures rendering can use DirectX or OpenGL technology. The DirectX rendering mode is better optimized for modern graphics cards, and you should prioritize DirectX performance when deciding on a graphics card. We do not have resources to test all cards on the market, so we have chosen cards based on the NVIDIA graphics processor to be our test platform.


Recommendation		Best performance
Operating systemWindows 10 (64-bit)Windows 10 (64 bit)
Memory16+ GB32+ GB
Hard disk1 TB, SSD2TB, PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
ProcessorIntel® Core™ i7 CPU 3+ GHzIntel® Core™ i9 CPU 4+ GHz
Graphics card*Two monitor support such as NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060/2080Two monitor support such as nVidia RTX 3000 -series (3080/3090) or newer
Monitor(s)Two 27″ 2560x144043″ 4K or two 30″ 2560x1600
Mouse**3-button wheel mouse, optical3-button wheel mouse, cordless & optical + 3Dconnexion SpacePilot
Backup equipmentExternal hard driveExternal hard drive with scheduled backups
Network adapter100 Mbit/s IPv4 or IPv61 Gbit/s IPv4 or IPv6
 
this is probably what i'd get on your budget
i've sacrifced small to get a cool and quiet build
trade-off is size - you'd need a case that can mount a 165mm high cooler, and also with a cpu that can chew up >250w
unfortunately that limits the minimum size a case can be, as you'd need a case that provides good airflow, and also a cooler and motherboard VRMs that can handle that sort of power

if you're willing to spend extra then can get the i9 13900k(f) and/or 64gb ram
re: cooler choice, i suspect that reliability would be important, so a top-end air cooler would be a better preference than an aio water cooler

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £2,312.08 (includes delivery: £13.20)​

​
​
​
 
Intel Core i7-13700K (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail
CP-6AX-IN
£350 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
MSI Pro Z790-A WIFI (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard
MB-36Y-MS
£240 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Pure Black CPU Cooler with Dual 140m Fans
HS-03M-NC
£110 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Last edited:
tamzzy said:
with those kinds of requirements and only a £2.5k budget...cool, quiet, and small - you'll have to pick two of the three
Click to expand...
tamzzy said:
this is probably what i'd get on your budget
i've sacrifced small to get a cool and quiet build
trade-off is size - you'd need a case that can mount a 165mm high cooler, and also with a cpu that can chew up >250w
unfortunately that limits the minimum size a case can be, as you'd need a case that provides good airflow, and also a cooler and motherboard VRMs that can handle that sort of power

if you're willing to spend extra then can get the i9 13900k(f) and/or 64gb ram
re: cooler choice, i suspect that reliability would be important, so a top-end air cooler would be a better preference than an aio water cooler

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £2,312.08 (includes delivery: £13.20)​

​
​
​
Click to expand...
Thanks! what would be the alternative if I decided to go for small and quiet? I have a small home office and a cat. I don't want them playing with the cables and was hoping to put the unit on my desk.. but it'd need to be fairly small.
 
Intel Core i7-13700K (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail
CP-6AX-IN
£350 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
MSI Pro Z790-A WIFI (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard
MB-36Y-MS
£240 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Pure Black CPU Cooler with Dual 140m Fans
HS-03M-NC
£110 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Last edited:
Maciej Lemanowicz said:
but it'd need to be fairly small.
Click to expand...
how small are we talking about?
either way, you'd need an MATX board (a bit more expensive) and a larger-sized MATX case (whilst smaller than an ATX case, it'll still be large by MATX standards - you still need to shift 600w of head and can't bend the laws of physics)
 
i think this will fit
(had to go with a water cooler due to size constraints on an ITX board

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £2,365.21 (includes delivery: £12.30)​



​
 
Intel Core i7-13700K (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail
CP-6AX-IN
£350 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
MSI MPG Z790I Edge WIFI (LGA 1700) DDR5 Mini ITX Motherboard
MB-36X-MS
£320 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Lian Li Lancool 205M Mesh Micro-ATX PC Case White
CA-7B3-LL
£75 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
tamzzy said:
how small are we talking about?
either way, you'd need an MATX board (a bit more expensive) and a larger-sized MATX case (whilst smaller than an ATX case, it'll still be large by MATX standards - you still need to shift 600w of head and can't bend the laws of physics)
Click to expand...

That's totally fine.
On second thought, I don't think there's enough space on my desk for an MATX... so bigger is fine and will be mindful not let the cat around.
I'll do some browsing to see if I can get any case I like. Any tips what I should be looking for in terms of compatibility with these parts?
 
Maciej Lemanowicz said:
I'll do some browsing to see if I can get any case I like. Any tips what I should be looking for in terms of compatibility with these parts?
Click to expand...
if you're going ATX and putting the case on the floor:

you'd want a mesh front panel with air filtering
psu length clearance 160mm (ideally >180mm)
cpu cooler height clearance 165mm (ideally >165mm)
gpu clearance >310mm (ideally >330mm)

if going aio water cooling - a top mounted 360mm radiator with 'good' top clearance
can't really specify as this is not documented by most case manufacturers - but a good indication would be clearance between the top of the case and the top of the hole where the i/o shield should sit
 
Last edited:
tamzzy said:
this is probably what i'd get on your budget
i've sacrifced small to get a cool and quiet build
trade-off is size - you'd need a case that can mount a 165mm high cooler, and also with a cpu that can chew up >250w
unfortunately that limits the minimum size a case can be, as you'd need a case that provides good airflow, and also a cooler and motherboard VRMs that can handle that sort of power

if you're willing to spend extra then can get the i9 13900k(f) and/or 64gb ram
re: cooler choice, i suspect that reliability would be important, so a top-end air cooler would be a better preference than an aio water cooler

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £2,312.08 (includes delivery: £13.20)​

​
​
​
Click to expand...
I went for Intel Core i9-13900KF (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 and requested a custom build from OC. They came back saying due to the amouf of heat from 13900KF I'm going to need a good 360 AIO cooler.
Their recommendation was Aestek OEM 360mm cooler. As they're OEM without any cooling fans they suggest adding Nocuta NF-F12 fans.

Now I have never has a AIO and I'm not sure what's involved. I understand you're saying air cooler is more reliable generally?

Any other recommendations for cooling?

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £2,572.62 (includes delivery: £14.70)​



​
 
Intel Core i7-13700K (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail
CP-6AX-IN
£350 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
MSI Pro Z790-A WIFI (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard
MB-36Y-MS
£240 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Pure Black CPU Cooler with Dual 140m Fans
HS-03M-NC
£110 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
be quiet! Silent Base 802 Midi Tower Case - Black Window
CA-148-BQ
£150 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Intel Core i9-13900KF (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail
CP-6B6-IN
£473 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Maciej Lemanowicz said:
Now I have never has a AIO and I'm not sure what's involved. I understand you're saying air cooler is more reliable generally?
Click to expand...
Yes.

An aio water cooler has potentially multiple points of failure. The pipes/fittings can leak, the pump can fail, the cooling plate can clog up over time and the coolant will evaporate over time as well. As the cooling properties are based on coolant flow, there is a chance, albeit small, that a sudden pump failure may damage a chip because of rapid overheating.
Whilst all of the above are not common, they can happen.

It is true that a good 360mm aio will outperform the best hsf coolers.

Compare with a normal cooler which is just a few heatpipes and a lump of metal + fans. There are just simply less potential points of failure.
 
tamzzy said:
I would suggest the arctic liquid freezer 2 instead
Click to expand...
Seconded here. I have the 280 mm version and keeps my 7700x at 75C under max load. You need good top clearance for Arctic Liquid Freezer 2s as their rads are quite deep.

I have the Phanteks P500A case, and there's plenty of space to top mount the ALF2. Currently out of stock at OCUK but there's stock elsewhere. Cost has gone up on this case quite significantly since I bought it at £130.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-eclipse-p500-air-atx-case-tempered-glass-drgb-satin-black-ca-0aa-pt.html
 
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