solid computer for architect

Evil-I said:
You still need a reasonably meaty graphics card for CAD work. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water! I'd say SSD is nice to have and will make it very snappy but better graphics would be my priority.
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was working off the plan that he was using his current pc for the apps he'd listed, if not then yeah i'd stick with the gfx card over the ssd for the time being.
 
ok, can anyone advise, if i get this bundle - Argon Intel Core i3 2.93GHz @ 4.00GHz Overclocked Bundle and spend the extra on an ssd would it be comparable to the system spec'd above, or would it be better to go with the bundle above and a normal hd?

thanks
 
i'd double check on the software you listed initially , but i'm fairly sure that at least some of it would make use of a quad core system.

edit:

had a quick look around and 3d studio max seems to make use of a quad core.

guess it really comes down to which apps you use the most, if they can make use of a quad core then i wouldn't think of going for a clocked dual core.
 
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Photoshop will utilise quad core also.

My opinion is that a SSD is the single most noticeable upgrade you can do to a pc. If you change nothing else, just the hdd to SSD you'll definitely notice the difference in speed.
Expensive, but worth it imho.
I wouldn't bother with the i3 though for what you want to do with it. Some of the i5's handle render/compression tasks very well.
 
cool, thanks for the info,
i'd say 80-90% of the time is autocad, sketch up and photoshop - so the other stuff isn't really a priority, but i do need to do it sometimes so has to be capable...
 
mp260767 said:
ah cool, in that case i'd drop the 4850 out of the spec i listed and invest in the Intel X25-V Value 40GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive, will bring the total up to around your max of £600.

could then use the ssd for the o/s and apps, obviously depending on the size of your app installs, then use the 1tb drive for any other apps and data.
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I agree, but I use the X25-M 80Gb from intel, its fantastic, but as mine stands right now, i have win7 pro x64 installed, along with office 2007 Adobe CS4 and a few smaller apps and i have only 7Gb left.

OP will almost certainly need more than 40gb, especially if installing autocad and photoshop.

the_r_sole; 64-bit os and 4gb ram as minimum will make smooth work of autocad and photoshop mate. Autocad recommends 3gb anyway.
 
I'd be tempted by the 6 core amd in your budget range. 6 actual cores for rendering tasks when autocad and most bits of software like that are very well set up for multithreading, especially when rendering like doing 3D walk throughs etc.

To be honest in my experience the only apps that can consistently use up all cores are programs like autocad (when rendering) 3DS Max, lightwave etc. A lot of video software and encoding apps claim to be, but rarely get anywhere near maxing out all available cores.

Also on the SSD front, 40Gb is not big enough to be of any use in my opinion. Once you've installed windows 7, all your apps etc, a typical install for creative/ workstation software would easily be the best part of 100Gb. As an example my workstation (in work) has Vista 64, the Adobe master collection CS4, Office 2007 and a few other bits and bobs and has used 169Gb of a 488 Gb system partition. Also once you're in the software as long as you've got enough RAM it will mostly be running in memory anyway. I would say another 4Gb RAM would be a better bet than a 40Gb SSD.

I'm not saying SSD aren't great, They are a massive speed improvement, but enless you have a budget for a 128Gb or better, I really wouldn't bother, as it will just complicate things when you reach the point where you will have to start installing software to another drive when you run out of space.....
 
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well, i'm around the 40g mark for xp pro and programs, so i'd imagine win7 might be a bit more? (although tbh i can't see me getting into much other software than the current installed - money and time constraints!)

suppose i could either get more ram and upgrade to ssd if/when the cash is there or the other way around!
 
I dont understand the emphasis on ssds here. I spend a lot of time doing cad work and mathematics for my course. Im sure the software im using stores the models in ram, and matlab shows no benefit from an ssd whatsoever. Perhaps photoshop does.

The program starting instantly doesnt help if its going to take overnight to run, e.g. renders.

I put an ocz vertex in my desktop hoping for great things. The box was a pleasure to use, low latency is lovely. Cad took just as long as before though. So now its in a netbook, and the desktop uses a samsung f1. Lesson learned.

What does matter is raw cpu capacity, and offloading things to graphics cards so the cpu has less work to do.

Overclocking helps the first part, but i would not trust ocuk with the task. They cant test it thoroughly enough in the time available, a fast chip that makes mistakes is worth f.a. I still run some things at stock speeds, and im very confident in my systems stability.

Second part means a quadro or ati's version. I cant afford that, so have an 8800gt sli system crudely forced to use quadro drivers. Its just not as good.

Amd's hex core vs intels 760 at your budget, and no ssd. Id personally go second hand for x58, as 12gb of ram is brilliant.

Architecture is a difficult course. Good luck
 
JonJ678 said:
I dont understand the emphasis on ssds here.
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Im really gonna have to agree with this guy.

SSD is great! I run Win7 64 bit, AutoCAD, Adobe Master Suite, Skectup etc of an 80GB intel and it sits at 50% capacity and hasnt moved for 8 months. The extra speed is just awesome and TBH I wouldn't be without it anymore, HOWEVER I spent all my original budget on maxing out the more important components of the machine for 3D modelling and rendering (Mobo, PSU, Processor and GFX card) and then added other secondary components, like the SSD, as the money became available.

My advice, that i3 bundle your looking at looks the business. Add a 600w+ PSU and then MAX out the bext GFX card you can just now for the budget available. As I said before, I run 4Gb of RAM and its handled easily everything I have thrown at it.

Hope that helps.
 
Digitalle said:
Im really gonna have to agree with this guy.

SSD is great! I run Win7 64 bit, AutoCAD, Adobe Master Suite, Skectup etc of an 80GB intel and it sits at 50% capacity and hasnt moved for 8 months. The extra speed is just awesome and TBH I wouldn't be without it anymore, HOWEVER I spent all my original budget on maxing out the more important components of the machine for 3D modelling and rendering (Mobo, PSU, Processor and GFX card) and then added other secondary components, like the SSD, as the money became available.

My advice, that i3 bundle your looking at looks the business. Add a 600w+ PSU and then MAX out the bext GFX card you can just now for the budget available. As I said before, I run 4Gb of RAM and its handled easily everything I have thrown at it.

Hope that helps.
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seems like sensible advice, i'm in no rush to buy so i will keep getting advice on it....
do you think it'd be better to get the cpu and do an overclock myself, or maybe buy one from here oc'd and reduce it slighty to be (hopefully) entirely stable??
 
koolpc said:
Is it worth having 8g of ram in the PC?
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When you start to use a PC for real other than for gaming then yes 8gig is definitely worth it.

I'm currently at 6gig could do with more. Next machine will definitely be kitted with 16gig.

JonJ678 said:
Second part means a quadro or ati's version. I cant afford that, so have an 8800gt sli system crudely forced to use quadro drivers. Its just not as good.
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Yeah cross flashing isn't a great solution. It can work but in most cases fails. Best to cough up the large dough for a proper card :mad:

the_r_sole said:
well, i'm around the 40g mark for xp pro and programs, so i'd imagine win7 might be a bit more? (although tbh i can't see me getting into much other software than the current installed - money and time constraints!)

suppose i could either get more ram and upgrade to ssd if/when the cash is there or the other way around!
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What autodesk software do you use moreover does it support gpu hardware acceleration if so ....

Realtime rendering using a firegl/quadro card really do impress so would suggest look into this as mention earlier.
 
I agree with the SSD thing. On a £600 budget, there's no way I could recommend one. The cheapest is like 1/6 of the budget :eek: They're lovely and all, I love my X25-M but I wouldn't bother at the moment.

I'd definitely put your money towards a quad and good graphics card.
 
autodesk software i use is autocad 2009 mostly, sometimes revit architecture but tbh that's just to keep my hand in with the software...
would love to get 8g ram in it, i'd be happy if i could get that in the budget
 
Anything after and including Autodesk 2009 utilises hardware acceleration, another reason for you to get a good graphics card.

With RAM, yeah we would all love 32 kajillion GB of RAM in our machines, but ATM with price vs. actual necessity and what you will ACTUALLY need is still at the 4GB - 8GB MAX stage.

As for overclocking, its easy to get sucked into the mambo jambo of all these hardcore gamers whom think it is a mortal sin to not overclock, but with my experience it is a law of diminutive return. I bought my mobo and my chip with the intention of overclocking it yes, but once it was up and running the performance I experienced far outweighed any of my expectations so I just let it b and havent looked backe. I have far more important things to worry about with Uni than having my 4.2 Ghz overclocked beast blowing up on me 2 days before a work hand in or a presentation deadline.

Saying that it really is a personal choice. For a £600 budget you really can get your self started with a completely capable machine that WILL do everything you want. Just need to make the proper decisions and chose the correct components for you. Easy :D
 
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