Hardware for CAD Computing, CPU and GPU help needed

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1

Greetings all.

 

I need some help to understand the choices i am about to make for my company, As i have been tasked with building a CAD workstation for our production-workshop. I build gaming computers for family and friends going on 10 years, But never a workstation for CAD.

The main programs to be used are IronCAD (Complete package),Solidworks , Autodesk (autocad LT 2014/2015), Adobe suite (Photo editing and such). 

Main goal with programs, 3D Modeling, Schematics in 3D/2D.

Now for my issues.

Issue 1

From what i understand both CAD programs will only ever use 1 core from the CPU, And all the Dell, HP, Packard Bell solutions for workstations i have been recommended by friends are Xeon 2.2GHz to 2.5GHz. Why not an AMD Bulldozer 4.7GHz?  What is the reason to go Xeon with half the speed? 

Anyone with experience feel like schooling me?

Issue 2

Graphics... Need i say more? Quadro series recommended by IronCAD, Solidworks and Autodesk. Friends tell me go with GTX 6-700 series with tons of GDDR5 or R7-9 series with tons of GDDR5.

When i look at the specs and compare to the Quadro or FirePro's they cleary kick some major ass. But i'm guessing the architecture differs? Making the Quadro and FirePro better at that specific task, Right? And the drivers are fail-proofed and so on, possibly justifying the price for those cards. Also maybe lifespan? As Quadro is recommended, Would i need the K2000 or is K620 enough? Most of our builds are less then 100 parts. But we have the yearly +10k parts build. But they are less then 2% of the models that pass by. K2000 have GDDR5 and K620 GDDR3, But is it really nessesary with double the cash? If (from what i understand) the program uses the RAM not the G-RAM.

Anyone with experience feel like schooling me?

 

Budget: Around 3000-3500 USD  (20.000-25.000 SEK)

Unbiased towards AMD (Ati), Nvidia, Intel. 

Slightly hesitant towards ADATA RAM and Corsair SSD's as both have failed me a few times. 

No overclocking will be done, Corsair H55 CPU cooling probably.

32 GB ram, 1600-1866MHz as those are the max supported with no overclocking for Intel/AMD

150-250GB SSD ((Server grade? Schooling needed.) No more storage needed as files are saved to NAS when complete)

Case - Chosen

Windows 7 Ultimate 64 (Legit),Keyboard/mouse/Display  Already purchased)

 

Items i need help with:

Processor: (My idea is FX-9590 4.7GHz)

Graphics: Clueless. 

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Dozzmorkulon/saved/nKgFf7

I think that's all. CPU and GPU help wanted.

Thanks for reading / The Dozz

2

I would probably check your CAD program developer and see what they recommend regarding GPU.

Autodesk as example has certified hardware. In my experience is that when you have a problem regarding graphics it will get fixed in time by Autodesk. When not certified you can have a problem that completely wrecks your workflow and it wouldn't get solved by Autodesk (You got to find a workaround or something like that).

Also keep the complexity of the models and total parts used in assembly in mind. More complex stuff needs more memory on your GPU.

Hopefully this is usefull for you :) I would like to hear what you think about this,

 

Ps. Regarding the files to NAS procedure when finished. Please back them up to the NAS on a daily base before they are finished. Work in progress can be for a long time and if something crashes you lose all the progress. (Trust me i have experience with it :( )  

 

 

  

3

Stay away from the 220watt fx9370 and 9590! The fx8350 will do the job and you can easily oc it to 4.7ghz like the 9590 IF you need the power. Just make sure you get a good board. For business use I would stick with the Quadro or Fire Pro they have better build quality over the consumer grade cards. Something with at least 4gb vram. I'll have to look into some of your other questions, its been years since Ive worked with 2d and 3d CAD. 

4

Thank you both for replies and ideas. 

After talking to our provider of CAD software i am left knowing they suck up to Intel and Nvidia. They claim that the software runs best on Xeon E3-1220L 2.3 GHz due to it's high speed. And Quadro K2000 outperforms FirePro V5900, But almost every source i find claim different. 

After a long search and waiting on the phone today i managed to get ahold of someone with the information i needed. IronCAD that is the main focus of this build, only ever use about 250-400 MB of the GPU's RAM and wants more CPU RAM instead (Source: software engineer on IronCAD Development), He also said that the CPU should be the fastest i dare (Cooling-wise) to go with no mather single or 12 core. 

 

@Camdex

Thanks for the heads-up on the 220W's i totally overlooked, I did some research and i think i will go with the FX-8350 and overclock it. PNY Quadro K2000  + 32 GB 1866 MHz RAM and 160 (320) GB RAID10 SSD. I think that will do fine.

 

@Hansch1986

Everything we have with "work" on them is either running RAID 1 or 10 .Also the NAS works fine, Never had issues with it. Exept age, 2 drives have failed but that was no real issue. 10 TB RAID10 mechanical drives, plus SSD cashing. We also do backups of our critical data once every 60 days. 

 

Thanks for the help so far! Unless anyone else manages to sneak in some critical information within the next 48 hours i'll order these parts.

/Dozz

5

Great! Let me know how it performs :)