Need help with a CAD Design/ Video Editing all round workstation

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1

My current computer cannot handle my current version of SW2015, I need to hit it with a bigger stick.

I currently use Solidworks with a ton of heavy add-ons for modelling, Rendering and animations.
I'm also wanting to start video editing, rendering and similar.

Iā€™m in Australia. My budget is $2750 AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS, ($2000usd)

I'd like to think that more ram is good, 64gb?
or, am I looking for a more powerful processor? can I have both?
Solid drives only?
Clear panel tower, with all the fan slots, and fans I need.
Air filters?
I'd like speed and performance over noise levels, but quiet is still good ļŠ

Thanks

2

Plan to do any gaming, or just using it purely for CAD/video editing?

3

No games for me :( only work, but I'd like the possibility of gaming.
Would it drastically affect the price?

4

Well, SolidWorks can benefit from a workstation card, as opposed to a gaming card. There are features in SolidWorks, and Photoview 360, which only work on workstation cards.

5

That sounds good, I'd like to also run multiple screens, perhaps 3 horizontal and 1 vertical. So i believe a workstation graphics card would aide this process

6

Well if this old benchmark for OpenGL is to be trusted it looks like an AMD card is the way to go, a 7970 beats out the titan in solid works

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-titan-opencl-cuda-workstation,3474-8.html

7

Engineers making money with Dassault's software need to go about this the right way and snag a professional graphics card.

8

Well, I think his choice is pretty much made for him from the AUS part picker

AUS firepro.jpg853x463 74.7 KB

1 Like
9

I was looking at the firepro, because of their partnership and direct link with Solidworks, but it looks to be underpowered compared to the rest?

10

Well, normally you'd be able to get a higher end one, but it's still a workstation card with optimized drivers, it's probably still decent, it won't be able to game but you could just throw in a 2nd gaming GPU for that

11

There are some hacks to get RealView working on non-workstation cards, which could mean you could go for a R9 390, or something similar.

https://grabcad.com/questions/tutorials-featuring-realview-in-solidworks-2015

12

Here's a build I've put together, without a graphics card. Left ~$675 for it.

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/b42F7P

13

I saw those Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler's in the TEK Syndicate videos, but would i be better off with water cooling? or is it negligible in my user case?

14

It's just a matter of personal taste, really. I prefer air cooling, because there's less chance of something going wrong. I use that cooler, so I can vouch for the performance.

15

I noticed 32gb ram, meaning it's my upper limit for my use? or could i easily double it and benefit when i do other ram heavy processes?

16

I've chosen 4x8gb sticks, so you can add more later.

17

You could always add more RAM later, this one already has the workstation card, you could grab a 380 if you want to game as well, just gotta switch between them, or pass the 2nd one to a virtual machine.

PCPartPicker part list: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/PJZx7P
Price breakdown by merchant: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/PJZx7P/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($569.00 @ Storm Computers)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK 68.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: Asus X99-A ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($399.00 @ Storm Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($196.98 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($235.00 @ IJK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: AMD FirePro W4100 2GB Video Card ($319.00 @ CPL Online)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT BF ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Mwave Australia)
Power Supply: XFX TS 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($139.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Total: $2045.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-25 09:52 AEDT+1100

18

Would i double the performance by buying a 4gb for double the price? FirePro W4100(2gb) $319 <> Sapphire AMD FirePro W5100, (4GB) $699

19

The W5100 puts out more than double the TFLOPs of the W4100.

20

If you can find a better firepro go for it, the W7100 is the best performance per dollar in the US I think, but I couldn't find anything else on the PC part picker