Workstation PC (ArchiCAD, autoCAD)

Hardware Build a PC
1

Hey everybody!

I need some help, I've never worked with workstation PCs, but have been asked to make one a few hours ago. So I'm not really sure if what I got is ok, so I kind of stopped here to ask for some help. The costumer is an architect, and she needs a new workstation as she's sick of her laptop. So this is strictly a work PC and no gaming will be done on it.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/358wS

This is what I got.
My budget is around 2000€-2500€ (As usual, less is better). The site is in USD, because german site doesn't offer as much parts.
I'm located in Slovenia. The price is for the PC only, peripherals will be bought seperately. Programs that will be used are ArchiCAD and AutoCAD.

Any help, or insight into what I did wrong would be nice.

Thanks in advance, Lay-Z.

ps. Don't get stuck on my english mistakes as it's my third language.

Edit: I'm having problems with formatting.

2

Do you have a preference on a manufacturer for the workstation card?

Also parts list looks to be blank

3

No, not really. As said, I'm having problems with formatting, if you delete "This" at the end of the link, it should work.

4

Well, Intel Zeons have better per-core-performance than AMD's Workstation Class of CPUs (Opteron). So I'd say go Intel for the work station cpu. For GPU you really need to go for a workstation graphics card since their drivers optimizes them for softwares such as AutoCad and Maya. For example even though HD 7970 has more stream processors than say Firepro W5000, and, therefore, will outperform the workstation card in rendering task...The gaming card will have a hard time traversing a 3d scene during actual production work when there's a lot of polygons (millions) on screen, where as the Firepro W5000 will have more ease, or perform more adequately in the same scene with the same polycount. So, you really need to go for a workstation class of gpu if your client is even remotely serious about using AutoCad.

I don't know much about Nvidea's line of Workstation but I know AMD's. This list goes from entry level to there highest end: Firepro W5000, Firepro V7900, Firepro W7000, Firepro W8000, and Firepro W9000.

I would also recommend going for more ram as these programs eat a lot of it, especially when there's a lot of polygons and simulations involve; 64-128gb of ram.

5

you don't need a good GPU for CAD. they don't use GPU acceleration. that said, your build looks great. considering that this is  for architecture, simulations are not  a problem.

6

If you want here is a build with added raw power on the CPU end

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/35bmV

7

Thanks for the reply! I'll look into AMD workstation cards. The only problem I had was finding a motherboard which supports more than 32gb of ram, without going for 2011, as that would bump the prices up quite a bit.

8

the GPU is unimportant with CAD. hell, the iGPU would work, lol. MOAR RAM, less gpu. however, architecture doesn't do much simulations. probably some rendering, but that's all.

9

So you would say that I should up the ram? But as said in a post above, I was unable to find a board which supports 64gb for the xeon I put there. Switching to 2011 would cost about 500€ more (Due to switching cpu, mb, and adding ram).

10

@ Lay-Z, you need a workstation motherboard. Also, I base off my knowledge base on my experience with Maya and Mudbox. I dabble in 3d modeling and animation. Tek Syndicate overviewed some workstation lines of mobo by Asus: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tejg6o4tTNc

Here's a workstation build by them as a starting reference: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tyudcr1uLY

11

no, your build is fine. trust me, i "ran" inventor on a celeron-powered laptop.i wouldn't ever reccomend that, but you're not gonna hit a ram constraint on 32 gigs

12

did you even look at what he wrote? "architectural CAD" in other words, pretty simple geometry.

"Asus Z87-WS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard" - fropm his build

13

http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/35MA2

This is built off of actual Euros and from stores that are across the pond... from products that will be available to you...

AutoCAD is a complete non-concern, it's child's play for a computer to handle wire frame... I'm pretty sure the GPU is overkill... but it'll be nice nonetheless... I thought about maxing out the RAM, but it occured to me that it would be incredible if a file got so big it needed more than 16GB of memory... I've worked in Solidworks with super-massive assembly files, they just don't get THAT big...

I like the Xeon for workstation builds, the i7 is basically the same thing with an iGPU, as the Xeon is not available over there... apparently... didn't see much of a selection for Quadro cards either...

I'm fairly sure the client won't need 4TB worth of HDD but, it's there...

Basically I see people here all the time that don't understand why workstations aren't getting 4 grand dumped into them, and I tell them "because this $1500 setup will do the exact same thing."

I'd rather have a community NAS than a 4TB HDD anyways... especially for a business consisting of more people than just myself... 

Anyways, this should be a good bit cheaper than all these other (kind of ridiculous) builds, and I assure you your client will be more than happy with this...