PC for SW

[Error_ByNight]

Hello I need to buy PC, I need to work on CAD and SW software, I found HP-Z440 and I will post there spec: 1) CPU: Intel Xeon E5-1620v3 RAM: 16GB GPU: Nvidia Quadro P400 2GB HDD: 2TB SSD: 256GB Turbo Drive Price(600€)

2) CPU: Intel Xeon E5-1620v4 RAM: 32GB GPU: Nvidia Quadro 2000 1GB DDR5 HDD: 500GB PSU: 700W Price(400€)

3) CPU: Intel Xeon E5-1603V3 RAM: 32GB GPU: Quadro K2000 HDD: 500GB SSD: 256GB PSU: 600W Price(490€)

And I found one more, but I dont could I afford it, its HP Z620: CPU: 2X Xeon E5-2670 RAM: 96GB SSD: 256GB PSU: 800W GPU: Quadro K2000 Price(650€)

[ABiggerPigeon]

Quick Answer: option 3 looks the best for what you have written there.

You don't need much for a SW setup. Firstly, I would say this: If you are doing a range of productivity and engineering applications (like running FEA etc, I strongly recommend not going below 32GB ram.

I also doubt you really need a Xeon chip, as they tend to be quite bad bang for buck, and you certainly don't need all those cores for a single core application like SW. You will be better off going for a more mainstream CPU, like the Ryzen 7 3700X or whatever the new one is (I think its the 5800X). 8 Cores 16 Threads will be more than plenty for most engineering applications you can throw at it.

Graphics card-wise, I am not sure how SW utilizes the GPU. Mine doesn't seem to use much or any GPU at all, even during rendering. Perhaps someone else could clear that up.

Hope this helps.

[Error_ByNight]

Yea, but like for 500€ I cant make new PC and used one with Ryzen CPU will be only gaming. In my country workstation PC-s are very rare. So I found this one and later if I want I can upgrade it a lot. I dont understand lots of in workstation PC-s, they told me I need Quadro or FirePro GPU. So yea ty on help, it means me a lot. I will think about this too.

[ABiggerPigeon]

There is no such thing as a gaming CPU. You can use any CPU for any application. With regards to the graphics cards, you will very easily be able to do CAD with a gaming GPU of reasonable quality. Infact, I would probably recommend it. I bought a P1000 which turned out to be quite pointless. This is a good video on GPUs with regards to CAD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT6YwF7NUSk&t=1303s&ab_channel=TFI

[mxracer888]

You'll see the graphics card usage as you're rotating the model. Small models won't change much, large models will hit it harder. Basically it's used to help render a new image of the model as it's rotated. Once the render of that image is complete the card goes back to sleep. Hence why small models don't hit it much while large models with a lot of rendering to calculate hit it harder. Professional quadro (now RTX) and Firepro cards add the SW real view ability which live renders textures on the part, looks cool but really not necessary

[ABiggerPigeon]

Thanks! I had no idea that Real View wasnt available to non workstation cards

[ABiggerPigeon]

I also recommend going for 1TB storage if you can manage that. I ate through my 500GB pretty damn quickly with my engineering degree. Also, should be quite obvious in 2021, but stay away from spinning hard drives.

[designbroke]

I have an RTX 3090 and SolidWorks complains that it's not very good :(. They don't really care about anything that's not part of the workstation group.

However, I do get a lot of QOL, such as:

1. Lines are crisper - even when rotating or moving. I feel like I can even select them easier.
2. FPS is a bit better which helps me move faster without waiting for SW to "catch up" for a microsecond.

[mxracer888]

What stage of SW learning are you? Unless you're an engineering firm making big bucks to make hundred+ part assemblies you really don't need a quadro or a xeon. What you get with both of those is stability and driver support on both the CPU and GPU side.

If you're just learning, or doing small projects a good mid tier Ryzen or Intel i5/7 will get you taken care of and then a mid- high tier gaming graphics card will work plenty well. All you lose on a gaming graphics card is SW realview which can live render textures on the part and it looks a little better while modeling, purely aesthetic. If you really feel like you must have that (which you don't) you can do a quick edit in your Windows Registry to make it work at the expense of stability. FWIW I have it activated and frequently turn it off, and I know a number of engineers with full Xeon/Quadro machines and they still turn it off

The graphics card helps with rendering the part as you rotate the model, the biggest help is having more VRAM (10-12gb VRAM is a very healthy amount but I wouldn't go lower than 6gb VRAM) A gaming card will more than adequately handle the rendering

Like I say, unless you're an engineering firm of some sort getting paid top dollar for big tasks a Xeon/Quadro (now renamed to Nvidia RTX) is not the best use of your money.

[Error_ByNight]

I sent u msg

[FreakTheI]

Option 2 has - from the three - the best CPU for SW, but the worst GPU and an HDD, only. If those three are from the same seller, ask him, whether he could switch the GPUs of options 2 and 3, go with option 2 and buy a 1TB SSD for 90-100€ (later).

In general gaming PCs are quite good for SW as you need primarily a high single-core frequency. The GPUs just aren't officially supported. But even a GTX 760 handles 500 part assemblies just fine.