Budget 71-90K Future proof rig for computationally intense tasks (CAD / CAM)

pa1pa1

Disciple
Hi, I'm not up to date with the refresh cycles for the various components. While I'm reading up on it, I could use some help in case it miss out on some important news. I'm looking to build a rig that is future-proof for at least 4 years.

Questions
  1. What is your budget?
    • 75K
  2. What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)
    • New Rig
  3. Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
    • None
  4. Which hardware component are you looking to buy (component name). If you have already decided on a configuration then please mention the (component brand and model) as well, this will help us in fine tuning your requirement.
    • CHIP : Intel i7 4790 Processor
    • MoBo : Gigabyte H87M-D3H Motherboard
    • GFX : MSI TWIN FROZR GeForce GTX 750Ti/N750Ti TF 2GD5/OC 2 GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
    • MONITOR : AOC 21.5 inch LED Backlit LCD - i2269Vwm Monitor (Black)
    • SSD : Samsung 840 Pro Series 128 GB SSD Internal Hard Drive (MZ-7PD128BW)
    • PSU : Corsair VS550 550 Watt PSU
    • HDD : WD Blue WD10EZEX 1 TB Internal Hard Drive
    • RAM : Corsair Vengeance DDR3 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) PC RAM (CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10)
    • OS : Microsoft Windows 8 / 8.1 SL OEM 64 bit


  1. + Some Cabinet + Tiny speakers + Keyboard & mouse
  2. Is this going to be your final configuration or you would be adding/upgrading a component in near future. If yes then please mention when and which component
    • Final
  3. Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
    • Mumbai
    • Open to online purchase
  4. Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market
    • No
  5. What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
    • CAD CAM work (Solidworks, Powermill, etc.
  6. Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
    • I'm sticking to intel.
  7. If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
    • No gaming at all.
  8. What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
    1. Desktop - 1920 x 1808
  9. Are you looking to overclock?
    • No
  10. Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
    • Windows 8.1
Thanks.
 
Change motherboard to H97 chipset one like Asus H97 Pro or Gigabyte H97 D3H; though personally I would vote for Asus. Also for PSU, switch to Seasonic S12 II 620w (approx Rs.5700-5800)
 
Change motherboard to H97 chipset one like Asus H97 Pro or Gigabyte H97 D3H; though personally I would vote for Asus. Also for PSU, switch to Seasonic S12 II 620w (approx Rs.5700-5800)
Will change the MoBo to H97 & will llook into seasonic. Does the rest look good? Is i7 overkill?
 
Rest config looks good to me. i7 Should not be overkill when you looking for 4+ years' life from the rig.
 
Also, get dual channel ram, at least 2 x 8 GB.
CAD/CAM and a gaming card don't go well together. Get a Quadro or FirePro.

The primary advantage being optimized drivers for the software you need to run. Might want to see some benchmarks, there are places where GeForce cards are better and places where Quadro cards are better.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/workstation-graphics-2013/compare,3281.html?prod[6195]=on&prod[6425]=on

EDIT - Scratch the RAM recommendation....was checking your older board and not the new 97 series one.
 
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Also, get dual channel ram, at least 2 x 8 GB.


The primary advantage being optimized drivers for the software you need to run. Might want to see some benchmarks, there are places where GeForce cards are better and places where Quadro cards are better.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/workstation-graphics-2013/compare,3281.html?prod[6195]=on&prod[6425]=on

Thanks for the link. To be honest most things went over my head. Quadro cards are extremely expensive relative to GeForce. Everything boils down to price to performance ratio. If we are to compare Quadro vs GeForce keeping price constant (comparing similarly priced cards), I highly doubt Quadro has any chance. Actually, Quadro cards are so expensive, their baseline cards would start where mid or high end Geforce end. Really not practical.
 
Also, get dual channel ram, at least 2 x 8 GB.


The primary advantage being optimized drivers for the software you need to run. Might want to see some benchmarks, there are places where GeForce cards are better and places where Quadro cards are better.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/workstation-graphics-2013/compare,3281.html?prod[6195]=on&prod[6425]=on

Its not a question of frame rates in benchmarks. Its a question of output accuracy which real CAD work demands. A pixel here or pixel there basically means something you designed is correct or wrong. Game cards and their drivers are not even tested for accuracy.

Finally it boils down to what kind of work one is doing and how serious he/she is about their projects.
 
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Its not a question of frame rates in benchmarks. Its a question of output accuracy which real CAD work demands. A pixel here or pixel there basically means something you designed is correct or wrong. Game cards and their drivers are not even tested for accuracy.

Finally it boils down to what kind of work one is doing and how serious he/she is about their projects.

That makes sense. I'll do some researching. I mostly deal with 3D models of plastic parts to be manufactured. I'll have to determine if quadro is suited for this task or if it is overkill. Thanks.
 
Its not a question of frame rates in benchmarks. Its a question of output accuracy which real CAD work demands. A pixel here or pixel there basically means something you designed is correct or wrong. Game cards and their drivers are not even tested for accuracy.

Finally it boils down to what kind of work one is doing and how serious he/she is about their projects.

From what I read, the lower accuracy output is not for pixels on screen but for complex calculations like financial or scientific projects related due to double precision floating point operations being supported by workstation cards.
 
From what I read, the lower accuracy output is not for pixels on screen but for complex calculations like financial or scientific projects related due to double precision floating point operations being supported by workstation cards.
Double precision is an entirely different matter and relevant only for OpenCL/CUDA and other general purpose computing applications. In fact if double precision is a concern, then the radeon 7970 derivatives are still the best buy and they pretty much destroy any nvidia card including the K6000 and Geforce Titan.

As for CAD, there are certain functionalities in OpenGL such as 2-Sided lighting, multiple clip planes, line antialiasing etc that are disabled in the geforce cards compared to quadros. These things are never used in games but are bread and butter for pro apps. If the application uses any of these features, the geforce will either be incredibly slow or produce inconsistent output. Also certain software like Solidworks refuse to even start without a quadro running a certified quadro driver since output quality will be compromised.
 
Double precision is an entirely different matter and relevant only for OpenCL/CUDA and other general purpose computing applications. In fact if double precision is a concern, then the radeon 7970 derivatives are still the best buy and they pretty much destroy any nvidia card including the K6000 and Geforce Titan.

As for CAD, there are certain functionalities in OpenGL such as 2-Sided lighting, multiple clip planes, line antialiasing etc that are disabled in the geforce cards compared to quadros. These things are never used in games but are bread and butter for pro apps. If the application uses any of these features, the geforce will either be incredibly slow or produce inconsistent output. Also certain software like Solidworks refuse to even start without a quadro running a certified quadro driver since output quality will be compromised.

Yeah I was reading about someone testing 2-sided lighting being 33 times slower on a geforce card because of the way it was calculated. I think this is all a gimmick to sell higher priced workstation cards when geforce cards could also be unlocked for the same thing.

At any rate OP, workstation cards are the way to go for future proofing.
 
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