Budget CAD Station II

[Mugenlude]

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP

Budget Range: would like to keep at $1,000, but if something critical is needed I would consider slightly more.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: AutoCAD 2018, Web Browsing, Word/Excel, Photoshop

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: We have NAS Storage so only harddrive space for programs is needed, not file storage.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: no preference

Location: Racine, WI, USA

Parts Preferences: i7 processors seems to be the recommendation for this type of budget build, SSD HD

Overclocking: Sure

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: pair of 1920x1080 w/ VGA and DVI connectivity

Additional Comments: 2D design for 95% of the time, lots of sheets with multiple viewports in each drawing.... having 5-6 drawings open at a time isn't uncommon

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: existing system is showing it's age (i5-2400 @ 3.1Ghz 4 core w/ 8MB)

I built the workstation below about a year ago for the same needs, it is working well. We need to build another, looking to see if there is something newer/more cost effective out that I should consider as some of the parts don't seem to be available anyways.

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME Z270-P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card
Case: Corsair - 200R ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit

Thanks!

 

[drinkingcola86]

I will be honest, I'm a teacher for Drafting. I used to run a Xeon which was equal to an i7-6700. At home I was running a R7 17000 and it was night and day better between them. I would usually be running AutoCAD, Solidworks, and Revit pending on the class period because the fact that I teach 3 different classes in 1 period. The difference between the two system was massive. I was able to have 3-4 drawings open with multiple viewports on each without skipping a beat.

The only thing you would need to change from the build would be adding the R7 1700 and a B350 or X370. The other reason I would look at this is because AMD is supporting this socket until 2020 and with that I7, that socket is already dead.

 

[Zerk2012]

AutoCAD is a single core based program single core performance is everything.
I would stick with the I7 or move up to the new 6 core processors and overclock it up to speed.

 

[Mugenlude]

AutoCAD is a single core based program single core performance is everything.
I would stick with the I7 or move up to the new 6 core processors and overclock it up to speed.

Someone had posted a building with a 6-core processor, but it seems to have been deleted.

 

[unclebun]

Have you read these articles?
https://www.scan2cad.com/tips/how-to-build-the-ultimate-cad-pc/
https://www.pugetsystems.com/recommended/Recommended-Systems-for-Autodesk-AutoCAD-134/Hardware-Recommendations

The i7-7700K is going to give you the highest clock speed. The place you could improve over the computer you built last year is a Quadro card instead of a gaming card for the gpu.

 

[Mugenlude]

Have you read these articles?
https://www.scan2cad.com/tips/how-to-build-the-ultimate-cad-pc/
https://www.pugetsystems.com/recommended/Recommended-Systems-for-Autodesk-AutoCAD-134/Hardware-Recommendations

The i7-7700K is going to give you the highest clock speed. The place you could improve over the computer you built last year is a Quadro card instead of a gaming card for the gpu.

I hadn't read them previously, but I have now, thanks for the that.

When I built the last one I went back and forth on the AutoCAD certifed graphics card (2MB) vs the non-approved GTX 1050 Ti (4MB). I heard stories from both sides, I'm thinking I might go with the Quadro this time just so I can compare.

 

[unclebun]

Have you read these articles?
https://www.scan2cad.com/tips/how-to-build-the-ultimate-cad-pc/
https://www.pugetsystems.com/recommended/Recommended-Systems-for-Autodesk-AutoCAD-134/Hardware-Recommendations

The i7-7700K is going to give you the highest clock speed. The place you could improve over the computer you built last year is a Quadro card instead of a gaming card for the gpu.

I hadn't read them previously, but I have now, thanks for the that.

When I built the last one I went back and forth on the AutoCAD certifed graphics card (2MB) vs the non-approved GTX 1050 Ti (4MB). I heard stories from both sides, I'm thinking I might go with the Quadro this time just so I can compare.

Particularly with gaming card prices going through the roof...

 

[Mugenlude]

How does this look?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($326.29 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME Z270-K ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($112.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($336.62 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PNY - Quadro P600 2GB Video Card ($165.99 @ Dell)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa H21 ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1273.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-01-29 11:36 EST-0500

 

[Mugenlude]

Here is what I ended up ordering....

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($326.29 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z270 Killer SLI/ac ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($130.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($167.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: PNY - Quadro P600 2GB Video Card ($179.00 @ Dell)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa H21 ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.12 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit ($137.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1395.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-02-03 13:30 EST-0500