[SOLVED] Budget solidworks machine...build, or just buy one of these?

[motoguy1]

Title sums it up. I'm looking for a budget-based Solidworks machine. My other PC's run Win7, and I'd prefer to stick with Win7 on this one as well, which may require downgrading from the supplied Win10. I've been looking at build lists, and also something like these refurbs:

" Processor: Intel Core 7th Generation i7-7700 Processor (Quad Core, up to 4.20 GHz, 8MB Cache, 65W)
Windows 10 Pro
256GB 2.5Inch SATA Class 30 Solid State Drive
16GB DDR4 Non-ECC UDIMM 2400MHz (4x4GB)
Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)
NVIDIA Quadro P1000 with 4GB GDDR5, 4 mDP,LP
Dell Precision T3420 Small Form Factor
$1173"

And:

"Intel Xeon W-2125 Processor (4 Core, 4.0GHz, 8.25MB Cache, 120W)
Windows 10 Pro for Workstations (up to 4 Cores)
1TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
256GB SATA 2.5inch Class 20 Solid State Drive
16GB (2x8GB) 2666MHz DDR4 RDIMM ECC
Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)
NVIDIA Quadro P1000, 4GB, 4 mDP
Dell Precision T5820
$1429"

I like the ECC on the bottom one. Like the 4.2ghz processor on the first. Both have the Quadro P1000, which I want. Form factor is irrelevant.

Given these options, and the DIY route, which would you do? If buying one of these, which one?

 

[motoguy1]

Or something like this, for $1750 (w/o monitor), IF it'll be a noticeably better performer. $1500 or less is really my target, though.

[PCPartPicker part list](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/FDpF9J) / [Price breakdown by merchant](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/FDpF9J/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/VKx9TW/intel-core-i7-7700k-42ghz-quad-core-processor-bx80677i77700k) | $349.99 @ Newegg
**CPU Cooler** | [CRYORIG - R1 Universal 76 CFM CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8TvRsY/cryorig-cpu-cooler-crr1b) | $93.89 @ OutletPC
**Motherboard** | [ASRock - Z270 Killer SLI/ac ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/jtH48d/asrock-z270-killer-sliac-atx-lga1151-motherboard-z270-killer-sliac) | $98.99 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [G.Skill - Trident Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/D2mxFT/gskill-memory-f43000c14d32gtz) | $329.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Intel - 600p Series 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/w34NnQ/intel-600p-series-512gb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-ssdpekkw512g7x1) | $173.99 @ SuperBiiz
**Storage** | [Toshiba - 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/M2JwrH/toshiba-internal-hard-drive-hdkpc08) | $79.00 @ Other World Computing
**Video Card** | [PNY - Quadro M2000 4 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/27RFf7/pny-quadro-m2000-4gb-video-card-vcqm2000-pb) | $427.99 @ Amazon
**Case** | [NZXT - H440 (Glossy White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/tgtWGX/nzxt-case-cah442ww1) | $128.00 @ Amazon
**Power Supply** | [EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/y88H99/evga-supernova-g3-650w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-220-g3-0650) | $79.89 @ OutletPC
**Monitor** | [Acer - G277HL bid 27.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/C238TW/acer-monitor-umhg7aa002) | $196.28 @ OutletPC
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1978.01
| Mail-in rebates | -$20.00
| **Total** | **$1958.01**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2019-01-09 13:23 EST-0500 |

 

[g-unit1111]

There's no reason to buy a now 2 generation old CPU when you can easily get something much better than that for not much more money. The only reason to buy a refurbished PC like that is if you don't want to service it yourself. But for the price you could definitely get much better than a quad core / 4GB workstation. ECC isn't really necessary for CAD. It might help but it's not a requirement. I've definitely been able to get high end CAD programs to run on lesser hardware. But if you wanted to build your own I would recommend something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-9700K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($399.89 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME Z390-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($171.87 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 250 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($77.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PNY - Quadro K4200 4 GB Video Card ($441.68 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair - 270R ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Corsair)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Monoprice)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($98.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1575.06
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-09 13:28 EST-0500

This is $100 more but you get an 8 core current gen CPU (as opposed to quad core) and you get a current gen Quaddro.

 

[motoguy1]

The P series are the most recent series, correct? K4200 released in 2014, P1000 released in 2017. I know the P1000 is midlevel, but I figure a midlevel new card will serve me better than a higher end, 2 gen old card.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Quadro

 

[g-unit1111]

The P series are the most recent series, correct? K4200 released in 2014, P1000 released in 2017. I know the P1000 is midlevel, but I figure a midlevel new card will serve me better than a higher end, 2 gen old card.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Quadro

Yes, agreed.

 

[motoguy1]

Solidworks doesn't necessarily utilize multi-cores. As such, raw speed is the most useful for it (when doing modeling, rendering may use the multi cores more). A Quadro is a requirement, and it needs at least 16Gb of ram (I'll likely end up going to 32). Those are really the 3 cornerstones on which I view a SW specific build.

I'd be happy to build, but I'd want (at least) a linear performance improvement relative to the pricing difference.

 

[logainofhades]

I would do something more like this.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($308.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - X470 Master SLI/AC ATX AM4 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA - XPG SX6000 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.50 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PNY - Quadro P2000 5 GB Video Card ($419.99 @ B&H)
Case: Rosewill - Stryker M ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($98.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1426.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-09 14:29 EST-0500

 

[motoguy1]

Curious what the above build is getting me, for the extra couple hundred $. 8 core vs 4, but SW doesn't utilize multi-core (for modeling, anyway, which is what I'll usually be doing). As such, it seems it may be a downgrade from 4.2 to 3.7GHz on raw processing speed, which is what SW uses. I won't be overclocking.

The P2000 would definitely be an upgrade, though I'm not sure it's one I'll appreciate/need. 2TB extra storage would be useful.

 

[g-unit1111]

Curious what the above build is getting me, for the extra couple hundred $. 8 core vs 4, but SW doesn't utilize multi-core (for modeling, anyway, which is what I'll usually be doing). As such, it seems it may be a downgrade from 4.2 to 3.7GHz on raw processing speed, which is what SW uses. I won't be overclocking.

The P2000 would definitely be an upgrade, though I'm not sure it's one I'll appreciate/need. 2TB extra storage would be useful.

I'm not too familiar with Solidworks but I do use every Autodesk product out there and I'm pretty sure that CAD software tends to favor Intel over AMD but I do run AutoCAD and Revit on my Ryzen 2600.