Final check on this CAD/gaming build

[cs2302]

Hi

I've posted about this before but I changed a few things and just wanted to double check before I start buying anything. I'm going to uni to study aerospace engineering later this year and so I need a pc to run CAD, gaming and maybe some programming. I'll also be using an mAtx case to make taking it between home and uni a bit easier.

Budget: £1600 (can be stretched a little)

This is what I've got so far:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (£215.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! - Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£59.95 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370M GAMING PRO AC Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£140.67 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£165.59 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£194.50 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£109.66 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design - Define Mini C MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£66.74 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£74.99 @ CCL Computers)
Other: LG 23MP68VQ 23-Inch Class Full HD IPS LED Monitor (£133.83 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1161.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-13 21:14 GMT+0000

I bought a gtx 1070 for £480 which seemed like a decent price given that I heard graphics card prices won't drop for a long time. It's not too late to return this though if a better deal shows up.

Also I have a 3TB external hard drive (only 5400rpm) which I will also be using.

Any advice would be a massive help, thanks.

 

[Ilya__]

Hi

I've posted about this before but I changed a few things and just wanted to double check before I start buying anything. I'm going to uni to study aerospace engineering later this year and so I need a pc to run CAD, gaming and maybe some programming. I'll also be using an mAtx case to make taking it between home and uni a bit easier.

Budget: £1600 (can be stretched a little)

This is what I've got so far:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (£215.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! - Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£59.95 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370M GAMING PRO AC Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£140.67 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£165.59 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£194.50 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£109.66 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design - Define Mini C MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£66.74 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£74.99 @ CCL Computers)
Other: LG 23MP68VQ 23-Inch Class Full HD IPS LED Monitor (£133.83 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1161.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-13 21:14 GMT+0000

I bought a gtx 1070 for £480 which seemed like a decent price given that I heard graphics card prices won't drop for a long time. It's not too late to return this though if a better deal shows up.

Also I have a 3TB external hard drive (only 5400rpm) which I will also be using.

Any advice would be a massive help, thanks.

Let's just say, I wish I had your config when I went to uni for my studies.
I think that is a well rounded machine though. The only thing I personally would change is get the 960 Pro 256GB instead of the 500GB EVO, and get the 1TB MX500 instead for storage. Otherwise solid picks all around, nice job.

PS: Of course, if you can stretch the budget and just up the 960 EVO to PRO that would be pretty sweet.

 

[cs2302]

Hi

I've posted about this before but I changed a few things and just wanted to double check before I start buying anything. I'm going to uni to study aerospace engineering later this year and so I need a pc to run CAD, gaming and maybe some programming. I'll also be using an mAtx case to make taking it between home and uni a bit easier.

Budget: £1600 (can be stretched a little)

This is what I've got so far:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (£215.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! - Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£59.95 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370M GAMING PRO AC Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£140.67 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£165.59 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£194.50 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£109.66 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design - Define Mini C MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£66.74 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£74.99 @ CCL Computers)
Other: LG 23MP68VQ 23-Inch Class Full HD IPS LED Monitor (£133.83 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1161.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-13 21:14 GMT+0000

I bought a gtx 1070 for £480 which seemed like a decent price given that I heard graphics card prices won't drop for a long time. It's not too late to return this though if a better deal shows up.

Also I have a 3TB external hard drive (only 5400rpm) which I will also be using.

Any advice would be a massive help, thanks.

Let's just say, I wish I had your config when I went to uni for my studies.
I think that is a well rounded machine though. The only thing I personally would change is get the 960 Pro 256GB instead of the 500GB EVO, and get the 1TB MX500 instead for storage. Otherwise solid picks all around, nice job.

PS: Of course, if you can stretch the budget and just up the 960 EVO to PRO that would be pretty sweet.

Thanks Do you mean both the MX500 1Tb and the 500Gb 960 pro? ( I'm not sure I could stretch that far lol) Also I can't seem to find the 256Gb 960 pro

 

[Ilya__]

I think you are right there are no 256GB Pros Just get the https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-960-PRO-Internal-MZ-V6P512BW/dp/B01LXS4TYB/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1520977204&sr=1-1&keywords=960+Pro

and keep the 500GB Crucial for random storage.

 

[cs2302]

I think you are right there are no 256GB Pros Just get the https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-960-PRO-Internal-MZ-V6P512BW/dp/B01LXS4TYB/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1520977204&sr=1-1&keywords=960+Pro

and keep the 500GB Crucial for random storage.

Will do, thanks. What's the difference between the Pro and the Evo anyway?

 

[Ilya__]

I personally really like fast storage performance. There is around 15-20% difference between EVO and PRO:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/10833/the-samsung-960-evo-1tb-review/3

 

[cs2302]

I personally really like fast storage performance. There is around 15-20% difference between EVO and PRO:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/10833/the-samsung-960-evo-1tb-review/3

Ah ok, thanks for clearing that up

 

[electro_neanderthal]

You know, I've found more and more that gaming and workstation are two opposite ends of the spectrum. A middle of the road option like the 1070 is not guaranteed to satisfy for CAD (because the drivers aren't certified for CAD use and can be unstable). I'd almost wonder if two more inexpensive cards (1050 and p2000) would be your best bet?

Here's a video you might be interested in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-90qEJAVkU

Just to let you know, AMD has Fire Pro, which the video ignores for some reason.

Just an idea.

 

[cs2302]

You know, I've found more and more that gaming and workstation are two opposite ends of the spectrum. A middle of the road option like the 1070 is not guaranteed to satisfy for CAD (because the drivers aren't certified for CAD use and can be unstable). I'd almost wonder if two more inexpensive cards (1050 and p2000) would be your best bet?

Here's a video you might be interested in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-90qEJAVkU

Just to let you know, AMD has Fire Pro, which the video ignores for some reason.

Just an idea.

Really helpful video, thanks I've never really looked into SLI, but would it be possible to have both a workstation card and a gaming card, and disable one when I need the other (since solidworks will only use one card at a time)?

 

[electro_neanderthal]

You know, I've found more and more that gaming and workstation are two opposite ends of the spectrum. A middle of the road option like the 1070 is not guaranteed to satisfy for CAD (because the drivers aren't certified for CAD use and can be unstable). I'd almost wonder if two more inexpensive cards (1050 and p2000) would be your best bet?

Here's a video you might be interested in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-90qEJAVkU

Just to let you know, AMD has Fire Pro, which the video ignores for some reason.

Just an idea.

Really helpful video, thanks I've never really looked into SLI, but would it be possible to have both a workstation card and a gaming card, and disable one when I need the other (since solidworks will only use one card at a time)?

You can have two graphics cards, but you couldn't use SLI. Rather, I would have the display plugged into the gaming card and go into the CAD program options and force it to use the workstation card. But I haven't used a CAD in years, so I don't know if the ones you end up using can take advantage of that.

If you can't, I'd look into a switch that allows you to plug in two video sources and output to one. Then all you have to do is push a button or flip a switch if you want to use one card or another. Like this: https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186305&cm_re=hdmi_switch-_-12-186-305-_-Product

 

[cs2302]

You know, I've found more and more that gaming and workstation are two opposite ends of the spectrum. A middle of the road option like the 1070 is not guaranteed to satisfy for CAD (because the drivers aren't certified for CAD use and can be unstable). I'd almost wonder if two more inexpensive cards (1050 and p2000) would be your best bet?

Here's a video you might be interested in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-90qEJAVkU

Just to let you know, AMD has Fire Pro, which the video ignores for some reason.

Just an idea.

Really helpful video, thanks I've never really looked into SLI, but would it be possible to have both a workstation card and a gaming card, and disable one when I need the other (since solidworks will only use one card at a time)?

You can have two graphics cards, but you couldn't use SLI. Rather, I would have the display plugged into the gaming card and go into the CAD program options and force it to use the workstation card. But I haven't used a CAD in years, so I don't know if the ones you end up using can take advantage of that.

If you can't, I'd look into a switch that allows you to plug in two video sources and output to one. Then all you have to do is push a button or flip a switch if you want to use one card or another. Like this: https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186305&cm_re=hdmi_switch-_-12-186-305-_-Product

Ah ok, thanks the only problem would be my motherboard, I think the 2 Pcle x16 slots drop down to x8/x8 when both are in use. Would this make both cards much slower?

 

[electro_neanderthal]

You know, I've found more and more that gaming and workstation are two opposite ends of the spectrum. A middle of the road option like the 1070 is not guaranteed to satisfy for CAD (because the drivers aren't certified for CAD use and can be unstable). I'd almost wonder if two more inexpensive cards (1050 and p2000) would be your best bet?

Here's a video you might be interested in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-90qEJAVkU

Just to let you know, AMD has Fire Pro, which the video ignores for some reason.

Just an idea.

Really helpful video, thanks I've never really looked into SLI, but would it be possible to have both a workstation card and a gaming card, and disable one when I need the other (since solidworks will only use one card at a time)?

You can have two graphics cards, but you couldn't use SLI. Rather, I would have the display plugged into the gaming card and go into the CAD program options and force it to use the workstation card. But I haven't used a CAD in years, so I don't know if the ones you end up using can take advantage of that.

If you can't, I'd look into a switch that allows you to plug in two video sources and output to one. Then all you have to do is push a button or flip a switch if you want to use one card or another. Like this: https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186305&cm_re=hdmi_switch-_-12-186-305-_-Product

Ah ok, thanks the only problem would be my motherboard, I think the 2 Pcle x16 slots drop down to x8/x8 when both are in use. Would this make both cards much slower?

Shouldn't be a problem, according to the MSI page, the motherboard has 2, 3.0 x16 slots. Just to make sure I don't have the wrong page, my source is here: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z370M-GAMING-PRO-AC

So I don't think it will reduce to x8, as that usually happens when one of the two biggest slots is an x8 slot... which isn't the case with this motherboard.

 

[cs2302]

You know, I've found more and more that gaming and workstation are two opposite ends of the spectrum. A middle of the road option like the 1070 is not guaranteed to satisfy for CAD (because the drivers aren't certified for CAD use and can be unstable). I'd almost wonder if two more inexpensive cards (1050 and p2000) would be your best bet?

Here's a video you might be interested in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-90qEJAVkU

Just to let you know, AMD has Fire Pro, which the video ignores for some reason.

Just an idea.

Really helpful video, thanks I've never really looked into SLI, but would it be possible to have both a workstation card and a gaming card, and disable one when I need the other (since solidworks will only use one card at a time)?

You can have two graphics cards, but you couldn't use SLI. Rather, I would have the display plugged into the gaming card and go into the CAD program options and force it to use the workstation card. But I haven't used a CAD in years, so I don't know if the ones you end up using can take advantage of that.

If you can't, I'd look into a switch that allows you to plug in two video sources and output to one. Then all you have to do is push a button or flip a switch if you want to use one card or another. Like this: https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186305&cm_re=hdmi_switch-_-12-186-305-_-Product

Ah ok, thanks the only problem would be my motherboard, I think the 2 Pcle x16 slots drop down to x8/x8 when both are in use. Would this make both cards much slower?

Shouldn't be a problem, according to the MSI page, the motherboard has 2, 3.0 x16 slots. Just to make sure I don't have the wrong page, my source is here: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z370M-GAMING-PRO-AC

So I don't think it will reduce to x8, as that usually happens when one of the two biggest slots is an x8 slot... which isn't the case with this motherboard.

In the details section it says "SLOTS
2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (support x16/x0, x8/x8 modes)" so I think I'll only be able to use one x16 slot at a time? That's the case with all the other motherboards for this chipset in mAtx size as far as I know.

 

[electro_neanderthal]

You know, I've found more and more that gaming and workstation are two opposite ends of the spectrum. A middle of the road option like the 1070 is not guaranteed to satisfy for CAD (because the drivers aren't certified for CAD use and can be unstable). I'd almost wonder if two more inexpensive cards (1050 and p2000) would be your best bet?

Here's a video you might be interested in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-90qEJAVkU

Just to let you know, AMD has Fire Pro, which the video ignores for some reason.

Just an idea.

Really helpful video, thanks I've never really looked into SLI, but would it be possible to have both a workstation card and a gaming card, and disable one when I need the other (since solidworks will only use one card at a time)?

You can have two graphics cards, but you couldn't use SLI. Rather, I would have the display plugged into the gaming card and go into the CAD program options and force it to use the workstation card. But I haven't used a CAD in years, so I don't know if the ones you end up using can take advantage of that.

If you can't, I'd look into a switch that allows you to plug in two video sources and output to one. Then all you have to do is push a button or flip a switch if you want to use one card or another. Like this: https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186305&cm_re=hdmi_switch-_-12-186-305-_-Product

Ah ok, thanks the only problem would be my motherboard, I think the 2 Pcle x16 slots drop down to x8/x8 when both are in use. Would this make both cards much slower?

Shouldn't be a problem, according to the MSI page, the motherboard has 2, 3.0 x16 slots. Just to make sure I don't have the wrong page, my source is here: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z370M-GAMING-PRO-AC

So I don't think it will reduce to x8, as that usually happens when one of the two biggest slots is an x8 slot... which isn't the case with this motherboard.

In the details section it says "SLOTS
2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (support x16/x0, x8/x8 modes)" so I think I'll only be able to use one x16 slot at a time? That's the case with all the other motherboards for this chipset in mAtx size as far as I know.

Oh, I see... why on earth do they put it in a subdivided page? Oh well, I digress.

To answer the actual question, I know the 1050Ti uses about 3.0 x4 lanes. As for the P2000, I'm not sure.
What I do know, is that video cards are all capable of a significantly higher in-card data transfer than PCIe can actually transfer between the card and the rest of the computer.

Basically, I can't find information that would answer absolutely one way or another. But in gaming, a 1080 (with more than double the data transfer rate of the P2000), was affected -1% by cutting its lanes in half to x8.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2488-pci-e-3-x8-vs-x16-performance-impact-on-gpus

I can't give you an absolute answer, I apologize. But hopefully something here helped you out. I don't think x8 will affect anything noticeably, but I can't guarantee it.

 

[cs2302]

You know, I've found more and more that gaming and workstation are two opposite ends of the spectrum. A middle of the road option like the 1070 is not guaranteed to satisfy for CAD (because the drivers aren't certified for CAD use and can be unstable). I'd almost wonder if two more inexpensive cards (1050 and p2000) would be your best bet?

Here's a video you might be interested in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-90qEJAVkU

Just to let you know, AMD has Fire Pro, which the video ignores for some reason.

Just an idea.

Really helpful video, thanks I've never really looked into SLI, but would it be possible to have both a workstation card and a gaming card, and disable one when I need the other (since solidworks will only use one card at a time)?

You can have two graphics cards, but you couldn't use SLI. Rather, I would have the display plugged into the gaming card and go into the CAD program options and force it to use the workstation card. But I haven't used a CAD in years, so I don't know if the ones you end up using can take advantage of that.

If you can't, I'd look into a switch that allows you to plug in two video sources and output to one. Then all you have to do is push a button or flip a switch if you want to use one card or another. Like this: https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186305&cm_re=hdmi_switch-_-12-186-305-_-Product

Ah ok, thanks the only problem would be my motherboard, I think the 2 Pcle x16 slots drop down to x8/x8 when both are in use. Would this make both cards much slower?

Shouldn't be a problem, according to the MSI page, the motherboard has 2, 3.0 x16 slots. Just to make sure I don't have the wrong page, my source is here: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z370M-GAMING-PRO-AC

So I don't think it will reduce to x8, as that usually happens when one of the two biggest slots is an x8 slot... which isn't the case with this motherboard.

In the details section it says "SLOTS
2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (support x16/x0, x8/x8 modes)" so I think I'll only be able to use one x16 slot at a time? That's the case with all the other motherboards for this chipset in mAtx size as far as I know.

Oh, I see... why on earth do they put it in a subdivided page? Oh well, I digress.

To answer the actual question, I know the 1050Ti uses about 3.0 x4 lanes. As for the P2000, I'm not sure.
What I do know, is that video cards are all capable of a significantly higher in-card data transfer than PCIe can actually transfer between the card and the rest of the computer.

Basically, I can't find information that would answer absolutely one way or another. But in gaming, a 1080 (with more than double the data transfer rate of the P2000), was affected -1% by cutting its lanes in half to x8.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2488-pci-e-3-x8-vs-x16-performance-impact-on-gpus

I can't give you an absolute answer, I apologize. But hopefully something here helped you out. I don't think x8 will affect anything noticeably, but I can't guarantee it.

Oh well, thanks for all the advice anyway!