Looking for help to build a CAD pc

[noah.rapazzo]

Hey guys,
I'm starting college this fall as a Mechanical Engineering major. My school has recommended that students get 16GB of RAM but they prefer 32GB. I want something with a good graphics card and decent solid state storage. Along with those details I would like the total cost of the desktop to be no more than $2000.

 

[zyh1987]

laptop or desktop? sounds like you want a desktop, but as a student, specifically engs students, you won'y be staying at residents all the time. you will likely spent most of your time on campus.

i would suggest you look at the sales for laptop. In August, back to school sale is usually the biggest one of the year.

 

[noah.rapazzo]

zyh1987,
I have a surface book right now.. It only has 8GB of Ram and not a very powerful graphics card, so I cant use that for CAD but I was going to use it for other classes aside from Engineering based. So I want something that I could use in my dorm.

 

[zyh1987]

in that case.
intel builds:

PCPartPicker part list: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/qmy4NQ
Price breakdown by merchant: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/qmy4NQ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($389.99 @ Mike's Computer Shop)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($44.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock - B360M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($90.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($424.00 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU650 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.99 @ PC-Canada)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Video Card ($619.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: Deepcool - TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($114.75 @ Vuugo)
Total: $1942.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-03 11:02 EDT-0400

 

[zyh1987]

ryzen if you like amd:
PCPartPicker part list: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/GfYgP3
Price breakdown by merchant: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/GfYgP3/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7GHz 8-Core Processor ($419.75 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: MSI - X470 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard ($166.99 @ PC-Canada)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($424.00 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU650 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.99 @ PC-Canada)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Video Card ($619.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: Deepcool - TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($114.75 @ Vuugo)
Total: $2004.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-03 11:01 EDT-0400

 

[justin.m.beauvais]

For the love of all that is silicon, don't get a consumer grade NVidia card for a CAD machine. Get an AMD GPU, or even better, ANY modern Quadro card.

Something about the consumer grade drivers absolutely TANKS performance in CAD and rendering. Get something like a Quadro P1000 or P2000, and if you want gaming performance as well as CAD chops, get an RX 580 or Vega 56. Quadros can game... but their drivers aren't specifically meant for that so you could run into issues in random instances. Otherwise, zyh1987's build is very solid.

 

[justin.m.beauvais]

If you'd like a little more information check out Linus's video on the subject here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-90qEJAVkU

Hopefully that can point you in the right direction. They really did their research on it.

 

[PdxPetmonster]

You don't want a gaming card for that machine. The rest of the machine can be whatever you want, but you're going to want either an nVidia Quaddro, or a Radeon FirePro.