Need Help: Best Desktop Configuration for 3D Modelling and Rendering software

[ps11186]

I am industrial mechanical engineer. Most of the time I am on my desktop working on 3d product design, assembly and rendering . My computer has become old so its time to buy a new desktop with good processor, ram and gpu.

Most of the time following software's run on my system
3D Modelling : Solidworks, Creo, Autocad
Rendering : Keyshot, Solidworks
2D graphics: Coreldraw, Photoshop

Processor: i7 or Xeon - with best clock speed, cache and multicore
RAM : 4gb or 8gb . Suggest me if I need to put more ram
GPU: Nvidia / ATI - I need as much information on selecting gpu, I do not have any knowledge what type of gpu is required for 3d modeling and rendering.
Hard disk : SDD will be only for installing operating system and software's . 1TB HDD for data storage .

Tech experts on this forum I need your help to chose the best configuration for this and in the budget of $1200 .
I am not a fan of any brand (hp, dell, lenovo) . So you can suggest me any combination of hardware's which will cost me less by customize and assembling the CPU. I know dell has the option to customize the desktop but that should be in my budget.

Thanks
Praveen

 

[robertalrp]

Hi,

I do deal with heavy graphic programs too, I needed a powerful working station and after having been searching so long I purchased a very powerful assembled portable 17" working station, I selected the components and the Operative system myself and I spent 1600 euro in the early 2012 for the following configuration:

CPU Intel Core i7-3720QM 2.60 GHz (QC, 6MB, 45W, T3.60GHz)
RAM 8 GB DDR III 1.600MHz CL9 (2x4.096MB)
HARD DISK SSD 60 GB Intel 520 Series (I added a 500Gb internal hard disk for storage later)
DISPLAY 17,3" LED FullHD 1.920x1.080 NO-Glare
VGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M 2,0 GB GDDR5 dedicated

So then I guess that if you only need a powerful desktop (instead than a portable working station) you can even spend less than 1200 euro, I suggested you to consider an assembled one...

 

[ps11186]

Hi robertalrp,

Is that Nvidia GPU good for rendering realistic images ?

 

[robertalrp]

Me I use it for this kind of images, not realistic: http://. I do use photoshop with hundred of levels, never had a problem with that.

This Nvidia graphic card is an High-End Graphics Cards for GAMING, not for WORK. That does mean that for our puposes is less good than a NVIDIA Quadro ranked by the same approximate performance (such as the Nvidia Quadro M4000M, for example). But, the chip being equal, it did cost 1/3 or 1/4 than the Nvidia Quadro (or another graphic card specifically addressed to professionals).

When I purchased my graphic card it did cost 390 euro, while the M4000m costed 1000 euro: that implied that if I choosed the last one, I would have spent almost the totality of my budget for the graphic card only. The Quadro 5010 M did cost around 1900-200 euro...One alternative was purchasing a graphic card for work ranked by a lower performance, but I instead preferred a gaming card with the most powerful chip. Maybe performance are less good or a little bit less good than the equivalent cards for work, but I saved 1000/2000 euro...

Another example: I was also evaluating the Dell Precision with the Quadro installed but, by doing a comparison with the machine I finally bought, it was less powerful and with a less quality screen, but it costed 2000 euro more if I remember correctly...

This is my experience with the graphic cards for portable working station only (you should check either that is the case for desktop graphic cards too). Anyway you can have a better idea about by checking here if you are also interested:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html