Need opinions with my DIY low budget CAD computer

[KyleL89]

Hi everyone,

I am planning to building a computer for CAD purpose. The software which I will employ, mainly include SolidWorks, COMSOL, AutoCAD and ANYSS.

In fact, this will be my first build. Thus, I need recommendations and corrections to my build as I am not entirely confident whether these components can work correctly together. My budget is around $1200.

Here's my proposed list of components for the PC:

CPU: Intel core i7-4790K 3.6GHz Quad-Core
Motherboad: GIGABYTE GA-B85M-D3H LGA 1150 Intel B85 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X (120mm PWM Fan )
Memory: CORSAIR VENGEANCE LPX 8GB DDR4 2666MHZ RAM 8GB DDR4
Storage: SSD ADATA SU800 128GB SATA3 + WD HDD Black 1TB 7200rmp
Graphic Card: Nvidia Quadro K620 2GB PCI-e Graphics Card
PSU: Corsair VS Series 550 Watt
Case: Thermaltake Versa H21

I look forward for your opinions and advice. Thanks alots!!

 

[KR2]

This build has a few issues with it but I will mention what they are.

There is one thing about this build that I am confused about, I don't know why you are getting a K cpu if you aren't planning on overclocking. A CPU like this I think is pointless if it's going to be used for CAD. Instead of the 4790k I would get either an i7 4790 or a new skylake CPU. What I am trying to say is that you don't need an overclockable CPU for CAD.

Secondly your RAM does NOT support the i7-4790k. The motherboard you have only supports DDR3 memory and you have DDR4. The CPU you have also only supports DDR3 so you would benefit from faster memory by getting a newer CPU such as an i7 6700 or any CPU which is Sky Lake or something newer than Sky Lake.

As I said before the motherboard doesn't support DDR4 so you would need to get DDR3 instead.

You do not need a CPU cooler for what you are going to use. Instead just use the stock cooler that comes with the CPU. If you are getting a Sky Lake or newer CPU then just go ahead and buy a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO although this CPU cooler is intended for slight overclocks you can still use it for your CPU.

I would recommend getting a 250GB SSD instead of a 120GB just because it will fill up quickly and on the 250GB SSD you can store your OS for very fast boot-up times and also store all of your main applications that you use day-to-day. Although it is a bit more I think you will benefit from this since everything will run faster and smoother.

I have made 2 builds for you, 1 Haswell which is the i7 4790k and one Sky Lake.

Haswell: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/9LhXZ8
Sky Lake: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GZs7d6

 

[sadams04]

Similar setup as KR2, but with the newer Kaby Lake CPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($297.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($71.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: SK hynix SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($82.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($134.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: DIYPC Solar-M1-R ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.97 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $821.64


For older hardware (which is perfectly fine), I would do something more like...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Jet)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($62.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: SK hynix SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($82.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($134.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: DIYPC Solar-M1-R ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.97 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $750.13

 

[KR2]

Similar setup as KR2, but with the newer Kaby Lake CPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($297.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($71.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: SK hynix SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($82.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($134.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: DIYPC Solar-M1-R ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.97 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $821.64


For older hardware (which is perfectly fine), I would do something more like...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Jet)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($62.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: SK hynix SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($82.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($134.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: DIYPC Solar-M1-R ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.97 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $750.13

You don't need a GTX 1050 Ti for CAD, you are better off with a quadro. Just saying.

 

[Dynomite54]

First off you will not want to be using any thing below a 80+ gold psu. Its not that hard to blow a power supply to cad and 3d work. Also for cad you dont want to use a quadro they have any performance increase in cad or 3d work. And if you plan on keeping this build for a while than I would use a k cpu for overclocking.

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/VKx9TW/intel-core-i7-7700k-42ghz-quad-core-processor-bx80677i77700k) | $337.49 @ SuperBiiz
**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/hmtCmG/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) | $29.99 @ Newegg
**Motherboard** | [MSI Z270-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/KvvZxr/msi-z270-a-pro-atx-lga1151-motherboard-z270-a-pro) | $114.99 @ B&H
**Memory** | [G.Skill Aegis 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2133 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/WJM323/gskill-memory-f42133c15d32gis) | $199.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/j28H99/seagate-barracuda-3tb-35-7200rpm-internal-hard-drive-st3000dm008) | $89.69 @ OutletPC
**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SSC GAMING Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/KqRFf7/evga-geforce-gtx-1060-3gb-ssc-gaming-video-card-06g-p4-6264-kr) | $256.99 @ Jet
**Case** | [Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/cTQypg/corsair-case-200r) | $55.98 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9q4NnQ/evga-power-supply-220g20650y1) | $89.49 @ SuperBiiz
| **Total** | **$1174.61**

 

[logainofhades]

You do not have to have a gold rated PSU. While that is a great unit you chose, efficiency doesn't equal quality. You will want a quadro, as Solidworks doesn't officially support Geforce cards.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V5 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($251.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock E3V5 WS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($110.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Elite Plus 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($102.97 @ Jet)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($92.84 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PNY Quadro M2000 4GB Video Card ($424.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: DIYPC Zondda-B ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($52.89 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($88.58 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1209.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-09 14:15 EST-0500

 

[Rogue Leader]

First off you will not want to be using any thing below a 80+ gold psu. Its not that hard to blow a power supply to cad and 3d work. Also for cad you dont want to use a quadro they have any performance increase in cad or 3d work. And if you plan on keeping this build for a while than I would use a k cpu for overclocking.

This is not true.

The specific software he is working with is accelerated for Quadro based cards. This type of acceleration DOES NOT WORK on GTX cards.

making some changes to your design you can get a really good Quadro card in there (Maxwell based and way better than the one you selected), a much better PSU, a CPU that is just as fast (no need to overclock for CAD work), all under your budget

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Jet)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($97.00 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PNY Quadro M2000 4GB Video Card ($424.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: DIYPC Solar-M1-R ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.97 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $1102.04
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-09 14:15 EST-0500

 

[g-unit1111]

First off you will not want to be using any thing below a 80+ gold psu. Its not that hard to blow a power supply to cad and 3d work. Also for cad you dont want to use a quadro they have any performance increase in cad or 3d work. And if you plan on keeping this build for a while than I would use a k cpu for overclocking.

This is completely not true. Just because a PSU is rated 80+ Gold, that does not mean that it is a quality unit. There have been some extremely terrible units rated 80+ Gold or better, and there's been some really solid units that only receive an 80+ Bronze rating. The build quality is more important than the efficiency rating.