PC Build for Intensive Work

[NinjaofSEA]

Hi,

I am an Electrical Design Engineer by career. I wanted to build a PC beast mostly for Number Crunching and EDA programs (Cadence, ANSYS) and throw in gaming for fun.

Budget: ~ $2000

I plan to start with this build and then add additional memory, video cards as need be.

My rationalization at this stage for choosing certain parts is the option to upgrade without making major changes to the build (Like slap on another component and viola! more performance.)

Although not necessary but if the build supports use of components going to be released in the future like the Broadwell line and DDR4 memory that will be epic.

Keeping my need in mind and with the limited information I have, I have chosen the parts as following. I might be misinformed or simply wrong but please forgive me if I am.

CPU - Maximum # of Cores and Speed w/ Hyperthreading (optional) for handling parallel tasks.

I believe I can use Hyperthreading feature only if the software supports it. Otherwise for all intents and purposes I assume that the CPU should be identical in performance to a processor with no Hyperthreading.

I want to cut the time of simulations by half if possible. For those of you that have used ANSYS HFSS - imagine completing a simulation that takes a week in 3 or 4 days.

Motherboard - 2+ way SLI if I want to add more graphic cards, great audio features is a plus as I listen and compose music quite a bit.

Memory - Don’t know if going with faster memory speeds or lower latency meets my need. Also I believe there will be a tradeoff in this domain if I choose number crunching over gaming or vice versa.

Video Card - No idea. Please suggest one that works for both number crunching and gaming

Case - Air Flow or Water cooled? I want the case to be cold as the Arctic if I can manage it. Also have dust filtering as an option and quiet as a shadow.


Here is my proposed build:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.94 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Redline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($167.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 6GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($595.91 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1923.78

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance.

 

[Maletone]

Well then! Let's see what I can cook up for you my friend!

Here Is what I would propose for what you are doing:

CPU: Same as your proposed, I have it, excellent processor!
CPU Cooler: Same as proposed
MotherBoard: GIGABYTE Z97 LGA 1150 Black edition, a very sturdy very good motherboard I think it is 190$
Memory: 16GB is more than enough, keep as is
Storage Keep the same
Storage: keep the same
Video Card: I would go with the EVGA twin 780, I would go with EVGA because they have the best warranty out there.
Power Supply: Keep it, sturdy supply, great quality.
Monitor: I'm not great with monitors but 23.6 is an odd number...find 24 if possible..

Hope I helped!

 

[Maletone]

Also i forgot, if possible spend the 300 extra dollars and go for a single 780ti, better card, it's a beast! (I have the titan black :3)

 

[onichikun]

Hi,

I am an Electrical Design Engineer by career. I wanted to build a PC beast mostly for Number Crunching and EDA programs (Cadence, ANSYS) and throw in gaming for fun.

Budget: ~ $2000

I plan to start with this build and then add additional memory, video cards as need be.

My rationalization at this stage for choosing certain parts is the option to upgrade without making major changes to the build (Like slap on another component and viola! more performance.)

Although not necessary but if the build supports use of components going to be released in the future like the Broadwell line and DDR4 memory that will be epic.

Keeping my need in mind and with the limited information I have, I have chosen the parts as following. I might be misinformed or simply wrong but please forgive me if I am.

CPU - Maximum # of Cores and Speed w/ Hyperthreading (optional) for handling parallel tasks.

I believe I can use Hyperthreading feature only if the software supports it. Otherwise for all intents and purposes I assume that the CPU should be identical in performance to a processor with no Hyperthreading.

I want to cut the time of simulations by half if possible. For those of you that have used ANSYS HFSS - imagine completing a simulation that takes a week in 3 or 4 days.

Motherboard - 2+ way SLI if I want to add more graphic cards, great audio features is a plus as I listen and compose music quite a bit.

Memory - Don’t know if going with faster memory speeds or lower latency meets my need. Also I believe there will be a tradeoff in this domain if I choose number crunching over gaming or vice versa.

Video Card - No idea. Please suggest one that works for both number crunching and gaming

Case - Air Flow or Water cooled? I want the case to be cold as the Arctic if I can manage it. Also have dust filtering as an option and quiet as a shadow.


Here is my proposed build:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.94 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Redline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($167.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 6GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($595.91 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1923.78

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance.

I do quite a bit of EDA myself, and I can never have enough monitor space. Infact, my productivity goes up by adding another monitor to my workspace. I am not sure of your design flow, but personally I would go for ATLEAST three monitors. Not for gaming; for work.

If you are using cadence, it is so sexy to have your diagrams, layouts, parts, net lists, as well as any design references you need (e.g., specs from a customer) all on your screen at the same time.

My recommendation: Go for nothing less than three monitors.

 

[casper1973]

As you are going for 16GB of RAM I will point out that Windows 7 Home Premium is limited to a maximum of 16GB RAM. I would recommend going Windows 8.1 which is capped at 128GB. If you must have 7, go for the Professional version.

I know 16GB may sound like a lot but ANSYS just eats RAM and performance is crippled if your working data size exceeds available RAM. Plus you want to leave yourself that upgrade option for the future.


Also, since you mentioned DDR-4 -- No desktop orientated hardware currently supports it. In fact I'm not even sure you can buy it from commercial stores. I certainly haven't seen any.

Haswell-e and the x99 chipset is supposedly being released in September which will be the first to support DDR-4. However it will likely take you over budget unless you sacrificed on the GPU.

 

[NinjaofSEA]

Guys thank you for your suggestions. Hope to get more opinions from people. I was wondering if any one has a idea regarding the case.

 

[NinjaofSEA]

Thanks guys for all your suggestions. Please take a look at my final build. I have been tinkering around with this assembly for about 3 months now. I really appreciate all the feedback.

Link: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2284075/memory-psu-suggestions-build.html