[SOLVED] Recommendation on a PC for SolidWorks

[ztwofour]

Hey all - It's been quite some time since I've been in the PC game. I used to build PCs probably 15 years ago, but haven't touched them since. My professional life has brought me into the Apple world, and a Macbook is all I know now.

My Dad runs a small business and is in dire need of a new computer. It's daily tasks revolve around using the CorelDraw suite. However, he would also like it to be able to run SolidWorks from time to time.

Budget is around $1500, preferably less. Knowing the cost of video cards, I have a feeling this might be tough to do. It's been so long since I've looked at PC parts, I don't know if you can still build them cheaper than buying pre-built. I'm open to buying something pre-built, but definitely am still up to the task of putting something together. I'd be super grateful if I could get some links to pre-builts that would be up to the task, or a build list of parts.

I should note that a monitor and OS does not need to be factored into the cost. I've already got access to both.

 

[Why_Me]

I know nothing of SolidWorks .... I'm just going off the system requirements in the two links below this. I do see that Windows 11 isn't supported as of yet so that leaves out Intel's new Alder Lake LGA1700 i7 cpu's.

https://www.solidworks.com/support/system-requirements

https://help.solidworks.com/2021/English/Installation/install_guide/c_viz_prereqs_system_reqs.htm

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TYR1P1G?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1
Phanteks Eclipse P400A $74.99

Exhaust fan for that case.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GJBD69S
ARCTIC P12 PWM 120mm 4-Pin Case Fan $9.58

https://www.newegg.com/super-flower-leadex-iii-bronze-sf-550r14he-550w/p/1HU-024C-00016
Super Flower Leadex III Bronze PRO 550W 80+ Bronze Modular Power Supply $39.99 - Save: $40.00 (50%)

This board is due to arrive on Feb. 9th (Newegg & Amazon).

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813144531
MSI PRO B660M-A DDR4 LGA 1700 $139.99

or ...

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-B660-PLUS-D4-Motherboard-Thunderbolt/dp/B09NWDQ1TH
ASUS PRIME B660-PLUS D4 $139.99

https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i5-12400f-core-i5-12th-gen/p/N82E16819118360
Intel Core i5-12400F $199.99

https://www.amazon.com/DEEPCOOL-GAMMAXX-GTE-V2-LGA1151/dp/B082CZW3RK
DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX GTE V2 CPU Cooler $30.99

https://global.deepcool.com/company/pressroom/newsrelease/2021/14926.shtml?id=PressRoom
DEEPCOOL LGA-1700 Mounting Kit $0.00

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-PC4-25600-Desktop-Memory/dp/B07RW6Z692/
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 32GB (2x16GB) CL16 $124.99

Amazon.com: PNY CS2130 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Gen3 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD), Read up to 3,500 - M280CS2130-1TB-RB: Computers & Accessories

Amazon.com: PNY CS2130 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Gen3 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD), Read up to 3,500 - M280CS2130-1TB-RB: Computers & Accessories

www.amazon.com

PNY CS2130 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Gen3 x4 Internal SSD $104.99

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-12G-P5-3657-KR-Dual-Fan-Backplate/dp/B08WM28PVH/
EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 XC Gaming 12GB Graphics Card $779.99

Total: $1506

https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=12G-P5-3657-KR

https://phanteks.com/Eclipse-P400A.html

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-B660M-A-DDR4

PRIME B660-PLUS D4｜Motherboards｜ASUS Global

Intel® B660 (LGA 1700) ATX motherboard with 8 power stages, PCIe 4.0 slots, three M.2 slots, Realtek 2.5Gb Ethernet, DisplayPort, HDMI®, D-Sub, rear USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C®, front USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C®, Aura Sync

www.asus.com

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...2400f-processor-18m-cache-up-to-4-40-ghz.html

Reviews of that cpu with benchmarks.

https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/core-i5-12400-processor-review,1.html

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/intel-core-i5-12400f/

 

[ztwofour]

Thanks @Why_Me for putting that together. I'm curious if there is a cheaper alternative to a graphics card or even a motherboard with built-in graphics that could get me by for the time being? SolidWorks is a future want. If I could get away with something much cheaper for now and upgrade to a better card down the road when hopefully prices come back down, that would be ideal.

 

[Why_Me]

Thanks @Why_Me for putting that together. I'm curious if there is a cheaper alternative to a graphics card or even a motherboard with built-in graphics that could get me by for the time being? SolidWorks is a future want. If I could get away with something much cheaper for now and upgrade to a better card down the road when hopefully prices come back down, that would be ideal.

The i5 12500 has decent integrated graphics.

 

[ztwofour]

The i5 12500 has decent integrated graphics.

Forgive my ignorance, but how does that work? Do I need to get a compatible motherboard that has video ports?

 

[Why_Me]

Forgive my ignorance, but how does that work? Do I need to get a compatible motherboard that has video ports?

Just use either of those boards I posted, no graphics card needed. You can always add one later on if you feel the need.

 

[helper800]

I do see that Windows 11 isn't supported as of yet so that leaves out Intel's new Alder Lake LGA1700 i7 cpu's.

Alder lake runs just as well on Win10.

 

[ztwofour]

Thanks @Why_Me , you've been a great help!

 

[ztwofour]

Alder lake runs just as well on Win10.

Is there any advantage to moving to an i7 for my use-case? It is my understanding that SolidWorks and other CAD programs only use a maximum of 1 or 2 cores.

 

[helper800]

Is there any advantage to moving to an i7 for my use-case? It is my understanding that SolidWorks and other CAD programs only use a maximum of 1 or 2 cores.

I have no idea, I was just correcting the assertion that Alder Lake CPUs did not work or do not run well on Windows 10.

 

[Why_Me]

Alder lake runs just as well on Win10.

The cpu's with the big/ little cores benefit from Windows 11 scheduler.

 

[helper800]

The cpu's with the big/ little cores benefit from Windows 11 scheduler.

Windows 11 benefits Alderlake with energy efficient scheduling. Many benchmarks show a performance regression at margin of error (2%) for win11 vs win10.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/windows-11-vs-windows-10-tested-will-the-os-upgrade-speed-up-your-current

Windows 10 vs. Windows 11 Performance Test

Today we're talking our first real look at Windows 11 performance to see how much difference there is when compared to Windows 10, but also to establish...

www.techspot.com

 

[logainofhades]

Is there any advantage to moving to an i7 for my use-case? It is my understanding that SolidWorks and other CAD programs only use a maximum of 1 or 2 cores.

I do not believe that to be the case., for Solidworks. Autocad I believe is 1-2, though. I have been involved with some of our engineering group, where I work, regarding Solidworks hardware. For $1500, you might want to consider a laptop, with decent graphics. Looking at the benchmarks page, for SW, a 6 core i7 with a 1660ti did quite well. Far better than the virtual machine they were trying to use. You are going to want that vram. They have new laptops, they are testing, that sadly only have 4gb ram, and one mentioned today some visual issues, eating up their 4gb. They did not have this issue, when borrowing one of my department's desktops with a Quadro P2200 5gb, with an i7 10700. 6gb is apparently the recommended according to our SW rep.