Upgrading a Dell optiplex 7010 SFF with a GPU for CAD use.

[3556336]

Hey guys,

I want to build a budget desktop PC, that'll be used primarily for CAD. I want it to run AutoCAD smoothly, that's really the only requirement.

I found a nice price on an optiplex 7010 sff, however the PSU is only 240W. I want to add a GPU to it.

I've looked at the GeForce GTX 1050 (65W usage) and the GT 1030 (30W usage)

My concern with the 1050 is that it might not get enough power from the PSU.

My concern with the 1030 is that it won't be powerful enough for CAD usage. I've looked around but didn't find much info on this card being used on an optiplex or for CAD.

What are your thoughts on this? I don't believe i can upgrade the PSU on the SFF model since the PSU is proprietary IIRC.

 

[bambiboom]

3556336,

AutoCad 2D is not tremendously demanding, but it's important to have a good 3D and rendering potential.

Consider the advantages of upgrading a used workstation that was designed for CAD as they are made to run reliably for very long periods, are quieter, and usually accommodate two fairly powerful GPU's. How about:

Dell Precision T3500 Xeon @ 2.53GHz 4GB RAM 500GB HDD 61468AL > Sold for $49.95 + $30, shipping

That has a 525W power supply and supports two 150W GPU's up to 10" long. Keep in mind that a SFF case will be very limited in the GPU size.

The T3500 also supports up to 6-core CPU's such as the W3690 6C@ 3,47/3.73GHz - about $100. There are many good 4-cores and the Xeon X5687 is 3.6 /3.86GHz. I have a T3500 with a Xeon X5677 4-core @ 3.47 /3.73GHz -$35 now.

The T3500 uses DDR3-1333 ECC and is PCIe 2, SATAII, and USB.2.0, but you can add a 6GB/s RAID controller- PERC H310 and a USB 3.0 PCIe card.

If your budget is a bit bigger, you might do something along the lines of my current WS project: my 3rd Hewlett Packard z420. These use up to 10-core Xeon E5's, DDR3-1866, and are PCIe 3, SATAIII, and USB 3. The standard power supply is 600W. I bought one last week for $137 with a Xeon E5-1603 and 4GB of DDR3-1866. That's non-hyperthreading and non-turbo 4-core @ 2.8GHz- the slowest Xeon E5 ever made! However, for $80-90, I can buy a Xeon E5-1620 V2 which is a hyperthreading 4-core @ 3.7/ 3.9GHz. I've already bought and installed a GTX 660 Ti - $55 and the Passmark 3D score went from 60 to 4,783. On Thursday, I'll receive a Xeon E5-1607 v2 and that is a non-hyperthreading 4-core @ 3.0GHz. That sounds like another very slow Xeon- and it is, but the memory bandwidth is 56.1GB/s to the E5-1603's 34.2 and it supports 1866 speed to the 1603's 1600. The E5-1603 hasa Passmark single thread score of 1416 whereas the E5-1607 v2 scores 1611. I don't think there is any CPU that would fit the Optiplex with a single -thread as high as 1416. I'm also getting 3X 4GB DDR3-1866 to use with the original 4GB so I'll have a 16GB system. the 500GB drive included in that system is a lower end SATAIII Western Digital Blue, but I have a a couple of Seagate Constellation ES.3's around to use.

Sorry for all the detail, but my idea is to demonstrate that with some research and vigilant shopping you can make a system with a lot of potential for not a lot of money. Start with a system with the basic target CPU and build on it as you can afford it and need the performance. My idea with z420_3 is that for now it'll be my television engine and later- seven /nine months?, I'll buy a Xeon E5-2680 v2- a 10- Core @ 2.8 / 3.6GHz (new $1,723, now about $220) and this system can run CPU and/or GPU renderings when my main system (HP z620 / E5-1680 V2 / 64GB /Quadro P2000 ) is otherwise occupied. I'm in no hurry however.

1. Are you doing any 3D ?

2. Rendering ?

2. What is your budget?

BambiBoom