PC build - what do i need?
Discussion
i would like to build a compact CAD station for home use. i will be running autodesk inventor 2011 and do not need top end visuals but would like a smooth interface and the ability to work with large assemblies with minimal loss of performance.
i have never built a pc before. i can't imagine it being that difficult but this means i have no idea what components i need. any builders here care to give me a basic list of everything required?
also i could use a recommendation for a compact case, i dont want or need a tower. i run a mac mini as my main computer using a 46" LED tv as a monitor in the living room. i'll be using the same display so it helps if the case doesn't look too out of place on the tv stand.
also, i have a 3D connexion space pilot which i would like to use but it is wired. i want a wireless keyboard and mouse so how would i go about making this wireless as well?
lastly, how much should i expect to pay for all this?
cheers.
i have never built a pc before. i can't imagine it being that difficult but this means i have no idea what components i need. any builders here care to give me a basic list of everything required?
also i could use a recommendation for a compact case, i dont want or need a tower. i run a mac mini as my main computer using a 46" LED tv as a monitor in the living room. i'll be using the same display so it helps if the case doesn't look too out of place on the tv stand.
also, i have a 3D connexion space pilot which i would like to use but it is wired. i want a wireless keyboard and mouse so how would i go about making this wireless as well?
lastly, how much should i expect to pay for all this?
cheers.
For CAD (rather than rendering) high single-core performance is order of the day. This means Intel i-series, with the i5 probably being the best option. If you want it to look fairly discrete on a TV stand a mini-ITX form factor is probably best suited. Here's an example of a mini-ITX HTPC on a TV stand:
A basic spec (I'll flesh out details later) for a relatively decent mini CAD machine would be:
> Intel i5 processor. Clock speed is quite important so a multiplier-unlocked one might be worthwhile.
> Small (120mm) all-in-one liquid cooler- they're much quieter than air cooling and work better in smaller form factors.
> Lots of RAM- minimum 8GB though clock speeds and timing won't be so important.
> Fairly decent GPU; this is where things get a bit difficult. In terms of performance per pound, gaming GPUs outgun dedicated workstation ones by a significant margin. However stuff like the NVidia Quadro series have higher floating-point performance and the like which is more relevant to CAD- but costs are much higher. If the sole workload for this PC is going to be CAD, you'd probably be better suited with a Quadro card.
> Quiet, efficient ~500w PSU
> Solid-State hard drive of a decent size.
> Any additional peripheral components like DVD drives etc.
What kind of budget are you looking at? I'll give you a part break-down if you can specify a rough budget.
A basic spec (I'll flesh out details later) for a relatively decent mini CAD machine would be:
> Intel i5 processor. Clock speed is quite important so a multiplier-unlocked one might be worthwhile.
> Small (120mm) all-in-one liquid cooler- they're much quieter than air cooling and work better in smaller form factors.
> Lots of RAM- minimum 8GB though clock speeds and timing won't be so important.
> Fairly decent GPU; this is where things get a bit difficult. In terms of performance per pound, gaming GPUs outgun dedicated workstation ones by a significant margin. However stuff like the NVidia Quadro series have higher floating-point performance and the like which is more relevant to CAD- but costs are much higher. If the sole workload for this PC is going to be CAD, you'd probably be better suited with a Quadro card.
> Quiet, efficient ~500w PSU
> Solid-State hard drive of a decent size.
> Any additional peripheral components like DVD drives etc.
What kind of budget are you looking at? I'll give you a part break-down if you can specify a rough budget.
Assuming you meant me, that's a Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny M73. You can spec them pretty high.
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops/thinkcentre/...
Sign up for their emails and you'll get a discount code.
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops/thinkcentre/...
Sign up for their emails and you'll get a discount code.
You can get a wireless space ball (the portable one at least) for about £100 if you know a friendly student.
8Gb of RAM, mid range CPU and a mid range video card will be fine. Don't forget a reasonable size power supply.
I'd do a 128Gb SSD and a 1Tb HDD to cover use as a HTPC too.
Win 7 as OS
8Gb of RAM, mid range CPU and a mid range video card will be fine. Don't forget a reasonable size power supply.
I'd do a 128Gb SSD and a 1Tb HDD to cover use as a HTPC too.
Win 7 as OS
I built my own HTPC a couple of years ago. It really is quite easy, as mentioned in the posts above.
I went with a mini ITX mother board to keep the form factor small. A couple of things I found useful
1. I bought the design of case I wanted. The PSU fan was noisy and disruptive so I eventually bought a quiet PSU (no fan and 160W) to power everything (two SSDs, Blu-ray drive, motherboard, cpu fan etc). It now runs silently. Many small factor cases do not fit std power supplies - so this is worth checking. A more powerful graphics card will probably necessitate more than 160W - from memory my setup is a max of 90W.
2. I was worried about the compatibility of memory, CPU, motherboard etc. I used www.awd-it.co.uk who did a motherboard bundle. At the time this was also cheaper than buying from other suppliers. The gigabyte motherboard seemed quite good with wifi, Bluetooth, widi, sound, video all on board. plenty of USB ports and two HDMI out and VGA.
3. Wireless keyboard and mouse - The keysonic keyboard I have is good (built in trackpad for use on the sofa) and just uses a USB adapter.
4. You may need to check the height of the case you buy so that you can fit a graphics card in too.
HTH
Mike
I went with a mini ITX mother board to keep the form factor small. A couple of things I found useful
1. I bought the design of case I wanted. The PSU fan was noisy and disruptive so I eventually bought a quiet PSU (no fan and 160W) to power everything (two SSDs, Blu-ray drive, motherboard, cpu fan etc). It now runs silently. Many small factor cases do not fit std power supplies - so this is worth checking. A more powerful graphics card will probably necessitate more than 160W - from memory my setup is a max of 90W.
2. I was worried about the compatibility of memory, CPU, motherboard etc. I used www.awd-it.co.uk who did a motherboard bundle. At the time this was also cheaper than buying from other suppliers. The gigabyte motherboard seemed quite good with wifi, Bluetooth, widi, sound, video all on board. plenty of USB ports and two HDMI out and VGA.
3. Wireless keyboard and mouse - The keysonic keyboard I have is good (built in trackpad for use on the sofa) and just uses a USB adapter.
4. You may need to check the height of the case you buy so that you can fit a graphics card in too.
HTH
Mike
Edited by mike9009 on Tuesday 25th November 19:51
grumbledoak said:
Assuming you meant me, that's a Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny M73. You can spec them pretty high.
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops/thinkcentre/...
Sign up for their emails and you'll get a discount code.
Great stuff, thank you.http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops/thinkcentre/...
Sign up for their emails and you'll get a discount code.
Quick and dirty build:
Intel Core i5 4690K http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-i5-4690K-Processor-G...
Corsaisr Hydro H55 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Series-All-In-One-...
Asus H81I Plus http://www.amazon.co.uk/H81I-PLUS-Motherboard-Sock...
Crucial Ballistix 2x8GB http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-BLS2CP8G3D1609DS1S...
Corsair CX430 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Builder-Series-Bro...
PNY NVidia Quadro K620 http://www.amazon.co.uk/PNY-NVIDIA-Quadro-Professi...
Samsung 840 Evo 480GB SSD http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-500GB-2-5-inch-Bas...
Aerocool Dead Silence http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aerocool-Silence-Gaming-0-...
Samsung Sata DVD Rewriter http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-24x-SATA-DVD-Write...
£800 pretty much on the dot for an overclockable i5 mini-ITX build with 16GB RAM, a half-TB SSD, Quadro graphics and AIO water cooling.
Intel Core i5 4690K http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-i5-4690K-Processor-G...
Corsaisr Hydro H55 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Series-All-In-One-...
Asus H81I Plus http://www.amazon.co.uk/H81I-PLUS-Motherboard-Sock...
Crucial Ballistix 2x8GB http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-BLS2CP8G3D1609DS1S...
Corsair CX430 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Builder-Series-Bro...
PNY NVidia Quadro K620 http://www.amazon.co.uk/PNY-NVIDIA-Quadro-Professi...
Samsung 840 Evo 480GB SSD http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-500GB-2-5-inch-Bas...
Aerocool Dead Silence http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aerocool-Silence-Gaming-0-...
Samsung Sata DVD Rewriter http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-24x-SATA-DVD-Write...
£800 pretty much on the dot for an overclockable i5 mini-ITX build with 16GB RAM, a half-TB SSD, Quadro graphics and AIO water cooling.
Edited by ManOpener on Tuesday 25th November 23:31
So what does the Quadro have that a decent Geforce doesn't? For CAD users any way?
Bar certified drivers and all that jazz, which in my experience in the past with Autodesk 3D stuff meant just different crashes and incompatibilities to the same type you get with non-certified
Also it was slower in 90% of 3D viewing tasks than my GeForce card at home, despite costing £1250 vs £200 at the time.
OK I know the floating point precision is a lot higher, but what does that actually get you given it's all view-port related rendering any way? Pixels are only so big and I'm sat here with 20k pixel satellite images and 10GB point cloud data on a GeForce card, and ten million polygons of high definition surfaces and wireframes, and it all looks perfectly fine vs when I've done the same on a workstation with Quadro.
My 2p, that Zotac GTX 970 is a small ITX sized card, relatively low power, and will munch through plenty of 2d and 3d type jobs assuming the 3d app supports OGL or D3d.
Dave
Bar certified drivers and all that jazz, which in my experience in the past with Autodesk 3D stuff meant just different crashes and incompatibilities to the same type you get with non-certified
Also it was slower in 90% of 3D viewing tasks than my GeForce card at home, despite costing £1250 vs £200 at the time.
OK I know the floating point precision is a lot higher, but what does that actually get you given it's all view-port related rendering any way? Pixels are only so big and I'm sat here with 20k pixel satellite images and 10GB point cloud data on a GeForce card, and ten million polygons of high definition surfaces and wireframes, and it all looks perfectly fine vs when I've done the same on a workstation with Quadro.
My 2p, that Zotac GTX 970 is a small ITX sized card, relatively low power, and will munch through plenty of 2d and 3d type jobs assuming the 3d app supports OGL or D3d.
Dave
If anyone has a standard spec Nvidia card and doesn't mind voiding the warranty, then there's a huge long thread here about how to mod standard cards into their pro counterparts:
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/hacking-nvidia-c...
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/hacking-nvidia-c...
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