Need advice and suggestions for a CAD/3D rendering Workstation Build.

[Neptune3000]

hey guys,

I'm building a CAD/3D rendering workstation for a friend, but I am not sure what components will be best suited for the(ie. are some video cards better than others for this type of work?)

BUDGET: 1,500-2000

COMPONENTS: Fully decked out PC w/ backup storage(EDIT), as well as a monitor.


I'm pretty sure dual core will be suggested, and he wants atleast 2GB of ram, but i have no experience with choosing parts for a PC that runs CAD or any 3D rendering programs.

 

[abhong]

was told that Asus K8N-DL was a very good choice for MB...
looking at that for myself...

Asus K8N-DL
AMD Dual Core Opteron 270 (cost $1K though!!!)
working on the rest...

 

[imported_Kensai]

With such a short budget for a workstation...

Antec Sonata II w/ 450W SmartPower @ 100$
AMD 64 4400+ @ 565$
eVGA 7800GTX w/ *FREE* SLI motherboard @ 549$
NEC ND-3540A OEM DVD Burner @ 45$
Seagate Barracude 7200.8 250GB @ 112$
Logitech x-530 5.1 Speakers @ 47$
2GB Corsair Value Select (2 X 1GB) DDR400 @ 211$

Subtotal = 1629$
Dell 2005FPW ~380$ After coupons

Grand Total = ~2009$

 

[Neptune3000]

SWEEEEEEEEET! thanks

 

[Neptune3000]

bump

 

[Neptune3000]

also, I am willing to get USED items where they can be substitued to allaocate more funds to higher performing features.

 

[Neptune3000]

bump

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: Kensai
With such a short budget for a workstation...

Antec Sonata II w/ 450W SmartPower @ 100$
AMD 64 4400+ @ 565$
eVGA 7800GTX w/ *FREE* SLI motherboard @ 549$
NEC ND-3540A OEM DVD Burner @ 45$
Seagate Barracude 7200.8 250GB @ 112$
Logitech x-530 5.1 Speakers @ 47$
2GB Corsair Value Select (2 X 1GB) DDR400 @ 211$

Subtotal = 1629$
Dell 2005FPW ~380$ After coupons

Grand Total = ~2009$

Highend gaming GPU for rendering? Not a good idea, get something like this instead it will PWN the 7800 at rendering

ATI FireGL V5100 $559

And get the X2 3800+ instead of the 4400+ and use the money you save to get a good NF4 motherboard, not that Jetway junk that comes free with the 7800.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Dude wtf, how do you get a free mobo when you buy a 7800GTX?! And yeah, I recommend a workstation card like a FireGL or Quadro for CAD and rendering stuff.

 

[dnuggett]

Like the others have said.. I'd shy away from the 7800GTX in this application.

 

[hellokeith]

Originally posted by: dnuggett
I'd shy away from the 7800GTX in this application..

and the AMD.

Workstation applications = Intel. Trust me.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

X2 > Pentium D

 

[Neptune3000]

bump

 

[Remedy]

Which application is it? 3DSM? Maya? Carrara? Different render applications can react differently per processor architecture. You may see articles where 1 processor is faster than the other like Maya or 3DSM. But, that one benchmark isn't enough to tell you the overall best processor for the application. Also, not sure of what he/she skill level is. It's hard to give a recommendation again. If he/she is just a novice, then building an X2 should be out of the question. A single core would be suffice. As the skill level increases, then he/she could venture off into a Dual core product and high end graphics card.

Until we know what application it is, It's hard to determine components to use. If this is Pro-level, then I'll throw my recommendation in;

Gigabyte K8NF-9 $88

512MB Elixir PC3200. (4 units,2GB) $43 each or $173.

SLK3000B $30

Vantec 460N Ion2 $63.50

BenQ DW1640 $43.95 For dual layer density imaging recovery.

3800+ $378

Samsung Spinpoint 80GB $59 for OS/Apps
200GB Maxtor $86 for scratch work.

Matrox P650 Dual DVI $220 dual DVI

BenQ FP931 19" LCD DVI *(2) for dual monitors. In CAD, Dual monitors are a saving grace over raw horsepower. $328 each or $660(2)

Windows XP Pro $119

McAfee 2005 VirsusScan

Acronis True Image 8 $37 for data backup.

Total, $1999. That's the best I can do for an efficent CAD station of 2K. I've built similar workstations for others, but not on an X2 since it's fairly new to the market. Mostly Xeon and Opteron stations.

GL & HF.