System Build Workstation Help $,2000+-

[kayodot]

I am looking for some insight on a workstation build. I am looking to build a system required by the university I attend for Industrial Design Studio. The university has this machine suggested for purchase Dell T5810 Precision Workstation http://imgur.com/ecZlnHD

I have chosen not to go this route, mainly for flexibility purposes and cost, and by cost I mean cost relative to my personal use. If I am to dish out this amount of money on a computer, that isn't even for professional use, it may as well serve personal use and be customized to me. Now I don't have extensive experience on Xeon and Quadro platforms, only from working on similar Lenovo workstations at the university. As for what I am working on software wise, it is Solidworks, Rhino 3D, 3Ds Studio Max, Adobe Indesign and Illustrator.

I think my goal will be to build on a Quadro compatible board, whether I have a Xeon or not, but go with a consumer card instead because I am not convinced I will be encountering such complex enough models to warrant the cost of the Quadro, so I was considering a Titan X instead. If the need for the Quadro is met, I can always purchase one later and still have a consumer card for home use such as gaming. Another big setback I found is the lack of SSD options on this workstation, as well as the unnecessary ECC RAM.

I appreciate any input on this, if anyone has experience using OpenGL based software like Solidworks and Rhino with some of the current consumer cards like Titan X series and or CPUs, or with a mix of either or. Also if anyone suggests a board/cpu that will behave well together for these applications with the option to interchange the GPUs if it becomes necessary. I am mainly looking for flexibility, and the budget can be more or less the same of the workstation. I just rather make a smarter purchase.

Approximate Purchase Date: August 2015

Budget Range: $2,000 give or take, with case and monitor.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 3D Software, Rendering, Gaming, Personal Use.

Parts Not Required: ECC RAM

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No Preference. newegg, amazon, microcenter all fine.

Country: US

Parts Preferences: Quadro and Geforce Compatible board and CPU combo.

Overclocking: Not necessary.

SLI or Crossfire: Not necessary.

Monitor Resolution: IPS 1920x1080 min.

Additional Comments: Main goal is to achieve the best performance for the OpenGL software without hindering my flexibility for personal use.

Thank you!

 

[mfenn]

One thing to keep in mind is that when you go outside the recommended system, you take on responsibility for your own support. So for example if you have an assignment that requires a program which doesn't work on your custom system, you'll be responsible for sorting that out yourself.

With regard to OpenGL, the optimizations are really in the Quadro drivers and not the cards themselves. A card like a K2200 is not especially powerful, it's the same hardware as the GTX 750 Ti 4GB variant. Regarding the motherboard, there is no special requirement to achieve Quadro compatibility, they are normal PCIe GPUs.

 

[vailr]

I was considering a Titan X instead.

The GTX 980 Ti with 6 Gb VRAM for ~$650 seems like a much better value than a Titan X.
How well it would work in place of a genuine Quadro card, would need further research on compatibility with specific softwares.