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IT Picked
WHAT Computer?
Anna Wood
RenderBay.com
Charles Culp
SWtuts.com
Comparison of Three Systems
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Cheap, Expensive and Poorly Specified, and the Suggested System
Dell Optiplex
Dell T7600
Dell T3610
Core i5-4570 (4 cores),
8 GB RAM
Dual Xeon E5-2650 (16
cores total), 32 GB RAM
Xeon E5-1620v2 (4
cores), 16GB RAM
Intel Integrated Video
NVIDIA Quadro K5000
AMD FirePro W5000
500GB HDD
2TB HDD
256MB SSD
$699
$6,246.40
$1799 (without SSD)
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About Anna and Charles
Anna Wood
Charles Culp
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Design Engineer/CAD Admin for Auer Precision in
Mesa, AZ
RenderBay.com
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Product Development Engineer/CAD Admin at
Essex Industries in St Louis, MO
Designs ergonomic pilot controls
SWtuts.com
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
Goals for Today
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Understand which components are important for a CAD Workstation
Understand the enhancements in recent technology
Understand which components provide the best value
Compare a poorly built workstation with a good workstation
Provide a list of good available systems, and a custom system
Feel free to ask questions at any time
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Thank You
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Thank You
Thank you also to Bill McEachern for providing the
flow simulation benchmark, and Russ Johnston for
providing the V3 Simulation benchmark
CPU
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
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It is all about Intel
Tom’s Hardware compares single
core operations
Passmark now has a single thread
benchmark:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/sin
gleThread.html
Both show blowouts in favor of
Intel
Intel
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
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Today’s systems have Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, or Haswell CPUs. These also known as
2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation Core i5 or Core i7 processors. These are the E3 or E5 series in
the Xeon line, with v2, v3, or v4 at the end of the name.
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
How Many Cores?
• Two is enough for modeling, but four
doesn’t hurt
• Four is enough for occasional FEA, there
is a new solver in SolidWorks 2014 (Large
Problem Direct Sparse Solver) that uses
more than four cores
• For rendering, the more the merrier
CPU Benchmarks
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
• Modeling Benchmark:
http://www.solidmuse.com/benchmarks/
solidworks-benchmark-punch-holder/
• FEA Benchmark (V3):
https://forum.solidworks.com/thread/63
854
• Simulation Benchmark:
http://www.swtuts.com/?p=700
Best CPU for Modeling
Punchholder Rebuild Time (in seconds, lower is better)
70
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60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Typical Core Xeon E5- Xeon X5650, Core i5-4570 Core i7-2600 Xeon X5690, Core i7Xeon E5Core i7Core i72 Duo
2620, Dual Dual Socket @ 3.2 GHz @ 3.4 GHz Dual Socket 2600K @ 3.4 2680 v2, 4770K @ 4.3 3970X @
(E8500)
Socket
GHz
Dual Socket
GHz
4.75 GHz
Best CPU Value for Modeling
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This graph does not represent true value
CharlesValueMarks
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
100,000 * (1/Punchholder Rebuild Time) / $ (higher is better)
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
$360 x 2, Xeon $620 x 2, Xeon Core i5-4570 @ Core i7-2600 @ $1260 x 2, Core i7-2600K $1600 x 2, Core i7-4770K
E5-2620, Dual X5650, Dual
3.2 GHz
3.4 GHz
Xeon X5690,
@ 3.4 GHz Xeon E5-2680 @ 4.3 GHz
Socket
Socket
Dual Socket
v2, Dual Socket
Best CPU for SolidWorks Simulation
FEA Benchmark (in seconds, lower is better)
800
700
600
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
500
400
300
200
100
0
Core i54570 @
3.2 GHz
Xeon
X5650,
Dual
Socket
Xeon
X5690,
Dual
Socket
Core i72600 @
3.4 GHz
Mesh Time
Core i7- Xeon E5- Core i7- Xeon E52600K @ 2620, Dual 4770K @ 2680 v2,
3.4 GHz
Socket
4.3 GHz
Dual
Socket
Solution Time
Best CPU for Flow Simulation
Flow Simulation Benchmark (in seconds, lower is better)
120
100
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
80
60
40
20
0
Xeon
Xeon E5- Core i7X5650, 2620, Dual 2600 @
Dual
Socket
3.4 GHz
Socket
Xeon
X5690,
Dual
Socket
Mesh Time
Core i54570 @
3.2 GHz
Core i7- Xeon E5- Core i72600K @ 2680 v2, 4770K @
3.4 GHz
Dual
4.3 GHz
Socket
Solution Time
Best CPU for Rendering
Rendering Benchmark (in seconds, lower is better)
360
300
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
240
180
120
60
0
Core i7- Core i7- Core i5- Core i7- Xeon E5- Xeon
2600 @ 2600K @ 4570 @ 4770K @ 2620, X5650,
3.4 GHz 3.4 GHz 3.2 GHz 4.3 GHz Dual
Dual
Socket Socket
With Hyperthreading
Xeon Xeon E5X5690, 2680 v2,
Dual
Dual
Socket Socket
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Video Cards
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How much is enough
Frame rates and user experience
What requires expensive video cards
Changes to SolidWorks 2014
Benchmarks:
• Die Assembly
• Press Assembly
• Engine Assembly
• Cinebench R15
Video Cards
AMD FirePro
• Quadro 600
• V3900
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NVIDIA Quadro
• Quadro K600
• V4900
• W5000
• Quadro 2000 • Quadro K2000
• V5900
• W7000
• Quadro 4000 • Quadro K4000
• V7900
• W8000
• Quadro 5000 • Quadro K5000
• W9000
• Quadro 6000
W5000
$440
W7000
$800
V4900
$155
Intel Integrated
• HD P4700 (E3-1285v3)
HD P4600 (E3-1275v3,
E3-1245v3)
• HD P4000 (E3-1245v2,
1275v2)
• Quadro K6000
Q K600
$161
Q K2000
$430
Q K4000
$800
Q K5000
$1800
Video Card Testing
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Video Card Testing on a Boxx 4150XT, Core i7-4770K @ 4.3 Ghz
16 Gigs RAM, Intel 530 SSD
Quadro Driver 320.78 AMD Driver 13.15.2.4
Video Cards, SolidWorks 2013
Die Assembly (in FPS, higher is better)
70
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Die Assembly w/AO, Shadows
Q 2000
Q 4000
Q K5000
Die Assembly no Effects
F V4900
F W5000
F W7000
Video Cards, SolidWorks 2014 SP2
Die Assembly (in FPS, higher is better)
70
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60
50
40
30
20
10
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Die Assembly w/AO, Shadows
Q 600
Q 2000
Q 4000
Q 5000
Die Assembly with Realview
Q K600
Q K2000
Q K5000
Die Assembly no Effects
F V4900
F W5000
F W7000
Video Cards, SolidWorks 2014 SP2
Press Assembly (in FPS, higher is better)
40
35
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30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Press Assembly w/AO, Shadows
Q 600
Q 2000
Q 4000
Q 5000
Press Assembly with Realview
Q K600
Q K2000
Q K5000
Press Assembly no Effects
F V4900
F W5000
F W7000
Video Cards, SolidWorks 2014 SP2
Engine Assembly (in FPS, higher is better)
45
40
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
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Engine Assembly w/AO, Shadows
Q 600
Q 2000
Q 4000
Engine Assembly with Realview
Q 5000
Q K600
Q K2000
Q K5000
Engine Assembly no Effects
F V4900
F W5000
F W7000
Video Cards, Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 (in FPS, higher is better)
160
140
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
120
100
80
60
40
20
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Cinebench R15
Q 600
Q 2000
Q 4000
Q 5000
Q K600
Q K2000
Q K5000
F V4900
F W5000
F W7000
SSD & HDD Overview
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
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SSDs create a significant improvement over HDD,
85% depending on usage
Which brand SSDs are the best? Don’t worry
about it too much, that is only a 25% gain
Intel is used by pro’s for high reliability
“SSD’s fail early” is a myth. As a whole they are as
reliable, and maybe more reliable, than HDD
when used in desktop machines
• http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd
-reliability-failure-rate,2923.html
SSD & HDD Overview
Die Assembly
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14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
HD
SSD
Comparison of Three Systems
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
Cheap, Expensive and Poorly Specified, and the Suggested System
Dell Optiplex
Dell T7600
Dell T3610
Core i5-4570 (4 cores),
8 GB RAM
Dual Xeon E5-2650 (16
cores total), 32 GB RAM
Xeon E5-1620v2 (4
cores), 16GB RAM
Intel Integrated Video
NVIDIA Quadro K5000
AMD FirePro W5000
500GB HDD
2TB HDD
256MB SSD
$699
$6,246.40
$1799 (without SSD)
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
DIY vs Prebuilt vs Premium
DIY – General Modeling
Prebuilt
Premium
$907.65
$1799-2271
$2196-3208 and up
Parts Warranty (varies)
3 year warranty
3 year warranty
No guarantee on
component compatibility
No compatibility
concerns
No compatibility risk
Perfectly tuned to your
performance needs
Limited offerings for
components
Overclocking means
~35% speed increase
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
DIY System
CPU
Core i7-4770 3.4-3.9 GHz
Microcenter
$249.99
Link
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-B85-HD3
Amazon
$84.99
Link
Memory
2x8GB Crucial Ballistix
Amazon
$134.95
Link
Primary Disk
SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB Amazon
$164.62
Link
Video Card
AMD FirePro V4900
Amazon
$155.98
Link
DVD
LG 24X
Amazon
$22.14
Link
Power Supply
Seasonic G-Series 360W
Amazon
$54.99
Link
Case
CFI - USB 3.0 on front
Amazon
$39.99
Link
$907.65
Prebuilt Options
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What happened to the Dell T1700?
Dell T3610/T3600
HP Z230 SFF
Lenovo E32
$1799
$2271
$2249
Xeon E5-1620v2 3.7 GHz
Xeon E3-1240v3 3.4GHz
Xeon E3-1240v3 3.4GHz
16 GB ECC
16 GB Non-ECC
16 GB ECC
1TB 7,200 HDD (eek)
128 GB SSD
256 GB SSD
AMD FirePro W5000
NVIDIA K600
NVIDIA K600
Prebuilt Disclaimer Page
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
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Everything was priced on January 20th, 2014. I included all discounts and sales at that
time.
Prices for all prebuilt systems include Windows 7 Professional. This is approximately a
$140 for purchasing the OEM version of Windows 7 on the open market.
The price difference between the Dell and the HP and Lenovo is likely due to the lack of
an SSD drive.
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Premium Option - Boxx
Boxx 4150 Xtreme
Boxx 4920 Xtreme
$3208
$4815
Core i7-4770K @ 4.3 GHz
6-Core; Core i7-3970X @ 4.5 GHz
16 GB RAM
16 GB RAM
180 GB SSD
180 GB SSD
NVIDIA Quadro K600
NVIDIA Quadro K600
Premium Options - @Xi Computer
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Mtower – Custom Build
$2196.18
http://www.xicomputer.com/products/q
uote/printQuote.asp?configid=306707
Intel® Core™ i7-4770K @ 4.3GHz Hi-Perf.
Sealed Water Cooling
3 Years System HW Warranty
w/Express Advance Parts Replacement
16GB DDR3 1866MHz
Xi® MTower™ CM-HAF 922 Case
AMD® FirePro™ W5000
ASUS® Z87-C Motherboard
250GB Solid State Drive Samsung® 840 EVO Windows 7 Professional
Conclusions
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
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CPU is King.
• More cores do not decrease rebuild times
• That means processor design & speed are
important
RAM is a matter of how much is enough
SSD prices have plummeted, buy one
Homebuilt systems add versatility
Overclocked systems mean faster SolidWorks
modeling
3DS.COM © Dassault Systèmes
More Questions?
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http://www.swtuts.com/?p=700
https://forum.solidworks.com/community/administration?vie
w=discussions
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Tom’s Hardware, AnandTech, c|net
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bridge_(microarchitecture)