Need help to upgrade desktop

P

paulcheung

Active Member
Hi all,
My son is gradurating from university, I try to help to upgrade his desktop computer so he can do decent CAD programs; he does architectural designs. His old computer is 6 years old so I need a mainboard with Intel CPU, 8gb ram and a decent Video card. The case and 800watts PSU should be good and he has the hd and monitor etc.
I have looked at the Radeon HD 7850's they are about $260 at newegg.com,
Are these cards good for architectural designs? how much better on the 7970? does it worth the $450 price tag? my budget is $600-$800.
How about nvidia cards, are they better for architectural designs? any decend card for the $300 range?
Thank you in advance.
 
Nvidia does use Cuda, if you have programs that use that.

But really, I would focus on the CPU/RAM/mobo/PSU before the video card. He'll most likely want a professional 3D modeling card, which can get very expensive.

But for the CPU, go for the 3770k and overclock it, and go for 16GB. CAD modeling takes a lot of juice.

And the 7850 is a good choice for $260.
 
Okay, Im not sure how well a gaming card would perform in CAD, but that 7850 is a gaming card, and you will want a workstation card. What 800w PSU do you have? If its cheap, it has a chance of blowing up and taking parts with it, or a big chance of frying and maybe taking parts with it. Intel is good. What budget? Sounds like $250 for GPU, and I would say xeon for CPU deffinatly, any non xeon intel is a consumer/gaming cpu. What is his case? ATX, mATX, or ITX? Xeons will be better than an 3770 for workstations, and cheaper.


Dont know much about workstation cards, but this should be nice.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133354&Tpk=nvidia quadro

Great workstation cpu.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115084

Most of lga1155 motherboards are not for xeon, but this one is. Plus, lots of the xeon motherboards dont have PCIe slots, but this one does.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131722
 
that is what I try to do. The mainboard, cpu and ram, he already have a 800watts PSU which worked for 6 years so likely it will continue. I am try to get a decent video card so he can start to work, when he save some money he could get one of those professional card in there. so which main board and which cpu and ram, also the video card?
 
byteninja2 said:
Okay, Im not sure how well a gaming card would perform in CAD, but that 7850 is a gaming card, and you will want a workstation card. What 800w PSU do you have? If its cheap, it has a chance of blowing up and taking parts with it, or a big chance of frying and maybe taking parts with it. Intel is good. What budget? Sounds like $250 for GPU, and I would say xeon for CPU deffinatly, any non xeon intel is a consumer/gaming cpu. What is his case? ATX, mATX, or ITX? Xeons will be better than an 3770 for workstations, and cheaper.


Dont know much about workstation cards, but this should be nice.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133354&Tpk=nvidia quadro

Great workstation cpu.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115084

Most of lga1155 motherboards are not for xeon, but this one is. Plus, lots of the xeon motherboards dont have PCIe slots, but this one does.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131722
Click to expand...

paulcheung said:
that is what I try to do. The mainboard, cpu and ram, he already have a 800watts PSU which worked for 6 years so likely it will continue. I am try to get a decent video card so he can start to work, when he save some money he could get one of those professional card in there. so which main board and which cpu and ram, also the video card?
Click to expand...

Yes, you just said that. What psu do you have? And read my post above for recommendations.
 
A 3770k would be significantly faster than a E3-1220.

And because it has worked for 6 years worries me. I would replace the PSU about every 5 years, just to be safe. But if you feel its fine, go for it.
 
No, a xeon would be be better than a 3770 for workstations, no matter the fastness! Plus, it's $100 cheaper. About the Op buying a 7850 and then saving up and buying a worksation (professional card), the workstation card I reccomended you WILL, and I mean WILL be better for cad, it's not the best workstation card, but still fine, and a whole lot better than a 7850 for workstations for the 5th time. The 7850 is a gaming card.
 
byteninja2 said:
No, a xeon would be be better than a 3770 for workstations, no matter the fastness! Plus, it's $100 cheaper. About the Op buying a 7850 and then saving up and buying a worksation (professional card), the workstation card I reccomended you WILL, and I mean WILL be better for cad, it's not the best workstation card, but still fine, and a whole lot better than a 7850 for workstations for the 5th time. The 7850 is a gaming card.
Click to expand...

No... no, it won't. Server CPUs are made for low power and low heat. A 3770k will be better for CAD applications, no question.
 
An i7 will be better, but also $100 more, and a xeon is a great workstation cpu, still. And why would you say a 7850 is a great card? For what he's doing, it isn't.
 
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How about i7 2600k? does it better than the xeon? is the CAD programs benefit from hyper threading? I am try to help so he can start work on it. later he can save to get one of those quadro 2000 or 3000 cards. I need to get the main board and the cpu right. so he won't have any problem in the near future. Can some one please put a compatible list for mainboard cpu ram and video card for $600-800? I need the cpu higher end so it can work with the future card.
Thank you.
 
claptonman said:
No... no, it won't. Server CPUs are made for low power and low heat. A 3770k will be better for CAD applications, no question.
Click to expand...
Ok you said the 3770k is better than the xeon, how about the i5 3570k? does it better than the xeon too? it is about the same price like the xeon.
Thanks
 
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A xeon will be better than any i5, includung the 3570, but a i7 will better than a xeon. Also, a i7 can be used on consumer boards, so I would get a i7 and consumer board. That quadro I reccomended you is the same as you showed, and it will be better, extra ram aside. Here is what I reccomend for $800.

Motherboard/Mainboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293 Great board for the price, with intels newest teck intergrated.

CPU/Proccesor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115071 Great CPU with Hyperthreading, which is good for workstations.

Ram/Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231309 Good budget ram, you are going to want 16 GB on a workstation

GPU/Graphics Card/Video Card:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...9x00001a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=SPM3726566801 More Vram doesnt mean better, and this one has above 512 MB, but less than 1 gb, and this one has 768, but still better than the other quadro you showed by a long shot. Its a bit older, so dx10, not dx11, but it wont matter in cad.

Total: $810 for a great workstation
 
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