Upgrading CAD Machine

C

calpolyarc

New Member
Idea is to get good stuff but not the 'best' that's out right now:

E6600 Conroe 2.4 - $320
Mobo - +/- $100
RAM - 4 Gb's @ $100 - $125 per Gb
Video Card - Nvidia Quadro 560 - $270 or 1500 - $500

Is this an efficient setup, good bang for the buck? Would you recommend a specific mobo? I don't necessarily need built in wireless or SLI, just a good reliable board. Suggestions on a specific RAM are welcomed too.

Thanks, I appreciate your comments!
 
I imagine you aren't going to be overclocking? Intel makes good solid boards, but they aren't great for overclocking.
 
I do all the autodesk image deployment at my work. Installs for CAD, Inventor, Viz, Revit, etc. Quadros are one of the best workstation render cards you can get no doubt about that, especially for the money. As for motherboard, intels are good solid boards like mentioned earlier, but I am a solid Asus fan. I have had about 6 asus boards over the last 12 years and have never had a single problem with any of them.

If you are looking to save money a lot of times intel will bundle a processor and motherboard together and you can save that way.

Other than that, if you are doing 3D work just make sure you pile in the ram and keep your HD free of space. Is this for a single work station or are you building a few for a CAD lab so to speak?
 
This is for a single workstation. I like the idea of getting an intel mobo + CPU in a bundle... I like ASUS boards too but unfortunately had a problem with my last one, a P4C800, I would still use them again though.

What kind of Quadros do you get? I certainly can't afford even a 3450 let alone 5500 ;-) Do you have any experience with the 560 or 1500? Another 'video card guru' is suggesting that I wait until they come out with the 'next' 1500 which should have the newer G73 GPU, which the 560 now has currently while the 1500 uses an older G70, which is why the 560 performs almost equal to the 1500... make sense? Anyways I have no idea if or when nvidia is going to come out with that card.
 
that really depends, like I said...I install it and support it, but I don't use it LOL!....


I know that he quadros we have had in the past are the older ones, model 4 series 4750XGL, and overall they were very nice cards. We just recently upgraded all the CAD labs to HP business class machines running AMD 64 processors, and have yet to actually toss in a few video cards for the 3D machines.

I usually go over to the autodesk discussion forum and post over there since those guys are professionals using autodesk products. I am just an IT guy, I don't really use those apps, I just set up the net installs, the render farms and back burner, the file servers to share resources and install hardware upgrades. I don't actually really use the applications themselves.

Holding off may be a wise decision, and I suggest you go over to autodesk's discussion forum and post in their hardware section.
 
Thanks tlarkin, at the autodesk site is where the other guy said to wait for the new 1500. I have another thread started at the Nvidia site to see if anyone knows if/when this is going to happen.
 
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