Help! Is this a good build for a workstation?

[Helrud]

Hi 
I'm looking to build a desktop that I can use for CAD work for my degree. I use programs such as SolidWorks and Autodesk (Alias, Inventor and Vred). I have been thinking to buy a laptop for quit some time but investing in a desktop that can preform so much more is obviously the better choice. My little brother will also be using this desktop for Adobe Premiere Pro and Autodesk (3Dmax and Maya). So this investment is good for us both. I want a Desktop to be best at CAD/CAE software and video editing but I also want it to be great at gaming aswell. This is what I have chosen so far:

 

Intel i7-6700k Skylake with GTX 980 option:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/8dDdZL

 

or

 

Intel i7-4790k with R9 390 xFire option:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/TqqqjX 

I have had some experience with building a desktop before but never in this price range and with this kind of setup. I've chosen to xFire two R9 390 in the other option simply because of the vRam capacity. I've read somewhere that its good to have great vRam for rendering and CAD stuff. Not sure if that is true. I can't afford a Xeon CPU or a Quadro GPU so I really hope this is good enough. Please let me know what you think. Could I go for better parts for the same price or cheaper? Is xFire or SLI really helping in terms of getting better performance for CAD and editing or have I completely done this wrong?

 

Thanks 

[The Official Czex]

4790K + 980 Ti.

[Real_PhillBert]

@Helrud Welcome to LTT!

 

Most mechanical design software (Solidworks and Creo for sure, Inventor may be similar) take better advantage of CUDA than OpenGL so I would certainly stay with Nvidia GPU's for this particular use. My personal machine (see signature) gets used a fair amount for Solidworks and Creo 2, and does a fantastic job. 

 

The i7 is a good idea but you want the biggest baddest GPU you can afford as well. So it may be better to step down to the 4790K or even a Xeon if you are ok with giving up overclocking, to make room in your budget for a 980Ti. 

[stealth80]

Id take skylake for future proofing + DDR4. You can save £50 by getting windows from G2A, maybe help swing a 980ti into your build using the 6700k with that £50 saved

[stealth80]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£323.99 @ Aria PC) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H55 57.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£44.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£134.93 @ More Computers) 

Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  (£56.99 @ Ebuyer) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£58.79 @ Aria PC) 

Storage: Toshiba  3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£64.94 @ Amazon UK) 

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card  (£499.93 @ More Computers) 

Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case  (£49.99 @ Aria PC) 

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£87.95 @ Amazon UK) 

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  (£9.00 @ CCL Computers) 

Total: £1331.50

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-01 19:55 GMT+0000

 

A little more, however Im sure you can pick up a 980ti for less, sure I seen em on Scan for 449 this weekend, but that boat has sailed. Save a little swapping the PSU out aswell

[Helrud]

@Helrud Welcome to LTT!

 

Most mechanical design software (Solidworks and Creo for sure, Inventor may be similar) take better advantage of CUDA than OpenGL so I would certainly stay with Nvidia GPU's for this particular use. My personal machine (see signature) gets used a fair amount for Solidworks and Creo 2, and does a fantastic job. 

 

The i7 is a good idea but you want the biggest baddest GPU you can afford as well. So it may be better to step down to the 4790K or even a Xeon if you are ok with giving up overclocking, to make room in your budget for a 980Ti. 

Thanks Real_PhillBert, I'm kind of confused if I should take your advice or not when it says "I no idea what I am doing..." under your username   jk

but isn't Xeon CPUs expensive as hell? and is it better to go for two GTX 970 SLI or one GTX 980Ti?

[allisonmahmood]

i7 6700K and 980ti

 

1# Cuda does batter in these programs than the AMD alternative

2# As quadro is the profesional standard not anything from AMD you will have better support because the actual chips are the same as with quadros only the amount of vram and suppport for a couple things is difrent.

3# If you end up gaming on it than 980ti is a really good graphics card even for 4K gaming and if you end up getting 4k mnitor for the work you want something that can handle the monitor as well for gaming

4# I personally prefer the Nvidia features and implimatations of stuff like Gsync, gforce experience, etc.

[allisonmahmood]

Thanks Real_PhillBert, I'm kind of confused if I should take your advice or not when it says "I no idea what I am doing..." under your username   jk

but isn't Xeon CPUs expensive as hell? and is it better to go for two GTX 970 SLI or one GTX 980Ti?

Xeon are often not that much more expensive the thing is stuff like ecc ram and thigs like this can add up quite quict and also go for the 980ti because than if you ever need to you can get another 980ti and you are good for the 970 the three and four way sli never scales as well so you wot get that much of a improvment with adding another 970. Also I am not sure how the programs you plan on usin handle SLI and how they select what GPU does what based on that you should also make ur choice as dual 970 can bring slightly better prefornance if the way they handle SLI is good if no than 980ti is better.

Another reason to get a  980ti over 2x 970 is the 6gb of vram which will help with larger project oposing to 3.5gb fast+0.5gb a lot slower which only gives you 4gb

[Real_PhillBert]

Thanks Real_PhillBert, I'm kind of confused if I should take your advice or not when it says "I no idea what I am doing..." under your username   jk

but isn't Xeon CPUs expensive as hell? and is it better to go for two GTX 970 SLI or one GTX 980Ti?

 

The xeons that are supported by Z97 (E3-1241-V3 would be my first choice) are just i7's that arent clocked as high and more locked down. They are actually a bit cheaper than the consumer K SKU i7s. 

 

Get one of the most powerful GPU you can afford, that way if you need more power in the future (you really shouldn't with a 980Ti for engineering school) your upgrade path is simpler.

 

Dont worry about my member title... 

[Helrud]

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£323.99 @ Aria PC) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H55 57.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£44.99 @ Amazon UK) 

Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£134.93 @ More Computers) 

Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  (£56.99 @ Ebuyer) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£58.79 @ Aria PC) 

Storage: Toshiba  3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£64.94 @ Amazon UK) 

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card  (£499.93 @ More Computers) 

Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case  (£49.99 @ Aria PC) 

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£87.95 @ Amazon UK) 

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  (£9.00 @ CCL Computers) 

Total: £1331.50

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-01 19:55 GMT+0000

 

A little more, however Im sure you can pick up a 980ti for less, sure I seen em on Scan for 449 this weekend, but that boat has sailed. Save a little swapping the PSU out aswell

 

Many thanks for the input, I'll check out G2A for sure. I know this weekend was a big sale of stuff and I was so close to buying GUPs and a CPU but I didn't want to start anything before I was 100% sure its the right choice. I'm happy I didn't cuz I was going to buy two R9 390 

[brob]

I would suggest the Skylake build with a couple of modifications. The i7-6700K has slightly better performance than the i7-4790K. A number of the programs mentioned in the OP will benefit from this.

 

A single more powerful gpu is best for most of the software mentioned. With the exception of some rendering tasks, most design software only makes use of single gpu, (when they use one at all), for accelerating various functions.

 

I would suggest a slightly smaller psu and less expensive motherboard.

 

A better cpu cooler will allow for decent overclocks.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£323.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i GT 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£78.72 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-K ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£99.49 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  (£56.99 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£58.79 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Toshiba  3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£64.94 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card  (£499.93 @ More Computers)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case  (£49.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£67.98 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  (£9.00 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  (£72.30 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1382.12
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-01 20:56 GMT+0000