Desktop PC for CAD and CAM

[Gast123]

Hey everyone,

 

after around 10 years it is time for me to build a new computer. Now that I haven't built a computer for an eternity or had anything to do with computer parts, I'm pretty rusty regarding the new components. So, I hope I can find here some help.

First, what do I need. Nearly all my use these days are CAD, CAM, Simulation or small renderings. My budget is around 500€ (Germany). I found the video of Linus from June this year with the title “Building a $500 AMD Gaming PC” and I think the parts look decent for my project.

 

CPU – AMD Ryzen 3100

Motherboard – ASRock B450M

RAM – G Skill 16GB

SSD - XPG SX850

Power Supply - EVGA 400/500

Graphic card – GTX 1650 Super

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 3 3100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$152.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$78.99 @ B&H
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory	$74.99 @ Newegg
Storage	ADATA XPG SX850 256 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card
Power Supply	EVGA W3 450 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply	$44.99 @ Best Buy
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$351.96
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-22 13:23 EST-0500

In my experience single core usage is the most important one for CAD or CAM, so Ryzen 3300 or bigger shouldn’t be necessary right?
My CAD assemblys are not that big (maximum 150 small parts), so 16GB Ram is still more than enough.
256GB for the SSD should also be more than enough because I’m saving most of my files online.
I have the most questions about the graphic card. I tried to find out which performance is the most important one for CAD, but I only found out that “the bigger the better”?
 

I'm using 2 screens and will probably buy a cheap housing,

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I am open to anything.

Best regards.

[BiotechBen]

I mean, if you are doing only CAD and CAM, honestly an older quadro might be something that could interest you, they're designed for rendering and CAD work. A 1650 isn't going to be optimized for that workload. Not that it won't run it, but it may be better for light gaming than CAD work. Single threaded performance is the type of performance you want probably for those workloads, that said, Ryzen is great for productivity. 

[Jurrunio]

27 minutes ago, Gast123 said:

Power Supply EVGA W3 450 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply $44.99 @ Best Buy

It's late 2020, 80+ white PSUs belong to history. Even a lot of 80+ Bronze PSUs are bad, let alone the cheaper whites.

 

Quote

In my experience single core usage is the most important one for CAD or CAM, so Ryzen 3300 or bigger shouldn’t be necessary right?
My CAD assemblys are not that big (maximum 150 small parts), so 16GB Ram is still more than enough.
256GB for the SSD should also be more than enough because I’m saving most of my files online.
I have the most questions about the graphic card. I tried to find out which performance is the most important one for CAD, but I only found out that “the bigger the better”?

Any computing (like stretch analysis) will use more cores

 

Bigger isnt better because CAD only uses GPU for display, not computing. For true CAD work tho it's better to get a quadro.

[Gast123]

Quote

I mean, if you are doing only CAD and CAM, honestly an older quadro might be something that could interest you, they're designed for rendering and CAD work. A 1650 isn't going to be optimized for that workload. Not that it won't run it, but it may be better for light gaming than CAD work. Single threaded performance is the type of performance you want probably for those workloads, that said, Ryzen is great for productivity. 

@BiotechBen
Thanks for your idea. Never thought of using older hardware. Is there a special quadro one in your mind?
So you still would suggest the 3100?

 

Quote

It's late 2020, 80+ white PSUs belong to history. Even a lot of 80+ Bronze PSUs are bad, let alone the cheaper whites.

@Jurrunio
You're probably right, but 80+silver or better starts around 80€ at partpicker which is a lot. Do you have a special one in your mind?

 

Quote

Any computing (like stretch analysis) will use more cores

 

Bigger isnt better because CAD only uses GPU for display, not computing. For true CAD work tho it's better to get a quadro.

So both of you would suggest the ryzen + a quadro if I understand you right.
Would you still (except the power supply) use the other parts?

Thanks both of you.
 

[Jurrunio]

1 hour ago, Gast123 said:

@Jurrunio
You're probably right, but 80+silver or better starts around 80€ at partpicker which is a lot. Do you have a special one in your mind?

 

Quote

Any computing (like stretch analysis) will use more cores

 

Bigger isnt better because CAD only uses GPU for display, not computing. For true CAD work tho it's better to get a quadro.

So both of you would suggest the ryzen + a quadro if I understand you right.
Would you still (except the power supply) use the other parts?

Thanks both of you.

In PCPP.de:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	€127.99 @ Mindfactory
Motherboard	Gigabyte B450M S2H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	€56.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL15 Memory	€52.68 @ Amazon Deutschland
Storage	Kingston A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	€21.00 @ Amazon Deutschland
Storage	Crucial BX500 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	€46.41 @ Amazon Deutschland
Video Card	Zotac GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4 GB GAMING Twin Fan Video Card	€176.69 @ Alternate
Power Supply	be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM 400 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	€59.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	€541.57
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-22 22:12 CET+0100

Two SSDs here are just to give variety of options. SSDs get slower the less empty space is left, so I recommend getting more than you will ever need.

[Gast123]

@Jurrunio
First of all thank you for taking your time and sorting the hardware. I still got some questions left:

Quote

Two SSDs here are just to give variety of options. SSDs get slower the less empty space is left, so I recommend getting more than you will ever need.

1) I quess your right and I should also buy a brand like you did and not a no-name variant.

2) You changed the motherboard and CPU to a Ryzen 5 with the same base clock as the ryzen 3 I choose. Do you think this will improve my working  or will this only improve my overall performance? What was your thought about that?

3) You listed the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER again, but if I understodd you right in your last post, you suggested the quadro (still not sure which model?). So did I missunderstood you?

4) Thanks for showing me the cheaper be quiete model.

[Jurrunio]

52 minutes ago, Gast123 said:

@Jurrunio
First of all thank you for taking your time and sorting the hardware. I still got some questions left:

1) I quess your right and I should also buy a brand like you did and not a no-name variant.

2) You changed the motherboard and CPU to a Ryzen 5 with the same base clock as the ryzen 3 I choose. Do you think this will improve my working  or will this only improve my overall performance? What was your thought about that?

3) You listed the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER again, but if I understodd you right in your last post, you suggested the quadro (still not sure which model?). So did I missunderstood you?

4) Thanks for showing me the cheaper be quiete model.

1. It's not about the brand entirely, but the model. Big brands can still make bad models and they do.

2. Clock speed isnt the only metric for performance btw, also core count and IPC (so how much work it can do per clock cycle). It's for multicore performance which will be useful in simulations.

3. Quadros are expensive, dont need those on small projects

[Speedbird]

As has been said here before, for CAD you really want to spend more on the CPU, rather than the GPU. I'd also endorse the build that @Jurrunio posted, but with the Crucial SSD. The Kingston drive doesn't have DRAM cache and because of that its lifetime will be significantly shorter and performance will be worse. I've only had bad experiences with Kingston drives in the past.

[Jurrunio]

14 minutes ago, Speedbird said:

but with the Crucial SSD. The Kingston drive doesn't have DRAM cache and because of that its lifetime will be significantly shorter and performance will be worse. I

Neither does the BX500. MX500 is the one with DRAM and tbh not a big deal breaker (especially considering the low budget)

[BiotechBen]

@Gast123 something like this would work for models and rendering on a budget, something like FB marketplace or other local marketplace apps could work too:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-NVIDIA-Quadro-K1200-4GB-SFF-Low-Profile-Graphics-Card-T7T59AT-846583-001/224239562400?hash=item3435b82ea0:g:UqYAAOSwcbhfqYI5

my dad is an architect and had one of these in his workstation for complex revvit 3D models of entire buildings and it chugged along just fine with an older xeon. it's an older card but still has 4gb vram. Up to you though. If you are doing more with openGL then the quadro is going to be much better optimized for that than a GTX card.

[Gast123]

@Jurrunio
thanks for your explanation you really help me a lot.
I will probably take a look at ebay for a quadro, if there isn't anythink near by I will propably go with the GTX 1080 and the rest of your pickings.

 

@BiotechBen
Thanks for your tipp, I will consider it.

 

@Speedbird and @Jurrunio
Would you say the MX500 is worth the money. Do I really see an impact on that small system? If not I will probably go with the Kingston or BX500 depends.

 

Thank you all for your help! 

[BiotechBen]

Just now, Gast123 said:

@Jurrunio
thanks for your explanation you really help me a lot.
I will probably take a look at ebay for a quadro, if there isn't anythink near by I will propably go with the GTX 1080 and the rest of your pickings.

 

@BiotechBen
Thanks for your tipp, I will consider it.

 

@Speedbird and @Jurrunio
Would you say the MX500 is worth the money. Do I really see an impact on that small system? If not I will probably go with the Kingston or BX500 depends.

 

Thank you all for your help! 

With the K1200, it's not gonna be doing like showcase models, it's aimed more at functional models for representation. 

[Jurrunio]

19 minutes ago, Gast123 said:

Would you say the MX500 is worth the money. Do I really see an impact on that small system? If not I will probably go with the Kingston or BX500 depends

I focus on capacity first, then go for DRAM (since DRAM helps make performance more consistent). If you can afford the MX500 sure go ahead, but not a must have.

 

19 minutes ago, Gast123 said:

thanks for your explanation you really help me a lot.
I will probably take a look at ebay for a quadro, if there isn't anythink near by I will propably go with the GTX 1080 and the rest of your pickings.

GTX 1080? Not expecting that lol. That's somewhere between $200 to $250 each, enough for a low end or old quadro (like a P1000 or once high end but not now K5000, both used). But really, I did not feel any slow downs with a mobile GTX 1060 apart from loading times of an assembly (which I reckon is my slow memory and throttled CPU's fault)

[BiotechBen]

A 1080 depending on your area can run anything between 250-400 depending on how much people think their old hardware is still worth.

[Gast123]

@Jurrunio
 

Quote

I focus on capacity first, then go for DRAM (since DRAM helps make performance more consistent). If you can afford the MX500 sure go ahead, but not a must have

Thanks for the explanation!

 

Quote

GTX 1080? Not expecting that lol. That's somewhere between $200 to $250 each, enough for a low end or old quadro (like a P1000 or once high end but not now K5000, both used). But really, I did not feel any slow downs with a mobile GTX 1060 apart from loading times of an assembly (which I reckon is my slow memory and throttled CPU's fault)

Quote

•  

A 1080 depending on your area can run anything between 250-400 depending on how much people think their old hardware is still worth.

Don't know what was on my mind at that time. I meant the "Zotac GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER" Jurrunio choiced. My mistake

 

Anyway thank you all very much for you help and Tipps. I really appreciate you taking the time
Like I sad before, I will probably take the system Jurrunio choose and will think about the graphic card.

 

Thank you all a lot!

[Gast123]

Hey everyone, still got one last question
I found something online that sounds pretty good.

I found the Samsung Evo 970 for around 60€ https://www.alternate.de/Samsung/970-EVO-500-GB-SSD/html/product/1449400?

and would like to use it in my system. In the datasheet for the "Gigabyte B450M S2H Micro" it says, that the motherboard has a M2. slot.

 

Would you say it is worth the 10€ more for the ssd with the same Motherboard?

 

Thanks for your help.

[Speedbird]

19 hours ago, Gast123 said:

Hey everyone, still got one last question
I found something online that sounds pretty good.

I found the Samsung Evo 970 for around 60€ https://www.alternate.de/Samsung/970-EVO-500-GB-SSD/html/product/1449400?

and would like to use it in my system. In the datasheet for the "Gigabyte B450M S2H Micro" it says, that the motherboard has a M2. slot.

 

Would you say it is worth the 10€ more for the ssd with the same Motherboard?

 

Thanks for your help.

The Evo 970 is one of the best SSDs currently on the market. It is definitely worth it in my opinion, as it will also last longer than other options.