Small CAD workstation beast

raphchev · October 24, 2022

Budget (including currency): 4000€

Country: Netherlands

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Solidworks design & FEA runs

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc):

Hi, I am working as an engineer designing pretty complex parts & assemblies, and my current config (personal rig with 3900X with 1660Super & 64GB of RAM I assembled during lockdown) is starting to struggle.
My company offered to invest in a decently specd' workstation that should last the next 3 years without breaking a sweat, so I am looking at the upgrade path.

- A Quadro GPU seems obvious to start, I was considering an RTX A4500 as a decent power/VRAM/price upgrade for my 1440x3440 monitor

- Solidworks design seems to only care about single thread, and as fast as possible a CPU with as many cores as possible for FEA runs, so 13900kf would be my go to with a NH-D15 if clearance allows

- RAM, I need 64 to 128GB, but I'm not seeing clear benefit of DDR5. Do you know if DDR speed has an impact on single core perf?

- NVME 500GB WD 850X as storage for boot & temp files.

- 10GB ethernet adapter for storage on company nvme server

- regarding case; I have no need for anything else, so I would love a compact PC, but I struggle to find a compact case, do you have suggestions?

Thanks!

brob · October 24, 2022

The SN850X is not available in a 500GB capacity.

I don't believe there are any z690 or z790 mini-ITX motherboards with on-board 10Gb/s NIC. A small ATX cases is as good as it gets.

DDR5 does offer higher performance at higher speeds. Of course higher speed memory commands much higher prices. At the moment 128GB DDR5 memory kits are not available for z690/z790 motherboards.

An RTX A4500 is about 50% of the budget. Including this GPU requires compromising on memory which I believe would negatively impact overall performance.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i9-13900KF 3 GHz 24-Core Processor (€728.95 @ Megekko)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (€91.96 @ Azerty)
Motherboard: Asus ProArt Z690-CREATOR WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€625.00 @ Azerty)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory (€572.95 @ Megekko)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€99.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Video Card: PNY RTX A-Series RTX A4000 16 GB Video Card (€1120.00 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Case: Lian Li O11 Air Mini ATX Mid Tower Case (€113.85 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€99.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Total: €3452.51
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-10-24 19:40 CEST+0200