PC for civil engineer

[MadNeptun]

Budget (including currency): 5k$

Country: Poland

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Revit

 

Hi, I'm looking for advice on the hardware for a friend (fire protection schemas and designs for commercial buildings). They will mostly use Revit with some plugins. Budget is up to 5k$. 1) Should they go with workstation from Lenovo/Dell/HP / build custom desktop using quadro card / build custom desktop using consumer hardware. 2) What should be performance level of GPU for smooth work (VRAM/cuda cores). 3) Does it make sense to setup system with raid 1 nvme to provide redundancy aside form dedicated backup service/nas/cloud?

For the base system I was thinking about 64gb ram with something similar to 9800x3d or 250k/270k plus. I'm quite adept in managing my hardware and software (SWE) but they are not so I'm leaning Dell(or others) for next-day onsite service - I'm not sure what are the common issues with consumer-grade hardware in those applications.

Peripherals will be quite standard 1-2 4k monitors and ergo keyboard and mouse (separate budget for those).

[brob]

An on-site support contract does make sense in this situation. But you may not be limited to the three manufacturers mentioned. Some research may turn up one of more local system integrators (builders) that have Revit system expertise and offer appropriate support.

 

If you haven't seen it already, https://www.pugetsystems.com/solutions/cad-workstations/autodesk-revit/hardware-recommendations/ offers a good summary of hardware options suitable for the application.

 

[Kisai]

Revit (and Civil3D and Autocad itself) are only really concerned with GPU memory bandwidth.

 

So max out the RAM if possible, the GPU should be whatever is feasible to drive the monitors. 

 

The staff I used to deploy desktops/laptops often had Dell Precision 7000-series laptops or desktops (not the 5000 series) if they were ACTUALLY using the cad software themselves. 

 

The bottleneck is going to be the GPU. If you want to drive 2x4K you need something like RTX 4000 Ada generation. But what is going to really help or hurt you is how complex the thing is you're working on.

 

If possible please dissuade your accounting department/client away from buying laptops for serious projects. 

 

I would inquire about the complexity of the thing you're working on if you actually have a budget, because if the thing is going to be really large and complex, the RAM on the system and GPU will matter more. If you're just building like a small office building with it, probably not.

 

[MadNeptun]

1 hour ago, Kisai said:

Revit (and Civil3D and Autocad itself) are only really concerned with GPU memory bandwidth.

 

So max out the RAM if possible, the GPU should be whatever is feasible to drive the monitors. 

 

The staff I used to deploy desktops/laptops often had Dell Precision 7000-series laptops or desktops (not the 5000 series) if they were ACTUALLY using the cad software themselves. 

 

The bottleneck is going to be the GPU. If you want to drive 2x4K you need something like RTX 4000 Ada generation. But what is going to really help or hurt you is how complex the thing is you're working on.

 

If possible please dissuade your accounting department/client away from buying laptops for serious projects. 

 

I would inquire about the complexity of the thing you're working on if you actually have a budget, because if the thing is going to be really large and complex, the RAM on the system and GPU will matter more. If you're just building like a small office building with it, probably not.

 

Current target are small hotels (40-60 rooms) but that might change if they get a different contract. Desktop is also their preference and they are independent contractor so they have full control over hardware choice. I've also considered minisforum ms-s1 max. Seems like interesting option when it comes to memory capacity but I'm wondering about driver/software support.

 

[Kisai]

56 minutes ago, MadNeptun said:

. I've also considered minisforum ms-s1 max. Seems like interesting option when it comes to memory capacity but I'm wondering about driver/software support.

 

That's basically a laptop in a desktop form factor. So to be blunt, the GPU requirements might be overstated for revit. Technically, these tools will work on any GPU, however the performance will REALLY be poor without at least a discrete 5070/5080 GPU with >8GB if you're doing 2x4K. You do not necessarily NEED the nvidia part, you just need a part that has memory bandwidth sufficient enough to handle the model you work on. Hence why I was like "depends what you work on." Like in some cases, an older gaming GPU with more VRAM will be preferable to a newer one with less, since it's not the render performance that is in question. iGPU's (like that in laptops) are pretty much incapable of meeting the memory bandwidth requirement due to the shared usage of the system RAM.

 

https://www.myarchitectai.com/blog/revit-system-requirements

 

Quote

What Revit users say: Forum veterans consistently recommend 32 GB as the practical minimum for professional work, with 64 GB being the sweet spot for medium to large projects. If you're working with multiple linked models or coordinating with other disciplines, don't even consider 16 GB.

...

Based on user benchmarks, a mid-range GPU like the NVIDIA RTX 3060 or RTX 4060 handles Revit viewport work without issues. You only need a more powerful card if you're using GPU-based rendering plugins like Enscape, Twinmotion, or V-Ray GPU.

 

If your workflow is Revit + Enscape for client walkthroughs, spec for Enscape: RTX 4070 or better, 12+ GB VRAM. If your workflow is Revit + V-Ray for final stills, spec for V-Ray: CPU cores matter more than GPU, but still plan for a capable card.

 

But if you're in Revit-only mode with no rendering plugins, almost any modern RTX card (or the 4060 laptop variant) is enough.

This reflects the same thing I said earlier. It will depend on what you're loading and what you're doing. If you're just "using it" not rendering things out, the requirements are less. 

 

Given the price crunch for RAM, I'd be cautious about buying like 96GB and then none of the things you deal with only require more than 32GB.

 

 

[Lurking]

I use Revit on an i9-14900k with 64GB and RTX 2000 ADA with 16GB VRAM on 2x4K monitors. That wasn't exactly my choice, but the best our IT allowed at the time. I also use add-ins (ElumTools for lighting simulation, Qbitec for point clouds) 

 

Some things to consider:

1. The Autodesk minimum requirements are BS. Same way W11 can't run on the recommended 4GB. 
2. If you use a laptop for serious BIM work, you must have some self-hate, or really simple projects.
3. Always assume a designer has many virtual desktops, Excel, PDF, websites etc. open in addition to Revit. 
4. Revit has many single-threaded components. So you need a high-clock speed CPU. But Add-ins may use parallel processes (like ElumTools). I recommend 8-12 core CPU with high turbo boost
   • e-cores are not useful in many applications that expect all cores to be of fast speed. I'd recommend AMD or Xeon that don't do the (stupid) p/e core marketing thing.
   • Also assume your friend may buy add-ins later or Revit will improve and use more multi-threading
5. Use at least 12GB VRAM. 8GB is the Autodesk minimum. If they don't render, a simpler GPU is sufficient (like mine). If they do render, more GPU is needed (architects etc. may use rendering)
   • i used to have a 5GB GPU and that VRAM was full easily just from using the PC normally
6. Minimum 64GB RAM with the option to add more. I really would recommend ECC RAM. With a server platform you also have 8-channel RAM. You could get 4x16GB now, and upgrade to 8x16GB later? 
7. Make sure there is a local SSD to cache the Revit file and point clouds etc. Saving in Revit is a manual process and recommended to be done every 15 minutes. 
   • We used to have files on the network drive, and it took a few seconds to save during which you can't work. Now we have OneDrive and that caches on the local C-drive. Saving now is noticeably faster. (i realize OneDrive also takes time to sync to the cloud, but that happens in the background and doesn't pause Revit)
   • I don't use cloud-models, but I assume you will need some local cache. For cloud models they recommend up to 25Gbit, which may not be available to most people.
   • If your friend can swing it, just do a 10Gbit to their NAS or wherever they store data more permanently. You still want the local SSD C-drive cache. 
8. I personally would just use the old PC as a spare system and DIY the new one. And if the main rig fails, just order the spare part. Obviously this only works if your friend is computer-savy
   • At work we have Dell and the service plan. But it still takes them long to fix the PC, or order parts. If a PC fails, it will be down for a day anyway. I rather invest the extremely expensive service fee in a spare PC (or keep the old one). And if the PC doesn't fail outright, Dell also is arguing for days for you to try this and that before actually replacing something. 
   • FWIW, at home where I have control over parts, I never have PC failure. At work, every other Dell machine seem to have some problem within the 4 year warranty period. I'm only a user and not IT. But just the PCs i had often had an issue that required new MB or a whole new PC from Dell. Yes, they replace it for free after some days of arguing. But you have to install everything. I rather buy high-quality components to begin with and provide my own warranty. But I'm not  IT and don't make decisions at work. 

[MadNeptun]

Thanks for all the feedback - it's quite insightful. I'm leaning into finding some local system integrator that could do it and service it.

 

Final question would be does it make sense go to with professional card vs consumer card (assuming comparable specs - bandwidth, VRAM, cores/computer). 

[Kisai]

1 hour ago, MadNeptun said:

Thanks for all the feedback - it's quite insightful. I'm leaning into finding some local system integrator that could do it and service it.

 

Final question would be does it make sense go to with professional card vs consumer card (assuming comparable specs - bandwidth, VRAM, cores/computer). 

Generally it does not matter if you go with Consumer or Professional CPU or GPU. From a liability POV, you want the error correcting memory configuration, and Autodesk certified drivers for the GPU, etc. This is because of the very tiny possibility of there being precision lost in something that is actually going to be built due to either a bit flip, and isn't caught.

 

But from a practical standpoint, the CPU and GPU parts are identical between consumer and professional. They run at lower speeds with more robust cooling systems but otherwise the largest difference is going to be error correcting system memory and error correcting VRAM (on ADA 6000 at least). If you're doing rendering, that does not matter, the thing you're ultimately rendering is still going to be a lossy image if it's turned into a JPEG or a video. If you're actually doing building/editing, then it matters "a little bit", but that goes back again to the entire premise.

 

The consumer gaming parts are intended for gaming, so their noise and reliability is lower with sustained loads, where as the professional cards run at lower speeds so they can fit in a single-slot SFF computer and produce less noise, where as the gaming card will take up 4 expansion slots.

 

Personally, I don't think the cost of the RTX Ada 6000 is justified, At most Ada 4000, for BIM applications is justified.

Like you can see what exactly gets nerfed between the SFF, Regular card and the Gaming version. That SFF card is clocked at half the speed, and the gaming card's memory is clocked 10% higher (and in this case less VRAM.)

 

[Lurking]

1 hour ago, MadNeptun said:

does it make sense go to with professional card vs consumer card

I'm hoping someone with insight will stop by and clarify. 

 

My gut feeling is, you should use the ECC RAM platform (Xeon or TR) and the professional card for better stability. Or if you want to save money, use consumer grade inc. the GPU. Making only one part professional grade seems silly. Go all in, or be all cheap. 

 

FWIW, Revit will crash or freeze every blue moon and I don't know if it is because of my consumer CPU/RAM, or Revit. But even on older ECC RAM platform there were crashes/freezes. So it may not be hardware related. it Is just a complex software and the add-ins don't improve stability. but I would go the ECC route just to exclude hardware as an option. When I got my above mentioned PC at work, Dell must have had a sale to get rid of the i9-14900k that were failing. The price difference was $2,100 for i9-14900k vs. close to $8K for a TR 12-core. And o one at my work could get convinced to get the better platform. ($3K of that was the Dell service plan... lol... could buy a second PC as a spare for the money)

 

Edit: forget about Autodesk certified hardware and drivers. They don't test all there is, and not frequently. If you used Autodesk certified stuff, your choice would be extremely limited and you would use extremely outdated hardware and drivers. Use good hardware and the drivers that manufacturer recommends. Any hardware recommendation by Autodesk is BS and should be ignored. Autodesk is the Microsoft of productivity software - they buy a lot of software companies and then milk the product without investing much. It just happens that Revit is THE BIM standard everyone uses. Revit was created by Charles River Software, which later was purchased by Autodesk. 

 

https://www.autodesk.com/support/system-requirements/certified-graphics-hardware/revit

They only list W10 hardware up to 2021. That alone should tell you how outdated their advice is. 

[dark_globe]

you can go consumer grade , no problem :
GPU is secondary in revit anyways , no point to spend thousands of dollars on a professional video card IMO .
rtx 4070/5070 class will do.

revit generally rely on the best single core cpu performance you can get .
i would consider core 7 ultra 270K plus to be a price/performance winner in this case .

another option is go cheap on the memory and obtain a higher capacity -
64-128gb of DDR4 is better than 32-48gb of DDR5 for professional work - especially for large projects ...
in that case there is an option to go with something like i7 14700K and DDR4 LGA 1700 motherboard .


examples of such builds
(using amazon.de exclusively -
i assume since i can order from there (often) with free shipping to slovakia you can do to in poland) :
 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus 3.7 GHz 24-Core Processor  (€344.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
CPU Cooler: ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler  (€27.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Motherboard: ASRock Z890 LiveMixer WiFi ATX LGA1851 Motherboard  (€152.00 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB 48 GB (2 x 24 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory  (€458.49 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Crucial T710 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 5.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€309.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Lexar EQ790 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€379.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Video Card: Asus DUAL OC GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card  (€572.36 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 217 ATX Mid Tower Case  (€95.90 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Power Supply: Enermax REVOLUTION III 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€92.56 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Total: €2434.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-04-25 16:36 CEST+0200



 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-14700 2.1 GHz 20-Core Processor  (€397.61 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
CPU Cooler: ID-COOLING FX360 INF 58 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (€69.98 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Motherboard: MSI B760 GAMING PLUS WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  (€132.76 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  (€520.50 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€289.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Lexar EQ790 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€379.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Video Card: Asus DUAL OC GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card  (€572.36 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Case: Montech SKY TWO ATX Mid Tower Case  (€97.89 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Power Supply: Enermax REVOLUTION III 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€92.56 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Total: €2553.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-04-25 16:55 CEST+0200



both of these builds are half the price of your original budget and will do the job very well 

of course if you want to go full pro:
for "24/7" customer service and warranty, than sure you can go DELL workstation or similarly known brand 
but the hardware itself will not be better and you will pay twice as much for "optimisation" and support .

[Lurking]

5 hours ago, dark_globe said:

another option is go cheap on the memory and obtain a higher capacity -
64-128gb of DDR4 is better than 32-48gb of DDR5 for professional work

One should compare same amount of RAM. Of course, too little RAM will be slower than enough faster RAM. Duh! And with the budget and professional work, no one should even consider less than 64GB. 

 

Maybe you think you understand RAM numbers in task manger, but most people including myself don't. W11 will use more RAM if it has more. When I had 32GB, W11 used 20+ GB all the time. Now with 64GB, it easily goes to 30GB after a while (I suspect Revit also has some memory leaking here and there). When using point clouds, I easily goes over45GB, at which point W11 warns me. 

 

A normal professional user will use 2+ virtual desktops, multiple browser tabs, PDF, Word/Excel, Outlook, Teams, and so on. And that before even opening Revit. Or opening two instances of Revit and multiple projects. 64GB is the minimum. Maybe the person using the PC can tell from the current setup what they may need beyond 64GB. If they already have 64GB and run into 40GB every once a while, consider 96 or 128GB. 

 

And with consumer grade (2-channel), faster RAM matters even more than when using 4x or 8x RAM. if you want to cheap out, at minimum compare same amount of RAM when pricing out DDR4/DDR5. I still don't think for professional work you want to cheap out. Look at their billable hourly rate and then assume they keep the PC for 4 years. 

 

OP: for the case, also consider good airflow. 

[dark_globe]

18 minutes ago, Lurking said:

One should compare same amount of RAM. Of course, too little RAM will be slower than enough faster RAM. Duh! And with the budget and professional work, no one should even consider less than 64GB. 

 

Maybe you think you understand RAM numbers in task manger, but most people including myself don't. W11 will use more RAM if it has more. When I had 32GB, W11 used 20+ GB all the time. Now with 64GB, it easily goes to 30GB after a while (I suspect Revit also has some memory leaking here and there). When using point clouds, I easily goes over45GB, at which point W11 warns me. 

 

A normal professional user will use 2+ virtual desktops, multiple browser tabs, PDF, Word/Excel, Outlook, Teams, and so on. And that before even opening Revit. Or opening two instances of Revit and multiple projects. 64GB is the minimum. Maybe the person using the PC can tell from the current setup what they may need beyond 64GB. If they already have 64GB and run into 40GB every once a while, consider 96 or 128GB. 

 

And with consumer grade (2-channel), faster RAM matters even more than when using 4x or 8x RAM. if you want to cheap out, at minimum compare same amount of RAM when pricing out DDR4/DDR5. I still don't think for professional work you want to cheap out. Look at their billable hourly rate and then assume they keep the PC for 4 years. 

 

OP: for the case, also consider good airflow. 

you missed my point :
i was saying he will get more capacity for the same price with DDR4 (he can even go as far as 96 or 128gb indeed)
i compared it price wise not capacity to capacity wise

because in that case :
2x32gb of DDR5 costs €700 minimum whereas 2x32gb of DDR4 starts at €450
that would not be much of a comparison now would it ? 

speed is secondary to capacity when it comes to heavy workloads :
faster ram will not do you much good if you run out of it .

and i´m well aware that some professionals may need 128gb of RAM -
this was also often the recommendation back in the day when new set of ram didn´t cost you a kidney - but well - here we are ...

i´m very familiar of how ram with windows works =
the more you have, the more will be allocated somewhere .
i had systems with 2x8 , 2x16 and 2x32 and even tested 4x32 at one point .

also as i was saying going pro workstation is not a bad thing per say -
it will just cost roughly 2x more and the hardware itself will not have more computing power .

[Lurking]

2 minutes ago, dark_globe said:

because in that case 2x32gb of DDR5 costs €700 minimum whereas 2x32gb of DDR4 starts at €450
that would not be much of a comparison now would it ? 

That exactly would be the required comparison. Determine the amount you need (64GB being a minimum) and then decide if one can afford the faster RAM of the same required amount. 

 

With DDR5, you also get a more modern platform and CPU. So, there is more benefit than just RAM speed numbers. 

 

The price difference you list are 2 hours of billable work. Revit subscription alone cost $2,500 each year. Plus the add-ins (that could add up to even more than Revit cost). Assuming 4 years of life, the software cost maybe $15,000+ (in the US at least). Do you really think saving a few hundred on RAM matters? 

 

This isn't a hobby PC someone uses to run a free Linux OS with LibreOffice and the hardware is 100% of the cost. Hardware is a tiny % of the cost. 

[dark_globe]

11 minutes ago, Lurking said:

That exactly would be the required comparison. Determine the amount you need (64GB being a minimum) and then decide if one can afford the faster RAM of the same required amount. 

 

With DDR5, you also get a more modern platform and CPU. So, there is more benefit than just RAM speed numbers. 

 

The price difference you list are 2 hours of billable work. Revit subscription alone cost $2,500 each year. Plus the add-ins (that could add up to even more than Revit cost). Assuming 4 years of life, the software cost maybe $15,000+ (in the US at least). Do you really think saving a few hundred on RAM matters? 

 

This isn't a hobby PC someone uses to run a free Linux OS with LibreOffice and the hardware is 100% of the cost. Hardware is a tiny % of the cost. 

obviously budget matters , with this logic you can also say his entire budget is a drop in a bucket
and that it basically doesn´t matter in comparison to his "billable hours" or the anual software subscription cost ...
(using this logic he should build a 15K machine using PRO grade components - but the question is how much would it actually benefit him in his work ?
if the answer is 5-10% or not at all than it is pointless to pay more) ...

also funnily enough in my experience even a very well paid people tend to save as much as they can on the hardware
(or basically they don´t want to pay any more than they necessarily need to) .

i´ve build a few workstation machines myself for full time professionals and had zero complaints so far
(also i would service/upgrade any machine build by me if so required) .

[Lurking]

27 minutes ago, dark_globe said:

obviously budget matters , with this logic you can also say his entire budget is a drop in a bucket
and that it basically doesn´t matter in comparison to his "billable hours" or the anual software subscription cost ...
(using this logic he should build a 15K machine using PRO grade components - but the question is how much would it actually benefit him in his work ?
if the answer is 5-10% or not at all than it is pointless to pay more) ...

also funnily enough in my experience even a very well paid people tend to save as much as they can on the hardware
(or basically they don´t want to pay any more than they necessarily need to) .

i´ve build a few workstation machines myself for full time professionals and had zero complaints so far
(also i would service/upgrade any machine build by me if so required) .

I'm sorry if I missed it. Are you actually using BIM software professionally?

 

Budget is $5K. No need to recommend any systems with less than 64GB.

 

I'm a cheap bastard. But when it comes to things to use professionally and you use 8 hours everyday, one should get the best and not compromise. 

[brob]

Among the many advantages of DDR5 over DDR4 is the availability of 64GB modules. This allows reliable 128GB two stick configurations.

 

Check terms of any Revit software support. At one time Autodesk wouldn't provide support for consumer grade GPU.

 

[dark_globe]

9 hours ago, Lurking said:

I'm sorry if I missed it. Are you actually using BIM software professionally?

 

Budget is $5K. No need to recommend any systems with less than 64GB.

 

I'm a cheap bastard. But when it comes to things to use professionally and you use 8 hours everyday, one should get the best and not compromise. 

first and foremost you don´t even know at what level he operates .
there are many stages of so called "professionals" , and i´ve seen it first hand -
one may call himself a pro and never use more than 32-48gb of ram doing only small simple projects .
the other may be doing things where he hits the wall with even the 128gb of memory .

the OP is not even the one who will be using this system :
OP needs to ask his friend what used to be his friends former memory configuration and how much of it was he actually utilizing doing his specific projects .
also while we are at it, it would be best to tell us his entire former system configuration and if it was still somewhat able to do his work for him .
(you would be amazed what old configurations can people use and still be able to somewhat get their work done)
or is he just starting and this will be his first such system ? 

too many questions to provide accurate answers . (i just offered some broad cost/effective system configurations -
in my experience most people are rarely fully utilizing even this types of systems)
 
one of my friends for example is a professional photographer and he is currently using i7 14700K + 2x32gb of ddr4 memory and rtx 5070ti)
the other two are programmers working for big companies -
one of them has 4x32gb of ddr4 memory + ryzen 5950x and rtx 3060 12gb -
i was actually setting this system up and the memory would not run past 3000MHz - 3600/3200MHz was already not working with 4 sticks .

and the other has 2x32gb of DDR5 + ryzen 7900x and rtx 3080Ti ,
all of them are able to do their work just fine and are earning north of 5K every month 
(which in my country is considered around 3x the average salary - and poland is our neighbouring country so salaries are not much different there) -
they still don´t go and splash their cash around nor are they building 15K pro work stations -
you see - what i´ve come to found out over my 15+ years of experience of building home/gaming/workstation systems is that
tech forum "buble" is one thing and putting a system together IRL with customer and offering alternatives and explaining the cost etc. is another) 

yes one should get the best if it is really his every day work tool .
(or really just pay those 5k to get a pro workstation from dell etc. and call it a day)
however needlesly overpaying for something just because the budget allows it is also not ideal
(since you don´t even know what this specific user will even utilize) . 

[Lurking]

12 hours ago, brob said:

availability of 64GB modules. This allows reliable 128GB two stick configurations.

I didn't even consider that. But really, in 2026 for professional use, one would use a modern platform anyway and DDR4 is moot. 

 

And I still think, for applications requiring much RAM, ECC is better. and that would be 8-channel these days anyway. 

 

I don't like the term "workstation", but that what anyone using CAD or similar does usually gets and is used to mean a server CPU with ECC RAM. I don't know if this is just wisdom from the older days. but Revit models can be corrupted. While i don't know if RAM is the issue, it seems better to be on the safe side. I'd like to know if someone with actual insight can share that insight? 

[MadNeptun]

Thanks for all the feedback. We will go with local system integrator. Depending on hardware availability 265K/270K plus or 9700X/9800X3D, 64gb RAM and RTX 4000 Ada. Local integrator will be able to provide some support and total price seems to be around 4400$ with tax. Since it's a business expense, we will be able to deduct it