Best CPU for Autocad?

[Walter H.W.]

Hey guys,

 

I need to build a PC which I will use mostly for Autocad and video editing.

My budget is not that big and I was thinking about a FX-6300 and OC it to 4ghz or do you guys suggest the cheapest i5 (locked) I can find?
 

I'm asking it because I don't know if it's worth spending twice the money for something that (at least in benchmarks) is less powerful, considering I also need to get a good GPU, GTX 960 or AMD equivalent.

 

Thanks.

[Morgan MLGman]

If you've got enough money, go for the FX-8320. It's basically an underclocked 8350 (which I use and highly value for its price/performance ratio) in which the ratio is actually even better. It will last longer than the 6300, isn't much more expensive and has more cores. Also, in terms of the GPU the 960 was a good choice, and I always used nVidia cards, but now I'm thinking with the coming of DirectX12 games the newer Radeon cards might actually begin being slithly better or equal to the nvidias. The R9 380 seems like a good option, although the 960 or 770 would not be bad either.

[Walter H.W.]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll see if I can get the 8320 but in that case I would have to get a worse GPU (like a 280x), do you think it'd be worth it?

[Morgan MLGman]

@Walter H.W. I wouldn't say so, I mean, it would technically be equal to the GTX960, but do you really want to get an old GPU? I mean the Radeon R9 3xx series is just newer, FX-8320 with an aftermarket cooler that allows 4,5gHz OC + an R9 380 would be a great combination, should run any game you throw at it at 1080p.

[Walter H.W.]

@Walter H.W. I wouldn't say so, I mean, it would technically be equal to the GTX960, but do you really want to get an old GPU? I mean the Radeon R9 3xx series is just newer, FX-8320 with an aftermarket cooler that allows 4,5gHz OC + an R9 380 would be a great combination, should run any game you throw at it at 1080p.

I agree, if the PC was for me, but it's for my cousin and he wants at least 3gb of VRAM (he even asked 4gb, can you believe it?) but the budget is too low for that.

So I've to decide between 6300 + 960 4gb (from EVGA) or 8320 + 380 (2gb). I've to see if I convince him to get a gpu with 2gb of VRAM. 

He wants it to be "future proof" but he doesn't understand that with his budget it's impossible..

[Morgan MLGman]

@Walter H.W. but there are versions of R9 380 with 4 gigs of Vram... You can get one starting from 215$ on newegg. You basically pay 20$ more for 2GB of VRAM more, it's worth even if you don't need it right now in my opinion...

[Walter H.W.]

@Walter H.W. but there are versions of R9 380 with 4 gigs of Vram... You can get one starting from 215$ on newegg. You basically pay 20$ more for 2GB of VRAM more, it's worth even if you don't need it right now in my opinion...

Alright I think I can manage to get one, I'm taking a cheaper case, the 960 4gb has the same price as the 380 4gb, so I guess I'm taking the first (it's more powerful, isn't it?). It's from Palit, do you know if it's good enough?

Also for the mobo I'm taking the cheapest I can find but I'm afraid it could have problems with the 8320, should I be worried about the chipset and such?

Thanks.

[techguru]

Alright I think I can manage to get one, I'm taking a cheaper case, the 960 4gb has the same price as the 380 4gb, so I guess I'm taking the first (it's more powerful, isn't it?). It's from Palit, do you know if it's good enough?

Also for the mobo I'm taking the cheapest I can find but I'm afraid it could have problems with the 8320, should I be worried about the chipset and such?

Thanks.

we need a budget to suggest anything

[Walter H.W.]

we need a budget to suggest anything

 

I really don't see how telling the budget will change the situation since prices are different depending on where you live.

Even if I tell you my budget is €700 it will not make it easier. I mean, you can "pcpartpick" it but then when I look for those components in my country they might cost more (which always happens).

Anyway as I just said the budget is €700, I'm already at € 726,55 including a FX-8320, a Palit 960 4Gb and a Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P.

All the rest is pretty much done, I only need to know if the GPU and motherboard are fine, or maybe I can get a cheaper good mobo since this one costs €67.

No hate!

[Morgan MLGman]

@Walter H.W. Normally, I would suggest getting the Nvidia. I own a GTX 970 myself. HOWEVER with the recent changes and possible things in the future, I'd take the Radeon for the best performance. It's technically a better card, but when it comes to gaming despite having better specs the 960 performs the same or even slightly better. DirectX12 is going to change that, so take the Radeon for futureproofness. The 960 is a decent card but it's not as good as 970 in terms of price/performance. Go for the 4GB version of R9 390 and buy an OC'd version, this will be enough.

[Walter H.W.]

@Walter H.W. Normally, I would suggest getting the Nvidia. I own a GTX 970 myself. HOWEVER with the recent changes and possible things in the future, I'd take the Radeon for the best performance. It's technically a better card, but when it comes to gaming despite having better specs the 960 performs the same or even slightly better. DirectX12 is going to change that, so take the Radeon for futureproofness. The 960 is a decent card but it's not as good as 970 in terms of price/performance. Go for the 4GB version of R9 390 and buy an OC'd version, this will be enough.

 

How did we get to the 390? Is this a mistype? Lol.

By the way, the GPU would be an Xfx R9 380 4GB, the website tells me it needs a 750W PSU but I don't understand why. My brother has a R9 280 which supposedly consumes more and still he's fine with a 530W PSU. Now, he has a 95W CPU instead of the 125W  of the 8320, but shouldn't 530W still be enough?

 

PS: What about the motherboard?

[Morgan MLGman]

@Walter H.W. yes this was a typo, I obviously meant R9 380 4GB.
To be perfectly safe I would go for the 600W PSU. 500 might be enough but it's closer to the limit so look for a 600W+ one.

Good, cheap motherboards for the FX-8320? I'm using a Gigabyte GA-970-UD3 with my FX-8350, but that's a really budget one and I would not recommend it.

Get an ASRock Fatal1ty 970 Performance motherboard, or if you do not like ASRock get the MSi 970 Gaming motherboard (Both AM3+ socket obviously)|
YOU CAN GET IT FOR 70$ ON NEWEGG.COM (with a 10$ rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157577&cm_re=asrock_970-_-13-157-577-_-Product


I highly recommend the ASRock one, I'm going to get it for myself very soon. Unless you need something even cheaper?

[Prysin]

Hey guys,

 

I need to build a PC which I will use mostly for Autocad and video editing.

My budget is not that big and I was thinking about a FX-6300 and OC it to 4ghz or do you guys suggest the cheapest i5 (locked) I can find?

 

I'm asking it because I don't know if it's worth spending twice the money for something that (at least in benchmarks) is less powerful, considering I also need to get a good GPU, GTX 960 or AMD equivalent.

 

Thanks.

FX 8320e, since then you wont need a 8+2 phase 140w TDP board to power it.

 

best GPU is without a doubt a R9 280X.

Autocad loves COMPUTE POWER, and Nvidia doesnt hold a candle to AMD in that regards. CUDA is just another way of doing compute, and a 280X is far superior to a 960 in compute.

 

ALL CAD programs since like 2010 and newer supports AMD GPU acceleration. Albeit you may need to set it to "OpenCL acceleration" in the settings menu

[Walter H.W.]

Get an ASRock Fatal1ty 970 Performance motherboard, or if you do not like ASRock get the MSi 970 Gaming motherboard (Both AM3+ socket obviously)|

YOU CAN GET IT FOR 70$ ON NEWEGG.COM (with a 10$ rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157577&cm_re=asrock_970-_-13-157-577-_-Product

Great suggestions but they're actually really expensive in my country ($110 and $120$), the only one I can afford is the Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P  , unless you tell me there's something wrong with it.

For the psu I agree with you but as for the mobo, I can't get one with more wattage without going over my budget or buying a low brand, the one on my list is a Thermaltake SPS-530M Max. Output Capacity 530W, Peak Output Capacity 630W. Can't get any better for that money, so I guess I'll have to go with the 960.

[Prysin]

Great suggestions but they're actually really expensive in my country ($110 and $120$), the only one I can afford is the Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P  , unless you tell me there's something wrong with it.

For the psu I agree with you but as for the mobo, I can't get one with more wattage without going over my budget or buying a low brand, the one on my list is a Thermaltake SPS-530M Max. Output Capacity 530W, Peak Output Capacity 630W. Can't get any better for that money, so I guess I'll have to go with the 960.

Only the Gigabyte 970 UD3P can run a FX 83xx. The FX 8xxx and 9xxx needs 8+2 phase power delivery to remain STABLE, if not it will throttle.

 

The FX 8320E, which is 95w version, can run off ANY 970 board.

[Walter H.W.]

FX 8320e, since then you wont need a 8+2 phase 140w TDP board to power it.

 

best GPU is without a doubt a R9 280X.

Autocad loves COMPUTE POWER, and Nvidia doesnt hold a candle to AMD in that regards. CUDA is just another way of doing compute, and a 280X is far superior to a 960 in compute.

 

ALL CAD programs since like 2010 and newer supports AMD GPU acceleration. Albeit you may need to set it to "OpenCL acceleration" in the settings menu

 

But by getting a 8320E don't I lose all the power of an "8" core? For example my OC'd FX-6300 scores 7500 points on PassMark while the 8320E average score is 7400, I know I might bring it to maybe 8500 points with OC but is it worth it? 

Said that the 95W power consumption could leave me enough power to run the 380.

Sorry but the 280X is REALLY power hungry, not an option. 

 

[Walter H.W.]

Only the Gigabyte 970 UD3P can run a FX 83xx. The FX 8xxx and 9xxx needs 8+2 phase power delivery to remain STABLE, if not it will throttle.

 

The FX 8320E, which is 95w version, can run off ANY 970 board.

 

Wow thanks for the info.. The motherboard you suggested is only 12€ more expensive, I'll make it fit into the budget. Ironically the 8320E is more expensive than the 8320. 

Now I only have to decide which GPU.

PS: I found the 8230E in another shop, it has the same price as the 8320, which means I can still get the cheaper motherboard I posted, but this would be a cool change only if it would mean that I can run the 380 with a 530W PSU due to the change of CPUs.

Anybody knows if it's feasible?

[Morgan MLGman]

Basically you need  a mobo with 8+2 phase power delivery (I can OC on my cheap-ass mobo cause it has that feature to 4,7ghz stable)
It also has to feature one of these two chipsets: 990FX (better) or a 970 like mine for SATA 3 and USB 3.0s. The rest is up to you and your needs.

[Walter H.W.]

Basically you need  a mobo with 8+2 phase power delivery (I can OC on my cheap-ass mobo cause it has that feature to 4,7ghz stable)

It also has to feature one of these two chipsets: 990FX (better) or a 970 like mine for SATA 3 and USB 3.0s. The rest is up to you and your needs.

 

The GA-970A-UD3P feels like the cheapest option for my needs, I'm still unsure if it can run a 380 with 530W even though this website says: Load Wattage: 432 W Recommended PSU Wattage: 482 W with a 8320, I don't know if I should trust them. 

 

 

I attached the PSU info, maybe I should open a thread in another section.

 

[Morgan MLGman]

@Walter H.W. The GA-970A-UD3P should be enough, it's a newer version of mine, featuring UEFI and allowing SLI, you will like that motherboard, Gigabyte has never failed me for around 10 years of using it.
The PSU should be enough. I would personally go for the 600+ option, but if you already have the 530 PSU you've got nothing to lose, try it, then if it will crash at full load that means it's the PSU. Overall full load power consuption should be around 450-460W so you have some room left.

BUT just to be sure, you can always open another thread in the correct section with the specs

[Walter H.W.]

@Walter H.W. The GA-970A-UD3P should be enough, it's a newer version of mine, featuring UEFI and allowing SLI, you will like that motherboard, Gigabyte has never failed me for around 10 years of using it.

The PSU should be enough. I would personally go for the 600+ option, but if you already have the 530 PSU you've got nothing to lose, try it, then if it will crash at full load that means it's the PSU. Overall full load power consuption should be around 450-460W so you have some room left.

BUT just to be sure, you can always open another thread in the correct section with the specs

Great! Thanks for the help.

Just opened another thread for the PSU.

[Ansau]

I will tell you to go for an i5. CAD software relies a lot on single core performance , so any Intel will crush the top amd.

You can look for caf benchmarks or pc recommendations, and you will see only Intel, mostly i7 but an i5 still dors the job pretty well.

About the gpu, it is known autocad flavours nvidia and the 960 is a really good option.

[Walter H.W.]

I will tell you to go for an i5. CAD software relies a lot on single core performance , so any Intel will crush the top amd.

You can look for caf benchmarks or pc recommendations, and you will see only Intel, mostly i7 but an i5 still dors the job pretty well.

About the gpu, it is known autocad flavours nvidia and the 960 is a really good option.

Not sure if trolling or just bad timing, but I've already taken my decision.

[Prysin]

But by getting a 8320E don't I lose all the power of an "8" core? For example my OC'd FX-6300 scores 7500 points on PassMark while the 8320E average score is 7400, I know I might bring it to maybe 8500 points with OC but is it worth it? 

Said that the 95W power consumption could leave me enough power to run the 380.

Sorry but the 280X is REALLY power hungry, not an option. 

 

its a 8core CPU, its just binned (hand picked) really tediously so they have found a chip that can reduce clock speed by 300MHz, but in return it can use so much less voltage that it reduces its TDP by 30w, which is HUGE.

[Ansau]

Bad timing. I'm an engeneering student and I know what I'm talking cause I built a pc last November for gaming and cad software. Been in 3 universities from 3 countries and all pcs are full of xeons, i7 and i5.

Taking that fx was not the best idea, but its too late