7 Designers 1 CPU?

[DJMohr]

After watching your 7 gamers 1 CPU vid it got me wondering what other applications it could be used for.

The system you guys used is huge and it worked for running games the way you wanted to, but what about a system one could put in place for designers?

 

I'm considering doing a similar setup for our design staff, they make use of AutoCAD LT (2D not 3D). Have several VMs loaded, each with it's own software (similar software) and have the users connect to each VM via a thin client.

 

You guys think it would work? What kind of system do you think would be required?

[benga]

I dont know too much about AutoCAD but if i had to guess it uses a lot more CPU than GPU. 
The thing about the 7Gamers 1PC was that Linus shoved a whole lot of GPUs in the PC.
I'm not sure you could scale it the same with CPUs.

But I could be wrong. It'd be a nice episode or build log that's for sure

[DXMember]

6 minutes ago, DJMohr said:

After watching your 7 gamers 1 CPU vid it got me wondering what other applications it could be used for.

The system you guys used is huge and it worked for running games the way you wanted to, but what about a system one could put in place for designers?

 

I'm considering doing a similar setup for our design staff, they make use of AutoCAD LT (2D not 3D). Have several VMs loaded, each with it's own software (similar software) and have the users connect to each VM via a thin client.

 

You guys think it would work? What kind of system do you think would be required?

or you could just install Windows Server 2012 R2+ with AutoCAD and let everyone connect in remote without having to do virtualization overhead...

[DJMohr]

AutoCAD isn't that CPU intense, I have a few guys running Core 2 Duo CPUs still with the latest AutoCAD.

My initial thought was maybe a high end i7, drop loads of RAM in, and run 1080s in SLi, ofc SSDs will be in the mix as well.

[DJMohr]

2 minutes ago, DXMember said:

or you could just install Windows Server 2012 R2+ with AutoCAD and let everyone connect in remote without having to do virtualization overhead...

I have tested that, sadly the licensing T&C from AutoDesk is whack and would force us into upgrading our packages for some ridiculous per licensing cost.

I remember Citrix also being in the mix.... just can't remember why, regardless the end result was that the total costing was just not worth it.

[another random person]

24 minutes ago, DJMohr said:

I have tested that, sadly the licensing T&C from AutoDesk is whack and would force us into upgrading our packages for some ridiculous per licensing cost.

I remember Citrix also being in the mix.... just can't remember why, regardless the end result was that the total costing was just not worth it.

 

Autocad isn't as CPU intensive as other programs like inventor and is a bit more reliant on GPU power. Any Dual Xeon build (14 core Xeon recommended) with (recommended 128GB Ram) 64 GB RAM and single slot cheaper Quadros for each user will work just fine. Once you work out all the virtualisation and install windows and Autocad on each of the VMs, you are good to go. It all depends on your budget honestly.

[DJMohr]

2 minutes ago, another random person said:

Autocad isn't as CPU intensive as other programs like inventor and is a bit more reliant on GPU power. Any Dual Xeon build (14 core Xeon recommended) with (recommended 128GB Ram) 64 GB RAM and single slot cheaper Quadros for each user will work just fine. Once you work out all the virtualisation and install windows and Autocad on each of the VMs, you are good to go. It all depends on your budget honestly.

The budget is what worries me most.

This experiment will have to be based budget based, don't think I will be blessed with a Xeon setup, or Quadros for that matter.

[another random person]

Just now, DJMohr said:

The budget is what worries me most.

This experiment will have to be based budget based, don't think I will be blessed with a Xeon setup, or Quadros for that matter.

 

In that case, maybe small individual builds should be your way to go. Never buy prebuilt or manufacturer built desktops.

[DXMember]

38 minutes ago, DJMohr said:

I have tested that, sadly the licensing T&C from AutoDesk is whack and would force us into upgrading our packages for some ridiculous per licensing cost.

I remember Citrix also being in the mix.... just can't remember why, regardless the end result was that the total costing was just not worth it.

wouldn't the same apply if you were to install 7 copies of AutoCAD on different VMs?

Running Windows Server allows you to run arbitrary amount of users simultaneously on the same machine

[DJMohr]

33 minutes ago, DXMember said:

wouldn't the same apply if you were to install 7 copies of AutoCAD on different VMs?

I'm actually not sure, the way I see it is that each VM is its own, so its own software as well, with the Citrix setup we would have been forced to upgrade from LT to the full product to enable some functions.

[Mr_Flynn]

The problem with the 7 gamers system was that it was woefully impractical. Taking the GPUs out the mix simplifies it a bit, but you still have to deal with other software quirks, the physical location of the device (do you want users to remote in to their own VM or do you want them to be physically attached?), and the cost (at that point it might be worth it just to pay auto desk more to use remote applications from Windows server). In your case it might be easier to get a bunch of desktops and deploy them. 

[SLAYR]

4 hours ago, another random person said:

In that case, maybe small individual builds should be your way to go. Never buy prebuilt or manufacturer built desktops.

Prebuilts are alot better for buisnesses because they have support and warranties buisnesses should stay away from custom as they do tend to fail faster then a prebuilt, and will not have the same support as a prebuilt, as well as then they have to pay for someone to build it.

 

Higher end workstations and servers by companies like dell or hp would be the best way to go.

[ajaxburger]

It would be interesting to see how the 7 Gamers 1 CPU system performed with a video editing workload. Arma benchmarks would also be appreciated. 

[manikyath]

the sheer amount of impracticality would scare off any cad designer that takes themselves seriously.

 

7 gamers was the kind of showcase pc that is built to perform once, and REALLY catch the eye at an event, and to then be dismantled because its just not practical...