Build for Autodesk Revit

[maguskwt]

Hello everyone,

 

I am an architect who needs to use Autodesk Revit at work. My workstations at work are usually with those Quadro workstation graphics cards. From my experience, the main obstacle in adopting BIM, which is a very information heavy 3d architectural software, is the hardware. My office gave me a dell workstation laptop the one that looks like xps 15 but has a Quadro graphics card in it. However, since I went for the thinner form factor, that laptop wasn't powerful enough to work on large scale BIM models.

 

Now I would like to have my home PC be able to run Autodesk Revit very smoothly preferably even for large projects. However, I do not want to use a Quadro graphics card as I feel they are very expensive. I also read somewhere that graphics cards are not the most important components to run Autodesk Revit. I read that SSD's and even fast cpu's are quite important, which was quite surprising for me. I always thought that the graphics card was the most important component for CAD and 3d softwares. I would like to ask you guys to propose builds which could handle architectural revit models quite well. Which components should I emphasize on. As I mentioned, I would like to stick to consumer components unless it is absolutely necessary to go for workstation graphics card and xeon CPU's and provided the price is not too high. My budget is around 1400-1500 USD. Is it possible?

 

[Zytoc]

Don't get it wrong, GPU is the biggest contributor but some others are important as well.

 

The main components you will need to ensure are top notch are:

1. CPU - 6700K ~ $300

2. GPU - Nvidia GTX 1080 ~ $650  (You will need CUDA cores, so no AMD)

3. SSD - NVME Samsung 960 PRO 512 GB ~ $300

4. Amount of DDR4 RAM - 32GB ~ $180

 

Unfortunately, those by themselves will put you at $1430.

You will also need:

650W+ Power Supply ~ $80 - 100  (Go for Corsair, EVGA or Seasonic)

Case ~ $60 - $120 (Fractal Design and NZXT are my favorites)

Large Storage 1TB HHD ~ $60

Motherboard ~ $120

27" Monitor ~ $250

 

 

Overall for a system that will easily handle Autodesk Revit with professional application ease you are looking at around $1,800 without a monitor or around $2,050 with a monitor.  If Autodesk Revit will work with a GTX 1070 you could save $300 off those totals.  Also, you may be able to get by with a 240 GB SSD and save another $100.

 

If you need any additional help let me know.

 

[maguskwt]

thanks alot for your suggestions Jordan Scott.

I do have a monitor so the budget doesnt include the monitor.

 

Would you say that among the first 4 components, if i were to reduce the specs, it would be the GPU? (to 1070)

 

Noticed also that you are recommending a PCIe M.2 SSD which is quite expensive. Does it make alot of difference for BIM if I were to use SATA III SSD like the Samsung 850 Evo/ Pro.

 

I guess what I'm trying to ask is which component could I downgrade without relatively too much of a performance hit for BIM.