Home Workstation

[The Snuggler]

Hello,

I've recently been presented with the need to work a lot from home and as such am in need of a good workstation.  However, I'm not familiar with the current market or a workstations requirements.  In addition, I need this relatively quickly and don't exactly have a lot of time to do research, so I'd greatly appreciate some help.  I have experience with multiple gaming PC builds in the past and am looking forward to the build, but I'd like some suggestions on what suites my needs before I buy anything.  I don't want to jump in and impulsively buy gaming parts if they don't fill my need.  I'm an architect and mainly use AutoCAD and Rivet, as well as various Adobe products and Microsoft Office.  Focus is primarily program performance but I'd like the ability to play the occasional game comfortably.  I'd like to spend $800-$1000 USD (Looking to take advantage of Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals) but wouldn't be opposed to extending that if it truly makes sense.  My hope is to get about 6-7 years of practical use out of it before needing to upgrade again.  I have a few things I'd like answered but feel free to extend beyond.  Open discussion and build suggestions desired.

 

I'd like to stick with Intel for the CPU.  Should I buy an i7 or Xeon processor?  Assuming I do a lot of rendering, more cores on a Xeon would be helpful but is it really needed for a home workstation?  If so, is it recommended to have a dual Xeon motherboard?  I realize this will push me over the price point but again, if it makes sense then I'd rather be able to get my work done efficiently than restrict myself with a cost limit.  Thoughts on second hand Xeon via eBay?  If i7 makes more sense, the 6700K seems to be the best option at the moment; thoughts?

 

Given the programs CPU heavy use, would it make sense to water cool?  I'll be using a full tower with good air flow but I'm not sure how hot this will get under load.

 

I know there is gaming specific RAM on the market.  Is there RAM designed for CAD use as well?  I'm not educated on timing or frankly RAM in general, so a quick explanation would be appreciated.

 

Depending on the CPU and RAM recommendations, please recommend a motherboard that would make sense.

 

I'm currently working on an old rig running two 1080p monitors off a GTX9800.  I will likely be upgrading to a 4K monitor in the future for added real estate to work in, but will not be purchasing a monitor at the moment.  GPU requirements would be the ability to run my current two monitors with the future ability to output 4K, as well as being able to run the occasional casual game comfortably.  Since the programs aren't GPU heavy, I assume SLI or Crossfire is pointless, correct?

 

PSU obviously depends on my power needs from the other components, but I'd like to avoid anything below an 80 Plus Silver rating.  I'll be using a current HDD for random files but am in need of a good SSD for running Windows and programs.

 

Feel free to ask anything I may have left out.  Thank you in advance for any assistance.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Go i7 6700k

 

For ram, get normal ram, id get 32 if you can, but 16 will be fine.

 

For gpu, id go 1050.

 

SSD for boot, hdd for storage.

 

A 300w psu would run the system above, so you don't need anything big, just get a good unit.

[another random person]

I'm just doing a rough reply, sorry.

 

Basically with revit and inventor, I would recommend at least 16GB of ram for your Workstation as well as the largest number of cores on a CPU you can afford. Basically in a professional architectural workspace I would recommend at least spending $1500+ in order to get the most life out of it. Personally I would opt for 32GB of ram and any 6+ Core Xeon I can get within that price range. If you want, you can either transfer your current GPU to your new workstation or get something like a 1070 or 1060. Dual CPUs are extremely overkill and unless if you are rendering huge apartment blocks or thousand part assemblies, dual CPU is overkill. You can score a deal on dual CPU motherboard combos it means having to use aged hardware which wouldn't last as long as intended. 

 

Watercool...I mean it will improve temperatures by a mile. But in the long run they tend to need more care and servicing, also having shorter lifespans due to all the parts and components that could fail. To add on to that, water cooling will destroy your wallet considering the rough budget you set. So for cooling, if you are worried, get a dark rock pro or d15 to cool the CPU.

 

For RAM preferably get ECC ram as it is designed to work well with Xeon chips to stop RAM write errors, not a necessity but a useful purchase.

 

Yes crossfire is plainly useless in your usecase and needs. 

 

For storage preferably get a cheap, high capacity SSD or a High performance HDD to store your APPs and Project files. (SSD recommended) Also a separate high capacity HDD to store larger files not effected by disk speeds. 

 

[MrPants_]

I mean the i7 5820k is a great processor for the price.

[The Snuggler]

20 minutes ago, another random person said:

I'm just doing a rough reply, sorry.

 

Basically with revit and inventor, I would recommend at least 16GB of ram for your Workstation as well as the largest number of cores on a CPU you can afford. Basically in a professional architectural workspace I would recommend at least spending $1500+ in order to get the most life out of it. Personally I would opt for 32GB of ram and any 6+ Core Xeon I can get within that price range. If you want, you can either transfer your current GPU to your new workstation or get something like a 1070 or 1060. Dual CPUs are extremely overkill and unless if you are rendering huge apartment blocks or thousand part assemblies, dual CPU is overkill. You can score a deal on dual CPU motherboard combos it means having to use aged hardware which wouldn't last as long as intended. 

 

Watercool...I mean it will improve temperatures by a mile. But in the long run they tend to need more care and servicing, also having shorter lifespans due to all the parts and components that could fail. To add on to that, water cooling will destroy your wallet considering the rough budget you set. So for cooling, if you are worried, get a dark rock pro or d15 to cool the CPU.

 

For RAM preferably get ECC ram as it is designed to work well with Xeon chips to stop RAM write errors, not a necessity but a useful purchase.

 

Yes crossfire is plainly useless in your usecase and needs. 

 

For storage preferably get a cheap, high capacity SSD or a High performance HDD to store your APPs and Project files. (SSD recommended) Also a separate high capacity HDD to store larger files not effected by disk speeds. 

 

I'm thankful I wasn't being crazy considering a Xeon processor for a home computer.  I had assumed a dual CPU system was overkill but figured I'd ask and get input.  Will a Xeon system still be efficient for casual gaming?  Does the price/performance difference really make it more worthwhile over an i7?

 

I'd prefer not to use my current GPU but I suppose using it for now until I upgrade to a 4K isnt a bad thought.  Point here though is that the GPU makes no difference to my build needs, correct?

 

Sound advice on the water cooling.  I didn't factor in the reliability over time for a water cooled unit.  Do you think this is something I need to worry about enough to get an upgraded CPU cooler?

 

Doing some quick research shows that the Samsung 850 is the current market favorite.  I'm likely going to make this part of the build unless you have a better suggestion?

[The Snuggler]

21 minutes ago, MrAwesomepants said:

I mean the i7 5820k is a great processor for the price.

Are you basing this suggestion off the added cores?  MicroCenter is currently offering the 6700K for $259.99, and I'd rather get the newer chip unless the added cores makes that much of a difference.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/451883/Core_i7-6700K_40GHz_LGA_1151_Boxed_Processor

http://www.microcenter.com/product/437203/Core_i7-5820k_Haswell_33_GHz_LGA_2011-V3_Boxed_Processor

[MrPants_]

1 minute ago, The Snuggler said:

Are you basing this suggestion off the added cores?  MicroCenter is currently offering the 6700K for $259.99, and I'd rather get the newer chip unless the added cores makes that much of a difference.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/451883/Core_i7-6700K_40GHz_LGA_1151_Boxed_Processor

Oh wow! Sorry, prices in Norway aren't nearly the same as in the US! I'd get the 6700k, since it's such a big jump in price to the X99-chipset.

[another random person]

49 minutes ago, The Snuggler said:

I'm thankful I wasn't being crazy considering a Xeon processor for a home computer.  I had assumed a dual CPU system was overkill but figured I'd ask and get input.  Will a Xeon system still be efficient for casual gaming?  Does the price/performance difference really make it more worthwhile over an i7?

 

I'd prefer not to use my current GPU but I suppose using it for now until I upgrade to a 4K isnt a bad thought.  Point here though is that the GPU makes no difference to my build needs, correct?

 

Sound advice on the water cooling.  I didn't factor in the reliability over time for a water cooled unit.  Do you think this is something I need to worry about enough to get an upgraded CPU cooler?

 

Doing some quick research shows that the Samsung 850 is the current market favorite.  I'm likely going to make this part of the build unless you have a better suggestion?

It basically depends on the Xeon purchased and your primary use of the PC build, where maybe you use it half work half play or mostly work and barely play. If it's mostly work, I'll stick to the Xeon but anything less like half half or casual work and mostly gaming, I'd go i7. As far as physical cores it would be worth it in a professional environment but if it's a home environment the i7 would be better overall. 

 

The GPU shouldn't really influence your build much as you are making it to run professional applications and not games. Your current GPU which I'm guessing is the GTX980, considering your earlier mention as a typo, will run 4K monitors fine, just not for games with 4K. You could hang onto that card til your switch to 4K.

 

Not really unless if your computer is exposed to loads over a very long period of time. I wouldn't go as overkill but if you need to render half the time, it would be a sound investment in noise and temperature areas.

 

Not really, Samsung SSDs have served me well in the past so I won't recommend otherwise. Great choice.

 

[The Snuggler]

1 hour ago, another random person said:

It basically depends on the Xeon purchased and your primary use of the PC build, where maybe you use it half work half play or mostly work and barely play. If it's mostly work, I'll stick to the Xeon but anything less like half half or casual work and mostly gaming, I'd go i7. As far as physical cores it would be worth it in a professional environment but if it's a home environment the i7 would be better overall. 

 

The GPU shouldn't really influence your build much as you are making it to run professional applications and not games. Your current GPU which I'm guessing is the GTX980, considering your earlier mention as a typo, will run 4K monitors fine, just not for games with 4K. You could hang onto that card til your switch to 4K.

 

Not really unless if your computer is exposed to loads over a very long period of time. I wouldn't go as overkill but if you need to render half the time, it would be a sound investment in noise and temperature areas.

 

Not really, Samsung SSDs have served me well in the past so I won't recommend otherwise. Great choice.

 

Really appreciate your thoughtful input.  Thank you.