PC Build for Bro

[Drake10114]

Hello again,

Since my brother (older than me) is finally finishing university next year and heading off to grad school (no idea where yet unfortunately), I figured I'd help him build another PC for school, and allow him to not have to type long essays on a surface pro 2 screen (he's older and has mentioned he wants a bigger screen)

So far I have assembled this, but may have to tweak a bit, since I thought AutoCad (or similiar 3d modeling software) would use more cores, etc, but actually does single core, and uses gpu instead..

*Will be building this next spring/summer, so parts will vary accordingly, and pricing.

He also figures he'll use the surface pro 2 in class and use this for storage/gaming/computer stuff.

So for Team AMD:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($266.50 @ shopRBC) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($134.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($178.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($75.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Storage: Seagate - BarraCuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.95 @ shopRBC) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card  ($210.99 @ PC Canada) 
Case: Corsair - 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($61.00 @ Vuugo) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($64.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link - TL-WDN4800 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter  ($47.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Total: $1096.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-27 20:38 EDT-0400

 

and for Team Intel:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-7600 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($280.25 @ shopRBC) 
Motherboard: MSI - B250 PC MATE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($123.50 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($178.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($75.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Storage: Seagate - BarraCuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.95 @ shopRBC) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card  ($210.99 @ PC Canada) 
Case: Corsair - 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($61.00 @ Vuugo) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($64.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link - TL-WDN4800 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter  ($47.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Total: $1098.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-27 20:39 EDT-0400

 

Questions and Reasons:

Reasons for Parts:

CPU(AMD):Good CPU for price point (considering swapping to Ryzen 3), has 6c, 12t. Thought it would crush Autocad or any other 3d modelling software...

CPU (Intel): Good CPU and can handle majority of tasks. Also decent for gaming on the side.

MOBO: Good quality, from reputable brand. Has 4 dimm slots, and 6 6gb sata connections.

RAM: 3000Mhz and cheap.

SSD And Storage: Cheap and reliable.

GPU: This is where things get wierd.. He will only be doing 1080 60fps for gaming due to the monitor being a 1080p 60fps display. Was thinking 1050ti (can handle this no problem, not overly overpriced, and a decent card.) But after realizing AutoCAD uses cuda cores.. I may look into a 1070 or better... was thinking of going to a 6gb 1060, but will have to see on how the prices are when I actually build this...

Case: Meh case, has 5.25" drives (for him to create backups upon backups of important grad school stuff). and numerous 3.5" bays for additonal drives. Debating on spending more for a better case (CM case maker 5, etc.) Will take suggestions here. (Not flashy and somewhat small( Mid towers)

PSU: Decent budget PSU that isn't garbage.

Wifi card: Good card, personally use it and since he may not have access to a wired connection, will be helpful.

 

Questions:

Should I go for a cheaper cpu, and bump up the GPU to a better Nvidia card? (I.e. Pentium g4560 and a 1060+)

Will AutoCAD actually use more cores, or is it better to go w/ a faster cpu (intel) that has better single core performance?

Any suggestions? He said to not make it flashy (his old computer was basically a damn lightbulb), so not much rgb or colorful mobo's

Would it be worth it to get WD Black over the seagate HDD for reliability?

Would Ryzen 3 be worth it ($100 difference between the 1300x and the 1600, and 2c/8t)?

 

Budget:

~$1000 CAD, prefer cheaper though.

 

 

Interesting Note:

His Old PC he built back in early 2000's has some cool old parts..

Intel Celeron D processor (PGA mobo)

Nvidia Fx8300

1.5gb DDR1 RAM.

 

[unknownmiscreant]

3 minutes ago, Drake10114 said:

Hello again,

Since my brother (older than me) is finally finishing university next year and heading off to grad school (no idea where yet unfortunately), I figured I'd help him build another PC for school, and allow him to not have to type long essays on a surface pro 2 screen (he's older and has mentioned he wants a bigger screen)

So far I have assembled this, but may have to tweak a bit, since I thought AutoCad (or similiar 3d modeling software) would use more cores, etc, but actually does single core, and uses gpu instead..

*Will be building this next spring/summer, so parts will vary accordingly, and pricing.

He also figures he'll use the surface pro 2 in class and use this for storage/gaming/computer stuff.

So for Team AMD:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($266.50 @ shopRBC) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($134.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($178.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($75.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Storage: Seagate - BarraCuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.95 @ shopRBC) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card  ($210.99 @ PC Canada) 
Case: Corsair - 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($61.00 @ Vuugo) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($64.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link - TL-WDN4800 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter  ($47.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Total: $1096.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-27 20:38 EDT-0400

 

and for Team Intel:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-7600 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($280.25 @ shopRBC) 
Motherboard: MSI - B250 PC MATE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($123.50 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($178.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($75.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Storage: Seagate - BarraCuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.95 @ shopRBC) 
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card  ($210.99 @ PC Canada) 
Case: Corsair - 100R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($61.00 @ Vuugo) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($64.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link - TL-WDN4800 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter  ($47.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Total: $1098.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-27 20:39 EDT-0400

 

Questions and Reasons:

Reasons for Parts:

CPU(AMD):Good CPU for price point (considering swapping to Ryzen 3), has 6c, 12t. Thought it would crush Autocad or any other 3d modelling software...

CPU (Intel): Good CPU and can handle majority of tasks. Also decent for gaming on the side.

MOBO: Good quality, from reputable brand. Has 4 dimm slots, and 6 6gb sata connections.

RAM: 3000Mhz and cheap.

SSD And Storage: Cheap and reliable.

GPU: This is where things get wierd.. He will only be doing 1080 60fps for gaming due to the monitor being a 1080p 60fps display. Was thinking 1050ti (can handle this no problem, not overly overpriced, and a decent card.) But after realizing AutoCAD uses cuda cores.. I may look into a 1070 or better... was thinking of going to a 6gb 1060, but will have to see on how the prices are when I actually build this...

Case: Meh case, has 5.25" drives (for him to create backups upon backups of important grad school stuff). and numerous 3.5" bays for additonal drives. Debating on spending more for a better case (CM case maker 5, etc.) Will take suggestions here. (Not flashy and somewhat small( Mid towers)

PSU: Decent budget PSU that isn't garbage.

Wifi card: Good card, personally use it and since he may not have access to a wired connection, will be helpful.

 

Questions:

Should I go for a cheaper cpu, and bump up the GPU to a better Nvidia card? (I.e. Pentium g4560 and a 1060+)

Will AutoCAD actually use more cores, or is it better to go w/ a faster cpu (intel) that has better single core performance?

Any suggestions? He said to not make it flashy (his old computer was basically a damn lightbulb), so not much rgb or colorful mobo's

Would it be worth it to get WD Black over the seagate HDD for reliability?

Would Ryzen 3 be worth it ($100 difference between the 1300x and the 1600, and 2c/8t)?

 

Budget:

~$1000 CAD, prefer cheaper though.

 

 

Interesting Note:

His Old PC he built back in early 2000's has some cool old parts..

Intel Celeron D processor (PGA mobo)

Nvidia Fx8300

1.5gb DDR1 RAM.

 

I use a 1050ti and ryzen 1700x for solid works, and its perfectly fine. Also great for 1080p 60fps gaming.

[Drake10114]

2 minutes ago, unknownmiscreant said:

I use a 1050ti and ryzen 1700x for solid works, and its perfectly fine. Also great for 1080p 60fps gaming.

Hmm, don't get bottle necked by the 1050ti? And do more cores/threads actually matter (Ik it depends on the program itself)

[Gungpae]

If he's using AutoCAD programs then definitely the red build

[The Sloth]

which subject? 

[Drake10114]

Just now, nerdslayer1 said:

which subject? 

Underwater Archaeology he's hoping. Either in the UK or USA...

 

2 minutes ago, Gungpae said:

If he's using AutoCAD programs then definitely the red build

How come?

[The Sloth]

Just now, Drake10114 said:

Underwater Archaeology he's hoping. Either in the UK or USA...

 

go for ryzen 1600 

[seon123]

Since it's nearly a year until you'll actually build it, I think it's better to just ask when the time comes

[Drake10114]

Just now, seon123 said:

Since it's nearly a year until you'll actually build it, I think it's better to just ask when the time comes

True, but w/ a budget of $1000 CAD, won't be buying anything brand new lmfao, so new stuff won't really matter. Will perhaps lower prices, but that's it.

1 minute ago, nerdslayer1 said:

go for ryzen 1600 

Reasons? Was thinking of the need for more cores/threads, but if 3d modelling does more single core, I think Intel would be a better choice?

[The Sloth]

1 minute ago, Drake10114 said:

Reasons? Was thinking of the need for more cores/threads, but if 3d modelling does more single core, I think Intel would be a better choice?

cad users do more than one thing at a time, multitasking would be a priority, i use CAD for my job, for a GPU a used gtx 970 or 980 should be good, your brother is a student, they don't need much. 

 

[unknownmiscreant]

3 minutes ago, Drake10114 said:

Hmm, don't get bottle necked by the 1050ti? And do more cores/threads actually matter (Ik it depends on the program itself)

The 1050ti is definitely a bottleneck, however I get over 100fps when doing large models, often 150-200fps. CAD is not particularly intensive compared to games etc, as its just rendering single colour surfaces, no textures. Solid works often doesn't even fully utilize the card.

 

 The reason I went for the 1700x is that I also do alot of programming and virtualization, where CPU power reigns supreme. I know its a mismatch, and in an ideal world I would have something like a 1070.

 

When I built the PC, I already had the GPU (left over from an eGPU, (that was a bottleneck for sure,)) since I don't have a limitless budget, and I needed CPU power more than GPU power for my current use cases, (I only have 1080p 60Hz monitors for gaming), I elected to buy a good CPU, and wait to upgrade the GPU.

 

Yes, if I did not already have a GPU, I would have bought a 1070 or 1080. I do have plans to buy one in the future, however at the moment I am waiting to see about vega/volta architectures.

 

[That_PC_Kid]

Whatever you do don't get that Wi-Fi card. It's supper old. You'll want a Wi-Fi card that has "AC" in it.

[Drake10114]

5 minutes ago, nerdslayer1 said:

cad users do more than one thing at a time, multitasking would be a priority, i use CAD for my job, for a GPU a used gtx 970 or 980 should be good, your brother is a student, they don't need much. 

 

Okay, so a used 970 (buddy is selling his next year actually) would work quite well? Thought it would be too outdated to crush 3d modelling?

[Drake10114]

1 minute ago, That_PC_Kid said:

Whatever you do don't get that Wi-Fi card. It's supper old. You'll want a Wi-Fi card that has "AC" in it.

Lol.. I use that card and it works awesome.

Yes AC is better, but if your wifi isn't AC, it'll just go down to whatever is the strongest signal.

Also AC has some short comings.

 

edit: Can't recall exactly which, but I'm assuming there will be walls, etc in the way. 1 of the signals gets owned by walls.

[The Sloth]

Just now, Drake10114 said:

Okay, so a used 970 (buddy is selling his next year actually) would work quite well? Thought it would be too outdated to crush 3d modelling?

nope, it should work well. 

[unknownmiscreant]

Just now, Drake10114 said:

Okay, so a used 970 (buddy is selling his next year actually) would work quite well? Thought it would be too outdated to crush 3d modelling?

a 970 and ryzen 1600 would utterly crush even huge models, where each SMD component on a PCB is a separate file.

[Drake10114]

1 minute ago, nerdslayer1 said:

nope, it should work well. 

Ooo.. interesting.

Hopefully the price is reasonable.

Anything bad w/ used cards?

[unknownmiscreant]

1 minute ago, Drake10114 said:

Ooo.. interesting.

Hopefully the price is reasonable.

Anything bad w/ used cards?

As long as you buy a decent one thats been looked after, no. I still have a 2nd hand GeForce 6600gt, its not so powerful, but can still play 10 year  old games at 1024x768 on low at 30-40fps.

[The Sloth]

1 minute ago, Drake10114 said:

Anything bad w/ used cards?

depends, long as you buy it from a reputable seller, you should be fine.

 

- test out the card to see if it works before buying, don't OC if you are going to use it for professional use, due to stability concern( cad can be dumb with overclocked cards). 

[That_PC_Kid]

2 minutes ago, Drake10114 said:

Lol.. I use that card and it works awesome.

Yes AC is better, but if your wifi isn't AC, it'll just go down to whatever is the strongest signal.

Also AC has some short comings.

 

edit: Can't recall exactly which, but I'm assuming there will be walls, etc in the way. 1 of the signals gets owned by walls.

5GHz bandwidth can get blocked by walls but you still have the option to switch to the 2.4Ghz bandwidth.

[Drake10114]

Just now, unknownmiscreant said:

As long as you buy a decent one thats been looked after, no. I still have a 2nd hand GeForce 6600gt, its not so powerful, but can still play 10 year  old games at 1024x768 on low at 30-40fps.

Ah okay, it's from a friend of mine, so ik it hasn't be abused. and I imagine he cleans it often.

[Drake10114]

Just now, That_PC_Kid said:

5GHz bandwidth can get blocked by walls but you still have the option to switch to the 2.4Ghz bandwidth.

Meh, Ik the card and have used it, so Ik it'll be good.

Just now, nerdslayer1 said:

depends, long as you buy it from a reputable seller, you should be fine.

 

- test out the card to see if it works before buying, don't OC if you are going to use it for professional use, due to stability concern( cad can be dumb with overclocked cards). 

Yeah won't be OCing for sure.

Will be from a friend, so should be good.