Building a CAD workstation

[John Pitter]

Hey, so im trying to build a CAD workstation, i wont be doing much gaming on it, maybe not at all. I wont be buying a graphics card for now cause i already have one from my previous build, the Quadro K2200(i ll update in the future). I chose the i7 8700 paired with the B360 motherboard instead of the K variant and the Z370 motherboard cause i wont be doing any overclocking to be honest, so i figured to save some money there. 

My max budget is around the 850-900 Euros( 1050USD).

Keep in mind that i live in Europe and flexibility and prices on products is not that great.

So below is the build that i configured(both the website link and also i just copied the main parts). Let me know if you guys have any suggestions or comments on the build on what i could change.

 

Thank you. And sorry if i made any mistakes trying to explain it to you, not a native english speaker.

 

https://www.computerplanet.co.uk/workstations/intel-i7-workstation/customise.html

 

Computer Case    Black ATX Tower Case    
CPU    Intel i7 8700 - (6 x 3.2 GHZ - Turbo 6 x 4.6 GHZ) - Coffee Lake    
CPU Cooling    Arctic Cooling Freezer 12 - Low Noise    
Memory    8GB 2133MHz (1x8GB) - Lifetime Warranty (DDR4)    

Graphics Card #1    None or Motherboard Integrated Graphics    
Motherboard    Asus TUF B360-PRO GAMING (Intel B360) - 5xUSB 3.1/4xUSB 2.0/RGB Lights/Dual Band WIFI    
Sound Card    Motherboard Integrated HD Sound    
Wired Networking    Motherboard Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet Lan (Broadband Ready)    
Power Supply    Corsair 550W PSU - Low Noise    
Hard Drive #1    128GB ADATA XPG SX6000 M.2 SSD, Read 730MB/s, Write 660MB/s - Silent

 

Grand Total Inc Vat: £ 696.23

[r2724r16]

11 minutes ago, John Pitter said:

Computer Case    Black ATX Tower Case    
CPU    Intel i7 8700 - (6 x 3.2 GHZ - Turbo 6 x 4.6 GHZ) - Coffee Lake    
CPU Cooling    Arctic Cooling Freezer 12 - Low Noise    
Memory    8GB 2133MHz (1x8GB) - Lifetime Warranty (DDR4)    

Graphics Card #1    None or Motherboard Integrated Graphics    
Motherboard    Asus TUF B360-PRO GAMING (Intel B360) - 5xUSB 3.1/4xUSB 2.0/RGB Lights/Dual Band WIFI    
Sound Card    Motherboard Integrated HD Sound    
Wired Networking    Motherboard Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet Lan (Broadband Ready)    
Power Supply    Corsair 550W PSU - Low Noise    
Hard Drive #1    128GB ADATA XPG SX6000 M.2 SSD, Read 730MB/s, Write 660MB/s - Silent

Throw in a Western Digital Blue 1T. Also which PSU are you buying?

[John Pitter]

Oh yeah i forgot to mention that i ll use my HDDs from my previous build thats why i didnt include one there. For the power supply i think its the corsair VS550.

[GDRRiley]

get a 250gb SSD and a better PSU. get anything from T1 or zT2 from the list in my sig

[Crunchy Dragon]

4 minutes ago, John Pitter said:

Oh yeah i forgot to mention that i ll use my HDDs from my previous build thats why i didnt include one there. For the power supply i think its the corsair VS550.

Don't get a VS550. I would recommend a Corsair CX550M instead. I've had that PSU for a few months, it's pretty nice. Pretty good quality as well, and can usually be had for ~50 USD.

[John Pitter]

Well, unfortunately im kinda limited on what PSU i can choose. They only have these to choose from:

 

 Corsair 450W PSU
     - £ 8.04    
 Corsair 550W PSU 
          item selected    
  EVGA 600W PSU 
     + £ 12.96    
  Cooler Master 700W PSU - 
     + £ 12.96    
 EVGA 750W (Modular) PSU - 
     + £ 35.76    
 EVGA 850W (Modular) PSU - 
     + £ 63.36    
 EVGA 1000W (Modular) PSU - 
     + £ 197.76    
     
Corsair RMx 550W (Modular) PSU - 
     + £ 53.76    
Corsair RMx 650W (Modular) PSU - 
     + £ 58.56    

Corsair RMx 750W (Modular) PSU - 
     + £ 66.96    
Corsair RMx 850W (Modular) PSU - 
     + £ 87.36    
Corsair RMx 1000W (Modular) PSU -
     + £ 144.96    
 

[AHaskin14]

What CAD program? 8gb ram is not that much, and some programs will get really weird even if you're near your max. For Solidworks, my laptop likes to get weird and it has 6gb, which is fine because I only use that for displaying in group meetings. Meanwhile though, I've easily had system memory over 10gb when using Soldiworks or 3ds Max

[John Pitter]

Autocad will be one of them, StereoStatika is another one(i dont think you will be familiar with it cause i think its a greek program). Not going to use any 3d programs for now, so no 3ds Max or Archicad or Maya or ever Solidworks. But im planning on upgrading the RAM and GPU in the future so i can use those 3d programs for the renderings.

[brob]

A larger ssd would be good. At least 240GB. Larger than that would allow for project storage and that would improve load times.

[John Pitter]

Yeah i should probably choose a larger ssd, i ll get the 240gb.

 

The only pre built PC i could find in my country at a reasonable price is this one: 

 

Desktop HP ProDesk 400 G4 MT (1JJ76EA)

• Model: HP 400G4PD MT I77700 256G 8.0G 54 PC

• Form Factor: Microtower

• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64

• Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-7700 with Intel® HD Graphics 630 (3.6 GHz base frequency, up to 4.2 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 8 MB cache, 4 cores)

• Removable Storage: One 9mm slim ODD

• Memory: 8GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM (1x 8GB)

• Storage: 256GB SATA SSD

• Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 630

• Audio: Conexant CX20632 codec with universal audio jack and 2W internal speaker, headset and headphone front ports (3.5 mm), multi-streaming capable

• LAN: Realtek RTL8111HSH GbE LOM

• Expansion Slots: 1x Turbo Drive M.2 PCIe x1-2230 (for WLAN), 1x PCI Express x1 (v3.0) (4.2" full height, 6.6" length, 10W max. power), 1x PCI Express x16 (v3.0) (wired as a x4 on MT) (4.2" full height, 6.6" length, 35W max. power), 1x PCI Express x16 (v3.0) (4.2" full height, 6.6" length, 75W max. power)

• I/O Ports: Front: Universal audio jack with CTIA headset support; 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1; - Back: 1x audio-in; 1x audio-out; 1x DisplayPort™ 1.2; 1x power connector; 1x RJ-45; 1x VGA; 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1; 4x USB 2.0

• Power Supply: 310W (80 PLUS Bronze), up to 85% efficient, active PFC

• Extras: HP USB Keyboard & Mouse

• Warranty: 5/5/5 Years

€ 870

 

 

Does this make any sense compare to the other one? Is the i7 8700 much faster and more future proof than the i7 7700?

 

[brob]

An i7-8700 is better, even for autocad as it has a much higher turbo speed.