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Workstation on a Budget
Youre not looking to splurge on all the bells and whistles; you just need a reliable
machine that will get the job done. But what type of configuration will meet
your needs? And which components and capabilities are must-haves? The sample
configurations and expert advice in this guide will help you decide.
s a CAD user, you know the software you rely on every day
is crucial you couldnt do your work without it. What
could be more important? Just one thing: the hardware
that runs it. Although options are multiplying, for most users, that
still comes in the form of a desktop computer.
Just because you cant live without that trusty workstation, however, doesnt mean that you want to pay an arm and a leg for it.
Everyone faces budget constraints of some kind, whether youre
heading up a three-person design shop or making purchasing decisions for a 300-person department.
Fortunately, its easier than ever to get a workstation that can meet
the needs of most CAD users without breaking the bank. At the
entry-level end of the spectrum, for example, prices have dropped
well below $1,000. But you dont want to pinch pennies at the
expense of functionality focusing only on getting the lowest
possible price will lead to regret, if your new machine isnt up to
the task.
A Common Foundation
To help you find the right balance of cost savings and capabilities,
weve gathered advice and configuration recommendations from
Alex Herrera, industry expert and author of Cadalysts Herrera on
Hardware column, and a variety of workstation vendors.
On the cover:
iStockphoto.com/Henrik5000
Herrera begins with the basics that everyone should keep in mind:
First off, every CAD user these days should start with a reasonably
fast (middle-of-the-road offering or better) quad-core CPU [central
processing unit] and an SSD [solid-state drive]. If you work with
bigger, more complex models, consider spending the extra money
to go for a PCIe/NVMe SSD (rather than the standard SATA). For
memory, 8 GB is the minimum that should be considered the
baseline for all.
HPs Sean Young, worldwide segment manager, Product Development and AEC, agrees that CPUs and SSDs are essential fundamentals. For Autodesk software applications, the clock speed of the
CPU (GHz) is a top priority, as it impacts all core operations and
3D graphics performance, he explained. Multiple CPU cores will
boost multithreaded processes, such as file open and save, Boolean
operations, and when using multithreaded processes such as ray
As you read
through the
relevant
recommendations,
keep in
mind that a
configuration
that makes sense
for you today
may become
inadequate
tomorrow.
Category 1 Configuration
($1,795 with discount for
Cadalyst readers): The Orbital
Silenced C1500 features an
Intel Core i5 6600 processor
(four cores, four threads,
3.90 GHz, 6-MB cache); 8 GB
of 2,400-MHz DDR4 RAM;
an NVIDIA Quadro K620
GPU; and a 240-GB SSD. The
workstation comes with
free lifetime tech support.
Image courtesy of Orbital
Computers.
Spend your
money first on
the highest CPU
frequency you
can afford, and
make sure you
have enough
memory
at least 8 GB
to start.
Bill Martin-Otto
Lenovo Workstation
Technical Solutions Team
comparison, Payne
points out. That is,
one can say an Intel
Core i7 6700k at 4.5
GHz is faster than an
Intel Core i7 6700k
at 4.2 GHz, but one
cannot say that an
AMD FX-9590 at 5.0
GHz is faster than an
Intel Core i7 6700k
at 4.2 GHz, even
though on paper it
has a higher frequency.
Payne also suggests
an NVIDIA Quadro
K620 GPU [graphics
processing unit] with
2 GB of DDR3 video RAM, 8 GB to 16 GB of system RAM (depending on the size/complexity of the models you work with), and a fast
SSD to keep a snappy system response time.
Bill Martin-Otto, Lenovo Workstation Technical Solutions Team,
also recommends a mid-range Quadro card: For this type of work,
integrated Intel graphics or an NVIDIA Quadro K620 graphics card
would be ideal for the budget-minded. Spend your money first on
the highest CPU frequency you can afford, and make sure you have
enough memory at least 8 GB to start.
Herrera prefers a discrete GPU over integrated graphics. This user
should have an entry-level GPU, at minimum, said Herrera. At
the very least, an Intel P-series GPU, available on Xeon. Preferable
would be an entry-level to mid-range NVIDIA Quadro (K420, K620,
K1200, or M2000) or AMD FirePro (W2100, W4100, or W4300).
Category 2 Configuration
($1,599): The HP Z240 Tower
offers a quad-core Intel
Xeon E3-1240 v5 processor
(3.5 GHz or up to 3.9 GHz
with Intel Turbo Boost
Technology, 8 MB cache); a
4-GB NVIDIA Quadro K2200
GPU; 16 GB of DDR4-2133
ECC registered SDRAM; and
a 1-TB, 7,200 rpm SATA drive.
This model provides tool-free
access to interior components.
Image courtesy of HP.
Category 2 Configuration
($1,983): The Xi MTower PCIe
features a clock speed of
4.1 GHz on all cores using a
sixth-generation i7 processor,
16 GB of RAM, an NVIDIA
Quadro M2000 GPU, and a
500-GB SSD. The case boasts
soundproofing and a small
footprint. Image courtesy of
@Xi Computer.
Category 3 Configuration
($2,460.60): The Lenovo
ThinkStation P500 features
an Intel Xeon E5 1620 v3
processor (3.5 GHz, 10MB cache); 16 GB of DDR4
2,133-MHz memory; an
NVIDIA Quadro K2200 with
4 GB of VRAM; and 256-GB
M.2 NVMe and 1-TB 7,200
RPM drives. Color-coded
touch points are designed to
simplify component access.
Image courtesy of Lenovo.