Let's Talk About Your Team's Computers

[Zac]

I did up 3 computer for 1768 for the 2016 season. Until the 2016 season the team had used the school's computers, the specs were depressing. We were continuously waiting for models to catch up after trying to rotate the model a bit. Frequently we would wait 20 seconds or so every time we rotated a model... not only was this annoying, but the time was adding up quickly. We frequently waited 2-3 minutes to log in, another 3-4 minutes to open our CAD software... you get the idea.

The goal for making some CAD machines was to not only eliminate the lag in model viewing, but to completely decimate it. We wanted quick log ins, quick program loading. Basically we wanted to eliminate all of the waiting and maximize our CAD time. And after a few years of ever increasing aggravation, se set the budget accordingly.

Alright, to the fun part...

The three machines were virtually identical with only one smlight difference between them.

I have included links to the parts we used, as well as the pricing (at the time of purchase which was Fall 2015)

CASE: ($45)
NZXT Source 210 S210-001 Black

This was a cheap case, that offered enough space and wouldn't suck up too much of the budget, leaving more money to be spent where it counts, more power

CPU: ($370)
Intel Core i7-6700K

4.0 GHz out of the box. The fast clock speed was attractive given the linear process nature of CAD. Having a quad-core meant we had the cores to throw around for things like renders, FEA and the like.

CPU Cooling: ($105)
CORSAIR Hydro Series H105 Extreme Performance 240mm Liquid CPU Cooler

We had toyed around with the idea of overclocking the CPU, which we never ended up doing (no need). This CPU cooler has proven performance, and is a favorite by many tech testing sites. With a modest price point, simple install, superior performance it seemed like a no brainer.

RAM: ($195)
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32Gb

Not much to say here. I had used Corsair RAM in the past and have always had good experiences with it. Throw one in the bucket for brand loyalty I suppose.

Motherboard: ($150)
MSI Z170A GAMING M3 LGA 1151

Looked at what was available with the features we wanted. This fit the bill.

Storage: ($140)
SAMSUNG 850 PRO 2.5" 256GB SATA III

This drive had excellent reviews. Superior read and write speed. This would certainly play into having quick boot speeds, quick program loading, stable saving. Also it has pro in the name, so it must be good

PSU: ($130)
EVGA 220-G2-0850-XR 80 PLUS GOLD 850 W

Provides plenty of power for the machine, fully modular for ease of neat wiring.

Here is where the differences begin. We built 3 computers. The idea was to have two machines that were well suited (overkill) for designing parts and working on subassemblies. We also wanted one machine that was well suited (overkill) for working within the main robot assembly. This matched our workflow as well which involved having one student in charge of the main robot assembly, and working alongside two other students, each working on portions of the robot.

For our "Subassembly" machines we decided to add use the following graphics card.
Graphics Card: ($430)
PNY Quadro K2200 VCQK2200-PB

The specs for this card made it seem like the perfect solution for our "subassembly" machines. Nvidia Quadro cards are known frontrunner in the professional graphics sector, and the K2200 sits in a beautiful position on the cost vs performance curve. DisplayPort connections were another attractive feature.

For our "Main Assembly" rig we decided to up the game a little bit.
Graphics Card: ($890)
PNY Quadro M4000

All of the same benefits of other Quadro cards with the added benefit of POWER.

Monitors: ($180)
SAMSUNG S24C200BL Matte Black 23.6" (The link I had to these is dead, but I am sure you could find them somewhere if you really wanted them).

Dead simple, minimal bells and whistles. These offered 24" of screen real estate. The only downside we saw to them was their awful stands, which didn't matter to us, as the plan was to mount them to dual monitor arms.

Each machine got two of these monitors which was possible due to their low price point.

We ran Windows 10 on all of the machines. Additionally these machines were used just for CAD and CAM nothing else was run except for an internet browser. (Ironically in downloading Chrome, we ended up downloading a Chrome Clone which was a virus... luckily this was easily fixed, however it really emphasized the reason why we chose to keep the machines so locked down just to CAD)

Each machine was put on custom wooden desks which featured a whiteboard top surface for easy sketching during the design process. They also had shelves for the computers below the work surface to keep the top of the desk clean and open. The desks had large casters which allowed them to be easily stowed in a closet when not in use. Our lead CAD student Greg Woelki demanded black for his desk, so I spray painted his black in below freezing temperatures.

After some networking cables, mice and keyboards, we got out of the build for about $6,300 plus the cost of the desks.

Having these machines was absolutely vital to the 2016 season for 1768. The 2016 season saw the most important CAD model the team had ever undertaken. 4 water jetted plates made up more or less the entire frame and superstructure for the robot, so there was no room for error. Hundreds of hours of CAD went into the robot (One member kept track of work hours for students during the season, Greg and I came in at just over 400 hours each during the 6 week build season. I can say pretty confidently that over 50% of that time was spent with Greg on the main CAD machine).

Additionally, owning our own computer presented an unforeseen benefit to the team. During a New England storm power was lost at the school and the team was asked to evacuate. This would have previously meant downtime for the team. However, owning our own computers meant we were able to pack them up and bring them to an alternative location and continue working.

I attached a few photos of the CAD machines although I never made a huge point of photographing them so I apologize for the lack of quality. The last photo shows a bit of the plate construction I mentioned earlier.

~Zac

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Zac

---

While awesome, this is such absurd overkill pricewise for FRC.

Making sweeping generalizations, most users will be plenty happy with a $100 workstation card for FRC.

I'm a SW snob and have a pretty overkill setup at work and home, but have been CADing for the team primarily with a Lenovo w540 that has a quadro k1100m. While great for a laptop in that price range, it's performance is comparable with a budget desktop. I've been plenty happy with it for FRC however.

[Greg Woelki]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

While awesome, this is such absurd overkill pricewise for FRC.

Having used the machines, for the most part I'd disagree with "absurd" - sure, we got nowhere near using 32GB of RAM, for instance, but the computers can still be made to stutter if one asks enough of them.

However, by design, they are indeed overkill. After spending years treading water with specs as both the requirements of our CAD software and the complexity of our models increased, our lead mentor decided that he wanted a "set it and forget it" CAD solution so that we wouldn't have to worry about computer hardware at all for the foreseeable future. I believe we succeeded in that regard.

The specs of our workstations are by no means a recommendation to all rookie teams as to what one needs in order to do CAD for FRC - given where we were resources wise, it was a good place to spend some money.

One could even say we got out of it cheap - the last major CAD computer Zac built for someone (not FRC related) cost $4000!

[MikLast]

Though the rest of the school has chromeboxes shudders the engineering/ag building lucked out with some 30ish laptops (HP Elitebooks, cant remember model # off the top of my head) 3 Brand new HP Elitebooks, and a computer lab with about 30 desktops that are overpriced and not too good (used for programming/school items) Until this year we have been using the older elitebook for our driving, but used one of the newer ones for this year.

Sorry i cant be more specific, Im unable to really go there and get the models for a while still.

[fargus111111111]

We have quite the assortment of laptops that the team owns and a lab of about 20 desktops at the school which are used during school hours for mechanical and architectural classes, thus they have all the Autodesk products on them and we use them for all our CADing, these computers also have access to a network drive which our lead educator, whose classroom we are working in, can also access, so if we want something 3d printed we can just put it in there and ask him to start the printer. The laptops include one ancient thing running Win XP that had been our programming laptop, we stopped using that after the 2013 season when we were donated 3 newer Dells. Those Dells also pushed our struggling Classmate out of service, needless to say no one was sad to see it go, but it still sits in the cabinet. The Dells were donated by one of our sponsors as they were upgrading many of their office computers. We use them for drive stations primarily, but also we keep one fully up to date with Labview for programming and the most powerful of the 3 has the Autodesk suite loaded on it so we have a portable CAD computer. They are all running Windows 7. We don't usually use personal computers at meetings, mostly because we have the lab. We do also have 1 Windows 8 Toshiba, but that has had its share of problems, the primary one being that we blew up the ethernet port on it because one of our long cords shocked it with static electricity while we were doing some testing on a carpet floor, fortunately the WiFi still works fine so we can use it as a demonstration driver station, that's about all it is. As far as computers are concerned I would say we are in the middle of the pack and we are happy right there.

[Anthony Galea]

Our team has used a 2013 Alienware 14 since the 2014 season to conduct all our team functions (CAD, programming, driver station), however, we need to find a new laptop as ours appears to have been stolen . We highly recommend the laptop, the only problem was the trackpad would act up from time to time, and Dell offers educational discounts.

[Munchskull]

My team uses both my personal and team computers to get done.
Team computers:-Old personal: - New Personal:
CPU- Some Xeon - i5-2400 - i5-6600k
Mobo-? - ? - MSI z-a170 pro carbon
RAM- 4GB DDR2 - 16GB DDR3. - 16GB DDR4
GPU- GTX 480 - GTX 660. - MSI GTX 1060

Current looking to rebuild the old personal in a new case to be an improvement over my teams cad set up. Sadly the CM CPU cooler I have had its back plate lost when I was rebuilding and I am out of money to buy a case.

Ps sorry for the bad format doing this from phone while camping.

[bobbysq]

8 old HP laptops donated by a sponsor. ~1-4 minute clean build time.

[Aeglos]

For Programming/ Doubles as a Driver's Station:

1 x HP ProBook 6550b
Features: WIN7 Enterprise, i5-520M, no dGPU, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 1366x768 display, dead CMOS battery school will not replace, half- functional BIOS chip that makes the computer fail POST unless booted a certain way, non- functional laptop battery that will die in about 15 mins if unplugged from the wall, keys will occasionally not register, and the icing on the cake: sometimes it just won't charge, or accept any power from the wall outlet, so we have to bring another laptop computer along as a battery charger for the main one.


My Personal Rig, which I can use for programming at home (but mostly gaming and personal programming projects, let me be honest here):

Case: Fractal Design Define R4
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition
CPU: Intel i7-4790
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC12DX
GPU: Watercooled GTX 760
RAM: 16GB Samsung DDR3-1600
Storage: Seagate 2TB Hybrid Drive
PSU: EVGA 500B


For CAD:

1 x HP EliteBook 840
Features: WIN7 Enterprise, i7-4600U, I think no dGPU (but am uncertain), 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 1920x1080 display

20 x HP Compaq 8200 Elite All-In-One (In our CAD/ Technology Lab)
Features: WIN7 Enterprise, i5 2400S, no dGPU, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 1920x1080 display

If you couldn't tell, as a programmer, I am not a huge fan of the programming laptop we are using currently. It has developed major stability issues over the years I have used it.

[Torvando]

My team has two laptops one really old hp and a not as old hp (i think) that we use for programming. Other than that we all have to use our personal laptops for cad and such. We sometimes have access to a mac lab that we can't install cad or anything on so its not really useful.

[gc_coxen]

My team has pretty low-end to moderate machines provided by the school, nothing fancy. The bulk of CAD is done outside of meetings on personal machines. I'm currently running:

CPU: i7 5820k
CPU Cooler: NZXT X61
Memory: HyperX Fury 32GB
Motherboard: MSI X99A SLI Plus
Storage: Samsung 840 evo 250GB
Seagate 2TB SSHD
GPU: Reference GTX 970
PSU: EVGA G2 600w
Case: NZXT H440