Let's Talk About Your Team's Computers

[dirtbikerxz]

Our School has rigs with some gen quad core i7s, and some crappy old AMD GPUs. While they are okay for basic level CAD, most of our CADers use their own rigs/laptops.

Personal RIG: That I do most of my CADing on:

CPU: Intel Core i7 5930K
MotherBoard: ROG STRIX X99 GAMING
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GTX AIO Water Cooler
RAM: 32 GB of Corsair Dominator Platinums
GPUs: 2x ASUS STRIX GTX 1080
1x Nvidia Titan X
PowerSupply: EVGA SuperNova 1200
Storage: 2x 500gb 850 EVO SSDs
10 gigabit connection to 12tb network NAS
CASE: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Tempered Glass
Monitors: 3x Dell P2415Q

Accessories:
Mouse: Logitech MX Master
Keyboard: Logitech G710+
Headphones: Sennheiser HD 6 MIX
3DMouse: 3Dconnexion Space Mouse Pro

Yes, I know this is way overkill, especially having 2 1080s and another titan x on top of it, but I got really lucky with sales and gifts soo ya

Total retail cost (according to pcpartpicker): about $5827.34
What I spent on it: about $2500

[Zac]

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

3DMouse: 3Dconnexion Space Mouse Pro

YES! This is a big one in improving productivity with a CAD workstation. I have typically recommended the SpaceNavigator for people looking to see what a 3D mouse is all about. However, the SpacePilot Pro brings the 3D mouse to a whole new level with the programmable buttons. It really is incredible how much quicker modeling can become when your most commonly used tools are right there at your fingertips.

SpaceNavigator

SpacePilot Pro

And it looks like 3D Connexion is out with something new called the SpaceMouse Enterprise which makes it even easier to access your most commonly used tools.

SpaceMouse Enterprise

If you get past the learning curve for these 3D mice, the benefits of having one become clear so quickly. Being able to easily move the model on the screen seems like such an obvious necessity in CAD however it really isn't clear how difficult it is to do with a mouse and scroll wheel until you experience how easy it is to do with a device specifically designed for the task.

~Zac

[sanddrag]

Our lab contains 22 workstations outfitted with the following:

HP Z230 SFF Workstations
Xeon E3-1241v3 3.5GHz Quad Core Hyperthreading
16GB DDR3
256GB HP Z-Turbo Drive PCIe SSD
nVidia Quadro K600 Graphics
HP Z27i 2560x1440 displays
Sennheiser HD201 headphones

They run Autodesk Inventor, HSM, and pretty much everything else quite well, even at the higher resolution. Only the most advanced CAM simulations in HSM could use a tad more graphics "oomph." They're really a joy to use, but I wish we had a few more of them. I'm just out of square footage to put them in.

HP Z-series products are really the "right" thing (enterprise-class product) for this application, and we've been very happy with them so far. The only thing we're lacking is a glass screen on the monitors, which is concerning in the educational environment, but we're extra careful, and the students know that they won't be coming back tomorrow if anyone or anything touches one of those monitors.

[Christopher149]

We have

• a Lenovo Thinkpad for programming
• a Classmate for driver station
• another Classmate as pristine 2014 cRIO dev environment (we've got our 2013 and 2014 robots still)
• a donated HP? laptop running XP for showing videos on, say in the pits
• a couple desktops on loan for CAD
• access to the school CAD computers (but AutoCAD on them doesn't seem as effective at 3D as SolidWorks, so we mostly use the one in a classroom for videos and meeting start notes)
• a 2009 Classmate and an old Dell laptop that aren't worth much mention (haven't used them in a while, both severely lacking in hardware and with maybe damaged OS installs)

PS: everything is running Windows 7 but 1 on XP (the HP) and 1 on some linux flavor (the Dell laptop). Also, one of our Classmates entirely lost its right-click key after being dropped too many times.

The Thinkpad was bought for the team by the lead mentor. The Classmates came from the KOP, FIRST Choice, and a local team that folded. The HP came from an office upgrade by a Wisconsin company where a former mentor was working. The desktops came from a local engineering company. I think the origin of the Dell laptop predates me.

In terms of computers, the biggest aids right now would be consistent (any?) WiFi access, and CAD desktops of our own that we could seal away from sawdust (storage right now is in the wood shop, and our non-wood shop storage same days requires a trip outside in a snowy winter [interior gate we don't have keys to]).

[frcguy]

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

Yes, I know this is way overkill, especially having 2 1080s and another titan x on top of it, but I got really lucky with sales and gifts soo ya

Lucky! I'm just pluggin along with my Strix Radeon R9 380X.

[Zac]

Originally Posted by Cory

This is not correct. CPU is far more important. Any Solidworks certified GPU will get the job done. Best CPU you can afford is by far the number one key to performance in Solidworks.

To piggy back off of this, it is my understanding that "best" in the case of CAD refers to single core performance, as CAD is in most cases a linear process. This means that the software can't take full advantage of having several cores. This is important to keep in mind as the market becomes filled with highly rated CPUs that offer up lots of cores, with low clock speeds. These CPUs are more desirable for things like rendering where the workload can be distributed across the cores.

~Zac

[CMBrandon]

Originally Posted by Cory

This is not correct. CPU is far more important. Any Solidworks certified GPU will get the job done. Best CPU you can afford is by far the number one key to performance in Solidworks.

I think a really helpful article for everyone would be this one by Nvidia that explains most of this in detail.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/best-cad-components.html

[asid61]

Originally Posted by CMBrandon

I think a really helpful article for everyone would be this one by Nvidia that explains most of this in detail.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/best-cad-components.html

Nvidia is a company that specializes in graphics cards, so I would take that article with a grain of salt.

[Max Boord]

Most of the Cadding and video editing I do for FRC is done on my personal rig:

I5 3570k @4.66ghz
2x 7970s @1125mhz
16gb corsair ram at 1600mhz
256gb SSD boot drive
1tb WD caviar black for cad stuff
3tb of video edditing storage
1100W PSU
Coolermaster Storm Trooper case

Works ok for running Autodesk Inventor and Sony Vegas but idd recommend a better CPU to anyone building a computer for cad and a single GPU for anyone doing heavy video editing. Also my overclocks are a tad aggressive unless you enjoy your room feeling like a bakery and a computer that sounds like a jet engine.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by CMBrandon

I think a really helpful article for everyone would be this one by Nvidia that explains most of this in detail.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/best-cad-components.html

Nothing in that article refutes my statement that high clock speed CPU is more important than choice of GPU, so long as your GPU is Solidworks certified.

You'll get a vastly bigger performance boost by upgrading to a ssd (if you're somehow still using a mechanical drive) than you would by upgrading from a base model quadro to a mid tier one.

The one big thing to take note of is that testing has shown the cheapest $200 quadro card will outperform the Titan in Solidworks performance.

[CMBrandon]

Originally Posted by Cory

Nothing in that article refutes my statement that high clock speed CPU is more important than choice of GPU, so long as your GPU is Solidworks certified.

It wasn't meant to refute your statement, only further the topic by introducing more information.

I would love to know more about CAD computing. If you get time, send me a PM. We are currently working on CAD machines for some of our teams and would love the extra input.

[dirtbikerxz]

Guys Guys... Come on.... We all know that rgb led lighting inside the case is the most important for CAD... Come on now 😀😀😀😀

[bcampbell]

[quote=CMBrandon;1600147]What kind of computers does your team use? Did the school buy them or did someone make them? Laptop, desktop? Pics of your lab would be great! I am just really curious to see what all of you have to work with.

We custom build all of our workstations to try and stretch our dollars as far as we can. We try to add at least 2-3 CAD computers each year and repurpose older computers to other areas of the team (business, programming, outreach, etc). All of our computers are owned by the team and not supplied by the school. In order to get the eduction license of SW provided through FIRST you aren't supposed to install it on school owned computers.

Our newest builds that we just completed include:

Case - CoolerMaster Elite 431 ($50)
CPU - Intel Skylake i5-6600k ($250)
Mobo - ASUS Z170-P LGA 1151 ($100)
Ram - 16gb DDR4 2400 ($50 but we got this for free with a processor/mobo combo)
PSU - Thermaltake TR2 500 Watts ($30 on amazon prime day!!!)
Graphics - AMD Firepro W4300 ($250)
HD - 120gb SSD ($60)
Windows 10 pro (we bought OEM windows 7 pro and upgraded to 10 for free)

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

Guys Guys... Come on.... We all know that rgb led lighting inside the case is the most important for CAD... Come on now ��������

We like our CoolerMaster cases as they come with a blue LED fan which is one of our team colors.

We are fortunate to be near an electronics swap meet and were able to get 24" monitors, keyboards, mice and speakers second hand for cheap. Here are some photos of our current CAD setup. The pictures are a little dated as we have added more computers and removed the old box monitors and use only 1080p monitors.

We also have a network server that we run that shares files between all of the computers. However, with GrabCAD being free now it has reduced our dependency on our server and it really only shares our media now a days.

We have also built budget computers that can also run SW great. Now that we have more than 10 CAD computers we invest in more moderate builds that are used more for higher level assembly manipulation.

[CMBrandon]

Bryan,

We need to talk about those cases... I think we can help you . Give me a call tomorrow at the office.

[bcampbell]

Originally Posted by CMBrandon

Bryan,

We need to talk about those cases... I think we can help you . Give me a call tomorrow at the office.

Will do!!!