3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

IT Picked WHAT Computer?

Anna WoodRenderBay.com

Charles CulpSWtuts.com

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Comparison of Three Systems

Dell Optiplex Dell T7600 Dell T3610

Core i5-4570 (4 cores), 8 GB RAM

Dual Xeon E5-2650 (16 cores total), 32 GB RAM

Xeon E5-1620v2 (4 cores), 16GB RAM

Intel Integrated Video NVIDIA Quadro K5000 AMD FirePro W5000

500GB HDD 2TB HDD 256MB SSD

$699 $6,246.40 $1799 (without SSD)

Cheap, Expensive and Poorly Specified, and the Suggested System

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

About Anna and Charles

• Design Engineer/CAD Admin for Auer Precision in Mesa, AZ

• RenderBay.com

Anna Wood

• Product Development Engineer/CAD Admin at Essex Industries in St Louis, MO

• Designs ergonomic pilot controls• SWtuts.com

Charles Culp

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Goals for Today

• Understand which components are important for a CAD Workstation• Understand the enhancements in recent technology• Understand which components provide the best value• Compare a poorly built workstation with a good workstation• Provide a list of good available systems, and a custom system• Feel free to ask questions at any time

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Thank You

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Thank You

Thank you also to Bill McEachern for providing the flow simulation benchmark, and Russ Johnston for providing the V3 Simulation benchmark

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

CPU

• It is all about Intel• Tom’s Hardware compares single

core operations• Passmark now has a single thread

benchmark: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

• Both show blowouts in favor of Intel

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Intel

• Today’s systems have Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, or Haswell CPUs. These also known as 2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation Core i5 or Core i7 processors. These are the E3 or E5 series in the Xeon line, with v2, v3, or v4 at the end of the name.

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

How Many Cores?

• Two is enough for modeling, but four doesn’t hurt

• Four is enough for occasional FEA, there is a new solver in SolidWorks 2014 (Large Problem Direct Sparse Solver) that uses more than four cores

• For rendering, the more the merrier

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

CPU Benchmarks

• Modeling Benchmark:

http://www.solidmuse.com/benchmarks/solidworks-benchmark-punch-holder/

• FEA Benchmark (V3):https://forum.solidworks.com/thread/63854

• Simulation Benchmark:

http://www.swtuts.com/?p=700

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Typical Core 2 Duo

(E8500)

Xeon E5-2620, Dual

Socket

Xeon X5650,

Dual Socket

Core i5-4570 @ 3.2

GHz

Core i7-2600 @ 3.4

GHz

Xeon X5690,

Dual Socket

Core i7-2600K @ 3.4 GHz

Xeon E5-2680 v2,

Dual Socket

Core i7-4770K @ 4.3 GHz

Core i7-3970X @ 4.75 GHz

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

100 68.2758.56 56.17 53.32 52.61 48.52 43.91 42.23

36.03

Punchholder Rebuild Time (in seconds, lower is better)

Best CPU for Modeling

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

• This graph does not represent true value

$360 x 2, Xeon E5-

2620, Dual Socket

$620 x 2, Xeon X5650, Dual Socket

Core i5-4570 @ 3.2 GHz

Core i7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz

$1260 x 2, Xeon X5690, Dual Socket

Core i7-2600K @ 3.4

GHz

$1600 x 2, Xeon E5-2680

v2, Dual Socket

Core i7-4770K @ 4.3

GHz

0123456789

10

2.03 1.38

9.22

6.27

0.75

7.06

0.71

7.29

100,000 * (1/Punchholder Rebuild Time) / $ (higher is better)

Char

lesV

alue

Mar

ksBest CPU Value for Modeling

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Core i5-4570 @ 3.2 GHz

Xeon X5650,

Dual Socket

Xeon X5690,

Dual Socket

Core i7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz

Core i7-2600K @ 3.4 GHz

Xeon E5-2620, Dual

Socket

Core i7-4770K @ 4.3 GHz

Xeon E5-2680 v2,

Dual Socket

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

7 13 10 9 8 15 6 9

740 722 722 708 695567 539 457

FEA Benchmark (in seconds, lower is better)

Mesh Time Solution Time

Best CPU for SolidWorks Simulation

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Xeon X5650,

Dual Socket

Xeon E5-2620, Dual

Socket

Core i7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz

Xeon X5690,

Dual Socket

Core i5-4570 @ 3.2 GHz

Core i7-2600K @ 3.4 GHz

Xeon E5-2680 v2,

Dual Socket

Core i7-4770K @ 4.3 GHz

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

9 9 3 5 4 4 6 3

101 10095 91 86 84 72 72

Flow Simulation Benchmark (in seconds, lower is better)

Mesh Time Solution Time

Best CPU for Flow Simulation

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Core i7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz

Core i7-2600K @ 3.4 GHz

Core i5-4570 @ 3.2 GHz

Core i7-4770K @ 4.3 GHz

Xeon E5-2620, Dual

Socket

Xeon X5650,

Dual Socket

Xeon X5690,

Dual Socket

Xeon E5-2680 v2,

Dual Socket

0

60

120

180

240

300

360 322 315.7 302.3

199.9 190.6168.6

144.6

90.4

Rendering Benchmark (in seconds, lower is better)

With Hyperthreading

Best CPU for Rendering

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

• How much is enough• Frame rates and user experience• What requires expensive video cards• Changes to SolidWorks 2014• Benchmarks:

• Die Assembly• Press Assembly• Engine Assembly• Cinebench R15

Video Cards

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

AMD FirePro NVIDIA Quadro• V3900

• V4900

• V5900

• V7900

• W5000

• W7000

• W8000

• W9000

• Quadro K600

• Quadro K2000

• Quadro K4000

• Quadro K5000

• Quadro K6000

V4900 $155

W5000$440

W7000$800

Q K2000$430

Q K4000$800

Q K5000$1800

Video CardsIntel Integrated

• HD P4700 (E3-1285v3)HD P4600 (E3-1275v3, E3-1245v3)

• HD P4000 (E3-1245v2, 1275v2)

• Quadro 600

• Quadro 2000

• Quadro 4000

• Quadro 5000

• Quadro 6000

Q K600$161

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Video Card TestingVideo Card Testing on a Boxx 4150XT, Core i7-4770K @ 4.3 Ghz 16 Gigs RAM, Intel 530 SSD Quadro Driver 320.78 AMD Driver 13.15.2.4

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Die Assembly w/AO, Shadows Die Assembly no Effects0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Die Assembly (in FPS, higher is better)

Q 2000 Q 4000 Q K5000 F V4900 F W5000 F W7000

Video Cards, SolidWorks 2013

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Die Assembly w/AO, Shadows Die Assembly with Realview Die Assembly no Effects0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Die Assembly (in FPS, higher is better)

Q 600 Q 2000 Q 4000 Q 5000 Q K600Q K2000 Q K5000 F V4900 F W5000 F W7000

Video Cards, SolidWorks 2014 SP2

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Press Assembly w/AO, Shadows Press Assembly with Realview Press Assembly no Effects0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Press Assembly (in FPS, higher is better)

Q 600 Q 2000 Q 4000 Q 5000 Q K600Q K2000 Q K5000 F V4900 F W5000 F W7000

Video Cards, SolidWorks 2014 SP2

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Engine Assembly w/AO, Shadows Engine Assembly with Realview Engine Assembly no Effects0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Engine Assembly (in FPS, higher is better)

Q 600 Q 2000 Q 4000 Q 5000 Q K600Q K2000 Q K5000 F V4900 F W5000 F W7000

Video Cards, SolidWorks 2014 SP2

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Cinebench R150

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Cinebench R15 (in FPS, higher is better)

Q 600 Q 2000 Q 4000 Q 5000 Q K600Q K2000 Q K5000 F V4900 F W5000 F W7000

Video Cards, Cinebench R15

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

• SSDs create a significant improvement over HDD, 85% depending on usage

• Which brand SSDs are the best? Don’t worry about it too much, that is only a 25% gain

• Intel is used by pro’s for high reliability• “SSD’s fail early” is a myth. As a whole they are as

reliable, and maybe more reliable, than HDD when used in desktop machines

• http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-reliability-failure-rate,2923.html

SSD & HDD Overview

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

HD SSD0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Die Assembly

SSD & HDD Overview

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Comparison of Three Systems

Dell Optiplex Dell T7600 Dell T3610

Core i5-4570 (4 cores), 8 GB RAM

Dual Xeon E5-2650 (16 cores total), 32 GB RAM

Xeon E5-1620v2 (4 cores), 16GB RAM

Intel Integrated Video NVIDIA Quadro K5000 AMD FirePro W5000

500GB HDD 2TB HDD 256MB SSD

$699 $6,246.40 $1799 (without SSD)

Cheap, Expensive and Poorly Specified, and the Suggested System

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

DIY vs Prebuilt vs Premium

DIY – General Modeling Prebuilt Premium

$907.65 $1799-2271 $2196-3208 and up

Parts Warranty (varies) 3 year warranty 3 year warranty

No guarantee on component compatibility

No compatibility concerns

No compatibility risk

Perfectly tuned to your performance needs

Limited offerings for components

Overclocking means ~35% speed increase

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

DIY SystemCPU Core i7-4770 3.4-3.9 GHz Microcenter $249.99 Link

Motherboard Gigabyte GA-B85-HD3 Amazon $84.99 Link

Memory 2x8GB Crucial Ballistix Amazon $134.95 Link

Primary Disk SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB Amazon $164.62 Link

Video Card AMD FirePro V4900 Amazon $155.98 Link

DVD LG 24X Amazon $22.14 Link

Power Supply Seasonic G-Series 360W Amazon $54.99 Link

Case CFI - USB 3.0 on front Amazon $39.99 Link

$907.65

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Prebuilt Options

Dell T3610/T3600 HP Z230 SFF Lenovo E32

$1799 $2271 $2249

Xeon E5-1620v2 3.7 GHz Xeon E3-1240v3 3.4GHz Xeon E3-1240v3 3.4GHz

16 GB ECC 16 GB Non-ECC 16 GB ECC

1TB 7,200 HDD (eek) 128 GB SSD 256 GB SSD

AMD FirePro W5000 NVIDIA K600 NVIDIA K600

What happened to the Dell T1700?

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Prebuilt Disclaimer Page

• Everything was priced on January 20th, 2014. I included all discounts and sales at that time.

• Prices for all prebuilt systems include Windows 7 Professional. This is approximately a $140 for purchasing the OEM version of Windows 7 on the open market.

• The price difference between the Dell and the HP and Lenovo is likely due to the lack of an SSD drive.

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Premium Option - Boxx

Boxx 4150 Xtreme Boxx 4920 Xtreme

$3208 $4815

Core i7-4770K @ 4.3 GHz 6-Core; Core i7-3970X @ 4.5 GHz

16 GB RAM 16 GB RAM

180 GB SSD 180 GB SSD

NVIDIA Quadro K600 NVIDIA Quadro K600

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Premium Options - @Xi Computer

Mtower – Custom Build

$2196.18 http://www.xicomputer.com/products/quote/printQuote.asp?configid=306707

Intel® Core™ i7-4770K @ 4.3GHz Hi-Perf. Sealed Water Cooling

3 Years System HW Warranty w/Express Advance Parts Replacement

16GB DDR3 1866MHz Xi® MTower™ CM-HAF 922 Case

AMD® FirePro™ W5000 ASUS® Z87-C Motherboard

250GB Solid State Drive Samsung® 840 EVO Windows 7 Professional

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

Conclusions

• CPU is King. • More cores do not decrease rebuild times• That means processor design & speed are

important• RAM is a matter of how much is enough• SSD prices have plummeted, buy one• Homebuilt systems add versatility• Overclocked systems mean faster SolidWorks

modeling

3DS.

COM

© D

assa

ult S

ystè

mes

More Questions?

• http://www.swtuts.com/?p=700• https://forum.solidworks.com/community/administration?vie

w=discussions

• Tom’s Hardware, AnandTech, c|net• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bridge_(microarchitecture)