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Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

(OP)
Hi All,

So I'm going to take the video gamers route and build my computer from scratch. I got tired of trying to "customize" my computer online and decided if I really wanted to get what I wanted I'd have to build it myself.

I'll be posting my endeavor in this forum since the end goal is an excellent scalable Solidworks machine.

Please feel free to contribute your two cents, but don't be offended if I don't take it.

The components that I will need to buy are.

1) Tower
2) Nvidia Quadro Video Card/Cards??
3) Motherboard and CPU
4) 1 Hard Drive, to run windows and applications off of. I already have 2 500GB drives to use as archives.

I'm going to transfer all of my peripherals and bells and whistles off of my current computer so what I'm looking for is really just the guts.  

Now some questions.

1) Should the tower and motherboard be big enough to eventually expand to a triple SLI configuration. Can Solidworks even deal with 3 graphics cards.

2) Should I update the ram. I have 4Gb so do I need to? I don't deal with massive assemblies but I do do lots of rendering work. Does Solidworks really take advantage of Ram speed, or just the quantity.
  
Any other thoughts or experiences will be appreciated.

Cheers

60% of the time, it works every time.
 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Anna Woods spreadsheet at http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pz7wTpIkC7LA28ybEyxyTPw should be helpful in deciding which components might be suitable.

More information can be found under the Pages section at http://www.solidmuse.com/

Go to the online section at http://www.xicomputer.com/products/welcome.asp?Content=Intel2 and build one to suit your budget and then search for the components from discount stores.

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

(OP)
Thanks Cor. Always great tips.

I checked out XI but really didn't like the look of their towers.

It also wasn't giving me Quadro CAD cards. Just the Quadro CX cards which I believe are geared for Photoshop and Graphic art. Am I wrong about that?

60% of the time, it works every time.
 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Leave the bells and whistles on your old computer.

Solidworks runs _much_ better on a computer that's not also running MS Outlook, MSIE, Picasa, and whatever administrivia is demanded in your environment.  Offload to your old computer (or just prevent startup of) anything that isn't directly needed to run SW.



 

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Any program runs better on a dedicated machine without any other software or devices to interfere with it ... even especially Windows. smile

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Quote:

Any program runs better on a dedicated machine without any other software or devices to interfere with it ... even especially Windows
"The package said, 'Windows XT or better' so I installed it using Linux"

--
Hardie "Crashj" Johnson
SW 2008 SP4
Nvidia Quadro FX 1000
AMD Athalon 1.8 GHz 2 Gig RAM

 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

(OP)
I was in one of the customize build areas. Maybe I ventured into a gaming tower somehow.

By bells and whistles I merely meant keyboard and mouse etc. And Outlook express will never run on any machine I own, work machine or not.

And true looks don't matter but this tower won't be hidden it will be in my living room, and my fiance would have something to say about a big black ugly box next to the couch.

Thanks for the replies.



 

60% of the time, it works every time.
 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

What, are you an industrial designer or something?  Why, indeed, would an engineer give a damn what the case looked like?  winky smile

I'm running a custom-built system with a nice, quiet Antec case (big, slow fans) now, and it jams (had a lot of help from Stefan in specifying the bits and pieces).  I use the Core 2 Duo E8400 chip--cheap and fast.

Previously I've had a couple of Xi machines.  Ask them to use a different case--they might do it, as long as they have little risk in heat-management issues and the like.  I've found those machines to be (by far) the best value available in pre-packaged workstations.

The other way to do it is simply to check out a set of system specs offered by someone like Xi and purchase the bits yourself from newegg.com (or wherever).  Tweak what you like at your own risk when deviating from the punchlist.

 

Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Theo,

Did you ever run Anna's benchmarks on your new rig?

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Yeah, that's the one that scored 89 seconds--I'm not sure if she's posted the new results lately.  Aparently, I can overclock this chip from 3.0GHz to 4.0GHz with decent stability (if I can keep it cool).

Renders very fast, was great for a recent animation project (took seven-hour animation renders down to about three hours since my last Xi box).  Nice!

 

Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Regarding RAM - if you use 4 GB or more you need XP 64 bit...

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

I've had both sides of my Xi case for the last 4 months.

newegg? tiger? the last thing i'd be thinking about is the case.

Just remember, you are your own IT guy. Not that buying a system off dell won't give you problems. I had a Mobo go bad, a HD failure, and then ended up replacing the mobo completely. Makes getting work done a pain in the butt.

get a liquid cooled board. 775 socket. nvidia quadro 570, 1700, or 3700. ddr3 if you can pay for it. pick the right power supply. dvdrw. 10000 rpm is you can't afford solid state. raid1. fastest processor you can buy but up to you on core2 vs quad on what else you are doing at the same time. If you are using sw all the time, i think its a shame to watch those cores idle. rendering, its another story. pick the rest of the bells and whistle you need after you build the system

I have been working on Windows 7 and love the way it manages my hardware. such a treat as compared to XP x64

rfus

  

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

meant both sides off. I did get clear ones with pretty led fans though.  

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Yeah, I've still got my original Xi box on the other side of the desk.  Might have to put Linux on it for a free education.  I'd sold it (cheap) to a client, but then something went wrong (maybe the mother board--haven't messed with it yet) so I swapped it for my second Xi box since I've got this home-built system now.  Client's happy.  I put in quieter, LED fans on that box.  Groooovy!

rfus, sure, the top-of-the-line processor is nice, but the second or third in line is nearly always a much better value.  I'd recommend getting the best bang/buck ratio, and simply upgrade the whole system (or slow components) a minimum of every two years.  The hard drive will pack up with Windows sludge-ware anyway by then, so you might as well reformat a new system instead of the old.

I don't like Dell anymore because of the crap-ware they pack onto their systems (might be different with "business" grad stuff).  Why do that?  I've got two laptops that struggle about a minute to open Firefox.  Maybe the free education with Linux has an appointment with one of those.

Windows 7 looks quite promising.  I'm eager to try it out.  I'm due for a new system in about 11 months, so that may be good timing.  Would be great to have a 64-bit OS these days.

 

Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Overkill4,

What mobo and processor are you considering?

Jeff,

What mobo are you using with the E8400 that you ran the benchmark on?  Do you have a preference on mother board brands?

I've been in the process of "considering" building my own rig for home use.  I've already decided on the E8400 based on your previous advice, but wondered what your thoughts on motherboards were.  Are there particular brands/chipsets that you would recomend/avoid?

Joe
SW Office 2008 SP5.0
P4 3.0Ghz 3GB
ATI FireGL X1

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

I'm using a Gigabyte board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128086

I love it.  Lots of nice details included with the stuff included in the box, plus the way the board is laid out.  Seems like the connectors are of higher quality than a DFI board I tried first.  So if I were shopping for another board now, I'd look for something by Gigabyte.  (I've had board failures with Asus in the past--most annoying thing ever trying to track down.)

Consider something a tad faster than the E8400 now.  I'd imagine you could get a better value now--a year after I built this system--with a faster chip.

 

Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Theo,

I agree with you on the bang for buck ratio. I guess I meant get the best processor you can AFFORD to buy. I made this mistake on the fastest AMD 939 in early 06.

rfus
 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

(OP)
Hi All,

Thanks for all the great discussion.

I'm going to use 64bit of course so ram is no limit.

I was thinking of an Nvidia board that could eventually run in a triple-sli configuration. Hopefully SW can eventually take advantage of that.

As far as CPU goes, should I go quad core or the new i7 chip??? Most of my work is just modeling and rendering. Not a whole lot of large assemblies. But who knows what the next contract may hold.

But I agree usually breaking the bank for that extra .2 Ghz on a processor usually isn't worth it.

Also I'm in Vancouver, Canada where our dollars is weak as h$$%, so Xi isn't looking as appealing. Tiger direct.ca does have base kits you can buy but it looks like you can't customize them.
 

60% of the time, it works every time.
 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

why triple SLI? brings up the question is one good graphics card better than three crappy cheap ones.

i7 is still overpriced at this point. if you can afford it, go for it i guess. one will tend though, when buying/builing computer for components to start to get taken by the hype. next thing you know you are sold on triple-sli and i7 CPU, and you will pay more than you need to to accomplish your job. How often do you find yourself waiting for stuff to rebuild? I render twice a month maybe, and Photoview has made this much quicker.

The motherboard you show is not actually an NVIDIA board per say. There are all kinds of mobo manufacturers using NVIDIA's chips (XFX, Asus, EVGA).

Go on newegg and build up a hypothetical system with specs and pricing. Post it here and i'm sure you'll get some good feedback.

Too bad you don't live in U.S. If you are using this computer as your primary business tool for your self employment engineering services, it is possible that it could be written off in one year with a section 179 deduction.

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

(OP)
Yah I'm not looking to drop in 3 crap cards. My work has a professional development fund which I could fund the card purchases with. I just want the room for expansion.

I'm gonna put together a selection this weekend and well see what tumbles out of it   

60% of the time, it works every time.
 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

(OP)
While I can't quite afford 24 SSD's that is still very impressive Pud.

Here is the build so far:

XI Base Workstation Config
Upgrades And Options:

Intel i7 920
6144MB Patriot™ Viper 9-9-9-24 DDR3 @1333MHz
Quadro FX 3700 to be added initially. More to follow
Samsung T240
64GB Solid State Drive Patriot Warp SATAII
Vist 64
EVGA X58 MOBO
1100 W Coolermaster PS
Tower COOLER MASTER HAF 932
Total - $2386

60% of the time, it works every time.
 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

(OP)
For those of you wondering where I'm at in the build here's an update on what I'm starting with.

Motherboard - EVGA X58 SLI
Processor - Intel i7 920
Ram - 6Gb OCZ OCZ3P1600LV6GK
Hard Drive - 2 x Samsung HE753LJ in a Raid 0 Config
Tower - Coolermaster HAF
Graphics - Nvidia Quadro 3700

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. I'll be starting to assemble once the tower arrives.

Cheers

 

60% of the time, it works every time.
 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Don't Raid 0, its a stupid idea. You will not see any real world performance increase. Anyone that tells you differently is MISINFORMED. Do your research.

Solidworks is a single threaded application that does mostly linear calculations. Having multiple cores is not helpful but doing quick floating point calculations is. For Solidworks, MORE GHZ = BETTER.  

For renderings (including Photoworks), and most other software, multiple cores are extremely helpful.

Research your video card, last I checked there were extreme diminishing returns on anything over FX570 to the point of getting a faster card is pointless.




 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

(OP)
What research are you refering to on regards to the raid? I do mostly photoworks not large assemblies so multicore is what I need.  

60% of the time, it works every time.
 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Raid 0 only provides faster speed for sustained file transfers, for burst reads it can actually be slower, also depending on your raid controller you have system resources taken up. For the small amount of disk access Solidworks does (especially if you don't use large assemblies) its completely pointless. This is on top of making your data more vulnerable to disk crashes.

All solidworks features and operations are single threaded(extruding, sketching etc). So having a high speed single core is important for doing any modeling work.

I would definitely invest in a backup solution of some kind if I were you (off site and automated), if you still want to do raid 0, spend some cash and go raid 0+1.

 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

(OP)
Thanks dieterle. I was aware of the hard disk crash issue but not the burst data issue. I think I'll just format my disks to separate windows and my data.

Has anybody run an Nvidia 3700 card vs. a 570? Is the cost worth it? I'm leaning towards the 3700 since the 570 can't be used in SLI. And the main goal is that my system can be built upon later.

Thanks




 

60% of the time, it works every time.
 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

Trying to future proof your machine is usually a bad idea. By the time you feel like you want to add an extra graphics card to SLI, your existing hardware will all be obsolete. Its always cheaper to buy upper-mid range hardware and completely replace most of it every few years. Buy 2nd Tier hardware (not bleeding edge, best bang for buck), and plan for obsolescence in 2-4 years.


SLI does not exist as a pathway to future upgrades, its meant to be used NOW to chain multiple cards together.

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

(OP)
Well the machine is up and running well. I want to put together some benchmarks.

Where do I find a good Solidworks Benchmark?

Thanks

 

60% of the time, it works every time.
 

RE: Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch

(OP)
So far so good.

First rebuild 16.22s.

Next run with the Quadro 570

60% of the time, it works every time.
 

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