What type of computer do I need??

The Mighty Quinn · 09-06-2021 11:52am #1

Hi, looking to get a new computer for work. I've been told to go ahead and sort what I need, come back to them with a computer and a price and they'll see.

I honestly find it difficult to find something that isn't super expensive (which may be required, but don't want to be blowing money for no reason either), and afraid some of the lesser priced pieces may not cut it, I honestly don't know.

Don't need monitors, keyboard, mouse.

I'll be running this all day:
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/System-requirements-for-Autodesk-Revit-2022-products.html#performance

And this will regularly also be open at the same time

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/navisworks-products/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/System-requirements-for-Autodesk-Navisworks-2022-products.html

And this will also regularly be open at the same time

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/System-requirements-for-AutoCAD-2022-including-Specialized-Toolsets.html

After that it'll just be Office, Chrome etc.

The Mighty Quinn · 10-06-2021 9:22am

To those in the know, how does this look?

Have been approved for a 2,000 spend and since it's being purchased through the company i work for, I'm working on the assumption that my 2K is ex-VAT.

ED E · 10-06-2021 7:04pm

Two SATA SSDs? Booo
Wireless N 300 in a 2K rig? Mental.
4yr Old GPU - Mental but a sign of the times we live in unfortunately.

I'd have thought Ryzen makes more sense than intel in this range. Somebody else will advise.

The Mighty Quinn · 10-06-2021 7:07pm

ED E wrote: »

Two SATA SSDs? Booo
Wireless N 300 in a 2K rig? Mental.
4yr Old GPU - Mental but a sign of the times we live in unfortunately.

I'd have thought Ryzen makes more sense than intel in this range. Somebody else will advise.

Appreciate the feedback, honestly I stopped being able to comprehend the difference between different computers about a decade ago. I can't compare them and know if one is better than the others as its so jargony I get bamboozled with the variety and what it means.

Robert ninja · 10-06-2021 7:15pm

Do you get to keep it or does the company get it back and how long do they expect you to use it? Because I'm thinking a laptop might be a better option if it's short-term and they retrieve it.

The Mighty Quinn · 10-06-2021 7:20pm

Robert ninja wrote: »

Do you get to keep it or does the company get it back and how long do they expect you to use it? Because I'm thinking a laptop might be a better option if it's short-term and they retrieve it.

I use a dual monitor set up, pretty essential for my job today. I know monitors can be plugged in to laptop but I just don't like that set up, laptop is too small then and I prefer my own keyboard etc, which just creates clutter.

I'd have thought I'd get more bang for buck with a desktop anyway?

Company will own it but I'll be using it exclusively until I move on. I'm five years here now, could move in 6mths or 5 years time.

Robert ninja · 10-06-2021 10:09pm

The Mighty Quinn wrote: »

I'd have thought I'd get more bang for buck with a desktop anyway?

Yes but I also thought it might not matter since it's not you paying for it and you can get a new one every 3ish years as that particular industry often demands. But if they expect 5 years out of it with no option to upgrade then yeah desktop will be the way to go I suppose. That's a bit sheesh though.

Anyway here's a potential build:

Adding in windows puts it over budget (about €100) but I'm assuming your work will provide you a key or something. If not there's cheaper option off-site. Site is pcspecialist btw. This may be a little over what you need in some areas but again I'm buffering it up for roughly 5 years of use. Went with small form factor because why not. https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-sff-gaming/ Other opinions welcome though. Possibly drop GPU quality for more RAM.

Aodhan5000 · 11-06-2021 1:40am

The gpu recommendation was only 4GB so I'd say a 3070 could be overkill

riclad · 11-06-2021 1:47am

Aodhan5000 wrote: »

The gpu recommendation was only 4GB so I'd say a 3070 could be overkill

A 4gig graphics card will be cheaper,
8gig graphics ram card is not needed for office work

riclad · 11-06-2021 1:47am

Aodhan5000 wrote: »

The gpu recommendation was only 4GB so I'd say a 3070 could be overkill

A 4gig graphics card will be cheaper,
8gig graphics ram card is not needed for office work

The Mighty Quinn · 11-06-2021 7:03am

Thanks Robert.

Windows will be sorted by work, won't need to purchase.

Also, the 2K would be ex-VAT, so could (should) prob improve on GPU and possibly up to 64gb RAM

The Mighty Quinn · 11-06-2021 7:05am

riclad wrote: »

A 4gig graphics card will be cheaper,
8gig graphics ram card is not needed for office work

I'd be dealing with large and complex building models, going above the min GPU could only help, no?

Robert ninja · 11-06-2021 11:25am

For more RAM you'll need to go full-desktop size at least if you're going to stick with PCS. I don't think you're gonna be able to get more RAM as well as better GPU without going over budget, though. You can cut down on storage too if you don't need it.

riclad · 11-06-2021 1:21pm

Sorry I'm wrong go with the 8gig video ram graphics card listed in the link
Ignore my previous post
You ll need a fast 8gig card to run the programs you will be using

Metric Tensor · 11-06-2021 7:14pm

Will you only be using the computer for work or is there a possibility of gaming?

If no gaming then I think the rendering and such like in Revit tends to work a bit better with workstation style cards rather than consumer ones. This is something I heard through the grapevine rather than having direct experience - so please research rather than take my word for it!!

I do know that Revit uses huge amounts of RAM so the 64 is good.

The Mighty Quinn · 11-06-2021 8:04pm

And what are workstation style cards? I really dont know. It won't be used for gaming, ever.

I haven't gamed since I lost the rag with Final Fantasy VIII in about 2002

Aodhan5000 · 12-06-2021 1:11am

The Mighty Quinn wrote: »

And what are workstation style cards? I really dont know. It won't be used for gaming, ever.

I haven't gamed since I lost the rag with Final Fantasy VIII in about 2002

Quadros mostly and AMD have their "pro" lineup I think it's called

Metric Tensor · 12-06-2021 10:43pm

Yup. As per above. nVidia Quadro. I don't know what AMD call theirs.

There is nothing wrong with a desltop card either, it will do mainly the same job. But in order to make pro clients break out the vaseline for expensive quadros nVidia slightly hobble the desktop cards for pro tasks. But considering where the desktop gpu market is at the moment I have lost all track of what is currently considered "value" - quadros may be way out of budget.

Tails142 · 12-06-2021 10:59pm

Yeah there are certain cards guaranteed to work with autodesk products, if you google you'll find the list. It's generally quadro's.

Honestly though I don't think autodesk products will tax your card too much unless you're doing serious architectural rendering of 3d scenes and even then.... I think a 4gb card will be fine and you could go a couple of generations back. Prices on anything larger are crazy at the minute and it's the easiest thing to upgrade on a machine if it is a problem down the road. Loading models and all that will be in ram methinks and 32gb is probably plenty, it's reasonably cheap though so you could go to 64gb without breaking the budget to future proof and give you a bit more oomph if you wanted to run virtual machines with different OS's loaded.

On SSD's, the hotness now is M.2 cards which slot directly into the motherboard and the latest is PCIe4.0 speed which the motherboard and the drive will need to support, you'll get a 1TB cheap enough. You'll probably want a few TB available on standard HDD drives too.

riclad · 12-06-2021 11:52pm

One of the programs you use says 8gig video ram card minimum spec needed
It won't work with a 4gig card or will be very slow
No point in trying to save money an 8 gig card is within
your 2k budget
I know some people are buying pre assembled pcs now cos it's the easiest way to get a fast 8gig card
As there's a global shortage of most graphics cards

Inquitus · 15-06-2021 4:22pm

For GPU related workloads Nvidia is far superior to AMD.

The Mighty Quinn · 19-06-2021 9:55am

I've gone over budget a bit but got it across the line. This comes to €2540 ex-VAT.

Case NZXT H511 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (WHITE)

Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i9 Ten-Core Processor i9-10900K (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache

Motherboard Gigabyte Z490 VISION G: (LGA1200, USB 3.2, CrossFireX, SLI) - ARGB Ready

Memory (RAM) 64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)

Graphics Card PNY QUADRO RTX 4000 8GB GDDR6, 2304 CUDA CORES - 3 x DP, 1 x DVI-D

1st Storage Drive 2TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR |530MB/sW)

Memory Card Reader USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER

Power Supply CORSAIR 650W CV SERIES™ CV-650 POWER SUPPLY

Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)

Processor Cooling CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 120 High Performance Liquid Cooler

Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND

LED Lighting 50cm Green LED Strip

Extra Case Fans 1x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fan

Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Card 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT

Wireless Network Card WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARDUSB/Thunderbolt Options MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Operating System Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [MUP-00003]

What type of computer do I need??

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