Comments on my new workstation build?

[dpieksma]

I am getting a new system to learn Revit and eventually use it for projects. I have a budget of around $1500 and the following is a specs that I got from my local system builder. I'm usually good at specing a system for AutoCAD as I have been using it for years and know what works best. But Revit feels like a whole new beast and I want to make sure I get good performance for my budget. Any input is appreciated.

Intel Core I7-870
Intel DP55WB Motherboard
8GB Kingston PC6300 DDR Memory
500GB Seagate 7200RPM SATA Harddrive
ATI FireGL V4800 Video card 1GB
10/100/1000 Ethernet interface
24x Liteon DVD-RW
Onboard sound
MS Windows 7 64 bit

My main concerns are the CPU and video card. Based on my research, the I5-2500k processor seemed like the best choice, but they have suggested the I7-870. Based on the raw numbers, the I5 seems faster plus it has turbo boost. The price isn't much different either. The video card is listed as certified by autodesk.

Thanks in advance.

[patricks]

My Dell XPS also has an i7-870 and it runs quite well. But I also have 12 GB RAM. Honestly I would consider 8 GB as the bare minimum these days for a 64-bit system. 12 GB of fast RAM such as 1333 MHz or higher (if your board supports it) is what I would recommend.

Also I would not spend the money on an ATI FireGL or nVIDIA Quadro FX graphics card. You can get the same or more video RAM for MUCH less money if you look at nVIDIA GeForce GTX 4xx or 5xx series cards, or ATI Radeon HD 5xxx series cards. I personally have an HD 5770 1GB card which has been good, but there are some screen flickering issues not related to Revit. I'd like to try a GTX 1GB or higher card, as I've heard others on here have had good results with it in Revit 2011 and 2012.

[dpieksma]

Thanks..
The video card issue is where I am really getting confused.. All of my research says that Revit does not benefit from more than 256mb of video ram (desktop recommendations post here, autodesk tech notes, etc..). So why would you recommend something more than 1gb?? As far as the money is concerned, the price of the V4800 is in the same range as your 5770, but the 4800 is certified by autodesk. I know that any card that meets the requirements *should* work, but for support reasons, I would prefer to use certified cards. This is only going to be used for revit work in my office, no gaming involved. I have always used basic low-cost pro-level cards in my Autocad workstations and never had issues.

I'm not trying to start a video card debate here, but I am confused and am looking for some sort of logic to follow..

[patricks]

Well, before the last couple of years, Revit made use of OpenGL and not DirectX graphics acceleration. It was also known that Revit did not take to "gaming" graphics cards very well (GeForce and Radeon cards). As such we always used nothing by QuadroFX cards throughout our office.

Now, however, Revit has switched to using DirectX, and as such works quite well with the lower cost "gamer" graphics cards, so much so that you can get much more graphics memory for less money by going that route. The high-end Quadro and FireGL cards are now a waste of money as far as Revit is concerned. In fact, some of the GeForce GTX cards run the same chipsets as the Quadro FX cards, but at a MUCH lower price point.

As for amount of graphics memory, you have to be aware of what other apps will be using it, as well. When I first installed Win7 x64, and tried using Revit, Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, along with running the Windows Aero stuff, my 256MB Quadro card just couldn't handle it. It got to the point where I couldn't copy graphic stuff to the clipboard, couldn't take a screen shot, couldn't open PDF files, etc. Switching to a 512MB Quadro FX580 card helped, but it still wasn't up to the performance I liked.

Now I used a Dell XPS machine (wanted to try that with quad-core i7 processor instead of the more expensive Precision workstations with Xeon processors) and the only graphics card options were ATI Radeon HD cards. I decided to give it a shot with a 1GB card, and this machine is by far the fastest renderer in the office, and runs pretty much anything I can throw at it without skipping a beat (other than the occasional screen flickering I mentioned earlier). Especially with me running large displays, a 24" at 1920x1200 and a 21" at 1920x1080, I feel much more comfortable with a 1GB card rather than something less.

*edit* I would go with this 1GB nVIDIA GTX 465 card for $170 in a heartbeat over the V4800: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130557

I know others here have reported very good results with the GTX 400 series. I've always had better luck with nVIDIA chipsets over ATI/AMD. I'm hoping to switch this HD5770 out some time soon for a GTX card.

[ckidd]

My Dell XPS also has an i7-870 and it runs quite well. But I also have 12 GB RAM. Honestly I would consider 8 GB as the bare minimum these days for a 64-bit system. 12 GB of fast RAM such as 1333 MHz or higher (if your board supports it) is what I would recommend.

Are you sure about your CPU, or could it be an i7-970?

i7-8xx CPUs were 1156 socket, and use dual channel RAM, meaning 8GB or 16GB would be optimum.
i7-9xx CPUs were 1366 socket, and use triple channel RAM, so 12GB or 24GB would be optimum.

IIRC, Dell XPS use 1366 socket.

I just posted a short rant here: I want to upgrade...

....At $315, the i7-2600K is making other CPUs obsolete. More powerful CPUs start at $600 for a very minor performance gain, and go up to over $1500.......

Back to the OP....

[ckidd]

I am getting a new system to learn Revit and eventually use it for projects. I have a budget of around $1500 and the following is a specs that I got from my local system builder. I'm usually good at specing a system for AutoCAD as I have been using it for years and know what works best. But Revit feels like a whole new beast and I want to make sure I get good performance for my budget. Any input is appreciated.

Revit is certainly a whole new beast, but $1500 is a decent budget to work with. In fact, that will buy everything except a Professional Graphics card and SSD (and you may be able to squeeze one of those in, too).

Intel Core I7-870
Intel DP55WB Motherboard
8GB Kingston PC6300 DDR Memory
500GB Seagate 7200RPM SATA Harddrive
ATI FireGL V4800 Video card 1GB
10/100/1000 Ethernet interface
24x Liteon DVD-RW
Onboard sound
MS Windows 7 64 bit

Core i7-870 is 1156 socket, as is your motherboard.
That Mobo takes DDR3-1066 (PC8500) or DDR3-1333 (PC10600) RAM. DDR-800 (PC6300) is not compatible.
I don't mind Seagate personally, but the system builders I talk to use Western Digital Caviar Black Drives exclusively.

My main concerns are the CPU and video card. Based on my research, the I5-2500k processor seemed like the best choice, but they have suggested the I7-870. Based on the raw numbers, the I5 seems faster plus it has turbo boost. The price isn't much different either. The video card is listed as certified by autodesk.
Thanks in advance.

After a ton of research, if I were to get a pro video card on a limited budget, I'd get a V7800 ($630). Anything less, I felt the performance sacrifice would be too disappointing to justify the benefits of having "Autodesk certified drivers".

If you'd like to compare GPU and CPU performance, Passmark is a good place to start.

It's difficult to compare the i5-2500k to the i7-870. The i5-2600k uses 1155 socket, so you'd have to change your motherboard. I'd skip an Intel brand motherboard and get an ASUS. I'd also build with the 1155 socket board, i5-2500k or i7-2600k processor.

[patricks]

Are you sure about your CPU, or could it be an i7-970?

i7-8xx CPUs were 1156 socket, and use dual channel RAM, meaning 8GB or 16GB would be optimum.
i7-9xx CPUs were 1366 socket, and use triple channel RAM, so 12GB or 24GB would be optimum.

Yep, you are right about i7-870's being dual channel. But I'm also right that that's what I have and that it came with 12GB installed. Believe me, I always open every new machine before setting it up just to inspect everything. And here's what I got from Dell: 2x 4GB DDR3-1333 and 2x 2GB DDR3-1333, dual channel operation, 12GB total. As I recall when ordering the system that Dell wouldn't even offer 16 GB on this system, or if they did it was many hundreds of dollars more and IMHO not worth it. But whatever, my machine runs awesome.

After a ton of research, if I were to get a pro video card on a limited budget, I'd get a V7800 ($630). Anything less, I felt the performance sacrifice would be too disappointing to justify the benefits of having "Autodesk certified drivers".

honestly a $630 graphics card for a Revit machine is a massive waste of money that could be put towards more memory and processor power or an SSD. Unless you're doing high-end professional rendering or animation (NOT Revit rendering) then those $500+ graphics cards are really pointless.

If you really need a 2GB graphics card, I'd go with this GTX 560 for 280 bucks http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814261099

[ckidd]

Yep, you are right about i7-870's being dual channel. But I'm also right that that's what I have and that it came with 12GB installed. Believe me, I always open every new machine before setting it up just to inspect everything. And here's what I got from Dell: 2x 4GB DDR3-1333 and 2x 2GB DDR3-1333, dual channel operation, 12GB total. As I recall when ordering the system that Dell wouldn't even offer 16 GB on this system, or if they did it was many hundreds of dollars more and IMHO not worth it. But whatever, my machine runs awesome.

I didn't know you could use 12GB RAM and maintain dual channel. I suppose it's because each pair is matched, even with two different size modules. I wouldn't do that if I were building the machine, but if Dell can make it work, awesome! If I were to buy a brand name PC, Dell is the only one I'd consider anyways; I've just had too many headaches out of other OEMs. Thanks for clarifying that for me, as they say "I'm not young enough to know everything"......

[patricks]

Yeah I wouldn't have built it that way, either. I'm a stickler for consistency. My last machine was a dual-socket dual-core Xeon Dell Precision rig with 8 memory slots, so I threw 8x 2GB in there, but it was only DDR2-667 fully buffered. So I wasn't too surprised when my new rig with "only" 12 GB pretty much blew it out of the water on rendering.

I'm sure my Radeon HD5770 1GB card vs. the old rig's Quadro FX580 512MB entry-level card helped, also.

[ckidd]

I've copied this socket 1155 build from a DIY PC forum. High quality, reliable components. $1055, leaving a room for shipping and a GPU.

Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 (CMPSU-650HX) 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.com - Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CT040G3K5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
The Z68 chipset supports SSD caching, that's what the SSD is for here. To use the SSD as your boot drive, I'd get at least 120 GB.

Newegg.com - LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - CD / DVD Burners

To reduce cost, you can reduce the i7-2600k to i5-2500k and take the WD Black drive down from 2TB to a WD 500GB 6Gb/s drive.