Computer spec review
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I recently went to work for a municipality and it's time to upgrade my hardware, since the PC I'm using barely meets minimum specs for SketchUp and CAD. It won't run Adobe CS at all. Here's what been proposed:
A3J45AV -Configurable- HP Z220 SFF Microsoft
Windows Workstation
HP Z220 Workstation SFF
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
HP Z220 Workstation Country Kit
HP Z220 SFF 240W 90% Efficient Chassis
Intel Xeon E3-1225v2 3.2 GHz (up to 3.6 GHz) 8MB 4C 77W GT2 CPU
AMD FirePro V3900 1GB Graphic Card
16GB DDR3-1600 ECC (4x4GB) Unbuffered RAM
500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6G 1st Hard Drive
16X SuperMulti DVDRW SATA Optical DriveDoes anyone see any huge problems? If you could change a couple things to make it better without blowing up the price, what would you change? Work will be a combination of CAD, SU, and Photoshop.
Thanks for the input.
Wyatt -
get canonical nvidia GTX.
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Isn't the GTX a gaming engine? Only the nvidea Quadro cards are recommended/certified through Autodesk. I know that means nothing for SU, but as I will share a system with CAD, I need something that works well in both programs. Does a gaming engine really help SketchUp performance that much over a workstation card?
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I just posted the other day about the quadro vs gtx series.
I guess you have a pretty open budget. But I can't see any reason to waste money on the quadro when you could buy the titan and have the best of both worlds.
I'd like to see the model that Titan couldn't handle. and it's like $2k cheaper.
I think the system looks great. Although I wouldn't be spending money on a workstation and workstation OS but of course I only hook up to a couple of computers on my small network. If you're going to be hooking into something larger I can see the reasons.
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Kristoff, thanks for the comments and link; good info to digest. I see the Titan listing for around $1000. That's almost more than the whole computer! The mid-range quadros are around $300, which is double the AMD FirePro. Is it 2x as good? I'm not sure what the budget constraints are, but $1000 graphics card will be a tough sell. I know how much the system I listed costs and that's what the IT department recommended based on other Autocad users. There are no other SU/Photoshop/CAD users so I'm blazing a new trail in that regard.
I am hooking into a pretty robust network. There area somewhere around 500 employees where I work. Server access it partitioned and limited, but still, lots of users and lots of data. The technical details of the server are not really my thing, but if IT has recommended a workstation, I'm inclined to believe them.
Of all the things in the spec, I'm mostly wondering about the graphics card and the processor. Xeon E-3 vs core i7? AMD FirePro vs nvidea GTX/Quadro?
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Well I was comparing the Titan to the Top of the line Quadro...
Have you seen Solo's New Rig thread? Personally if I were going for a new processor I would be buying an Intel i7 3930k But she's a little expensive too. like $550.
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I think for Sketchup and CAD a FirePro should be working good - theoretically, since Sketchup is still using openGL and there the workstation cards should perform good.
But for Adobe stuff an nvidia card maybe would perform better. But i would take one with at least 2GB RAM. And the V3900 is based on the same chip like the Radeon HD 6570/6670 which is more a lower midrange card and already 2.5 years old...If you're not using any render engine then i would choose a higher clocked quadcore i7 or Xeon. I would go for the new Haswell based CPUs (i7 4xxx/ Xeon E3 V3) if you can wait a few weeks/months (release should be June/July) or take an Ivy Bridge i7 or Xeon now, but with a clockspeed around 3.5GHz (3.9 GHz Turbo).
maybe one of these:
http://ark.intel.com/products/65727
http://ark.intel.com/products/65725http://ark.intel.com/products/65523
http://ark.intel.com/products/65719
http://ark.intel.com/products/65520
http://ark.intel.com/products/65702http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bridge_(microarchitecture
And better take 2x8GB RAM so that you can add another 2 Sticks to upgrade to 32GB later (or buy 32GB now if you need it - but maybe not from HP... RAM upgrades are normally highly overpriced at Apple/DELL/HP)
HP Z220 SFF 240W must be a typo... or it is just enough for this system with this low power CPU and GPU. Normally you should buy at least 400-500W to have a bit of headroom for a bigger video card. And the efficiency is normally the best at ~60% load.
And you should definitely buy a SSD for windows/programs...
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Ahh, to be able to compare the top of the line.... I did mention I work for local government, right?
Thanks for the thoughts and link to the Quaddro/GTX discussion. Those are helpful. The 2x8 is a great suggestion. I did look at Solo's rigs. I think I'm going to be limited to an HP base due to some State purchasing agreements. The upside is that prices are a little less, (though maybe not as sweet as what Pete pulled together). I thought the 240W looked low; glad someone else caught that. I'll ask about that. I'll check the cost to step up to an i7 and a higher rated FirePro vs a similar Quaddro card. Most of my work will be CAD/SU so I should optimize for that since no one makes the best for both CAD and Adobe.
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@wyatt said:
I'll check the cost to step up to an i7 ...
Just to be clear... the i7 and Xeon E3 (for single CPU systems) are basically the same for each generation (Xeon has some more features like ECC, but they are not needed. And you get them without the internal graphics). So there is no need to switch to i7 now, if they offer you a faster Xeon. Maybe they are only selling Xeons in this product line...
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