Workstation for architectural work

[wjchmzn]

Hi all!

I am trying to build a workstation for architectural related work. Meaning heavy rendering in Vray, modelling in 3ds Max, Rhino, some drawing in Autocad, Photoshop and Indesign, on top of that quick visualisation based on Enscape (GPU engine).

This is what I came up with. My budget is closing at £2,400. If you have any suggestions it would be amazing to hear it!

I have a monitor, keyboard and mouse

Case
PCS SR-620C MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 16 Core Processor i9-9960X (3.1GHz) 22MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® WS X299 PRO: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6 GB/s
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
240GB ADATA SU630 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account

Price: £2,392.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[wjchmzn]

Hi all,

I have made few changes after reading a bit about the specs. I have changed the RAM memory and hard drive. Do you have any other suggestion about that build? I would like to order it next week when the i9-9960X processor is back in stock.


Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES 275Q QUITE CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 16 Core Processor i9-9960X (3.1GHz) 22MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® WS X299 PRO: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6 GB/s
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEGATE BARRACUDA SATA-3.5
2nd Storage Drive
NONE
1st m.2 SSD DRIVE
512GB INtel 660p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account

Price: £2,436.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[markh]

It was wise to upgrade the size and speed of the M.2 SSD in your second spec.

I've seen specs for machines intended for similar tasks to yours that have 64GB RAM, even just workstation laptops - only you will know if you think this is necessary, and of course RAM can be upgraded later, but PCS's RAM prices are a lot lower than consumer ones so it might make sense. I gather heavy rendering benefits a lot from more RAM.

You might also want to go with quad-channel RAM as opposed to dual, which might necessitate a different motherboard.

Other people on here will be able to advise about the motherboard and case, not my wheelhouse

 

[wjchmzn]

Thank you Markh!

So basically what you say is that it would be beneficial in terms of the price and performance to consider 4x16GB RAM?

 

[markh]

Pleasure!

Assuming that I'm correct about the benefits of more RAM for your use-case, yes.