Saturday, January 4, 2014

2014 Q1 Entry Level CAD Workstation

Lately I've been building quite a few workstations for my current employer, Helius Lighting Group as their business has been growing on a near exponential curve (way to go, Paul and Jarron!). For me, the biggest source of frustration when building a new CAD workstation (when I haven't done one in a long time) is the research. Hardware research isn't terribly cathartic for me and I'd rather just buy the parts and get into the build.

While I was working as a hardware tech at Ancestry.com, my boss taught me an incredibly important lesson: it's almost always cheaper to use an existing solution than to create your own. To this end, my first choice was to find someone else's build, review it, compare it to other comparable builds, then buy parts. Much to my chagrin, the newest build I could find was for early 2013 (at least one hardware generation ago), so I wound up taking the computer building Plan B.

Fortunately for me, my brother-in-law (drop me a line if you want him to consult for you) keeps up on hardware way more than I do and had some fantastic part recommendations for a gaming (converted to CAD) system (without monitors) for around $1,300.00 USD.


Parts.

I split the parts between Amazon.com and Newegg.com, depending on price (shipping included). This was accurate as of December 26, 2013.

Amazon.com Parts

Total: $1,031.95 + Shipping


Newegg.com Parts

Total: $284.97 + Shipping

Grand Total: $1,316.92




Breaking it down.

Working from the outside in.


The Case.



As a rule of thumb, I never buy a cheap case. The reason for this? I like to keep my blood inside my body and I find that more of it winds up outside my body when I get cheap cases. Needless to say, I'm okay paying more money for fewer cuts on my hands and fingers. This case would normally be deep in my "do not touch" zone were it not for a recommendation from my brother-in-law. I got the case, loved it, and have purchased it for almost every CAD system I've built ever since.

Pros.
  • The case is priced very well for its feature set.
  • The case is very easy to work with.
  • The case has decent cable routing, especially given the price of the case.
  • Maybe this dates me, but I still think thumb screws are an awesome feature.
  • The power supply lives on the floor of the case.
  • The case has a ready spot for a 2.5" drive that only needs two screws.
  • The fans are fantastically quiet.
  • The hardware that comes with the case includes a thumb screw adapter for motherboard standoffs. Take that, ratchet!
  • The power and reset buttons are set on an angle that is hard to accidentally push with your knee.
Cons.
  • Lots of metal breakouts on the back which means holes if you goof up and break out the wrong thing as well as sharp metal when you break anything out at all. Watch your fingers.
  • USB 3.0 from the front panel has to physically plug into a USB 3.0 port on the back of the motherboard.
  • Cable routing space behind the motherboard is a little cramped.


The Mouse.


Because I spend so much of my day using it, I'm pretty picky about my mouse. When I was building my own workstation about a year ago, I ran across this guy. This has to be the most comfortable mouse I've ever used. It's fantastic. Designed to be a gaming mouse, it has some really nice functionality that transfers over to CAD really nicely like the sensitivity control buttons on the top (seen in the picture) and the adjustable weight control. The ergonomics can't be beat and the mouse is solid and responsive. The scroll button doesn't drift up and down when clicked and the cable is nice and long. I've even been told by left-handed friends that it's still comfortable for them to work with (for what it's worth) though I have no personal experience to back that up with. Ninety bucks sounds a little steep for a mouse, but once you put your hand on it you'll understand completely.

Pros.
  • It feels amazing.
  • All the buttons are fully programmable by application. If the default button functionality isn't doing it for you, just change it!
  • All internal lighting can change color (if that is what you're into).
Cons.
  • Price seems a little steep when you're first making the plunge.
  • Over time, the cord frays a little bit as it is cord bound. This cleans up quickly with a lighter.


The Keyboard.


My keyboard sensibilities are the exact opposite of my mouse sensibilities. If I had both hands on a keyboard for a long time, I'd think about a different keyboard but until then, I need something my left hand can comfortably rest on (all my most used aliases are bound to the left hand) and something that has a 10-key numeric input (I loathe using the number keys above the letters). To fill these two criteria I generally get the cheapest Microsoft keyboard I can find. So far this one hasn't let me down.

Pros.
  • It's cheap.
  • It works.
  • It has a 10-key.
  • It has windows buttons on both sides as well as a context menu button (yeah, I actually use that thing).
  • It uses the traditional IBM keyboard layout with Microsoft modifications. I hate hunting for the insert, delete, home, end, page up, and page down buttons.
Cons.
  • It isn't terribly comfortable for extended two-handed typing marathons.
  • The buttons are kind of loud, even for a rubber dome keyboard.


The OS.
Despite issues I've heard (and sometimes experienced) with AutoCAD on Windows 7, I've decided to stick with Windows 7 on my builds for now (until I feel there is a truly compelling reason for moving on). I'd love to move all my builds over to Ubuntu or Linux Mint or something like that and cut $160 off my build but the software still lives on the Windows platform. Come on, web standards!

Pros.
  • It's Windows 7.
Cons.
  • It's Windows 7.
  • AutoCAD 2012 (what my shop is currently running) has some stability issues every once in a while, especially if a single instance of AutoCAD has been running for longer than 12 hours. Make sure you install all the service packs!

The Video Card.

I'm all about using objects but not for their intended purpose but in the case of video cards I really draw a hard line. Once upon a time I thought I could muscle my way past any driver differences in a gaming card and a pro card with an outrageously over powered gaming card and was sorely disappointed to find out that an entry level pro card STILL whooped my high end gaming card. The take home lesson? Just get a pro card and make sure you stay up to date on your drivers.

Pros.
  • The price for entry level Pro cards is extremely affordable.
  • CAD and BIM applications run WAY better on a pro card.
  • DVI and DisplayPort. What's not to love?
  • The DisplayPort port comes with a DVI adaptor.
Cons.
  • Honestly, I can't think of any. It still plays games well and it's better for work.


The Hard Drive.

Given that SSD's are now less than $1.00 per gig, there is no reason (except for workstation storage space if that's an issue for you) to get an SSD. The performance increase from an SSD is absolutely lightyears beyond what conventional HDD's will give you and while you do sacrifice potentially terabytes of storage space on the workstation you more than make up for it in speed.

Pros.
  • Speed.
  • Speed.
  • Speed.
Cons.
  • Size, though if you have file server you work off of it shouldn't be a determining factor.


The RAM.

There's probably a more refined technique for finding RAM for a workstation than the one I use. My methods? Sort by highest rating. Sort that by price. Sort that by 4 x 4GB sticks. Sort that by CAS latency. Get the one in your price range with the highest CAS latency you can. Mission accomplished.

Pros.
  • They're well priced.
  • There are a lot of them.
  • They're quick.
  • They do a great job at dissipating heat. No over heating issues.
Cons.
  • I haven't found any yet.


The CPU.

I love i7 processors. They are amazing. Are they expensive? Sure. Are they worth it? Absolutely. Just make sure you get the 4770 and not the 4770K or another variant. Performance in the other variants makes a difference.

Pros.
  • Fantastic hardware.
Cons.
  • None to date.


The Motherboard.

I'll own it. I've always been an Asus motherboard fanboy. Departing from Asus for the motherboard on a workstation was a real leap of faith for me, once again spurred on by my brother-in-law and the board has absolutely not disappointed. Plenty of capacity for RAM, two full length PCI-Express slots, great documentation, and 

Pros.
  • Fantastic layout. Everything is easy to plug in and doesn't require you to compromise airflow for cabling.
Cons.
  • The only way to force boot to a different device is to actually change the boot order in the BIOS. Unlike my beloved Asus mobo's, there is no option to quick boot to a device within the BIOS itself.


The Power Supply.

This is a location I can imagine getting a little flack but after putting together 4 stations with this exact power supply I'm willing to stand my ground and fight about it. Could it supply higher wattage? Sure. Does it need to for this build? Absolutely not. Maybe if you were doing a bigger video card and more hard drives? Sure. In that case, Corsair makes the same line in progressively higher wattages, which would probably be the direction I would take. For the price, this is an excellent power supply. So many times your power supply is the cause of funky little (or big) issues that are crazy to pin down and so far the batting average for this device is 100%.

Pros.
  • Modular
  • Fantastically reliable.
Cons.
  • The cables feel a little cheap. It doesn't seem to effect their performance though.
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