new workstations for civil3d 2014

[Anonymous]

To anyone that can provide intelligent input. 

I'm somewhat ignorant on spec'ing of new computers.

Autocad Civil3d 2014. 

We as a company are trying to spec a new computer to standardize to.  Dell is a prerequisite from a partner and price mark needs to be below 2k with Office software included.

Graphics card is my main concern.  We prepare surfaces and run pipe networks.

The following is option 1, being proposed to me.  I believe it includes the HD graphics 4600.

Dell OptiPlex 9020 Mini Tower -

Memory 8GB, Hard Dr 500GB
Solid State Drive Modification
MS Office Pro 2013

Option 2 - Close to last years certified workstations configuration
Dell Precision T1700 Mini Tower Workstation

3.40GHz Turbo, 8MB with HD Graphics
MS Office Pro 2013

thanks for any help!

[pendean]

I would suggest you repost and ask your peers in the Civil 3D forum while others think about it here: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-Civil-3D-General/bd-p/66

[Anonymous]

thanks

[LyleHardin · Accepted solution]

The SSHDs are great!  Get big one's though. They fill up fast especially with suites, and if you use large images in the background, they need lots of temp storage space.

Definitely get more than 8 Gig RAM. Go for 16-24 if you can.

I know when we moved from our old machines to HP Z400 machines with Xeon processors, SSDs and 24 Gig RAM, the swearing in the civil department dropped significantly.

Our machines were about $2500 18-24 months ago.

The graphics cards are not a major issue unless you really view you terrain or pipes in 3D a lot. 

If you need good graphics stick with the Engineering cards, not the Gaming cards. Gaming cards are fast at streaming pre-rendered images. We need card that can process 3D in real time and they are a bit more pricy than the gaming cards.

Our Civil computers have ATI Fire Pro V4800.

Hope that helps.

[braudpat]

Hello

- Please consider the fastest possible Xeon (4 cores/8 threads is enough) - And A SINGLE Xeon will be enough ! 

- 16 Gb Ram is a minimum for Medium Project - Please consider 24/32 Gb Ram for Medium/Large projects ... 

- A "correct" graphic card is enough - something like a Quadro 2000 with 2 Gb Ram 

- If possible : a fast SSD (150-250 Gb minimum) + a fast SATA Drive (7200 rnd/mn) 500-750 Gb minimum 

I am using a HP Z1 Workstation (Single Xeon E3-1235 - 3.2-3.6 Ghz) with 32 Gb Ram : so I am happy ! 

But I have a NVidia Quadro 1000 2 Gb which is "slow" but it's not the most important for me ! 

And a "slow" 1 Tb Sata which is slow but ... 

[jggerth · Accepted solution]

I'll agree that 16Gb is a minimum, -- right now 24Gb seems to be the seweet spot for performance for C3D

I'll vehemently disagree with the Xeon suggestion though.  that's simple spending more money and gaining no benefit.  worse -- Xeon FCPUs are coupled with ECC RAM, which ramps the price up substantially.  A fast i5 or i7 is quite adequate, and the price differential ion RAM will _easily_ allow adding the extra really needed.

[dgorsman]

For 3D viewing I highly suggest Navisworks Simulate.  It can run alongside Civil3D on a modest system without hiccups.

[braudpat · Accepted solution]

Hello from France  

I know very well the "problem" ! 

I agree with you BUT "medium/big" french companies  ( about the same in North America, I imagine )  want standard workstation PCs coming from HP, Dell, Lenovo ... 

My choice for ACAD, REVIT, INVENTOR, etc : a very fast Core i7 serie K  ( K for overclocking )  -  For example : Core i7 4770k - 4 cores/8 threads

Always 24/32 Gb Ram  ---> 32 Gb Ram of course ! 

and of course a Beautiful NVidia GTX 780 TI 3 Gb Ram  ( Today : the best performance graphic card with a "correct" price ! ) 

... And good ventirads or Water cooling and you will run at 4.2/4.6 Ghz without any problem !

This kind of PC will outperform a lot of workstations with a lower price !!! 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all of the insightful responses.  So much so that I've gone back to the old school of thought on custom building machines.  For various reasons, I'm fairly convinced that this is the route that would prove most cost effective for us on a budget.  I've not vetted this yet, but my hunch is we could get more bang for the buck.  And I'm fairly certain that the warranty argument is just not valid.  I've had 1 hard drive go bad amongst 40+/- machines we've been through as a company...

I'm still open to more input but I think I've got a feel for what I think we need.

Thanks again

[LyleHardin]

Can't argue with that. 

One last bit of advice.

When we were looking at getting new machines, we had Dell and HP and another company send us test machines for a week.

We ran several tests and determined the best parts of all machines.

It's how we found out the SSD made an enormous difference in performance.

We then had the companies give us their best price for 16 machines with the specs we wanted.

We ended up going with HP.

You could possibly do the same with your custom builts.  Build a couple, test them out, then order the best parts for your final machines.

Just a thought.

Sounds fun.

[braudpat · Accepted solution]

Hello

To complete my previous msg - An example of 2 "High-End Custom (overclocked)" PCs used by Titi95 (a 3D French Specialist with ACAD and other Softwares)

--- Software --- 
AutoCAD - Lumion Pro - Keyshot - Photoshop - Win 7 Pro - 64 bits

--- Hardware ---
Job  : Intel I7 3970X 4.6ghz + Swiftech H220 - RAM 32 Go - SSD 840 Pro 256 Go + DD 2To - GTX Titan 3xFans 980mhz - HAFG 932 - 2x24" Dell - Perfomance MX - Spacenavigator
Home : Intel I7 3770K 4.4ghz - RAM 16Go - SSD 840 Pro 256 Go + DD 2To - GTX 680 4Go 1137mhz - 1x27" - M510

Titi95 has used in the past HP Workstation and since more than one year, he is using Custom PC which are very fast and less expensive !

[arman.zmn]

guys , I know here we are talkinh about pcs but i want to ask if i could use a laptop like this one? I am a surveyor so portability is a big issue for me.

yes i could get a thinkpad or workstation laptop, but i like to game sometimes also.

Lenovo Y510p  ( PRICE - $1100+$400 = $1500)

Processor:4th Generation Intel Core i7-4700MQ Processor (2.40GHz 1600MHz 6MB)

Graphics:NVIDIA GeForce GT755M (SLI) GDDR5 2GB

Memory:16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz

Display:15.6" FHD LED Glossy (1920x1080) + 24" 1920x1200

Hard Drive:1TB 5400 RPM + 24GB SSD

Battery:6 Cell 72 Watt Hour Lithium-Ion

Network Card:Intel 7260 b/g/n Wireless (2x2 BGN)

Bluetooth:Bluetooth Version 4.0

Warranty:One yearOperating System:Windows 8.1 64

or whats about this custom pc setup

( PRICE - $2000)

Processor:Intel® Core™ i7-4820K

Motherboard:ASUS SABERTOOTH X79

Graphics:ASUS GTX760 2GB DDR5 (780TI is too much for me)

Memory:24GB DDR3 1600 MHz

Display:24" 1920x1200

Hard Drive:1TB 7200 RPM + 256GB SSD Samsung EVP Pro

Operating System:Windows 8.1 64

plz share your thoughs.

[Anonymous]

I think the Option 1. maybe you need the Dell Optiplex 9020 drivers including the graphic.  OptiPlex 9020 Drivers