What computer to buy

[pieterjanproost]

Hi all,

I'm going to start on self employment basis and looking for a good, but no overkill, computer.

When searching for the requirements i noticed they are split up into 3 categories,

- Entry level

- Balanced price and perormance

- large and complex models

I will mainly model fire protection systems ie. pipes, sprinklers and some 3D support details.

I also will link architecture model and other MEP model like HVAC, Electricity, plumbing.

How can I determine which category I need, can someone help me with this?

The price ranges are huge for the different categories 🙂 

[HVAC-Novice]

At minimum what Autodesk describes as balanced. Always err on the faster side. They are fuzzy with CPU. But 8 real cores and over 5GHz in boost is  good start. 

[rfischer6TTS8]

Take a look at these sites.  This is where I went to build out my own desktop computer for Revit through PC Part Picker (pcpartpicker.com).  I work in Electrical and Fire Alarm, so fairly similar to yours. They go through in detail exactly what you need for each piece of hardware.  Are you buying an out of the box desktop, or building your own?  Are you using it solely for Revit, or using other software as well with it?  Do you have to work a lot in 3D views or anything like that or mainly on the Floor Plans and other drafting views?

https://www.pugetsystems.com/solutions/cad-workstations/autodesk-revit/hardware-recommendations/

https://www.cgdirector.com/best-pc-for-autodesk-revit/

https://aecmag.com/sponsored-content/what-graphics-card-should-i-specify-for-my-revit-workstation/

My firm buys from Boxx and my personal desktop at home I just built using the specs from a site like the ones I posted and then put it together in PCBuilder.com

[scbunker]

Puget Systems build is easy. Buy an Intel NUC 13 Extreme i9. Then you just need RAM, an SSD, a graphics card, and Windows install key. It is my understanding that Revit modeling is mostly dependent on CPU speed and rendering on the graphics card. It doesn't sound like you're going to be doing a lot of rendering, so get an entry level or used graphics card. 

I'm working on a NUC 13 Extreme i9 with 1TB M.2 Drive, 64GB RAM, and a Quadro RTX 4000 I pulled out of my old computer. Whole thing was about $2000 (since I didn't have to buy a GPU). Runs great.

[HVAC-Novice]

Don't buy a NUC or other mini computer or laptop. They have no real cooling and will thermal-throttle. 

[scbunker]

The NUC 13 Extreme isn't a mini like a typical NUC. It's a small tower, several fans, very open. Look it up. It's what Puget Systems uses for their current Revit build. 

[HVAC-Novice]

I see. A bit better. Still not a properly cooled system. They may have power-limited the CPU in the BIOS. If you want to actually use full power, you probably have to DIY. there are very few pre-built systems. if that NUC cools anything, it will be noisy. 

The 13900K draws up to 300W and people use 360mm radiators with water-cooling and much better cases... and still struggle cooling it. 

You probably can replicate the Puget system for 1/2 - 2/3 of the cost and better quality case/PSU/SSD. An Ryzen system also could be done with good air-cooler. But those Intel K-CPUs need water-cooling. May as well pay less for a non-K CPU if you can't use the full power due to lack of cooling. 

Their non-NUC systems seem to use the Fractal Design Define series. Those are NOT great airflow cases. The only reason to ever use those insulated (acoustically) cases is if you have HDD and want to dampen that HDD noise. No one in their right mind would use those cases for high power CPU/GPU systems. in times of SSD, those cases lost their reason to exist. ...... That choice alone makes me question their whole "design". 

[pieterjanproost]

If I understand correctly, better spend a little bit more on a laptop that can run complex models and where I am safe for a few years then be cheap and be sorry 🙂

I layed my eyes on a laptop with these specifications.

Looks good or is this overkill?

[rfischer6TTS8]

Especially for the fact that most laptops you cannot upgrade CPU, motherboard and Graphics Card.  If you have the money for that type of laptop, I would say go for it.  It would probably last you many years. 

For example, I have a laptop I purchased in 2015 that I basically opened the case and swapped out everything besides those 3 things as they are soldered to the board.   Make sure you especially future proof your laptop purchase.  I have a m.2 SSD main drive, second SSD for storage, upgraded RAM to the max and upgraded my Wifi card.  I spent like $300 on that upgrade as opposed to $2000 on a new laptop.  I can still run and use Revit with this machine but not great, which is where my desktop comes in.

[HVAC-Novice]

Definitely no laptop. They are even worse than the NUC. 

For a full size CPU and GPU you need full size computer. Period. Everything else will thermal-throttle. 

Are you able to build yourself, or have a system integration build for you? If so, I have a few suggestions. If not, you depend on pre-built PCs. 

If you can choose parts, and want to go air-cooled (in lieu of water-cooled), I'd recommend the Fractal Torrent or the Torrent Compact.  High airflow design and two 180mm fans move LOT of air silently through the case. Cools the SSD, VRM and all other components excellently and silently. Thermalright Peerless Assassins is a great inexpensive CPU cooler. Add a good Tier 1 PSU and you have parts that you can use for the next decade and replace the inerts of the PC as needed.  

[rfischer6TTS8]

To add to this, I would say that building a desktop from scratch is 100 times easier than it was even 10 years ago.  I just built my Revit desktop last year, when not really doing anything like that for 15 years.  I have not really kept up with anything PC hardware related and the amount of information out there now for building desktops from scratch is incredible.  If you are tech saavy at all I would suggest building your own.  That way you can customize everything to your liking and not stuck in one direction.

I built it myself and just used tools like pcpartpicker.com for selecting parts and then went on Discord PC Hardware channels for support when I ran into any issues and got it up and running in a weekend.

[pieterjanproost]

Thanks for all the info and I agree about the whole desktop story. Problem is that I have to be flexible in workplace., so I think a desktop is not an option. I'm going to check this info together with my computer guy. Again, thanks alot for the info.

[HVAC-Novice]

You can try if remoting into the desktop is an option. The PC you use to remote in can be relatively weak. Then you can use a powerful PC at work and just remote into that when you are mobile. 

I'm using a horrible (8GB) tablet to remote in from home and it is fine. Any PC from the last 10 years can be used for remoting in. 

Pcpartspicker and other sites can help build and find compatible parts. Newegg and other vendors also have PC-built features to ensure you pick compatible parts (still need to use your brain...). You basically just use some fasteners and plug things together and be a little bit careful and not a total klutz. PC building isn't brain surgery. There also are PC forums where you can get advice on your built. 

[pieterjanproost]

That sound like good advise 🙂. Do you know sole good software to remoting into the desktop. So far I only know TeamViewer 😀

[HVAC-Novice]

I think that is more up to whoever runs your IT. The Pc in the office also has to be on all the time. 

What actually is the best solution is to have your "desktop" on a server and then just use "terminals" (relatively simple PCs/laptops with keyboard, monitor, and mouse). That way you always have enough computing power and use that power with relatively weak terminals from anywhere. But again, this is for your IT to set up. 

[rfischer6TTS8]

In my office, for remote access we have a simple VPN connection in to our office server, then connect to each individual desktop over Remote Desktop (RDP) from our computers at home, so it's just like we are in the office when we connect and have access to all the file share drives from our server.  My speeds usually stay pretty reliable. 

I have a very good bandwidth connection at home though.  You have to make sure you have very fast internet where you are or Revit and AutoCAD will lag like crazy and you won't be able to use it and any computer you have isn't going to work in that setup.

[pieterjan.proostU5HD5]

I work on self employment basis so I don't have an IT department 🙂

[scbunker]

If anyone's interested, attached is RFO Benchmark results for the NUC build I described above.