[fusij]

Hello everybody, I intend to setup a new workstation over the christmas period. I am mainly working with CFD simulations and occasionally FEA. I use CAD programs along with solid modelling programs such as SW/Inventor. I want a machine that can be considered as a "high-end" workstation that bridges the gap between working on a "typical" workstation and a HPC cluster. This machine should also be able to do some post-processing on large scale data.

I would like that very much if you could offer your thoughts on my intended setup. Sometimes I mention two options for a component.

Processor:
1. Intel Xeon 2640-v3 2.6 - 3.4 GHz, 8 cores
2. Intel I7-5960x 3.0 - 3.5 GHz, 8 cores

I am more into the Xeon option since that gives me the opportunity for dual socket expansion later on if wanted (ofcourse I would need to update the motherboard too ...)

Motherboard:
1. Asus deluxe X99 (ATX)

For me this is the only firm option. They are known to support both I7 and Xeon's (non-ECC/ECC RAM). I saw also that Puget Systems use these boards too.

GPU:
1. NVIDIA Quadro K2200
2. MSI GTX 980

The GTX is more powerful. The only thing that I am afraid of is that if I am not able to run some CAD/modelling software because of compatibility issues. There seems to be two stories about the performance of the GTX when using standard CAD/3D-Model software. Also, how is the GTX support for Linux based systems?

RAM:
1. Crucial CT4K16G4RFD4213 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4 PC4-17000
2. Crucial 32 (4x8GB) CL15 DDR4 PC4-17000 UDIMM

This is just about price. The board is a quad-channel (8x DIMM sockets) with max 64GB. So option 1 would fill the capacity only using four sockets. Both options are ECC. What is your take on ECC/non-ECC and registered/unregistered memory for CFD applications (say maybe 1-2 week simulation time, 10+ mill. cells as an example)?

Any comments are welcome, thank you.

[evcelica]

Intel i7 CPUs do not support ECC, only XEON do.

With The i7, You can run higher RAM frequencies than 2133. I'm not sure about the XEON, but you definitely won't be able to on a dual socket board.

dual 2640 are better than one i7, but one i7 is better than 1 XEON. It depends on whether you really will upgrade to 2 CPUs or not. If you are on a budget, I would consider the XEON E52623v3 quad core. You can get two for less than the price of the other CPUs and have double the memory channels (it only supports 1866 though, so that's 1.75x the bandwidth).

You may be able to run 1 XEON CPU in a dual socket board. I'm not 100% sure on this you may want to check. That way you are not buying two motherboards if you do upgrade to 2 CPUs.

The CAD programs will still work on the GTX, it just may not be optimized. If you aren't going to be playing games or anything, just get the quardo. If you will be gaming, you have to decide where you want it to perform better, games, or CAD. I use GTX with no problem for both.

[drjmastel]

Originally Posted by fusij

Hello everybody, I intend to setup a new workstation over the christmas period. I am mainly working with CFD simulations and occasionally FEA. I use CAD programs along with solid modelling programs such as SW/Inventor. I want a machine that can be considered as a "high-end" workstation that bridges the gap between working on a "typical" workstation and a HPC cluster. This machine should also be able to do some post-processing on large scale data.

I would like that very much if you could offer your thoughts on my intended setup. Sometimes I mention two options for a component.

Processor:
1. Intel Xeon 2640-v3 2.6 - 3.4 GHz, 8 cores
2. Intel I7-5960x 3.0 - 3.5 GHz, 8 cores

I am more into the Xeon option since that gives me the opportunity for dual socket expansion later on if wanted (ofcourse I would need to update the motherboard too ...)

Motherboard:
1. Asus deluxe X99 (ATX)

For me this is the only firm option. They are known to support both I7 and Xeon's (non-ECC/ECC RAM). I saw also that Puget Systems use these boards too.

GPU:
1. NVIDIA Quadro K2200
2. MSI GTX 980

The GTX is more powerful. The only thing that I am afraid of is that if I am not able to run some CAD/modelling software because of compatibility issues. There seems to be two stories about the performance of the GTX when using standard CAD/3D-Model software. Also, how is the GTX support for Linux based systems?

RAM:
1. Crucial CT4K16G4RFD4213 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4 PC4-17000
2. Crucial 32 (4x8GB) CL15 DDR4 PC4-17000 UDIMM

This is just about price. The board is a quad-channel (8x DIMM sockets) with max 64GB. So option 1 would fill the capacity only using four sockets. Both options are ECC. What is your take on ECC/non-ECC and registered/unregistered memory for CFD applications (say maybe 1-2 week simulation time, 10+ mill. cells as an example)?

Any comments are welcome, thank you.

Hello - Based on what you indicated here is a suggested configuration for you to check out. Based off of the ASUS X99-DELUXE Motherboard and the software you mentioned, this would be a great baseline for you to build additional hardware upon.

Also, I wasn't sure if you wanted Windows or Linux? you mentioned Linux and you mentioned using Solidworks. However, SW is not supported on Linux natively. So, I included the Windows 8.1 Pro in the component list.

Here is a link to the Solidworks system requirements web page. --> https://www.solidworks.com/sw/suppor...uirements.html

Costs this moment in time December 2, 2015
QTY ITEM # DESCRIPTION UNIT PRICE DISCOUNT LINE TOTAL
1.00 OS Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit $137.00 $137.00
1.00 CHASSIS Corsair Vengence Gunmetal Case 109.99 $109.99
1.00 MOBO ASUS X99-Deluxe 382.99 $382.99 75W
1.00 CPU INTEL e5-1650v3 6C @ 3.5GHz 551.00 $551.00 140W 40 lane CPU
1.00 COOLING Corsair H50 CPU Closed Loop 59.99 $59.99
8.00 RAM 8GB DDR4-2133 MHz ECC REG RAM 88.00 $704.00
1.00 GRAPHICS NVIDIA QUADRO K2200 403.00 $403.00
1.00 SSD INTEL DC S3500 480GB SSD 428.98 $428.98
1.00 HDD WD RE 4TB 7200RPM 189.95 $189.95
1.00 MEDIA DVD-RW 28.00 $28.00
1.00 PS Corsair HX1000i 185.14 $185.14
$-
$-
$-
$-
$-
TOTAL DISCOUNT
SUBTOTAL $3,180.04
SALES TAX
TOTAL $3,180.04