New workstation to practice CFD at home

ashokac7 · June 14, 2018, 03:34

I want a buy a new workstation to practice some basic CFD simulations at home. I am confused between assembling one or buying from HP or Dell. My budget is limited (70-80k INR. i.e. around 1200 dollars). I have sorted out the processor. I am going for 8th Gen i7 ( 6 cores, 12 threads). Intel Xeon crosses my budget. And I will also want to do some gaming on it.

After searching a lot, I found Dell Optiplex 7060 is one for me. I will put some NVDIA card in it. But I heard that CPU cooler in dell is bad. So for simulation that may be bad.(?#1)

If I assemble the CPU (will be my first try at assembling), I could save some buck and get better power supply for CPU, like 650 W or something. Dell power supply is 300 W. I think it will be less when graphics pull the wattage to it. (?#2)

Again with new dell CPU i get 3 years hardware warranty. Really confused. Some help please.

TIA.

LuckyTran · June 15, 2018, 15:36

CFD and gaming are pretty much opposite ends of the spectrum. Honestly just get any computer that works; a pre-built one from Dell, etc. is probably the cheapest & easiest option. Just make sure you get enough RAM capacity for your CFD problem. It doesn't even need to be a workstation, can be a regular desktop. And since you've never assembled a PC, this probably is the easier route still that saves you from a lot of headaches. You also don't need to worry about whether or not your PSU is sized properly if the machine is already built by Dell or whoever.

RobertB · June 16, 2018, 16:07

At least in the US Dell Outlet has some decent deals. I was looking a few days ago and it had a barebones XPS with an 8th gen i7 for <700 dollars.

You will certainly need to add RAM, SSD, Graphics card but it is a good base to work from.

If you are worried about longevity get a warranty. My guess is that over the years Dell, etc. have messed up every part of a computer on some model or other. In general it is not in their interest as it will cost them money/reputation.

I would somewhat disagree with Lucky on gaming and compute machines being opposite. They both need to be designed for significant periods of high power operation, unlike most web surfing or office uses.

ashokac7 · June 18, 2018, 02:52

OK. Thanks. That helps a lot.

One more thing. I could save around 150 to 200 USD if I opt for AMD Ryzen 5 2600X instead of Intel i7-8700k. Both have 6 Cores and 12 Threads. Is that affect performance for CFD. CFD is more important for me, gaming is just an extra.

RobertB · June 19, 2018, 07:15

Specfprate is usually a decent analog for relative CFD performance, if you can find it for these processors - it's more common for server chips.

There is an openfoam performance thread. You could check it for these processors. It'll have the i7 but I don't know about the Ryzen.

June 16, 2018, 16:07		#3
RobertB Senior Member Robert Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 117 Rep Power: 17	At least in the US Dell Outlet has some decent deals. I was looking a few days ago and it had a barebones XPS with an 8th gen i7 for <700 dollars. You will certainly need to add RAM, SSD, Graphics card but it is a good base to work from. If you are worried about longevity get a warranty. My guess is that over the years Dell, etc. have messed up every part of a computer on some model or other. In general it is not in their interest as it will cost them money/reputation. I would somewhat disagree with Lucky on gaming and compute machines being opposite. They both need to be designed for significant periods of high power operation, unlike most web surfing or office uses. ashokac7 likes this.

June 18, 2018, 02:52	Ryzen 5 2600X Vs Intel i7-8700k	#4
ashokac7 Senior Member Ashok Chaudhari Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: Pune, India Posts: 260 Rep Power: 11	OK. Thanks. That helps a lot. One more thing. I could save around 150 to 200 USD if I opt for AMD Ryzen 5 2600X instead of Intel i7-8700k. Both have 6 Cores and 12 Threads. Is that affect performance for CFD. CFD is more important for me, gaming is just an extra.

June 19, 2018, 07:15		#5
RobertB Senior Member Robert Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 117 Rep Power: 17	Specfprate is usually a decent analog for relative CFD performance, if you can find it for these processors - it's more common for server chips. There is an openfoam performance thread. You could check it for these processors. It'll have the i7 but I don't know about the Ryzen. ashokac7 and EHAB_M like this.

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June 14, 2018, 03:34	New workstation to practice CFD at home	#1
ashokac7 Senior Member Ashok Chaudhari Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: Pune, India Posts: 260 Rep Power: 11	I want a buy a new workstation to practice some basic CFD simulations at home. I am confused between assembling one or buying from HP or Dell. My budget is limited (70-80k INR. i.e. around 1200 dollars). I have sorted out the processor. I am going for 8th Gen i7 ( 6 cores, 12 threads). Intel Xeon crosses my budget. And I will also want to do some gaming on it. After searching a lot, I found Dell Optiplex 7060 is one for me. I will put some NVDIA card in it. But I heard that CPU cooler in dell is bad. So for simulation that may be bad.(?#1) If I assemble the CPU (will be my first try at assembling), I could save some buck and get better power supply for CPU, like 650 W or something. Dell power supply is 300 W. I think it will be less when graphics pull the wattage to it. (?#2) Again with new dell CPU i get 3 years hardware warranty. Really confused. Some help please. TIA.

June 15, 2018, 15:36		#2
LuckyTran Senior Member Lucky Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Orlando, FL USA Posts: 5,761 Rep Power: 66	CFD and gaming are pretty much opposite ends of the spectrum. Honestly just get any computer that works; a pre-built one from Dell, etc. is probably the cheapest & easiest option. Just make sure you get enough RAM capacity for your CFD problem. It doesn't even need to be a workstation, can be a regular desktop. And since you've never assembled a PC, this probably is the easier route still that saves you from a lot of headaches. You also don't need to worry about whether or not your PSU is sized properly if the machine is already built by Dell or whoever. ashokac7 likes this.