Desktop for Combustion Modelling using Fluent

JamesZA · August 20, 2010, 06:20

I'm starting an MSc project and have funding of around $4000 to purchase a PC, to serve as my workstation and to run simulations. I'm going to be doing 3D simulations of small gas turbine combustion. So it should be steady state, with turbulence and combustion.

I've read some of the other posts in the forum, but i'm struggling to make sense of them. Also the price ranges seem to be either below or above where i'm looking.

So a few questions:

What are the key elements that affect speed, I assume Processor, Mother board and Ram.
Processors, so far intel i-7 and Xenon seem popular, but which model? Should I focus on Clock speed, number or cores/threads or cache?
Ram, should i consider any characteristic other than just capacity and bus speed. How important is a high bus speed?
Motherboard, anything specific to look out for.

In general I'm more interested in knowing what I need to look out for, not necessarily exact product numbers.

Thanks in advance

otd · August 20, 2010, 10:27

Will you be using commercial software, writing your own, using another student's code, customized by you for your product? (Or something altogether different?)

If commercial, talk to their technical support about what the product requires in the way of hardware. I'd think you can get one hell of a PC system for $4000 (at least in US $).

Good luck.

otd · August 20, 2010, 10:29

Opps!

Sorry, I overlooked the title of your post.

Talk to the Fluent folks about what their product 'likes' in the way of hardware. You might also post your question to the Fluent discussion group here on cfd-online.

JamesZA · August 20, 2010, 10:33

Fluent 12.1

Yes US Dollars, although I converted from Rands (South Africa) since I imagine most people on this forum would be in America. But I will be able to get good suppliers so the prices should be comparable.

Megatron · September 29, 2010, 09:12

Hi James,
When you buy a workstation, processor, mother board and RAMs are the important. With your budget, you can buy single CPU, atleast 24 GB Ram machine. Don't forget to install 64-bit OS. I would suggest AMD CPUs in the price point, but intel's processors are much better in reliablity.

August 20, 2010, 06:20	Desktop for Combustion Modelling using Fluent	#1
JamesZA New Member James Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Cape Town, South Africa Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	I'm starting an MSc project and have funding of around $4000 to purchase a PC, to serve as my workstation and to run simulations. I'm going to be doing 3D simulations of small gas turbine combustion. So it should be steady state, with turbulence and combustion. I've read some of the other posts in the forum, but i'm struggling to make sense of them. Also the price ranges seem to be either below or above where i'm looking. So a few questions: What are the key elements that affect speed, I assume Processor, Mother board and Ram. Processors, so far intel i-7 and Xenon seem popular, but which model? Should I focus on Clock speed, number or cores/threads or cache? Ram, should i consider any characteristic other than just capacity and bus speed. How important is a high bus speed? Motherboard, anything specific to look out for. In general I'm more interested in knowing what I need to look out for, not necessarily exact product numbers. Thanks in advance

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August 20, 2010, 10:27		#2
otd Member private Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 74 Rep Power: 17	Will you be using commercial software, writing your own, using another student's code, customized by you for your product? (Or something altogether different?) If commercial, talk to their technical support about what the product requires in the way of hardware. I'd think you can get one hell of a PC system for $4000 (at least in US $). Good luck.

August 20, 2010, 10:29		#3
otd Member private Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 74 Rep Power: 17	Opps! Sorry, I overlooked the title of your post. Talk to the Fluent folks about what their product 'likes' in the way of hardware. You might also post your question to the Fluent discussion group here on cfd-online.

August 20, 2010, 10:33		#4
JamesZA New Member James Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Cape Town, South Africa Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	Fluent 12.1 Yes US Dollars, although I converted from Rands (South Africa) since I imagine most people on this forum would be in America. But I will be able to get good suppliers so the prices should be comparable.

September 29, 2010, 09:12		#5
Megatron New Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 22 Rep Power: 16	Hi James, When you buy a workstation, processor, mother board and RAMs are the important. With your budget, you can buy single CPU, atleast 24 GB Ram machine. Don't forget to install 64-bit OS. I would suggest AMD CPUs in the price point, but intel's processors are much better in reliablity.