quiet CAD workstation
Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 11:04 am
Attempting to spec out a quiet PC that has the capability to run Solidworks CAD software. I plan to stick to Solidworks certified video cards which limits the choices to mainly NVidia Quadro or ATI FirePro based cards. Other considerations: I like small form factor computers. I am very cheap, I will trade-off performance for $.
Due to the video card restrictions I am leaning toward a PNY NVIDIA Quadro K600 VCQK600-PB 1GB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Low Profile. Also under consideration is the ATI FirePro V4900 1GB. It is a faster card for about the same price, but runs at 75 watts compared to 41 watts. Both cards require PCIe 2 x16.
CPU: I said I was cheap, so I am looking in the ~$100 range. Leading candidate is Intel i3-3220 2 core, 3.3 GHz, 55 Watt TDP. Plenty of mobo choices, many very inexpensive, many available in mini-ITX format. Runners-up are the AMD A8-6500 (faster and cheaper than the i3, slightly more heat at 65 Watt TDP) and AMD FX 6300 (faster CPU, much hotter than other 2 candidates, nearly equal price but no mobo available in mini-ITX format for AM3+ socket)
mobo: will depend on CPU, maybe GIGABYTE GA-H61N-USB3 mini-ITX or ZOTAC H67ITX-C-E LGA (more $, but has onboard wifi and I am quite happy with my current Zotac based PC)
HDD: WD Green 1 TB, 3.5" (already in hand)
PSU: Seasonic fanless, 400W
memory: 2 x 8GB DDR3, whatever reputable brand is on sale
OS: Win 7 x64 home
case: custom built mini-ITX (already in hand)
Thanks much for any feedback, particularly on CPU and mobo combos. I would also be very interested to hear suggestions for passive cooling or undervolting the stock fans on the video cards. I am moving from a completely fanless system with a suspended HDD that has zero noise except when the HDD spins up so any fan noise is going to be obvious to me, I'd like to keep it to a minimum.
Due to the video card restrictions I am leaning toward a PNY NVIDIA Quadro K600 VCQK600-PB 1GB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Low Profile. Also under consideration is the ATI FirePro V4900 1GB. It is a faster card for about the same price, but runs at 75 watts compared to 41 watts. Both cards require PCIe 2 x16.
CPU: I said I was cheap, so I am looking in the ~$100 range. Leading candidate is Intel i3-3220 2 core, 3.3 GHz, 55 Watt TDP. Plenty of mobo choices, many very inexpensive, many available in mini-ITX format. Runners-up are the AMD A8-6500 (faster and cheaper than the i3, slightly more heat at 65 Watt TDP) and AMD FX 6300 (faster CPU, much hotter than other 2 candidates, nearly equal price but no mobo available in mini-ITX format for AM3+ socket)
mobo: will depend on CPU, maybe GIGABYTE GA-H61N-USB3 mini-ITX or ZOTAC H67ITX-C-E LGA (more $, but has onboard wifi and I am quite happy with my current Zotac based PC)
HDD: WD Green 1 TB, 3.5" (already in hand)
PSU: Seasonic fanless, 400W
memory: 2 x 8GB DDR3, whatever reputable brand is on sale
OS: Win 7 x64 home
case: custom built mini-ITX (already in hand)
Thanks much for any feedback, particularly on CPU and mobo combos. I would also be very interested to hear suggestions for passive cooling or undervolting the stock fans on the video cards. I am moving from a completely fanless system with a suspended HDD that has zero noise except when the HDD spins up so any fan noise is going to be obvious to me, I'd like to keep it to a minimum.