Fast Workstation for CAD, Engineering software, mostly single thread.

[hydrokiwi]

So I have decided to build a faster workstation than my current old workhorse. (I7-3770K)

Here is what I have come up with: It is a modification of the suggested build.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7GHz 12-Core Processor ($549.00)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 ($89.90)
Motherboard: MSI X570 Tomahawk ATX AM4 ($262.99)
Use Existing Nvidia GEForce GTX 1050 TI Card ($0)
G.Skill RipJaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin SDRAM DDR4 4000 (PC4-32000) CL18-22-22-42 1.40V Dual Channel Desktop Memory Model F4-4000C18D-32GVK ($185.89)
SAMSUNG 980 PRO 1TB PCIe NVMe Gen4 Internal Gaming SSD M.2 (MZ-V8P1T0B) ($199.99)
Power Supply: EVGA 650 B5, 80 Plus Bronze 650W Power Supply ($67.00)
LIAN LI Mid-Tower Chassis ATX Computer Case PC Gaming Case w/Tempered Glass Side Panel, Magnetic Dust Filter,Water-Cooling Ready, Side Ventilation and 2x120mm Fan Pre-Installed (LANCOOL 205, Black) ($84.99)
Total: $1439.76

I am a civil engineer who mainly uses Office, CAD, GIS and hydraulic modelling software like HEC RAS which is hours of single thread number-crunching.

I plan to use my existing GPU for now as most of my work is CPU limited and GPU prices are still reflecting short supply. I may eventually buy an Nvidia Quadro card.

A fast drive is important because of occasional use of GB point clouds and large aerial image files.

I switched to 32 GB of GSkill memory instead of the recommended Corsair Vengance Memory which was an extra $140 on Amazon. is this OK? If there is a down side I will spend more on memory.

Having a quiet machine is important so any comments about the case, cooler and power supply.

As a first time builder I would appreciate any other suggestions.

Cheers
John

 

[Alex Glawion]

I like the build, and keeping your existing GPU is a smart choice, given the current GPU prices.

32GB G-Skill RAM will work fine, and the PSU and CPU Cooler are both very quiet. I can't say anything about the case fans, but you can always swap those out if they turn out to be too loud.