Hardware question: CPU or GPU for fastCAD?
Medio
Surveyor
Hey all. Finally, im updating my "old" i 4770k Radeon R9 290X before Xmas, and i´m trying to get this:
- RAM: 32 RAM Crucial Ballistix 3200 CL 16 (i know 3600 would be better but got those 32 very cheap, around 100 €only)
- CPU: Ryzen 5 3600 (planning to buy a Ryzen 5600 next year, alredy bought a B550 motherboard for compatibility)
- GPU: Radeon RX 6800 (if i can find one for sale :D)
Among other uses, i want it to improve my CC3+ and future CC4 (and PS) usage. I know CPU is right now more important than GPU for PS use, but not sure about CC3+. Will i be fine with "just" a Ryzen 5 3600?
Comments
Cc3plus doesn't use a graphics card. It might help some, but my maps just use the graphics chip on the motherboard.
Meh. Im buying a monster graphic card so i was hoping it would help :D
There might be something I don't know about. @Monsen
Wait... CC4? !!
@DaishoChikara I think they mean out into the future. I just bought CC3+ so I hope 4 is a ways away so I'm not learning a new system so quickly when I haven't even gotten to intermediate level on this one! haha
@Medio have you looked up specs on a good CAD computer? I ran across this website a few days back when I looked to see if my PC met muster and it should help you see about your new PC. Ran across the second one just now looking for the first link. Also, will you do water cooled? Just me nerding out in asking that! Check out these two sites for more details on specs:
https://www.cgdirector.com/best-pc-for-cad-autocad-solidworks/
https://www.pugetsystems.com/recommended/Recommended-Systems-for-Autodesk-AutoCAD-134/Hardware-Recommendations
Also, obviously checkout newegg and tigerdirect for your parts. It's where I used to go for custom building.
CC3+ is mostly single-core, so it does benefit from higher clock speeds rather than many cores. Normally, I would recommend an Intel over that Ryzen 3600, but of course, with the new 5000 series just released and your motherboard being able to handle it, going that route is probably beneficial in the long run although the current Intel motherboards should be compatible with the next intel generation coming next year, which may (or may not) change things here.
I can't really comment anything about the release plans for CC4, other than it is not something that is right around the corner.
Humm reading about it, looks like rendering needs multi cores while other proccesses are mostly single core. So a simple i5 10400F would be close to the Ryzen 5 and even superior thanks to its clock. But the Ryzen 5xxx will eat them all (waiting for 11st gen of Intel, that is), and buying the Intel would mean also buying a new motherboard when upgrading...
Still, the ryzen 5 3600 single core is a good one, much better than multiple cores from last gen. Should be enough.
Thanks for the answers!
@Medio just remember. You don't need the best or the fastest out there. Sure that can be nice. But as @Monsen said, most of CC3 is single core. If you get a ten core processor you'll spend a lot more money and unless you have 9 other applications open you have 9 cores sitting idle. I'd agree your Ryzen 5 3600 should be good enough for what you need and you won't need to buy a new motherboard. Technology will always progress and you'll probably find in 5 years you're wanting to build out again. Just be happy with what you have and enjoy it while you have it. But probably do get a quad core so you can have a browser open to see tutorials, read PDFs from ProFantasy, and maybe have some music going on Pandora/Spotify/Your choice of provider. ?
Didnt plan to buy anything with less than 6 cores :-D
I wouldn't mind a GPU for my computer, but it would be to help me play Everquest II. But the power supply cannot be upgraded past the 90 watts adapter it has.
Can you clarify what you mean by this? What power supply do you have currently and what GPU?
My computer is really a laptop motherboard in a small form factor case. No PSU. It has an external 90 watt power adapter. It came with a 65 watt adapter. There is a place for a video card, version 2, but I cannot find one with a small enough power drain to use in it. My Computer is an Acer Aspire XC-704G. According to official word on the Acer forums, I have the maximum power adapter it can use. 1.6 GHz CPU. And 8 gigs of ram. The Acer forums, not an Acer employee, recommended a GeForce GT 710; however, it says it needs a 300 watt power supply. An internal PSU is not recommended. I did get a video card that says it only draws 25 watts, I don't see it right now, but my computer wouldn't boot with it in it.
So it looks like I'll have to go with a computer sale right after Christmas. I do have a Win 7 computer, with an over heat problem, I can update to Win 10. I have cleaned it, but no dust left but it still overheats. So I think I need to clean the CPU heat transfer grease, and add some new. Nearby computer store carries that for about $10.
I was having lag issues with old pc but now that i installed new pc, issues are gone. The program flies! I´m sure it doesn´t need the CPU or GPU that i have (didnt get what i wanted, im finally using a Ryzen 7 3700x and a Nvidia RTX 3070 and switched my 32gb ram 3200 cl16 for 16gb 3600 cl16) but noneless with this setup it works so good that not even rendering a heavy load map means more than a few seconds task. Makes the mapping much more enjoyable.
Great to hear. CC3+ likes a faster CPU, and that faster memory should help a bit too.
Congrats on the new PC. May you enjoy it for many years ahead of you!