Having been asked this month 3 times for

Having been asked this month 3 times for a suggestion for a Revit workstation, I am crafting this highly opinionated guide right now to help Revit users make clever choices. However, I have been thinking about penning this for years.

I have been building CAD workstations since the mid 1990's. Each and every time I build a new computer, it will take a great deal of research because of the ever-changing technology. This time is no exception.

This system will probably be designed primarily for Revit but actually will work as well for 3DS Max Design, Autodesk Ultimate Building Collection, The Adobe Creative Suite Grasp Collection and V-Ray. It will be suitable for BIM and all of its tangents like rendering, animation, clash detection and estimating.

Let's start here. If you do not do this right, your results will suck. I propose you need Windows 7 Professional 64 bit. You must have Glass windows Professional to connect to a domain structured network. You never know when this really is necessary so why fundamentally limit oneself now?

You also must have a 64 bit system to address more than 4 Gb of RAM. Revit requires about 8 Gb of RAM just for professional level work. However in the near future I can see where Revit designs will get larger and require even more RAM. Today a 32bit personal computer is a toy (a bike having training wheels) and bordering in useless. If you choose a 32 bit system for your Revit installation, stop now and get a new career.

The next piece is the CPU, that little chip with billions of transistors which will make geeks drool. The faster the CPU, the longer you will be fulfilled using your computer. This will add time on the back end of your purchase this means you don't need or want a fresh one next year.

AMD chips although cheaper and give you that feeling of sticking it to the man, are only slower. Don't even think about an Apple. While it is possible to run Revit by using an emulator, the same level of performance will cost 2 to 3 times what you will get having a PC.

You have to go with Intel for your CPU choice. There are 2 directions to go from here, The Core i7's and the Xeon's. The Xeon's absolutely rock, but they are for multi-CPU techniques and are almost three times the cost of an comparable Core i7. Revit is single CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT software and multiple Xeon's will not likely help it at all. (Although it will help by using 3DS Max, that is not the purpose of this product. )

I propose you choose an i7 for our system. The second generation associated with i7's are out now and tend to be getting great benchmarks and critical reviews. The top of the line i7 is a 3960X Extreme Edition and runs about $1, 000. The top from the line Intel desktop CPU happens to be $1, 000 for at least the past two decades. No surprise there. This is not a difficult selection.

I like Asus as a company. During the past year I bought or recommended four of their laptops. One of them was intended for Revit use. In my experience they make the very best motherboards. I propose you select their top-of-the-line motherboard for this CPU selection, the Rampage IV Extreme. In addition to being the sweet piece of art, it has the quickest SATA ports for your hard disks (6. 0 Gb/s) the fastest USB ports (3. 0), the latest Intel chipset (X79), supports 64 Gb of 2400MHz DDR3 RAM. Incorporates a Gb LAN connection, the best video slots with PCI-Express several. 0, CrossFireX / SLI, Bluetooth, a ton of built-in adjustments for overclocking and 8 Channel surround sound. A further very easy choice.

Although I can install 64 Gb of 2400 Megahertz RAM in this system, this really is pure excess and very expensive at about $4, 000. I can get 32 Gb of 1866 MHz RAM for $329, 98. The 64 Gb will make a fantastic upgrade in the future when the price drops. Revit is a memory hog. I currently have 13 Gb and I don't think I have at any time filled it, but I've occur close when running other courses with Revit. The 32 Gb associated with RAM and cooling fan by corsair I propose is very inexpensive.

This is something I have studied extensively. I put a Dell 30" 2560x1600 for some time. What an awesome experience. For a short period of time I needed two of them.

Architects need about three monitors for optimum production. Of which third monitor makes such a big difference. Its use is primarily as a digital reference table. Most of the documents My partner and i work with are available as PDF's. Actually hand sketches can be easily sought as PDF or JPG's. Certainly we are approaching the paperless office finally? (Oh my, how "green")

So I propose to her a using a Dell 30" 2560x1600 LCD monitor as the center keep track of for the primary graphics area of the different software. A Dell 23" 1920x1080 LED on the left for the graphics menus as well as email. And an identical Dell 23" 1920x1080 LED on the right for reference and internet. The smaller end monitors shall be LED for razor-sharp clarity and shall rotate three months degrees vertical for long docs and menus. Once again, is there any other choice?

Although the graphics cards have no a huge effect on Revit, two are essential with two dual link DVI ports each, for the monitors I've proposed. In addition, the extra port may be used for an additional monitor or for the projector for client presentations.

The 2 graphics cards I'm proposing have 512 cores of GPU processing power and 3 Gb or GDDR5 memory. These cores and improved memory allow you to render with iRay (which comes with 3DS Max Design) and also work with V-Ray RT. iRay claims to render perfect lighting while using GPU in a reasonable amount of time. In some instances real-time rendering is possible in the viewports. These graphics cards also get awesome results with the Adobe CS5. 5 various Master suite and with animation processes.

There is some controversy choosing between the -nvidia Quadro and the Nvidia GeForce when using the benchmarks not always favoring the way costlier Quadro's I am proposing less expensive GeForce graphics cards. The GFX 580 3Gb is under $600 each. The Quadro 5000 with 2. not 5 Gb is over $1700. I understand that the GeForce cards run a small hotter when rendering. We can tackle that with a well designed case.

Of course graphics cards use a lot of electric power. CrossFireX / SLI support will be good. So an excellent modular power supply with an 80 plus gold rating indicates it is very efficient. Modular indicates that instead of a fat snake associated with cables tumbling out from the unit, many cables detach and you only apply what is needed for your configuration. 1200 watts insures that you have plenty of capability at crucial times and in the future. I propose the Corsair CMPSU-1200AX.

I really like Logitech products and I really like their illuminated keyboards. USB wired works great for the desktop. I propose the Logitech 920-000914

1000 DPI with hyperfast scrolling, also USB wired. I propose typically the Logitect 910-001204.

OPTICAL DRIVE

Some sort of burner Play All 3DS Games Free that will burn or have fun with anything including Blu-ray and LightScribe labels is ideal. I propose the Light-On iHBS212-08 drive

The C: travel that contains the operating system and the installed programs should be solid state. These drives are really expensive but they make a huge difference. I see people claiming lower than ten seconds for boot as well as startup time. I propose a Crucial 512 GB solid state drive by using SATA 6Gb/s interface..

I propose that the data in the computer will be saved on a RAID Level 1 including two 2 Terabyte Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200 RPM 64Mb 6GB/s mechanical drives. That will hold many data safely.

I propose that the backup system shall be a portable USB several. 0 three terabyte Western Electronic drive.

I imagine that sound playback is mostly a low priority, so I recommend a Dell sound bar installed on the bottom of the center monitor would be inexpensive and ideal.

My beliefs on cases used to be simple. The truth did not matter. Cheap with no flashing lights, windows or wild hues. Beige was good, grey perhaps a bit risqu?

Now I like the better ones elegant aluminum cases that have exceptional cooling engineered right in, line compartments, removable motherboard tray, brilliant front ports and controls. I recommend a SilverStone Half Tower, typically the Temjin TJ09-B in black by additional fans and a radiator increasing bracket for the CPU cooler.

These days think that if you spend all this money on performance, you can spend slightly on aesthetics for a nice package deal. Hmm... Sounds like architecture.

I propose you use a Corsair H80 liquid cool, which will keep the CPU temperature in order.

There are people and manufacturers that may make a computer so you don't have to. Nevertheless assembly of the hardware is actually little. I have had my kids build pcs just to prove it. There are actually very few parts.

The advantages of self-built are that you receive all the documentation for each part designed for future maintenance. It is less expensive for your exact same system, sometimes by a lot. If you assemble it yourself, you should understand it really well.

Sometimes manufacturers make use of odd or custom-made parts with no name on them. If you buy the part to your system, you will have access to the part manufacturer's customer service and these are some of the smartest guys you will ever speak to. If you buy an assembled system, and you call customer care, you will talk to some of the dumbest folks you will ever speak to.

One time I just acquired a very expensive computer made by a famous Hollywood computer guy totally customized for CAD together with 3DS Max. It would shut down so that appeared to be no reason at all. Within 6 months half the memory used up up. He offered no assist at all. When I opened it up I could see it only had one fan. My spouse and i ended up punching holes in it together with wire tying fans inside it to continue to keep it working. It was very ugly.

In the past when our firm was really hectic, I purchased Dell Precision Workstations. They were certified, and the top of the line. After a while some of them would develop weird problems that prevented CAD from working on these people at all. When you want a state of the fine art really fast computer, Dell is apparently lagging behind a year. Their 30" monitor is absolutely the best though.

@XI is one computer maker that generally seems to know what it is doing.

Boxx is also a company I like. They specialize in render farms. Really slick stuff.

If I know you, like you and live near you, I should build your system. I seriously enjoy doing it.

So you may have pointed out that there is no total cost. As I don't believe there is really a choice, I haven't received there yet. This is the computer system components you need today to do BIM and have made a smart purchase. After you are done with this system in 4 years, you can give it to a secretary, attendant, accountant, or construction guy for the completely new life. At my last organization, we bought them the new computer systems and made the architects wait together with hold on to their old junk. With regard to no other reason than simple personal pull, whining, and very short-term thinking

Here is the deal. Every year Autodesk arrives with more advanced software for structure. This software has more capabilities together with uses more computer resources. This may continue at an accelerated rate for that foreseeable future. It is primarily for BIM. We are in the middle of a major revolution and many people don't see it. If you stop too long, don't keep up with your coaching, or don't maintain the right gear and software, you will be out of a career. BIM is not waiting for anybody.

Maybe I proposed $7, 500 involving hardware. An experienced BIM Designer will certainly earn $75, 000 per year. To ensure that is 10% of his salary. How much faster will he be with the system I propose? If he is 25% faster, you will make an extra $11, 250 the first year and $18, 750 each year after for the length of time you use the computer efficiently for BIM.

Typically the faster the CPU, the lengthier the computer will be in service, the more funds you make.

How many people have jobs they can increase their efficiency in a big approach with a hardware update? I don't think your lawyer will create more contracts with a faster computer. Architects have reached a unique place in time embedded with this revolution.

So to reiterate, you commit $7, 750 and over four years make 67, 500 back. That could be an average of 73% return per year more than 4 years.

This could really be an excellent investment.

Don't you just love Search engines? They are a truly amazing company. They may have big plans for the future. But they have also implemented so much already. In addition to setting up a billion dollars in profit every single 18 days, they have completely changed many industries including advertising. Were you aware they were the largest computer manufacturer on the globe? Ever see a Google computer? They make these computers for their own info centers. They are rumored to have an incredible number of them.

So at Google they believe in data. They are always tests everything. They believe strongly in full speed. They are obsessed with speed. Their designers and founders can discern a new 1/10 of a second change in laptop or computer speed. They have tested the significance and determined that if their lookup service drops 1/10 of a 2nd, a measurable amount of searches declines. They say that people become distracted and lose focus.

Wow, do you think with slower hardware, architects can eliminate focus? I am not suggesting that you just upgrade your hardware for a tenth of a second. However if you are using a thirty-two bit system, it is time to upgrade. The last time I used a thirty-two bit system (only a month ago) it crashed at least twice every day. Even if I only lose 2 minutes of work, rebooting and getting this focus back just kills efficiency. I wonder what the cost of missing focus is?

Perhaps if we encourage our BIM designers with far better hardware, they will attain flow with less distraction and we will have unimagined productivity benefits?