[cycleback]

I need some help trying to put together another system beyond my current machine for primarily performing finite element optimization type tasks and other engineering analysis. I haven’t built a system for long time. Eventually the machine will become my day to day desktop (currently i7-860). I also need to buy a NAS or a storage server but I think that should be a separate box.

Primary Intended Usage:
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- Small 2D electromagnetic and thermal finite element simulations (generally < 20,000 elements) as part of an evolutionary optimization algorithm. For each generation of the optimization algorithm tens to a hundred independent designs are evaluated making the simulations extremely parallelizable favoring a large number of cores. I am not going to be running these all the time but currently when I do they generally take ½ day to 2 days to complete.

- Rarely some larger scale 3D finite element simulations (generally < 250,000 elements)and some CFD simulations.

- Matlab simulations

- Solidworks: Relatively simple assemblies

-Eventually the machine will become my day to day desktop as my current machine is a i7-860 2.8 GHz, 8 Gb of RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series

-I don’t intend to over-clock the machine or play games on it.

The two systems I am thinking about are:
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i7-4790k; $250
ASUS Z97-AR; $90
16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3 1600; $160
Total: $500
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CyyBzy
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/932KGX

i7-5820k; $300
ASUS X99-A; $235
16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR4 2400; $200
Video Card: Passive or semi-passive with Display Port and DVI outputs; $150
Total: $885

Components I have Already Purchased:
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Power Supply: Seasonic
Case: Fractal Design R5
CPU Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo
Storage: Crucial MX 100 512 GB SSD (Thinking about exchanging this)

Pluses for the i7-4790k:
Higher base (4 Gz) and turbo (4.4 GHz) CPU frequency than i7-5820k
Relatively in expensive through Microcenter (CPU: $250, MB: $90)
Built in graphics hardware
Low power draw on load ad idle compared to the i7-5820k

Pluses for the i7-5820k:
Two additional cores though they are slower
Twice the memory bandwidth
Maybe more future proof

Questions:
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Which processor and platform is likely to be faster. The i7-4790k has quite a clock frequency advantage while the i7-5820k has two additional cores and twice the memory bandwidth. I know generally for large CFD type simulations a high memory bandwidth is highly recommended. I am not sure memory bandwidth matters much for small finite element simulations though.

Can the memory bandwidth of the i7-4790k and Z-97 be increased substantially by using a higher rated frequency memory and with reduced timings?

Is the additional cost of the i7-5820k and X-99 platform worth it?

I have been toying with the idea of trying to use an Intel Xeon Phi for parallelizing my small simulations further is it likely to work in a ASUS X99-A motherboard in the x16 slot?

What is the likely longevity of the Z-97 and X-99 platforms? I tend to keep computers for a very long time.

Is DDR3 likely to be phased out soon?

While DDR4 while theoretically more future proof I assume the timings and frequency are going to increase rapidly?

Is there a go to low cost video card that is passive or semi-passive with display port and DVI outputs?

Is the built in video card of the i7-4790k, HD 4600, okay for basic CAD work including Solidworks?

Any other thoughts or recommendations on what to purchase?

[HyperNova]

hi my friend,
i absolutely recommend i7-5820k , higher cores higher technology higher memory bandwidth , i7-5820 is 4 way channels but 4790 is 2 way channels , and DDR4 works at 1.2v means lower temperature and lower energy consuming,
for 4790k max memory bandwidth is 25.6gig/s
for 5820k max memory bandwidth is 68gig/s more than twice!
For large FEM case as yours it acts the same and you will have higher solution speed , hope these information help you,
good luck