New Computer for OpenFOAM and ParaView
 

Hello everyone,

I am planning to buy a new computer for my Phd Thesis. I will use OpenFOAM and foamextend (simpleFOam, rhoSmpleFoam, icoFoam, dnsFoam, icoFsiFOam...) and postprocess results with ParaView.

The problem is I am not sure which configuration is the best for this purpose and what kind of components needs more focus in order to obtain the best perrformance.

I attach one possible choice:

http://www.aussar.es/module/pccreato...9e1b302dd9e202

I find it quite expensive.

Any suggestions? My main doubts are:

-Should I need this kind of graphic card? I am not sure, but I think OF does not allow GPUs, or, at least, I don't know how to use it...

-I work with meshes of 10 millions cells or so, using paralellization for both meshing and computing. My simulations are performed in 3D models. RAM is enough?

Please give me advises!I am quite stuck on this and I am going to pay a lot of money, so I expect to obtain the better performance....

Thanks in advance.

Since you will use the graphics card mainly for post-processing it really should not be the most expensive part of the workstation.
A Quadro K610 with 2GB Memory should be enough if your budget is limited.

I dont see why you picked a SSD with the M.2 socket. Does the motherboard even have this kind of connector?
Nominally, It may be slightly faster than a normal SATA SSD but with a limited budget I would rather pick a normal SATA SSD like the Samsung Evo 850 or Crucial BX100.

I would choose a case that looks more "professional" and this power supply but that is just my personal opinion ;)
If you intend to overclock the CPU better pick a larger Cooler.
Apart from that the components you picked seem reasonable and the system should provide good performance/$.

I am sure you will find the same components for less money in a different shop. This one doesnt seem to be particularly low priced.

Hi Alex and thanks for your suggestions.

SSD with the M.2 socket was a choince of the guys of the shop. The item have a discount.

Also the case is going to be changed, this one is ugly...But it was chosen to get an idea of the final budget.

I think definitely I can discard Quadro 4GB. It's quite expensive and if I am not going to make use of GPU oriented programming (at least at the moment) I will be wasting money in things I don't need. Probably I should try with something like this:

http://www.aussar.es/tarjetas-grafic...gb-gddr5-.html

http://www.aussar.es/tarjetas-grafic...dr5-bulk-.html

Sometimes my monitor goes dark when I am loading the mesh or any variables in ParaView. That's what I am thinking a lot about the card, but maybe it is a RAM issue...

Do you recommend any other web page/shop where I can ask for cheaper budgets?

THANKS!!

So this Mainboard has an m.2 socket but I still dont see the benefit of the m.2 SSD.
Good consumer grade SATA SSDs are way cheaper and this one is not even faster than any of them.
If they recommended this solution that is one more reason not to buy there.

I dont live in Spain, one of my favorite online shop is this one.
They ship to Spain, but you will have to be careful with the shipping costs.
I am sure you will find something similar directly in your country.

I still think that a graphics card in a cost-efficient workstation for CFD should be significantly cheaper than the CPU.
If you ever feel that this is the component that is limiting your productivity you can still upgrade it later.