Looking for suggestions on a PC for non-CFD work
 

I am planning to buy new PC and below is the configuration. Do you think this build should do well.

Processor: Intel core i5 8600K (6 Cores, 6 Threads, 4.30Ghz)
Motherboard: Intel Z370 Chipset
RAM: 32 GB DDR4 2400Mhz Memory
Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 TI 8GB
Cabinet: Cooler Master MasterBox MB500
Cooler: Cooler Master MasterLiquid 120
SMPS: Cooler Master MasterWatt Lite 600W
Price offered is $1737

Please suggest.

Thanks,
Mike

What do you intend to use it for? Looks like a gaming PC, in which case you might have chosen the wrong forum ;)

Not for gaming, I just need high configuration for the development - SharePoint, office365 which require some good configuration.

Why did you chose a CFD forum? People who specialize in the kind of software you use could provide better suggestions. I don't ask to annoy you, but if the PC should be used for CFD then money has to be spent on different parts.
Anyway, my 2 cents:

• Leave out the graphics card. You don't need more than the integrated graphics can provide
• Swap the I5-8600k for an I7-8700(k). More threads
• Use SSD-based storage
• Use DDR4-2666 memory
• Use an air cooler for the CPU, it's just quieter
• No need for a beefy power supply, anything over 250W will be enough

Because he knows there are a bunch of geeks here that have set up their own computing clusters ;)


I would just add, not to get some no-name power supply if you do switch. The P.S. is where you don't want to skimp out, as when they go out, they can take everything with them. I have always used quality power supplies, and oversized them for aging, as well as future expansion. If you did want to add an external graphics card later on, you will want the extra capacity.


I have always disabled hyperthreading, so the extra logical threads of the 8700K would do nothing for me. (that is because the codes I use don't take advantage of it) so this choice is dependent on your software. I could also get higher overclocking with hyperthreading disabled, but that is besides the point.

You guys are expert, thanks for the suggestion.

That build was shared by my friend, now I know what he was trying to do. Renting my PC for Games

I have similar set up. Only lesser RAM and graphics. i5 8600K is very good if you want to overclock it in future.

Few suggestions,
We will want better cooler, And Corsair h60 is better one considering your price point. Or get the one with 240 mm radiator. I think it is H110i or h115i.

Your SMPS is not adequate for GTX 1070. Get the one with 700W to 800 W with some certification like Bronze or Gold. Semi-modular SMPS are better otherwise cable management is not that efficient. There is cooler master calculator for this. Add desired components and it calculates the desired power of power supply. Like processor is 95W (i5 8600K), Graphics card around 150 W etc.

if your purpose is not CFD, I don't think there is any other application which consumes 32 GB. 16 GB is far enough.

And again, for higher single thread performance i5 8600k offers more value than i7 8700k. I have observed that, for single threaded loads, like meshing or surface repair, single core performance is highest. So having more threads doesn't pay anything. Instead it reduce the single core performance(at least for my 5-6 year old Xeon workstation). So I purchased i5 for my PC.

Yeah, go for a SSD. M.2 NVMe is best for you. I have 860 evo SATA based SSD. My computer starts within 15-20 sec.

I have to make a few remarks:

Power supplies:
The power supply chosen in the original configuration -albeit a rather cheap choice- would have been adequate. This setup could easily be run with a decent quality 400W power supply. As you already noticed, the TDP of the individual components can be used as a rough estimate for dimensioning the power supply, using some additional headroom.
Over-sizing a power supply for aging sounds weird to me. Buy a proper one that does not age so badly and does not need to be over-sized. Given the choice between a good PSU with sufficient power and a lesser quality PSU with more rated power I would always opt for quality. Less noise, lower failure rate, higher efficiency over a wider load range...

80Plus is a label for power supply efficiency, nothing more. It is not necessarily an indicator for the general quality of a PSU: protection circuits, voltage stability, ripple/noise...
The only reason why some graphics card manufacturers recommend power supplies with 600W or more for a GTX 1070 is to account for shitty power supplies. The ones that claim to be "500W", cost 25$ and blow up when putting more than 300W load on them : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6snWfd1v7M

Memory requirements:
There are many, many non-CFD applications that benefit from or straight up require a high amount of RAM.
Quotes like "xyGB of RAM is enough" sound oddly similar to one of the most famous false predictions in computer history.

I7 vs. I5
To be more precise since the next generation of Intel CPUs will have an I7 without HT: Hyperthreading or not.
In terms of hardware requirements, CFD is an outlier in many ways. The fact that SMT often has no benefit or can even lead to worse results here does not translate to most other fields. For non-CFD aplications, SMT can add somewhere in the range of 20%-30% performance. Or enable more multi-tasking capabilities for several lightly-threaded applications. Hence my recommendation for the I7.

Thanks for the wonderful review.

Agree with you, Power supply should be gold/bronze certified at least 700W. I will get it upgraded within few months since I have already bought the PC. BTW my pc starts in 5-6 secs

Have you ever searched on any online store? If not then search on Amazon, eBay and reecoupons stores you will easily find there.