Best Motherboards for Cad Workstation – In this article we looked at the best motherboards for CAD and engineering from various price ranges and for different engineering purposes.
However, as mentioned earlier, the choice of motherboard largely depends upon the processor you choose to go for as well as your budget.
ROUND UP
If you are building an Engineering PC for yourself, then a motherboard is essentially the building block.
1.ASRock X299 Taichi
Pros & Cons
- XXL ALUMINUM ALLOY HEATSINK & HEATPIPE DESIGN Extra-large aluminum alloy heatsink along with
- Package length: 12.5"
- Package width: 15.0"
- Package height: 5.0"
2.ASRock LGA 2066
Pros & Cons
3.ASRock B550
Pros & Cons
- Supports 3rd Gen AMD AM4 Ryzen / Future AMD Ryzen Processors
- 16 Power Phase Design, Digi Power, Dr. MOS
- Supports DDR4 4733+ (OC)
- 3 PCIe 4.0/3.0x16, 2 PCIe 3.0 x1
- Graphics Output Options: HDMI, DisplayPort
4.ASRock X399 TAICHI
Pros & Cons
- Supports AMD TR4 Socket Ryzen Threadripper Series CPUs
- IR Digital PWM, 11 Power Phase & Dr. MOS and operating system is microsoft windows 10 64-bit,windows 10 RS2 is supported
- 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec), Supports DTS Connect.Supports high speed wireless connections up to 433Mbps
- 8 SATA3, 3 Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
- 2 USB 3.1 10Gb/s (1 Type-A + 1 Type-C), 12 USB 3.0 (4 Front, 8 Rear).Supports Bluetooth 4.2 / 3.0 + High speed class II
5.MSI MPG Z390
Pros & Cons
- Supports 9th i9-9900K, i7-9700K, i5-9600K and 8th Generation Intel Core / Pentium Gold / Celeron processors for LGA 1151 socket
- Supports dual channel DDR4 Memory, up to 4400(OC) MHz; DIMM Slots: 4.Operating system: Support for Windows 10 64-bit
- 2x TURBO M.2, Intel Optane Memory Ready, Turbo USB 3.1 GEN2; USB 2.0 ports (Front): 4
- MYSTIC LIGHT: 16.8 million colors / 29 effects. Connect RGB or RAINBOW LED strips with addressable headers and create an RGB gaming PC. Control Mystic Light SYNC enabled products
- Built for high-performance gaming - Extended heatsink, ATX form factor ready for multi-GPU
6.ASUS TUF Z390-Plus
Pros & Cons
- Designed for 9th and 8th generation Intel Core processors to maximize connectivity and speed with dual M.2, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.1 Gen2
- Military-Grade TUF Components like TUF LANGuard, TUF Chokes, TUF Capacitors, and TUF MOSFETs maximize system durability
- Gamer’s Guardian with Safe Slot and FanXpert 4 provides hardware-level safeguards for maximum performance with dynamic system cooling
- 8-channel HD Gaming Audio with TUF Gaming Headphone featuring Realtek S1200A high definition audio codec driven by Japanese capacitors for warm, immersive sound
- ASUS Optimum II improves memory stability and performance by improving trace isolation between PCB layers to maintain signal integrity even at higher frequencies
7.ASUS TUF Gaming
Pros & Cons
- AMD AM4 Socket and PCIe 4. 0: The perfect pairing for Zen 3 Ryzen 5000 & 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen CPUs
- Robust Power Design: 8+2 DrMOS power stages with high-quality alloy chokes and durable capacitors to provide reliable power for the last AMD high-count-core CPUs
- Optimized Thermal Solution: Fanless VRM and chipset heatsink, multiple hybrid fan headers and Fan Xpert 4 or the UEFI Q-Fan Control utility
- High-performance Gaming Networking: 2. 5 Gb LAN with ASUS LANGuard
- Best Gaming Connectivity: Supports HDMI 2. 1 (4K@60HZ) and DisplayPort 1. 2 output, featuring dual M. 2 slots (NVMe SSD)—one with PCIe 4. 0 x4 connectivity, front panel USB 3. 2 Gen 1 connector, USB 3. 2 Gen 2 Type-C & Type-A ports and Thunderbolt 3 header, 1 x SPI TPM header.Industry-leading Gaming Audio & AI Noise Cancelling Mic Technology: High fidelity audio from a SupremeFX S1220A codec with DTS Sound Unbound and Sonic Studio III draws you deeper into the action. Communicate clearly with ASUS AI Noise Cancelling Mic technology..Gaming Look and Feel: ASUS-exclusive Aura Sync RGB lighting, including RGB headers and a Gen 2 addressable RGB header for greater customization.Please ensure your BIOS is up to date if installing a compatible Ryzen 5000 series CPU. Visit ASUS site search by motherboard model name, click on “Support" tab, Drivers and Tools, then BIOS & Firmware to download the latest BIOS.
8.ASUS ROG Strix Z390-I
Pros & Cons
- Designed for 9th and 8th generation Intel Core processors to maximize connectivity and speed with dual M.2, USB 3.1 Gen 2, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and ASUS Opti-MEM II for better DRAM overclocking stability
- Revamped 5-Way Optimization overclocks intelligently based on smart prediction and thermal telemetry while Fan Xpert 4 delivers dynamic system cooling
- Gamer's Guardian ensures longevity with Safe Slot, ESD Guards and DRAM Overcurrent Protection while M.2 double-decker heatsink shrouds the main M.2 slot and provides shared cooling for the M.2 and PCH
- Pre-mounted I/O shield ensures streamlined installation and represents ROG's attention to detail and quality
- Supports HDMI 2.0 with max. resolution 4096 x 2160 @ / 60 Hz; Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit
9.ASUS ROG Strix Z490-I
Pros & Cons
- Intel LGA 1200 socket: Designed to unleash the maximum performance of 10th Gen Intel Core processors
- Robust Power Solution: 8+2 Dr. MOS power stages with ProCool II power connector, high-quality alloy chokes and durable capacitors to provide reliable power when pushing CPU performance
- Optimized Thermal Design: Embed custom Delta Superflo VRM fan, Mos heatsink, L-shaped heat pipe and fan headers, features low-noise AI cooling to balance thermals and acoustics by reducing fan speeds and maintaining a 5 Celsius delta
- High-performance Gaming Networking: On-board Intel WiFi 6 AX201 (802. 11 ax), Intel 2. 5 Gb Ethernet with ASUS LANGuard
- Best Gaming Connectivity: Supports HDMI 2. 0a and DisplayPort 1. 4 output, and featuring dual M. 2 , front panel USB 3. 2 Gen 2 Type-C connector
10.MSI TRX40 PRO
Pros & Cons
- Core boost with premium layout and fully digital power design to support more Cores and provides better performance
- Frozr heatsink designed with the patented fan and double ball bearings to provide best performance for enthusiast games and prosumers
- Lightning USB 20G ASM3242 USB 3 2 Gen2x2 controller offers the fastest USB speeds with stability
- Lightning Gen4 the latest Gen4 PCI-E and M 2 solution with up to 64GB/s bandwidth for minimum transfer speed.Operating System : Support for Windows 10 64-bit
- Dual LAN Dual premium network solution for both Intranet and internet Offering a smooth gaming experience for effective network connection
Best Motherboards for Cad Workstation – BUYER’S GUIDE
Entry Level Setup
If you do simple CAD designing such as 2D architectural drawings, MEP layout drawings and moderate use of software like DiaLux for calculating the lighting lux rate etc, then you don’t quite need a high end system.
In fact, you don’t even need to invest in a separate graphics card here. Since most of the layout drawings are 2D based, all you need is a powerful processor.
2D CAD designing on software like AutoCAD is primarily based on a CPU’s single core performance. Meaning, you won’t quite necessarily benefit from a higher core count as much as you would benefit from a high performance single core.
However, a higher number of cores can allow you to multitask easily and allow you to handle multiple software at the same time.
Generally, for an entry level setup we believe that you should aim the most for getting a good processor. This could be a Core i7 or a Ryzen 7 processor. Along with that, we recommend investing in about 16 GB of RAM.
If you do light simulation, 3D engineering designing than you can experiment with your budget a bit a get yourself a graphics card as well, but it is an absolute must for light and small engineering and architectural firms.
The motherboard that we would recommend here are those featuring A520 or B550 chipset for AMD builds (depending on your budget) or the B460 for Intel builds.
Mid Range
A mid range engineering and CAD PC is essentially a high performance PC by the standard for an average consumer.
These PCs can easily feature high end Intel Core i7/ Core i9 or Ryzen 7 / Ryzen 9 processors.
A mid range CAD and engineering PC has the capacity to work on very complex 2D and 3D design as well as the ability to sufficiently render engineering simulations.
A good engineering firm can have a couple of these PCs for handling more advanced tasks.
For this sort of built we recommend looking into the motherboard with the X570 chipset for AMD or the Z490 chipset for Intel builds.
Workstation Grade
The holy grail for any engineer is a workstation PC. These are literally compact super computers capable of handling cutting edge projects.
In general, most engineering firms do not require a workstation grade PC. Only the most advanced firms that do engineering as well as creative designing would find use of workstations.
A workstation PC has can have 64 cores and multiple GPUs. Calling this an overkill for designing simple architectural building layout design would be an understatement.
However, the premiere engineering and architectural firms can also have creative designing element to them. The thing with CAD applications particularly where 3D video simulation of an engineering project is required, and where live engineering video analysis is required, then sky is the limit for the amount of PC resources you need.
A good example is where you would need to simulate all the forces acting on a jet engine or on a skyscrapper.
Also while a Single GPU is more than sufficient for most engineering applications, workstations can feature 2 or 3 specialized NVIDIA Quadro GPUs that serve the purpose of analyzing data and visualization.
So unless you are performing scientific work and processing a lot of data, you don’t quite need a workstation grade PC for your small to medium engineering firm.
But in any case, you have the X299 motherboards for Intel and the TRX40 motherboards for AMD that you can look into if you are interested in a workstation build.
WRAP UP
In this article, we will look at the best motherboards for CAD and engineering. In doing so, we will briefly review motherboards from various price categories that would appeal to engineers and designers at different levels of expertise and budget range.
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