How to Optimize the HP 440 on a Budget

Are you an engineer who needs a mid-range workstation that hits a near-perfect balance of price and performance? Do you require a CAD workstation desktop for part modeling, assemblies and drawings, rendering and simulation with a variety of CAD software (Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks 2014 and Solid Edge ST 6)? If so, optimizing the right system might seem like a tricky task, which is why I’m here to help. 

In this post, I’ll optimize the HP Z 440 for users with large CAD workflows. First, I’ll explore some of the changes from the HP Z 420. Then I’ll optimize the hardware, keeping the price in the $1600 to $2600 range. 

The HP 440 features a single Xeon CPU, as many as four 3.5 inch drives, up to 128GB of RAM and a huge selection of GPUs. The tool-free chassis was redesigned; at less than 7 inches, it is smaller than its predecessor, the Z 420. The HP 440 is also quieter, has a single integrated Gb Ethernet, storage bays, and is 4U rack mountable. The Intel Xeon E5 processor family offers base frequencies between 2.8 Ghz, and 3.7 Ghz. For the power supply, you can choose between a 525W and 700W option.

HP Z 440 Features & Options:

Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks 2014, SolidEdge ST 6:

The CAD programs mentioned above require a minimum RAM of 4-8 GB. For simulations, animations and rendering vs. parts and assembly modeling, you can always get more RAM. However, it will cost you. 

For optimal hardware configurations, it's important to keep CAD best practices in mind. Though best practices vary depending on your task, there are many valuable online resources available, including eng-tips.com.

Optimizing the Z 440 for Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks 2014, and Solid Edge ST6

If you need to cover all functionality (parts & assemblies, drawings, simulations, rendering, animation), spending on a better CPU, GPU and RAM can really pay off. But that doesn’t mean you need to overspend. Here are some reasonable options:

Autodesk Inventor 2014 : There’s no need to go higher than 4 GB of RAM If you’re using the HP Z440 for general part and assembly design (under 1,000 parts). The same goes for if you’re working with less than 500 part assemblies. The NVIDIA Quadro K2200 provides more than enough graphics processing power. The standard 1 TB 7200 rpm SATA accommodates Windows 7 or 8 users.  If you’re using a Mac OSX virtualization (10.6 and up), you need to move up to 8 GB of RAM. However, the Intel Xeon E5-1620 v3 (3.5 GHz, 10 MB cache, 4 cores, Intel vPro) will more than cover you. 

Solid Edge ST 6:   You can definitely get away with 4 GB of RAM when using 32 or 64 bit Windows 7 or 8. And with its base frequency of 3.5 GHz, the 4-core Xeon E5-1620 will provide plenty of single-threading processing power for parts & assembly modeling. The four cores will give a good boost to performance during simulations, rendering and animation workflows. Once again, the NVIDIA Quadro 2200 should be sufficient, but you may experience some lag depending on your overall workflow. If you need a rendering, simulating and animating beast, you may want to increase your RAM to 16 GB. 

SolidWorks 2014: More RAM is always better, but with SolidWorks 8GB is crucial for performance. If SolidWorks is your primary CAD program, it's specifically tailored to run with Intel CPUs. The Intel E5-1620 will be even faster than when using the other two CAD programs. The NVIDIA Quadro 2200 will definitely be sufficient to cover parts & assembly modeling (1000 parts or less). It will also be faster than the other two CAD programs when you’re processing simulation, rendering and animation workflows.  

Optimizing CPU: To me, the best choice here is the Intel E5-1620 v3 (3.5 GHz, 10 MB cache, 4 cores, Intel vPro).  It's the perfect balance of performance and price. Still, you need the extra cash ($190) to buy it. I would scale this down to the Intel E5-1607 v3, which has a base frequency of 3.1 GHz, 10MB and 4 cores while adding no extra charge to your base machine.     

Part Modeling: The Intel i5 1607 v3 base frequency of 3.1 GHz will make single-threaded applications run very quickly and quietly.  

Assemblies:  Assemblies are similar in respect to CPU load (they are moved from your hard drive to your RAM). The 8GB of RAM and a 1TB 7200 SATA hard drive will easily handle average to large assemblies with sub-assemblies that hover around 1000 parts or less. Solid State Drives are always preferable, but not always affordable. The 128 GB SSD option will cost you $39 dollars more, but leave you hanging in terms of storage.  The next SSD option (1 TB SATA SSD) will cost you $900 extra. Since we're starting out at $1600, this doesn't leave much room for anything else.  But at least it’s an option.

Drawings: Drawing functions begin to use multi-threaded loads and each drawing sheet is assigned a core. Since each sheet has 4 views or more, a quad core CPU is needed for optimum functionality. So you’re all set with the Intel E5 CPU family.

Optimizing RAM: More RAM is always better, that's a given. You can stay at 4GB if optimizing for Autodesk Inventor 2014 and Solid Edge ST 6. But if you use SolidWorks 2014, then the 8 GB RAM really needs to be there.    

Optimizing GPU: There's a lot of room to play with here – it really depends on what you’re doing.  I've narrowed it down to five selections:  

Professional 2D: NVIDIA NVS 310 (512 MB); NVIDIA NVS 315 (1 GB); NVIDIA NVS 510 (2 GB)

Entry 3D: NVIDIA Quadro K420 (1 GB); NVIDIA Quadro K620 (2 GB)

Mid-range 3D: NVIDIA Quadro K2200 (4 GB); AMD FirePro W2100 (2 GB); AMD FirePro W5100 (4 GB)

High-end 3D: NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (4 GB); NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (8 GB); NVIDIA Quadro K6000 (12 GB)

·         The HPP 440 is ideal for engineering students, along with entry-level and experienced engineers

·         Minimum Configuration for Engineering Students: i5 E1607 v3 CPU, 4 GB RAM, 1TB 7500 rpm SATA, NVIDIA K620 (2GB).

·         Cost: $2,121 USD

·         Minimum Configuration for Engineers: i5 E1607 v3 CPU, 8GB RAM, 1 TB 7500 rpm SATA, NVIDIA K2200

·         Cost: $2,511 USD

Who it is not for:

The HP 440 is definitely configurable. Therefore, power CAD users (1000s of parts and sub-assemblies, heavy simulation, animation, rendering) could technically use it.  But be warned: you will likely go over your self-imposed budget.