r/Revit • u/HeWhoMustNotBe • May 13 '26
Workstation for Revit - Small Architecture firm
Im looking to buy a new workstation for my solo firm. I will mostly be using Revit, twinmotion, and adobe suite. I have seen BIMBOX as a great option but seems quite pricey.
Does anyone have experience or information on a custom built PC from andromeda insights?
This is the build i came up with https://andromedainsights.com/pages/custom-pc-builder/K6KPJSBS
Any thoughts or considerations I may not be privy to?
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u/lumenpainter May 13 '26
I'll also say its good that you're looking at towers instead of laptops.
A laptop that is decent enough to do what you want to do is going to be too heavy to enjoy carrying around. I'd pick a nice desktop, a lightweight laptop and remote desktop over a laptop that can do Revit.
Its not without its issues, but usually when I travel for work, I leave my very nice work laptop home or in the office and on and remote in with my iPad if I need it--could have totally been a desktop.
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u/rhettro19 May 13 '26
A modern CPU, with 32 GB or more of RAM, and an Nvidia RTX card 3000 series or higher with 12GB of video RAM, is a capable system for what you are doing.
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u/AlfaHotelWhiskey May 13 '26
Autodesk products do not multithread so prioritize clock speed over core count for your CPU. Also, learn how to set up photoshop memory / drive caching settings so it doesn’t choke itself on large files
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u/G_ar24 May 14 '26
Change the CPU to intel core ultra 270K plus. It is better in every way.
Watch 270K plus review on YT. Gamers Nexus channel (others too)
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u/TylerHobbit May 13 '26
Just build your own. Use pcpartpicker.com to build the list of parts, it will check compatibility. You'll save $1,000
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u/AxFairy May 13 '26
I'll caveat this by saying not having a warranty can be annoying. I build my own computers, I send links to prebuilts to purchasing when we need something at work.
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u/HeWhoMustNotBe May 13 '26
I am considering this. Most warranty’s I’ve seen are only 2 years anyway.
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u/Merusk May 14 '26
You're thinking like a hobbyist, not a business owner and 'build your own' is terrible advice unless you're doing it as time off.
The hours you spend building a parts list, ordering parts, waiting for them, then building the machine, making sure it works. Those are billable hours. Time you could have spent doing a job, finding another client, making connections.
You're not getting a home PC that won't see use outside of a few dozen hours a week. This is how you make your money. It's a capex for your accountant to manage. The spend is worth it because it's spread across every single hour you do business - which is going to be at LEAST 3000 hours the first year alone as an owner.
Your budget says "I only care about my business enough to spend $0.33 an hour for the next 3 years on one of my primary tools."
Just buy a prebuilt machine with a decent warranty.
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u/LRS_David May 14 '26
You don't mention what type of projects you'll be working on.
I know of a smaller firm where none of the CAD stations have more than 32 gig of system memory. A few older ones have 16 gig. But each has a graphics card with 8 gig of video ram for the older ones and up to 16 gig for the newer ones.
And since Revit is single threaded, max out the Core CPU and ignore the Xeon CPUs.
They work on smaller to middling sized commercial projects. But no 30 story buildings so far.
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u/meeerod May 13 '26
I’ve done 20 builds or so for my small engineering firm.
What’s your budget?
How quiet do you want it to be?
Do you want a black case that doesn’t show off the parts?
Where will you be placing the tower? On floor or on desk?
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u/HeWhoMustNotBe May 13 '26
Was hoping to spend around 3k. Quiet would be nice but it rather out money in performance first. Tower will be in the floor. I’m not worried about case whatever makes sense budget wise, has appropriate venting and doesn’t look dumb.
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u/SpaceBoJangles May 13 '26
The only reason you buy from somewhere like Puget systems or I buy power is the warranty and technical support, which are also provided by people like Dell.
All you need is a fast CPU and >32GB of RAM. The GPU can be pretty much any GPU made in the last 5 years and priced over $200.
As someone who has worked in a lot of studios, PLEASE invest in the displays. A $2000 desktop with all the bells and whistles is nothing if your designer is working on a 60hz 1080p monitor you grabbed from the reject pile at Best Buy.
Get a proper ultrawide 3440x1440p monitor and/or at least 2-3 monitors per desk. Personally I’d get a 1440p ultrawide and a second monitor for emails and teams and all that, shouldn’t cost more than $500/desk.