Budget for Dad's B-Day

M

Mikeman

n00b
Joined
Sep 2, 2006
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9
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mostly CAD stuff pretty much anything AutoDesk. No gaming, pure workhorse this one.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$700USD without Taxes and Shipping.
3) Where do you live?
DFW, Texas
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Entire Desktop(CPU,RAM,case,PSU)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Might be able to reuse DVD-RW but would like to keep everything SATA.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably not, want the system to be stable as a rock.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Currently on a 19' Viewsonic.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within two weeks.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
no need for SLI/CFX. Decent onboard audio would be nice.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
No but, Windows 7 64bit would be really nice seeing as I have it on my own desktop.
 
Hm... couldn't quite get budget... hopefully someone will come along and get it even lower...

$105 - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM
$238 - COMBO: AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE 3.2GHz + GIGABYTE GA-770TA-UD3 AM3
$105 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1600 F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL CL9 1.5v
$130 - PNY VCQFX380LP-PCIE-PB Quadro FX 380 512MB 64-bit GDDR3
$95 - Antec TWO HUNDRED + Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D 430W
$55 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA300 16MB Cache
$25 - SAMSUNG 24x DVD Burner - OEM SATA Model SH-S243N
==============
$750 + tax and shipping

Isn't there a Fry's and a Microcenter near you?
 
If that $700 budget is a firm number, then I recommend the following changes to enginurd's build:

Get this CPU + mobo combo instead to shave off $39:
$200 - AMD Phenom II X4 925 CPU + Biostar TA790GXB3 AM3 AMD 790GX ATX AMD Motherboard

Go with this RAM to shave off $8:
$98 - A-Data 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM

Though I wonder: What's the CAD performance difference between the Quadro FX 380 and a HD 5670 1GB card?
 
Shadowssong said:
Ah ok, does it require a workstation grade gpu?
Click to expand...

Well workstation grade video cards are better geared towards CAD work due to drivers and software implementation. However some people do use high-end gaming video cards to do CAD work when they cannot afford a workstation grade video card.

Hence my earlier wonder: By video gaming metrics, that Quadro card is shit slow. By CAD metrics, it should be relatively fast. However will the extra performance offered by the HD 5670 in video games translate to an equal or lesser performance in CAD compared to the Quadro card.
 
I can't seem to find any numbers comparing the newer GPUs in workstation environments, but I'd still think the Quadro would perform much better than the Radeon in CAD, simply based on previous gen tests.

Shadowssong said:
I was wondering the same, does CAD even benefit from gpu?
Click to expand...

Heh, what did you think the Pro (Quadro/FireGL) cards were for? :p
 
enginurd said:
I can't seem to find any numbers comparing the newer GPUs in workstation environments, but I'd still think the Quadro would perform much better than the Radeon in CAD, simply based on previous gen tests.



Heh, what did you think the Pro (Quadro/FireGL) cards were for? :p
Click to expand...

Lol no idea, now I know :)
 
Isn't there a Fry's and a Microcenter near you?
Click to expand...
Yes there is both, forgot to mention that. I rather stay away from Fry's past experiences weren't too good.

A question about the video card I happen to have a BFG 8800GTOC2 512mb, and would like to use it unless its performance is horrid, I doubt it since his current machine is running a BFG 6800 Ultra agp, bad boy set me back $450 back in the day. His CAD work while professional I dont think it requires Workstation grade.

Perhaps this could get the build under budget, without sacrificing too much on the cpu.
I need to checkout Microcenters BYOC combos for AMD, I've only been looking at intel but budget wise isnt really viable. Checked out MC for the price for the Proc it seems the same as newegg for the X4 955 BE.

Enginurd's list looks good as usual.
 
given what you say about the old card I would bet that the 8800GT would be more then enough card for him.. That would free up a good bit of budget for you.

Also from what I can find on the Net wise AutoCad doesn't really benefit from multiple Cores.. Something about things having to be done in order it doesn't help to be able to do 4 at once.. That being said maybe go with a higher clocked Athlon II x2 or Core i3 & invest the money into the rest of the system such as more ram or HDD, or even a higher end workstation class GPU.

Also the recommended system for autocad 64 bit lists either intel or amd dual core of at least 1.6ghz (atom anyone)
 
You can probably softmod the GeForce: http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=539 ...last page of that article is interesting.

MC has the i3 530 for $99, if you're looking to go the dual core route. Snag an H55 or P55 while you're there. The egg has an H55 shell shocker for a couple more hours at $70, if you're still up. ;)
 
Update 3/23/2010



I went for Intel Core i5 750 & Gigabyte P55-UD3 combo at Fry's for $224+tax out the door. Comes out to $135.66 for the CPU and $89.33 for the motherboard, not bad in my book even with a Microcenter around. http://newspaperads.mercurynews.com/ROP/ads.aspx?advid=32664&adid=9064255&subid=28838241&type=

Acquired a copy of 64bit Win 7, 250GB WD hard drive and still planning to reuse the BFG 8800GT 512mb.


So I still need:
Ram($106)
Case
PSU
DVD-RW($25)


Ram, Im pretty set on G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800). $105.99 FS @ the egg.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277
The case&psu combo enigurd suggested is nice but was wondering if perhaps I could find a nicer case with the remaining budget.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.345215($99.98)



Remaining budget is $170 for Case and PSU and whatever else is that can make this bad boy scream, might need to invest in a good after market heat sink.
 
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Mikeman said:
$170 for Case and PSU the price of ram and DVD has been factored into the budget.
Click to expand...

Then I recommend this PSU:
$65 - Antec EA500D 500W PSU

Spend the rest on a case. Some recommendations:
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$50 - Thermaltake WingRS 201 VJ60001N2Z ATX Case
$55 - Antec 300 ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$80 - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-E8B ATX Case
$120 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$120 - Thermaltake ElementS VK60001N2Z ATX Case
 
QuadMe said:
OCZ Z-Series OCZZ550 550W & free power surge: 89.99. After rebate: 69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341037&Tpk=power supply
Click to expand...

Hmm, once you factor in shipping, the costs of that PSU is actually $100. A bit too pricey considering that you can get the similar quality and larger Corsair 650TX or Antec TP-650 650W PSUs.

Though if you're the type to factor in rebates, still not that good of deal, once again factoring in shipping, considering that you can get similar quality Corsair 550VX for the same price as that OCZ without having to deal with a rebate:
$80 - Corsair 550VX 550W PSU

Elios said:
hmm
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068
Click to expand...
Hmm, bit of an older case that still uses a front 80mm fan. Wouldn't recommend it for a new system nowadays. Also, once you factor in shipping, that Centurion case would cost $70, the same as the larger and better quality Coolermaster RC-590 case I linked to above earlier.
 
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Danny Bui said:
Hmm, once you factor in shipping, the costs of that PSU is actually $100. A bit too pricey considering that you can get the similar quality and larger Corsair 650TX or Antec TP-650 650W PSUs.

Though if you're the type to factor in rebates, still not that good of deal, once again factoring in shipping, considering that you can get similar quality Corsair 550VX for the same price as that OCZ without having to deal with a rebate:
$80 - Corsair 550VX 550W PSU


Hmm, bit of an older case that still uses a front 80mm fan. Wouldn't recommend it for a new system nowadays. Also, once you factor in shipping, that Centurion case would cost $70, the same as the larger and better quality Coolermaster RC-590 case I linked to above earlier.
Click to expand...

70 dollars after rebate is hardly pricey for a 550W silver rated psu. Yes you have to deal with the rebate but that's not really an issue for me at least. The OP didn't include shipping and taxes in his original post so I would assume that he's not going to include it for a psu. Plus he gets a free power surge protector.

That corsair psu you listed is only rated 80plus.
 
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Thanks guys for the recommendations on the cases and psu's. I went ahead with LIAN LI Lancool PC-K56 for $79.99 FS and this psu CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W for $89 FS($99 - %10 promo code) I like free shipping:D.
Sorta biased on the case decision since I have the K-62 for my own rig it was a joy to build, yes painting the interior black makes the computer faster...:p
 
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