Computer build for brother's roommate

[matt_to_the_max]

Hi, I am posting this thread to see what your guys/girls opinions are for this build. My brother's roommate is going to buy a new computer and he is going to use it for solidworks and engineering related programs.

Here is an email he sent me:

"Hey Matt,
This is Adam, Brian's roommate. I got your email you sent back to Brian about the GPU, and talked to my parents some more. They're getting me a new computer, and I was hoping to get your thoughts on the specs and see if the price is about right, if you wouldn't mind. I was going to get it custom built through AVA direct. Here are the specs:

COMPUCASE HEC 6C28B Black Mid-Tower Case, No PSU, ATX
HEC Orion HP 585D 585W Power Supply, 24-pin ATX, ATX12V, Dual 80mm Fans, OEM
INTEL DQ67SWB3, LGA1155, Intel® Q67 (vPro™), DDR3-1333 32GB /4, PCIe x16, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /2, 6Gb/s /2, DVI+HDMI+DP, USB 3.0 /2, HDA, GbLAN, FW /2, mATX, Retail
INTEL Core™ i5-2500 Quad-Core 3.3GHz, HD Graphics 2000, LGA1155, 6MB L3 Cache, 32nm, 95W, EM64T EIST TB VT-d VT-x XD, Retail
KINGSTON 4GB (2 x 2GB) ValueRAM PC3-8500 DDR3 1066MHz CL7 (7-7-7) 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
SAMSUNG 64GB 470 Series SSD, MLC Samsung PB22-J, 250/170 MB/s, 2.5-Inch, SATA 3 Gb/s, Retail
SONY AD-7261S Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ Lightscribe, SATA, OEM

I am going to put in a 1 TB HD I have in my current computer, then also buy the Radeon 6850 you recommended form Newegg and install it myself, since it'd be cheaper. So, the total would be $170 for the GPU and $715 shipped for the main system. What are your thoughts?"

I asked him if he wanted to build it himself and a few other questions and this is what he said:

"I have a $1000 budget out the door for the computer, keyboard ($30) and a monitor. Obviously, the cheaper the better though. I do have a Windows 7 x64 OS. I don't know too much about building a computer, I can do things like install ram, hard drive, cd drive, etc, but I don't have any experience with things like CPU, motherboard, or PSU, or running wiring. That is why I was not planning on doing it myself. How hard is it to do? Also, how important is power supply quality? Does it affect performance or is it something like how long it will last? Thanks for posting the thread, I appreciate it."

I told him that the components listed above were alright except for the PSU, because I don't believe it's that power efficient and reliable.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Engineering related programs
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1000 MAX
3) Where do you live?
California
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU,mobo,ram,ssd,cd/dvd drive,gpu,psu,case
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
1TB hard drive
6) Will you be overclocking?
unknown
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I'm not sure but probably as big as he can afford
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In a month or sooner.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
raid,usb 3.0, sata 6Gb/s is fine
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes Windows 7x64

Thanks,
Matt

 

[matt_to_the_max]

anybody?

 

[Lycidas]

well for one, you/your friend live/s in California. So newegg is going to annihilate you for taxes, which could add $40 ~ $100 to your build. It's generally best to shop from amazon instead as they don't charge cali-tax.

 

[Lycidas]

I don't see a solid state drive being that practical for Engineering applications, instead get this:
$62 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

For your RAM, it's probably better instead of getting a 2x2GB to just get 1x4GB for future upgrades.
$39 - Patriot PSD34G13332 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

This is also not very good as the deals we suggest today may not be there in a month and you'll have just wasted everyone's time:

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In a month or sooner.

I'll be back on later but for now I gotta go do some work before lunch. Hope this is a start.

 

[E4g1e]

In addition, that HEC Orion PSU is crappy at best, shitty at worst. It can't deliver anywhere close to its full 580W claim. It's more like a 350W PSU masquerading as a 580W unit.

 

[Dangman]

$225 - Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
$130 - MSI P67A-GD45 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard
$39 - Patriot PSD34G13332 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$139 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1CCA 2.5" 64GB SSD
$26 - Lite-On iHAS424-98 DVD Burner
$90 - Corsair 650TX V2 650W PSU
$98 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
--
Total: $747 shipped

I didn't include a video card because I need the following questions answered:
- No gaming right?
- What kind of engineering programs are we talking about here?

 

[plugwash]

Personally I would get a SSD because they are faster at random access than even the fastest hard drives. However if you are going to get one then you need to get one big enough to put all your major apps on. Without knowing just how big your major apps are it's hard to say exactly how big that should be but I strongly suspect 64GB is too small.