• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

help building system for 3d engineering apps

C

cschoei

n00b
Joined
Nov 4, 2008
Messages
5
Its been a few years since I have built a system and I could use some advice/critique. Im basically needing something that can handle all my 3D programs: AutoCad, Solid Works, ANSYS, Photoshop and be good for multimedia.

So some basic Needs:

-$1000 budget for computer only
-handle all my 3D software and not slow down when I have lots of programs open, not likely to be playing any games
-perform well on 1920X1200 resolution
-last about 3 years RELIABLY

And here's what I have so far(nothing is set in stone except maby the case):

case: LIAN LI PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

MB:[/B] GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail

video: HIS Hightech H485QS512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported IceQ4 Video Card - Retail

memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

hard disk(x2): Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

drive: SONY 22X DVD Burner w/ LightScribe Black SATA Model DRU865S - Retail

sound: Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

as its sits its $938

Thanks for your help!!
 
cschoei said:
... -handle all my 3D software and not slow down when I have lots of programs open, not likely to be playing any games
...
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
...
hard disk(x2): Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
...
Click to expand...

A couple things... and I'll leave the rest for others.

If you want to be able to multi-task like a madman and have uber fast render times, you'll be best served by a quadcore than a higher clocked dual core. The Q6600 is in the same price range as the E8400, and would be a better fit for your needs.

Those 500GB drives use the old platters. Get something that uses the new 320GB platters, like the WD6400AAKS or WD6400AALS. They're around 40% faster than the older drives, and nearly as fast as the new VRaptors (65MB/s @ 14ms [5000KS] vs 90MB/s @ 12ms [6400KS] vs 98MB/s @ 8ms [VR]). They also cost less and have a lot more space.
 
Looks like a good price for a bang for your buck system. Would recommend a Q6600 too. Can search for a mid level Quadro or FireGL on ebay as well, I nabbed a 1700 for a sweet price.
 
mj12 said:
you may want to get some faster memory such as
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 1000
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145
Click to expand...

Doesn't look like the OP is overclocking and more than likely won't go with the E8400. So the Q6600 and the OP's current DDR2 800 RAM choice is good enough.

@ cschoei
I concur with enginurd 100%. In addition to his recommendations, I recommend dropping the sound card and try out the onboard sound first. Onboard sound has improved a lot in the last few years so it's a viable choice for sound. If the onboard sound isn't good enough, then buy a sound card.

Also, will you be overclocking?
 
Faster memory only benefits you if you're planning to overclock. However, should you go with the Q6600 instead of the E8400, DDR2 800 RAM would work just as well at stock speeds as it would overclocked. Regardless, you may want to consider picking up another 4GB RAM kit (for a total of 8GB of RAM) if you're serious about your work.

You can make a couple of (more) parts swaps to save some money while still using quality parts. The Sony DVD burner is overpriced, especially when you can get a SATA DVD burner with LightScribe support for around $20 less. (If you don't need LightScribe support, here's another cheap yet effective option.) And while the Corsair TX650 is a good power supply, you could buy others for less. For example:

$50 - Antec Earthwatts EA500 500W PSU (free shipping)
$75 - Antec NeoPower 650 650W PSU (free shipping)
$85 - PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W (15% promo code "Novsave15" discount included; free shipping & $25 mail-in rebate)
 
I would pick the Antec NeoPower 650 PSU for $75. It has 52A on the +12V and it's modular. Plus, save a bit more on the mobo/cpu by getting the Asus P5QPro + E8400 cpu combo deal for $255. No optical out on the Asus board though if you care about that.
 
Also said:
No, not overclocking.

Thanks for all the sugestions, Ive updated the list and actually dropped the total to $910. Now Im not dying to spend another $90 to meet my budget but what do you think is the best place to dump a little more money? step up the video card? more memory?

case: LIAN LI PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $89.98

MB:[/b] GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard $136.99

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 $189.99

video: HIS Hightech H485QS512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported IceQ4 Video Card $179.99

memory: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 $69.99

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply $99.99

hard disk(x2): Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $119.98

drive: SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F $23.99
Click to expand...
 
Ditch the Corsair RAM and go back to your origninal G.Skill RAM set. The G.Skill is $20 cheaper without having to deal with any sort of rebate and offers the same performance.

Ditch the WD3200AAKS drives as well. There's a 50/50 chance that you may get the older two platter version that's as fast as the WD5000AAKS you chose earlier. Go with the WD6400AAKS or WD6400AALS drives that Enginurd recommdended.

Use the remaing $60 towards the MSI GTX 260:
MSI N260GTX-T2D896 OC GeForce GTX 260 896MB PCI-E Video Card - $240

And you can save an addition $25 by going with Antec Neopower 650 that two other people here in this thread have recommended.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top