Workstation Build - £450 ($600)

[agrieveson]

I have been asked to spec a workstation for a friend of mine. She is an Architecture student and will be using the system for work only (e.g. AutoCAD, Revit, Sketchup, Photoshop). NO over clocking, NO gaming. She has a strict budget of no more than £450 ($600) for the full build (She is moving from a laptop so has nothing).

I have built workstations for this kind of use for myself before, but they have all been in the £2000 ($3000) range, and I have no real experience in where money is best spent on such a low end system.

The only constraint is that it will have a workstation GPU (e.g. Quadro 600).

Any UK supplier (or multiple).

What would your suggestions be?

 

[Dangman]

Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.

 

[agrieveson]

Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.

Here you go. Though there is very little that wasn't in the original post.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

I have been asked to spec a workstation for a friend of mine. She is an Architecture student and will be using the system for work only (e.g. AutoCAD, Revit, Sketchup, Photoshop). NO over clocking, NO gaming. She has a strict budget of no more than £450 ($600) for the full build (She is moving from a laptop so has nothing).

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

£450 ($600)

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

UK

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.

Full build from scratch, only specified part is a workstation graphics card.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Build from scratch.

6) Will you be overclocking?

No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

To be purchased with build.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Before the end of September.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

None.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

No.

 

[Dangman]

Though there is very little that wasn't in the original post.

Those little parts matter.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
£450 ($600)

.....

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.
Full build from scratch, only specified part is a workstation graphics card.

......

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
To be purchased with build.

....

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No.

Unfortunately this build is not possible with the budget in mind. You're already looking at £293 give or take for the OS, monitor, and Quadro 600. That leaves you £157 for the Case, CPU, mobo, RAM, HDD, DVD, and PSU. Even building that PC here in the U.S wouldn't be possible with that budget.

Since you need both the OS and the monitor, your best bet might actually be a prebuilt Dell. Not sure if this is the case for your country but Dell often has deals here in the U.S where you can a get a Dell desktop with 4GB of RAM, Intel CPU, OS, and Monitor for under $600. Even here in the U.S, it's impossible to match those Dell deals without going with shitty quality parts. Yes those prebuilt Dells do not come with a workstation graphics but thats the part that'll have to be cut if she wants a PC with a monitor and OS.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Before the end of September.

If you can't narrow down the timeframe any further, please come back when you're 2-3 weeks away from buying the PC and ask for advice then. You'll get more up-to-date hardware advice or prebuilt desktop advice in your case.

 

[agrieveson]

Since you need both the OS and the monitor, your best bet might actually be a prebuilt Dell. Not sure if this is the case for your country but Dell often has deals here in the U.S where you can a get a Dell desktop with 4GB of RAM, Intel CPU, OS, and Monitor for under $600. Even here in the U.S, it's impossible to match those Dell deals without going with shitty quality parts. Yes those prebuilt Dells do not come with a workstation graphics but thats the part that'll have to be cut if she wants a PC with a monitor and OS.

Would you be able to recommend one?

If you can't narrow down the timeframe any further, please come back when you're 2-3 weeks away from buying the PC and ask for advice then. You'll get more up-to-date hardware advice or prebuilt desktop advice in your case.

What I meant by that us that it will be built shortly before the beginning of term towards the end of September. I understand that parts/prices could change before then, I just want to get a good idea of what I can do for her/persuade her to work more to afford something better...

 

[Dangman]

Would you be able to recommend one?

Not at the moment.

What I meant by that us that it will be built shortly before the beginning of term towards the end of September. I understand that parts/prices could change before then, I just want to get a good idea of what I can do for her/persuade her to work more to afford something better...

Something along the lines of an Intel CPU + 4GB of RAM + 500GB of storage is a start.

 

[agrieveson]

Not at the moment.

Something along the lines of an Intel CPU + 4GB of RAM + 500GB of storage is a start.

A Dell Inspiron 620 with a GPU upgrade seems to be the most fitting. Any thoughts?

 

[Dangman]

A Dell Inspiron 620 with a GPU upgrade seems to be the most fitting. Any thoughts?

Solid model. Also a RAM upgrade would be a good ideal as well so try to aim for a minimum of 8GB of RAM in the final build.

 

[tiraides]

What I meant by that us that it will be built shortly before the beginning of term towards the end of September. I understand that parts/prices could change before then, I just want to get a good idea of what I can do for her/persuade her to work more to afford something better...

The problem, as Danny Bui mentioned, is that the monitor, workstation graphics card, and operating system together are budget-breakers. An OEM copy of Windows 7 can easily cost around £80 to £100 on its own. And workstation graphics cards cost considerably more than consumer video cards with similar specifications.