A good, CHEAP PC for Autocad

[JoeXIII'007]

Curious as to where I could find a good, cheap PC (<$1K, preferably <$750) that could run AutoCad 2005 well. Sorry if such a thread has been posted in the past. Thanks.

[Arefin Bari]

This PC is $899.99

here

also your local stores like compusa, circuit city and other pc store might have something better...

[Chris Bright]

If you feel up to challenge you could try and build your own. I have priced out some pretty powerful pcs from this site for aroud 700. Newegg.com

[crazykid234]

Originally Posted by Arefin Bari

This PC is $899.99

here

also your local stores like compusa, circuit city and other pc store might have something better...

If you wait long enough, the price can get as low as 589.99 for that and a 17" monitor and printer.

[JAH]

I really do suggest ecollegepc.com I was bored so I priced one out that would suit your needs to get a price, and I got it for $932.

2800+ Athlon 64 CPU Retail Box with Fan
Gigabyte GA-K8VT800 (VIA K8T800, Serial ATA Raid, Sound, LAN 8XAGP)
512MB Ultra-Fast PC3200 DDR400 Memory
512MB Ultra-Fast PC3200 DDR400 Memory*
80GB 7200RPM ATA100
52X Mitsumi CDROM
128MB ATI Radeon 9600SE 8X AGP TV/DVI
Microsoft Windows XP Home
17" .27 DPI White Monitor
350watt Raidmax 228 Black Mid Tower ATX (4 5.25, 4 3.5 bays)
56K V.92 & 10/100 Ethernet Card
Motherboard has onboard sound
1.44 Floppy Drive
Standard White PS2 Keyboard
Standard White Scroll Mouse
Standard 1 year parts and labor

*Thats 2 chips of 512mb, so you're getting 1gb.

Seriously, don't just dismiss it becasue it isn't a huge brand. They have a pretty good deal. And it's a great processor.

[Max Lobovsky]

Originally Posted by crazykid234

If you wait long enough, the price can get as low as 589.99 for that and a 17" monitor and printer.

And if you wait long enough, you can get the Japanese Earth Simulator (fastest super computer in the world) in a PDA for $10 (on eBay). It's almost always pointless to wait to buy technology stuff. Buy it when you need it. It's going to drop in price consistently, but that doesn't mean it makes sense to keep delaying your purchase.

[rmmlg]

As everyone has been saying, don't go too cheap on the RAM, especially if you go with a P4 or P3. I currently have 640 MB in mine, and Inventor 7 Pro works just fine. A gig would be nicer but 512 wouldn't give you any serious problems. Just don't make the mistake that I did and get one with less than 512, or you will be VERY frustrated.

[rmmlg]

As for memory, I you shouldn't need more than 512 MB in order to do what you need to do with Inventor or AutoCAD (I have 640 on mine and am far from porblems with either (I'm running Inventor 8 Pro and AutoCAD 2005 (which FIRST just sent us)). Anything less than 512 is asking for trouble, as I found out last year when I became extremely frustrated with my 256MB computer in doing the simplest thigns in Inventor 7.

[Cody Carey]

The processer can even be as low as 733-900 Mhz, all that you (or I needed for a 3ds Max computer) really need is 1Gig of ram (even as little as 512mb will work), a nice video card, and if you plan on doing any audio/video sinc, a nice video card. I built the following for under $300 and it works fine for max (and unreal tournament 2004) .

pIII 733Mhz (overclocked)
1 Gb of RAM
256 MB Radeon 9600 Video Card AGP
SoundBlaster live 5.1 sound card
dolby 5.1 speakers
3com 10/100 fast ethernet
world connect 10/100 fast ethernet
invidea G-force 128mb video card AGP

now, remember I was on a budget and did most of my shopping on ebay, but I'm sure that if you already have windows XP, you can assemble a comp with a better processor for less than $750.

[devicenull]

With this comp, you qualify for the free beta of XP Pro 64 bit edition on MS's website. CAD should not have any problems with a 64 bit computer, but I'm not sure.

I just bought a computer very similar to this one for myself, haven't had a chance to test it yet, I'm waiting for my case to arrive.

Rosewill Value Series Black ATX Mid-Tower Super Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "R103A" -RETAIL
ASRock "775V88" VIA PT880 Chipset Motherboard for Intel LGA775 CPU -RETAIL
Intel LGA 775 Pentium 4 630 3.0GHz 800MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache Processor w/ Hyper Threading Technology - Retail
2 WINTEC AMPO 184-pin 512MB DDR PC-3200, Model 35145588-P - OEM
Jetway ATI RADEON 9600XT Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "96XT-AD-128C" -RETAIL
Maxtor 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model 6E040L0, OEM Drive only
Rosewill BLACK 52X32X52 CDRW Drive, Model RR-521, Retail

Final price for this? $634.34 + shipping
Note: This is without a monitor. I recommend going to a local store to get one, as shipping would be very expensive for one. Its also without a floppy drive.. they aren't used much anymore IMO.
The processor and MB on this are pretty much cutting edge stuff. The computer won't dissapoint you, I think.
This is probably overkill for doing CAD work.. However, you probably wont need to buy another one for awhile.

[Max Lobovsky]

As a guy who does tech support for money and has built and upgraded a good few PCs, my advice would be to not build a PC unless you want to do it for the sake of doing it. Unless you pirate software, the price advantage is rather slim.

Personally, I would suggest getting whatever PC meets your price requirements from HP/Compaq. Dell, IBM, and Sony really are overpriced for a home user. The default set of components are usually good, except that a lot of PCs still have a default of 256MB memory which is definitley not enough. 512 is the minimum, and at $750 (assuming you aren't getting a monitor), I'd go for 768 or 1GB. Finally, I'm not sure if AutoCad uses multiple processors very well, but if you really want this machine for CADding, a Hyper-Threaded Pentium probably is your best bet.

And BTW, if you are looking for PC components, check out this site, too: www.pricewatch.com. If only that site existed for all products...

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Max Lobovsky

Personally, I would suggest getting whatever PC meets your price requirements from HP/Compaq. Dell, IBM, and Sony really are overpriced for a home user. The default set of components are usually good, except that a lot of PCs still have a default of 256MB memory which is definitley not enough. 512 is the minimum, and at $750 (assuming you aren't getting a monitor), I'd go for 768 or 1GB. Finally, I'm not sure if AutoCad uses multiple processors very well, but if you really want this machine for CADding, a Hyper-Threaded Pentium probably is your best bet.

Regarding memory:
Get plenty--but don't go overboard. For my Pro/E work (i.e. 3D CAD), I often wish that I had more than 512 MB of RAM, but it's not really an obstacle that often. When I'm in Autocad 2004, 512 is not a problem. Do not buy ECC or registered RAM. That's not needed on a sub $1000 (USD) computer--it adds error-checking to the RAM, which, while nice, is not worth the price premium. (It's also slightly slower, because of the ECC function.) Also, don't bother with fancy RAM that advertises higher speeds and lower latencies--just get DDR400 (i.e. PC3200), which is used on almost all modern systems. (Note--if you can get one of the really new P4s, they may need different RAM. But I doubt that those are within your price range yet.) So my recommendation is 512, though up to 1024 isn't out of line, if you can afford it.

Regarding processors and Hyperthreading:
Intel's P4 "C", "D" and "E" models (the newer ones on the Northwood, Gallatin and Prescott cores), the 3.06 GHz P4 "B" (Northwood), and the newer Xeons (Foster, Prestonia, Gallatin and Nocona) are the only mainstream processors with Hyperthreading (or an equivalent). Don't let that stop you from getting something else, if the price is right. Hyperthreading won't help you with Autocad specifically--it only acts somewhat like a dual-processor machine when the otherwise unused portions of the chip can be devoted to some other operation "in the meantime". For (a simplified) example, if one program needs to use the CPU's floating point unit, but would otherwise saturate the processor, Hyperthreading would allow another program to access the integer unit as if it were on a second processor.
In any case, if shopping P4s, go with a P4 2.6C or better; there's really no advantage to paying more for a new Prescott, due to a lack of optimizations in current software for its new features (SSE3, mainly).
Also, in terms of AMD, look into the Athlon64 line, with particular emphasis on the non-FX models (which are slightly more capable, but unreasonably priced). Any Athlon64 should be fast enough.
Multiple processors are out (in that price range), unless you want a dated Athlon MP (not recommended).

Regarding pre-built systems:
Dell (Small Business section) has a recurring deal, valid only in the US (lucky you...) which offers a Poweredge 400SC server for around $300-$450 (USD), depending on options. This machine is in fact an excellent workstation (or even home PC!), with a motherboard that supports socket 478-based P4s, on an Intel 875 chipset (the most capable one that Intel sells for socket 478 P4s). Unlike most servers, it has AGP capability, and will happily suit your needs. Some warnings, though--be careful customizing options on the Dell site. You may be automatically charged more (so be watchful for a $50 charge for seemingly nothing at all--that's a customization fee, which may or may not be worth it). Don't buy much RAM from Dell--they're expensive. In any event, this motherboard should accept any decent quality non-ECC, non-registered DDR400, in a single or dual channel configuration. (For a slight boost in performance due to dual-channel mode, install matching pairs of memory modules in the appropriate slots, as opposed to one at a time.)
Perhaps the best feature of any major OEM is the warranty (that is, if you're not interested in doing it all yourself). Don't overlook it, especially if the computer isn't for you personally (and someone at school might have to deal with it).
And don't ever, ever buy a Sony. (Way too much money, for mediocre performance, and, in the case of some of their fancier VAIO models, proprietary hardware.)

[Pierson]

If you want to get a Dell system... You can get a refurbed/rebuilt system from their outlet: http://www.dell.com/outlet/

[JoeXIII'007]

I'm looking at HP/compaq's site right now, and I think I've found something nice. It has an AMD Athlon XP processor. Question: How has your experience been on AutoCad with that? (That is, if you've used it.)

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by JoeXIII'007

I'm looking at HP/compaq's site right now, and I think I've found something nice. It has an AMD Athlon XP processor. Question: How has your experience been on AutoCad with that? (That is, if you've used it.)

You're talking about an Athlon XP (as opposed to Athlon64), which is a previous-generation CPU. While not exactly old, unless there's a really good deal on it, be aware that they're being phased out, effective several months ago.
It will work just fine, though. It's modern enough that it won't "feel" any different from anything else on the market, but it's old enough that you may occasionally notice that it's slower than than a new P4 or A64. (Most of the time, it will "feel" identical.)