computer build for CAD use (and games)

Technical CAD
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Hi cd

not entirely sure if this is the right forum, but it’s probably good enough

I’m going to college next year and I have 1.5k to make me a computer that will handle some autocad work, and do ok on whatever games my floor decides to LAN.
Here’s what I got:

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-DS4790X ATX Ultra Durable II AMD Mobo
With a
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6Ghz 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Model ADO5000DSWOF
Cooled by a
ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball
And some
CORSAIR Dominator(2 x 1GB)DDR2 1066 Model TWIN2X2048-8500C5D
With a
EVGA 512-P3-N862-AR GeForce 9600GT Superclocked 512MB
And two at raid0
Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YS 250GB SATAII
Powered by a
ABS Tagan BZ700 700W Modular PSU
All in a
Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS w/ 25CM Fan

Then the essentials like a dvd±rw, a card reader, articsilver & remover, G9 mouse, slim eclipse keyboard, 22” Samsung LCD, some uv cathodes and uv SATA cables…

Any input would be much appreciated, thanks.

2

If you’re doing CAD, I have only one suggestion: More RAM. I’ve been able to lag out a workstation-level machine with not too much effort, all because Inventor is a RAM pig.

You may want to bump the RAM up to 4GB.

3

Before you decide on RAID0 you should read Jeff Atwood’s post about RAID, and some of the other material he links to.

I agree, more RAM is good.

4

Don’t you have to go with a 64 bit OS for 4 gigs of RAM to work well? That may be one of the reasons he may not b/c I know some games aren’t built for 64x and a lot of other software doesn’t run well on 64x either. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t go for 4 gigs. Or can it be cross compatible and work the software as a 32x install? I don’t know much about os’s and RAM.

5

It’s true that to get full use of 4gb of RAM you need a 64 bit machine.

As for campatibility, In December I built a Core2 Quad(Q6600) machine with 4gb of RAM, running Vista Ultimate x64, and I’ve had no issues running x86 applications. There are some apps which have install issues, but that’s due to the mfg, not Vista x64.

EDIT: Just so no one yells, XP x64 had issues early on, but the Vista x64 release has been relitivily stable.

6

Yes, to have 4 GB you need a 64bit machine. However, 3GB is still more than 4GB, and is much better than 2. If you’re going to be doing a lot of CAD, you’re going to be wanting a lot of RAM.

7

Thanks for clarifying. I haven’t dual booted with x64 since it came out so idk how much better it got. :slight_smile:

8

Funny you should be in the same boat as us. I just bought a new laptop for my son to use with autocad & inventor. We got a HP dv9825nr at Best Buy. This is brand new on the market. Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5550 1.83 Ghz. 17" widescreen HD Brightview. 320 GB (5400 rpm). 4 G of DDR2. GeForce 8600m GS w/ 512MB dedicated graphics memory. And of course Vista. I chose this unit because of the hardware and capatability with cad. Sure I wish it had a 7200 rpm with fall protection. The HP product has gained a better rep. recently and we had no problem with the first HP laptop we got for my oldest son. Which is the same but half the machine. Cost was 1,149.00 I know a Dell has a 20" screen and that would also be helpful with cad. If possible I would stay with a laptop unit instead of a desk model. I had both over the years and I don’t think I ever buy another desk model. I hope this helped. Dave

P.S. Cad is not supporting Vista but the next verision is and will be out soon.

9

If you have a x64 system, go for more RAM.

Otherwise, I’d also get another hard drive. 250Gb ain’t what it used to be, especially if you want to start loading it up with a ton of games (many take up several Gb of hard drive space each). Right now - just for my laptop - I have a 40Gb internal, a 60Gb portable USB external, a 320Gb USB external, and a 750Gb Firewire 800/eSATA external.

10

more ram can’t be a bad thing. I’ll go with it… which probably means i’ll grab some G. Skill. or something cheeper.

I’ve been told that 450W PSU should be more than enough for this system… true? false? might as well have more for when i upgrade?

after looking on autocad’s website, they say that basically all workstation graphics cards are tested for use with autocad… so should i run a workstation graphics card, or a desktop gaming card?? I do still want to play games occasionally!

11

I wouldn’t risk a 1500 dollar computer on 450w. I personally would go with around 550. I have an Antec NeoPower 550 that’s been running my system for a while now and I love it. Check this out for help…

Mainly this:http://www.extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp

12

I agree 250gb probably isn’t enough.

On my desktop I have a 500gb drive, and that’s about 75% full. Mostly media from FIRST events, and Virtual Machine images.

For my laptop I’ve got an 80gb internal(50% full) and two 120 gb USB powered WD externals(each about 75% full)

For my machine, it’s vary close to this machine w/ some substitions for price and availiability, I’m running a 550w PSU, and havent’ had any issues.

PSUs are cheap, I’d be safe and spend a few extra bucks.

As for graphics cards, it depends on your budget. I wouldn’t get less than somthing in the NVIDIA 8600/8800 area, but if you’ve got the cash go as high as you want. I’m running an 8600gts, and all my games run fine on it. Plus right now it’s only $80 from Newegg after a rebate.

13

I remember building a computer just to build one. Those were good times. Nowadays I live in practicality, and rarely use more than 200GB for videos. I capture video inputs all the time and save them off to a compressed format that take up 1-2GB each for long HBO movies or TV shows, then eventually put those on DVDs in a notebook.

These days, since the computer is in my room, I want QUIET. A good computer is a computer that I can’t tell is there! I remember spending $50 on a heatsink that looks like a butterfly simply because the ratings said it was the quietest thing ever. On top of that, the ATI card I have also has dynamic fan speed control, so I only hear it when I turn up the graphics on a game. Now if I could only figure out how to get rid of the ultra-high frequency from the nearly-silent spin of the hard drive…

I hear solid state drives don’t make any noise…

14

Ok, i have redone my list… although this will probably happen like ten times cuz i’m gonna order parts at the beginning of june when i get paid.

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-DS4790X ATX Ultra Durable II AMD Mobo
With a
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6Ghz 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Model ADO5000DSWOF
Cooled by a
ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball
And two sets of (4 gigs total)
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 Model F2-8500CL5D-2GBPK
With a
EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800GT 512MB GDDR3
And two at raid0
Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YS 250GB SATAII
Powered by a
OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W PSU
All in a
Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS w/ 25CM Fan

so i got some cheeper ram, and more of it
a less controvercial graphics card
a better psu… at least it’s cheeper even tho it’s an octopuss :frowning:

i’ll probably just add more hdd’s as i need them. knowing me, 500gigs is just fine for uh… a long time. i only have like 55gigs on this laptop, and just got an 80gig external… which i’ll probably fill up half-way this summer depending on how many people’s iso’s i gotta keep incase they crash&burn after my free tech suport XD

thanks guise for all the help!

15

CAD + Vista = BAD from what hear

I just bought a new dell with XP just so i could run pro-e and autocad. Good luck with your building

16

Depends on the version of the program.

After setting the program to run as Administrator and in XP SP2 compatibility mode, I was able to get Solidworks 2007 to run on my father’s laptop (running Vista) without any problems. And it wasn’t even the Vista-beta version.

For the most part, it seems that the copious issues that we used to have with CAD (and practically every other application in existence) and Vista are slowly being resolved as the programs are upgraded/patched.

But if you still need to run versions of software that date before about this year, then I would advise sticking with XP.

17

You should also make sure Disable Desktop Composition is enabled in the Compatibility tab of the program’s property window.

18

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-DS4790X ATX Ultra Durable II AMD Mobo
With a
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6Ghz 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Model ADO5000DSWOF
Cooled by a
ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball
And two sets of (4 gigs total)
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 Model F2-8500CL5D-2GBPK
With a
EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800GT 512MB GDDR3
And two at raid0
Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YS 250GB SATAII
Powered by a
OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W PSU
All in a
Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS w/ 25CM Fan

They just dropped prices of Intel proc’s by 50%. I’d seriously consider going for Q6700 (only like $250 now) and an Intel mobo. Even if you just stay dual core, I’d seriously recommend Intel. I’d been a hardline AMD/ATI user before this last batch of upgrades/rebuilds about a year ago, and I haven’t looked back with my Intel Quad/8800GTS build. Its great.

But… if you’re going for a CAD box… idk… it’s probably worth shopping around for an NVidia Quadro card instead of a mainline gaming card like the 8800 or such. Also, don’t cheep out on ram too much, there is actually a difference btw nice ram and cheep ram as speed goes, even if they are teh same DDR type and all.

19

I have a dual core 2.8ghz P4 with 4gb ram and recently upgraded to a Quadro 6700; it made a huge difference. I have some ridiculous assemblies in terms of resources, and I have yet to cause any decent lag.

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