PC for AutoCad 2014

[Ksingler]

Quick rundown of the situation: my girlfriend is a drafter and will be transitioning to working from home. She needs to have her own computer. I've been able to get the basic information on the computer she is working now at work to help pick the necessary parts for what I would build. She will need a full tower and dual-monitors. OS will be provided

Work computer:
Dell Precision WorkStation T5500
CPU: Intel Xeon E5620 @ 2.40GHz
RAM: 24 GB
CPU: ATI FirePro V4800 (FireGL)
HDD: 250GB

She currently uses AutoCad 2014; and uses the following programs daily: Adobe, Outlook Email, Excel (all day), Safari (google earth, USPS) and Windows Photo Viewer.

Her work consists of 2D drawings consisting of floor plans and blueprints for fast-food restaurants like McD's, BK, TB. Her models/drawings range from size depending on the restaurant. Her file sizes typically range from 6KB-12KB.

I've read that professional cards have certain drivers that CAD utilizes that regular gaming cards don't have? Does this mean to stick with a professional card like the V4900 ($145 on Newegg) or Quadro K620 (~$160) would be the route to go for the GPU?

Can this build be done for $1000 or cheaper for the tower and two 22"-24" monitors?

 

[PP Mguire]

Sure it can, easily. Quadro cards do come with certified drivers for GPGPU applications but it's on a per application base what card will perform the best (AMD or Nvidia). Some apps prefer CUDA, others OpenCL. In my experience, it doesn't exactly help that much. At work we have K4000 cards running CAD in Z420 workstations and the GPU doesn't do much in the way of helping.

Here's a start for you.
Intel Xeon E3-1220V3 Haswell 3.1GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1150 80W Server Processor BX80646E31220V3 - Newegg.com
ASRock Z97 Anniversary LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GXM - Newegg.com
SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com
Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Newegg.com
SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-N5E250BW M.2 250GB SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version - Newegg.com

That leaves plenty of room for monitors and possibly a cheap Quadro card. Take note, this base rig will run absolute circles around her current setup as it is.

 

[cb600fshornet]

Sure it can, easily. Quadro cards do come with certified drivers for GPGPU applications but it's on a per application base what card will perform the best (AMD or Nvidia). Some apps prefer CUDA, others OpenCL. In my experience, it doesn't exactly help that much. At work we have K4000 cards running CAD in Z420 workstations and the GPU doesn't do much in the way of helping.

Here's a start for you.
Intel Xeon E3-1220V3 Haswell 3.1GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1150 80W Server Processor BX80646E31220V3 - Newegg.com
ASRock Z97 Anniversary LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GXM - Newegg.com
SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com
Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Newegg.com
SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-N5E250BW M.2 250GB SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version - Newegg.com

That leaves plenty of room for monitors and possibly a cheap Quadro card. Take note, this base rig will run absolute circles around her current setup as it is.

If OP builds that for her.... someone's gonna get laaaaaaaaaid

 

[carnageX]

Is her work not providing a machine for her to work from home? Or even offering to pay for the system partially?

 

[Dallas Jack]

ASRock Z97 Anniversary LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

I could not find a M.2 socket on that board. Is the link pointing to the wrong board?

 

[PP Mguire]

I could not find a M.2 socket on that board. Is the link pointing to the wrong board?

Actually no, it's the wrong SSD.

Supposed to be this.
SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-75E250B/AM 2.5" 250GB SATA III 3-D Vertical Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Newegg.com

 

[Ksingler]

Is her work not providing a machine for her to work from home? Or even offering to pay for the system partially?

That's a good question. I don't think so. They will provide the AutoCad program but I think she is on her own for building a computer.

Thanks for the list of parts, PP Mguire. The move is still a few months away, but I can start checking Newegg now and start picking up parts.

 

[PP Mguire]

That's a good question. I don't think so. They will provide the AutoCad program but I think she is on her own for building a computer.

Thanks for the list of parts, PP Mguire. The move is still a few months away, but I can start checking Newegg now and start picking up parts.

Saves you quite a bit there anyways.

 

[cb600fshornet]

That's a good question. I don't think so. They will provide the AutoCad program but I think she is on her own for building a computer.

Thanks for the list of parts, PP Mguire. The move is still a few months away, but I can start checking Newegg now and start picking up parts.

That's ridiculous, are they going to subsidise your electricity bill?