Help Building a CAD Comp =]

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GopherBallz

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Hello

I am finally building a new comp, yey. The last time i built one was back in 2003 and it is what i still have. I would love some ideas on what a great CAD comp would consist of.

I mainly use my computer for CAD - mainly autocad (civil 3d) and 3ds max.

i will be using my dell 24" monitor and all my periphials
after doing some research this is my list

These items i am more sure of but please feel free to give me others:
Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS Black Full Tower Case w/ 25CM Fan - Retail - $144.99
OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply 100 - 240 V - Retail - $114.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail - $226.00
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail - $104.00
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $79.99
SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner With LightScribe Technology - OEM - $38.99

these items are still way up in the air:
GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $99.99
EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SUPERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card - Retail - $349.99

These are other items i have been looking at:
Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $139.99
GIGABYTE GA-N680SLI-DQ6 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $349.99
ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $209.99
ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX The Ultimate Gaming Motherboard - Retail - $329.99
EVGA 320-P2-N815-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail - $284.99

Also i don't know if a cooling system would be good and if so i have no idea on what kind. Ideas?

i would like to keep all of the parts under $1500 but i still want a quality CAD computer that will last for a while being somewhat upgradeable.

:D Thanks :D
 
you will want 4gb of ram for cad programs and a set of g-skill ram will give you better performance
you need a graphics card (this depends on whether this is for gaming aswell or exclusively design)
power supply is way too much you only 550W and that is with headroom for upgrading
if you wait till july 22nd there is an intel price drop so everything will be cheaper e.g. quad core $266
Your motherboards look really expensive why??? I assume you won't use all the sockets and functions or the extra sata ports...... a gigabyte -DS3, asus p5n/p5b, abit AW9D there all good overclockers and cheap
 
I would definitely get the quad core, for $266, like saltynay said. It would help alot for CAD. Also, you have a 24" monitor. Go with the 8800GTS 640mb.

Welcome to T.F.!
 
Basic CAD requirements...for a good designer atleast-

Quad core CPU
3-4 Gb of RAM
DX10 series GPU or Workstation card.
Beefy powersupply
Plenty of HDD space, and preferably 10,000rpm drives

Buy
Build
______?
Profit
 
thanks that all sounds great

so in getting the quad core what is a good mobo that i should get

i also might get a dual core now and then upgrade it to a quad core and used the dual core elsewhere. in that case which mobo is a good recomendation.

i will definatley go with the 4 gig of ram and the fts 640mb graphic card
i also will most likely get dual 10,000 rpm sata hard drives
 
is sli something i should be looking into
will it help with the CAD programs that much or is it not neccesarry

also with the p5n-e sli and the p5n32-e sli what is the difference in the nForce 650i or 680i
 
SLI will not help with CAD, and is not worth it.

The difference between the 650i and 680i, is that the 680i supports the full x16 SLI mode, while the 650i supports x8 SLI mode. But reviews, have shown the 650i to perform just as well as the 680i. The 680i, also just has more features, such as more USB, gigabit, and audio ports.
 
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