New 2D Cad desktop computer

[daryl]

I need to buy a new computer of which will be mainly used for 2d cad work - Autodesk autocad LT. can anyone suggest a good system, which must be quiet? I have configured the following spec. - any advice would be much appreciated particularly the graphics card or that i have overkill in any particular area. I also intend to buy a Dell U2711 monitor of which the graphics card will nee to cope with. Any advice on the dell will also be appreciated.

COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-950 (3.06GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P6X58D PREMIUM: DDR3, USB 3.0 & SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM)
6GB KINGSTON HYPER-X TRI-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (3 x 2GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX465 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card
NONE
3rd Graphics Card
NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
NONE
RAID
NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NONE
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£76)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio (£30)
Network Facilities
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI EXPRESS CARD (£19)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Modem
NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
Floppy Disk Drive
NONE
Firewire & Video Editing
NONE
TV Card
NONE
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
NONE
2nd Monitor
NONE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
NONE
Eyefinity / GeForce 3D Vision
NONE
Keyboard & Mouse
NONE
Mouse
NONE
Speakers
NONE
Webcam
NONE
Headsets (VOIP)
NONE
Surge Protection
NONE
Printer
NONE
External Hard Drive
NONE
Home Installation
NONE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Data Recovery
NONE
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity
1


£1336 inc VAT and Delivery.

 

[Phoenix]

This build would be better suited to your needs:


Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X6 1090T (3.20GHz/9MB CACHE/AM3/) - (Special Offer)
Free Item
FREE STORMRISE Game (RRP: £29.99) with any AMD® Phenom™ II X6 Processor!
Motherboard
ASUS® M4A87TD/USB3: DUAL DDR3,SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
AMD FIREPRO™ V5800 PRO GRAPHICS - 1GB, EYEFINITY, CROSSFIRE PRO
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£76)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio (£30)
Network Facilities
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI EXPRESS CARD (£19)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,261.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-workstation/

This graphics card is specially designed for 2D work like AutoCAD, the GTX465 is designed for 3D applications so it's not as good. If you want to spend a bit more you could upgrade to the V7800 or add another 8GB of RAM. The Dell ultrasharp monitors are very good and it will work perfectly with this system.

 

[daryl]

Thank you Phoenix for the reply. Is the AMD chip as good as Intel?


Daryl

 

[Phoenix]

It's not quite as powerful but with 6 cores you're not going to be missing out.

 

[daryl]

Thanks again for your input - I have checked some reviews on the AMD chip and think i would prefer to stick with my original intel set up. However, i am still unclear on what would be the best graphics card for the intel setup

regards

Daryl

 

[Rakk]

If it's entirely for stuff like CAD (and not gaming), you may find one of the NVidia Quadro cards would be better if you can afford it.

 

[Phoenix]

Hmm well you could go for something like this then:

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-950 (3.06GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P6T WS PROFESSIONAL: NEW ERA CORE i7 WORKSTATION
Memory (RAM)
12GB SAMSUNG DDR3 TRI-DDR3 1333MHz (3 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
PNY QUADRO FX580 512MB GDDR3, CUDA ENABLED - 2 x DP, 1 x DVI-I
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£76)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio (£30)
Network Facilities
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI EXPRESS CARD (£19)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,410.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel3_ddr3/

You didn't mention a budget but you could drop down to 6GB of RAM (1333mhz) if this is too much, do you really need the professional version of windows 7? home premium is generally ok for most people and you could drop the triple heat pipe cooler to save more money if you need to.

 

[daryl]

Intel v OCZ for SSD? OCZ seems faster?

 

[Phoenix]

Yes the OCZ SSD (like the one in the build I posted above) is better than the Intel alternative.

 

[daryl]

COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-950 (3.06GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P6T WS PROFESSIONAL: NEW ERA CORE i7 WORKSTATION
Memory (RAM)
6GB SAMSUNG DDR3 TRI-DDR3 1333MHz (3 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
PNY QUADRO FX580 512MB GDDR3, CUDA ENABLED - 2 x DP, 1 x DVI-I
2nd Graphics Card
NONE
3rd Graphics Card
NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD6402AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
NONE
RAID
NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NONE
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£76)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio (£30)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£19)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Modem
NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
Floppy Disk Drive
NONE
Firewire & Video Editing
NONE
TV Card
NONE
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
NONE
2nd Monitor
NONE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
NONE
Eyefinity / GeForce 3D Vision
NONE
Keyboard & Mouse
NONE
Mouse
NONE
Speakers
NONE
Webcam
NONE
Headsets (VOIP)
NONE
Surge Protection
NONE
Printer
NONE
External Hard Drive
NONE
Home Installation
NONE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Data Recovery
NONE
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price for this PC System:

£948.09 ex VAT.


£1114 inc VAT and Delivery.


I have finally decided to buy the above computer before end of year to avoid VAT hike! Any advice before ordering would be appreciated (please note I need a quiet pc for 2d cad work that will last a minimum of 3 years). can anyoune comment if it is worth buying the 1600mhz memory for an extra £26 and is the selected sound card much better than onboard sound?

Thnaks again,

Daryl

 

[Phoenix]

No there's no point paying for the 1600mhz RAM and if you have a good surround sound setup the soundcard will be worth having.

 

[daryl]

Thanks Phoenix -

I only use sound for listening to music (Itunes or cd) and tv programmes on BBc i player (not very often) therefore can I assume that the onboard sound on Asus P6T WS will be good for this purpose? just dont want to waste money on something that i will not see a difference...

Also, finally, can you please explain what CUDA is on a graphics card? the FX 580 has 32 but it dosent seem that the Asus P6T WS professional supports CUDA or I cant see it in the spec - any comments would be appreciated

Thanks again,

Daryl

 

[Craig]

you won't need the extra sound card, the onboard is good enough. unless you are audio editing.

the 1600 mhz memory is only good if you are overclocking.

nice buy.

 

[daryl]

Thanks Craig - Does anyone have a comment on the graphics card question on post 12? and PCI or PCI-e wireless card?

 

[PCS]

CUDA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUDA

CUDA, as far as I am aware, is totally graphics card related. Therefore your motherboard will support CUDA by default.

 

[daryl]

Thanks PCS - such a helpful site! and do I go for a pci or pci-e wireless card? are these as good or better than external usb connected wireless units?

 

[PCS]

Go for either - they're equally as good. They're there because some motherboards do not have enough free PCI/PCI-E ports to support the cards some customers require.

 

[daryl]

New 2D Cad desktop computer - graphics card dilemma

Hi again,
I am still unsure on the graphics card front after reading several reviews on the net. The FX580, although £150, is a basic entry level 2d card. Do I buy this or go for a standard 3d card or the more expensive FX1800? I only use cad for 2d line drawing work and do very little rendering work other than some line and solid hatching - i dont do any 3d cad at the moment but possibly may in the future. would a basic 3d card be OK for what I do? I just want to buy what is sutiable for what i do of which may mean the expensive FX1800 - my only concern with this one is would I benfit from it considering what I would be using it for? - Confusion!

 

[PCS]

If you carry out lots of rendering that takes quite a bit of time, and use programs that can render on the GPU rather than CPU, choose a more advanced card, Otherwise the FX580 will be more than adequate.

 

[daryl]

Finally decided on my new computer -
The spec below with a Nvidia quadro 600 and Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1 TB Hard Drive, SATA, 7200 RPM, 32 MB Cache hard drive instead of the WD Black (Hotter and noisier). Is this possible and if so could I pay for it before Tuesday VAT increase?


Daryl


Case COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-950 (3.06GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® P6T WS PROFESSIONAL: NEW ERA CORE i7 WORKSTATION
Memory (RAM) 6GB SAMSUNG DDR3 TRI-DDR3 1333MHz (3 X 2GB)
Graphics Card NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
2nd Graphics Card NONE
3rd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 640GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD6402AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk NONE
RAID NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NONE
Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£76)
Processor Cooling SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£19)
USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Modem NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
Floppy Disk Drive NONE
Firewire & Video Editing NONE
TV Card NONE
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor NONE
2nd Monitor NONE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables NONE
Eyefinity / GeForce 3D Vision NONE
Keyboard & Mouse NONE
Mouse NONE
Speakers NONE
Webcam NONE
Headsets (VOIP) NONE
Surge Protection NONE
Printer NONE
External Hard Drive NONE
Home Installation NONE
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Data Recovery NONE
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity 1


Price for this PC System:
Price for this PC System:
£774.47 ex VAT.
£910 inc VAT and Delivery.

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