Workstation on a Budget Build

here -

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2TeoK
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2TeoK/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2TeoK/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($72.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital WD Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Mwave)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Microsoft 2LF-00001 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($20.99 @ B&H)
Total: $762.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-14 15:48 EST-0500)

domse,

Revit, being a 3D modeling software that can also end up doing rendering can be very demanding for both the CPU and GPU. If your projects are bigger than a double car garage, I'm not sure you would be happy with a dual core system with 4GB of RAM and integrated graphics.

My suggestion for a good, budget system would be to shop for a good used Dell Precision T5500 or T7500. Perhaps something like this >

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T5500-Xeon-Quad-Core-3-33GHz-12-GB-320-GB-DVDRW-Windows-Vista-/380825287204?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item58aaf4ba24

> which has a quad core Xeon at 3.33GHz, 12GB RAM, K/B, mouse, and a Quadro FX 4800 GPU, a card that sold for $1,200 when new. While the 320GB HD is a bit small and it has Vista, you could have a system that cost perhaps $5,000+ when new, up and running about three hours after you open the box, all for $476.50 shipping and Dell guarantee included. With the remainder of your budget, you could have the monitor, a good 1TB drive for files, and Windows 7. I believe that buying from the Dell "official" refurb shop should work out well. By the way, if you can stretch the budget, I recommend a good 27" monitor- it saves hours of panning and zooming and moving those dozens of little menus out of the way. I'm planning to change mine for a 2560 X 1440.

When I went from 2D to 3D CAD in 2010 I bought a used T5400 for $500, and eventually upgraded it for $500 with a 2nd CPU, more RAM, and a Quadro FX 4800. It's been perfectly reliable for nearly 4 years and running large Autodesk, Adobe CS, Solidworks, and including Revit 2011. the best feature is that it's mostly fully depreciated and still worth about $800- that's equal to about $50 per year of use- $1 per week and my weeks are 60-70 hours.

The Precision T7500 is the kind of purpose built system that would be perfect for Revit and you don't have to research, order, assemble, configure,and troubleshoot a system that would in all honesty be quite feeble when a Revit project had any complexity.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

HP z420 (2014) > Xeon E5-1620 quad core @ 3.6 / 3.8GHz > 24GB ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 4000 (2GB)> Samsung 840 SSD 250GB /Western Digital WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > AE3000 USB WiFi > HP 2711X, 27" 1920 X 1080 > Windows 7 Ultimate 64 > Autodesk Building Design Suite, Inventor Pro, Solidworks, Adobe CS MC, Corel Technical Design Sketchup Pro, WordP Office, MS Office Pro [Passmark system rating = 3815, 2D= 767 / 3D=2044]

Dell Precision T5400 (2008) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB ECC 667> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card / Linksys 600N WiFi > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit > (earlier versions) AutoCad, Revit, Solidworks, Sketchup Pro, Corel Technical Designer, Adobe CS MC, WordP Office, MS Office Pro [Passmark system rating = 1859, 2D= 512 / 3D=1097]

A solid state drive is a valuable investment and worth every penny. The keyboard and mouse combo is cheaper and is wireless. Everything else looks fine

You're right. I hadn't seen the revit software when I first read it.