I need help choosing a cad pc

[ashiplikethat]

i have been given £1000 to spend on a pc for 3d cad work and photo editing. I need some advise on twhat to look out for?
i guess i need alot of ram? maby duel core processor?
should i be looking to get a very high end graphics card or is that just for gaming? would a mid range one do for cad?

any advise on where you can get pre made cad computers or which components i should be looking to get would be much appreciated.

 

[mkaibear]

You'll want as much RAM as you can get - 4Gb, probably. You'll also want a dual-core processor.

If you're doing CAD rendering you'll want a decent graphics card - probably a quadro or firegl. Basic CAD you'll get away with something less powerful.

You probably will want a fast hard disk for booting, a big hard disk for data - you might also want to think about RAID, as CAD and CAD rendering are one of the few apps which can benefit.

 

[mesarectifier]

Get as much RAM as you can afford and a dual-core CPU. Try and get a Quadro or FireGL card.

 

[duthoy]

ok, get as much ram as you can afford;
but the realtime rendering to display on screen is done in most CAD applications by openGL on the graphics card, BUT when you make a real render all of the calculations are done by the CPU, because openGL is not that accurate for hi-quality rendering you expect from a CAD program.
this is the case for 3d studio max, autocad, maya, microstation.
maybe other CAD programs work differently.

so, when you change view and don't want to wait go for a quadro, if you use simple models or just have to render (not much drawing) go for a game-card (nvidia drivers are better for CAD)

list you rigg when you are up to it.

greetings

 

[FLA94FD]

The open GL will make little or no difference over similar priced gaming card. And unless you run a 64 bit OS more than 3 gig or ram is pointless. I've gone from 2g to 1g of ram and render times don't change.

I would go for one of the new core 2 Duo's E6600 would be great but your budget might be tight at that level.

 

[ashiplikethat]

How does this sound for £800 from dell

AMD athlon 64 X2 processor 5000+
2 gig ddr2 533 (2x1gig)
320gig sata raid (2x160gig)
256mb ATI X1300 Pro graphics card ( im not sure if this would be good enuff and may switch it for a 7600gt, is this a good idea or not? )
19'' Ultrasharp Flatscreen
and the usual stuff that comes with most dells.

or i found this on novatech which is a stand alone tower with no screen and it costs £640

AMD athlon X2 4200 dual core
2 gig or PC3200 400mhz
300gig sata
256mb 7600gt graphics card