Are these good choices from a ~1500$ system?

[alex_gm]

Please give me suggestions and comments on these choices for a 1500$ system.

PSU: Antec NeoHE or Corsair HX520. I need something quiet.

Monitor: Haven't chosen. Is there a good 19"?

Processor: Core2duo-> 6300,6400, or 6600e? What is the best for the money?

Video Card:
7600GT
I think that XFX 7950GT is much better, but is it really worth the extra 100$?

RAM:
DDR 667Mhz or 800Mhz? I heard that 2gb of 667 > 1gb of 800. Is this true?


Thank you!

 

[drummerdude]

ram: there are some benchmarks somewhere that tested ddr2 533, 667, 800 ram and performance is lost using 667. not much of a price difference anyway, just get ddr2 800

video card: depends on how much you game. the 7900gs is a nice card in between the two

processor: depends on if you plan to overclock at all

is the monitor part of budget?

 

[rook]

It all depends on the use of the system. Office apps vs. games. Whether or not you plan on overclocking.
Either of those PSU should be fine.
If you are not planning on OC'ing I'd say the E6600. 4MB cache and higher stock speed.
I'd go with 2GB of memory, 800 if you can. This has worked great for me so far, not the fastest but priced right for me.
As far as video, if you aren't gaming then the 7600 is fine, but if you are then I'd recomend the X1950 Pro or wait till DX10 cards come down in price a bit.

 

[aposatsk]

• I do not plan to game(much). However, I heavily use 3d CAD software packages like SolidWorks and CATIA (which require a good cpu and video card).
  
  I do not plan to overclock.

 

[Joe_The_Dragon]

You are better off with more ram

 

[aposatsk]

Are there any more suggestions?

Thank you.

ps. Yes, I am also looking for a monitor.

 

[alcattle]

First any thing available locally? Saves a ton on shipping. Lots of good 19" monitor out there. Viewsonic comes to mind.
For what you are doing I think the 7600 or a x1600 would be fine. Only gamers really push the GPU enough to go higher.

 

[skyguy]

Get the Corsair PSU, it's a rebadged Seasonic. Very good stuff.

Definitely get the 2 gigs of cheaper RAM, absolutely without a doubt.

Get either the 6300 or 6600.....depends on your budget. The 6300 is considerably cheaper, but is still a very FAST chip.

7600GT is a steal of a card at those prices. It'll handle what you need no problem.

Samsung LCD's. Best quality for the price.....won't break the bank and they look GREAT.

 

[aposatsk]

Get the Corsair PSU, it's a rebadged Seasonic. Very good stuff.

Definitely get the 2 gigs of cheaper RAM, absolutely without a doubt.

Get either the 6300 or 6600.....depends on your budget. The 6300 is considerably cheaper, but is still a very FAST chip.

7600GT is a steal of a card at those prices. It'll handle what you need no problem.

Samsung LCD's. Best quality for the price.....won't break the bank and they look GREAT.

1.) What do you mean by "cheaper RAM". Are you referring to buying 2gb of 667 instead of 1gb of 800? When comparing the 800 vs the 667, is there a point of equality (ie. 1.5gb 800 = 2.0gb 667)?

2.) I don't think the 6600 is much more expensive than the 6300. Is it?

3.) I think that I will be getting the 7600GT, as you recommended. Does anyone object to this?

4.) Which Samsung LCD would you recommend most? Someone else mentioned ViewSonic; is there much of a difference between the two?

Thank you,
Alex.

ps. I hope everyone saw my post which says that although I don't play many games, I heavily use CAD programs like SolidWorks and CATIA.

 

[nhobo]

WAIT till April when C2D prices drop 30%, then get the 6600 for $224

BFG 7950GT 256MB (I prefer the 512MB EVGA but this one is only $219)

HIPER HPU-4S580 $84.99, save $45

2GB 667 RAM

Newegg has a HUGE selection of 19" monitors from $179 with reviews

 

[Mondoman]

...I hope everyone saw my post which says that although I don't play many games, I heavily use CAD programs like SolidWorks and CATIA.

Yes, but very few of us do. Thus, any video card suggestions you get are likely to be game-oriented, not CAD-oriented. You might try asking around some CAD forums for a good video card for that, and (importantly) whether or not you should go 64-bit for the OS and apps. A 64-bit OS will let you use much more RAM, which may help a lot for your CAD work. On the downside, not all software and hardware is compatible with a 64-bit OS.

 

[skyguy]

Yes, 2 gigs of 667 RAM is FAR BETTER than 1 gig of 800.

I live in Canada, so I'm not entirely current on the 6300 vs 6600 pricing, you'd have to check.

I used to do ALOT of CAD....still do some. A 7600GT handles it no problem. Unless you're doing super high quality 3D renders or using 3 monitors, the 7600 will do fine. In fact, most gamer graphics cards will. I know that CAD doesn't need the 3D acceleration that these cards have, so in many ways they are actually overkill. A graphics card that can easily power CAD may seriously chug in games. However, a great gamer card will normally chew up CAD with ease. I still do alot of 3D stuff and my old 7600GT did just fine. So the nice thing about that card is that it will handle both CAD and games

Samsung is better picture quality overall than Viewsonic, dollar for dollar. You don't need a 2ms refresh rate for what you're doing. So it entirely depends on your budget. Is Viewsonic bad? NO. Is Samsung better? YES. But it will also cost more too. Get a standard aspect LCD, not a 19" widescreen. If you can afford it, 2 19" monitors will be absolutely indispensible in CAD. I cannot go back to one monitor now, no way. Even look at adding a 2nd monitor later if you can. And just get 1 decent one now. And if you want another brand, believe it or not, Dell has great monitors. I believe this is because Samsung makes most of theirs