Workstation Motherboard for CAD, any suggestions?

[brett_monkey]

Hello and thank you for you time. I am in the market for a Workstation class motherboard, or at least I think I am. I am currently trying to build a workstation computer for my wife who will be doing a lot of CAD work. I know a bunch about the 'consumer level' motherboards and components but not a whole lot about the 'workstation class' stuff. Should I invest in workstation equipment or save some cash and go for the consumer level goods. I can spend around 300-400 on just the motherboard alone. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you

Brett

 

[sergage]

I think it's the video card you should be worrying about, since CAD is primarily powered by the GPU. I would suggest GeForce 8600GT or higher.

As for the motherboard. I'd say i965 or higher. Or nForce 570i or higher.

 

[brett_monkey]

I am aware of the video card req. for CAD. I can go with either a Geforce card or an Quadro openGL card with the new AutoCAD 2008 since you can choose to run it in openGL or DirectX. The video card is the easy part, but there are so many workstation motherboards out there I am not sure which direction to go..professional or consumer level.

thanks

 

[hairycat101]

Just get a good one. I like the intel chipsets because they run cooler then Nvidia chipsets. Asus boards have a good warrenty.

 

[sergage]

Get something stable, something well designed and equipped (meaning good chipset, good controllers, good capasitors and so on). Look into boards with intel chipsets such as P35, i975X, X38. Or nVidia nForce 680i.

Although you didn't say wheather you prefer Intel or AMD.