PC for computational intensive application (Matlab).

We have almost the same application except that i play games and watch HDTV on my PC. I use my PC for Design and Circuit Simulation. I use Mathlab 2009 as well.

Get a Quad-Core as a minimum and use more memory. My configuration is below and i use 8 Gbyte on my PC. Memory of 4G will do but i see improvement when i use 8G of RAM. Math LAB and CAD/CAE tools use up all available memory on your PC.

BIGGEST IMPACT FOR THE NEED YOU DESCRIBE.....QUAD-CORE AND MORE MEMORY.

NVIDIA is promoting its CUDA tools which is an option to port the math-intensive part of the software on the GPU. Frankly speaking i dont see any support from CADENCE or SYSNOPSIS. Thats one incentive to purchase an NVDIA card for future feature. Again as of today no support from CADENCE /SYSNOPSYS that I'm aware of.

Since simulation takes a lot of time i always use Intel CPU and Intel Chipset. Its just me that a run time of 4 to >16 hrs i can't afford freeze or hang-up from un-reliable hardware.

For motherboard my preference is ASUS(W/Intel Chipset) or Intel Motherboard. Again when running simulation or processis that runs for > 16hrs @ 100%CPU no room for hang-ups.

Motherboard with built-in GPU will be good enough.

Between AMD and Intel you can hardly feel the difference. The reason i opted for Intel is due to HW BUG of Barcelona when it came out. AMD chips may have an edge on high Memory application due to built-in Memory-controller. The difference can be very small. AMD HW tends to be cheaper.


Your budget is pretty small....

Here's 2 suggestions, the Case, PSU, RAM, HDD, DVD, and the Vid will be the same.

AMD
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ntec%20300
$59 Antec 300
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817194037
$45 Enermax 405W
MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157154
$72 ASRock A780GMH
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103471
$190 Phenom II 940
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231226
$50 G.Skill DDR2 1066 2x2GB (you will want 2 of these)
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136074
$55 WD 320GB WD3200AAKS
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827118030
$26 Sony 24x DVDR/RW
Vid: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102817
$36 Sapphire 4350 (I prefer an add in card over onboard, as it uses less of the system RAM)

Intel
Case: Same
PSU: Same
MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128380
$80 Gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115131
$220 C2Q Q9400
RAM: Same
HDD: Same
DVD: Same
Vid: Same

Total AMD: $583 +S&H (No OS)
Total Intel: $621 +S&H (No OS)

Or i7
Case: Same
PSU: Same
HDD: Same
DVD: Same
Vid: Same
MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813186170
$180 Foxconn (yes it's a gaming board, but Foxconn is much better than MSI)
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115202
$280 i7 920
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231223
$90 G.Skill DDR3 1333 3x2GB

Total i7: $871 +S&H (No OS)

One thing to consider is if Matlab and the other programs can fully use a quad core. If they only use 1 or 2 cores, then you'd be better off with a faster dual core. You should find out before buying.