Opteron 165, Asus a8n-sli decent reliable build combo?

[bwolfe]

I have a buddy who has a rig that he will sell me (his old main rig) $400 with samsung 19in monitor, $350 without. Opteron 165 dual core overclocked to 2.4ghz, 2gb geil ram, 2x geforce 7800 gtx in sli, 250 gb sata hdd, thermaltake 500watt PSU, dvd burner and DVDrom. Audigy 2 zs sound, Asus a8n-sli board.

I am going to be using this on xp with autocad, coreldraw, and machine controller software via the onboard parallel port along with internet browser and misc other small demand apps. I will have to put it in a smaller case to fit it into my computer cart (full 21.25" now, needs to be under 17" high) and it would be replacing an old prebuilt HP 2600+ athlon xp maxed out at 1gb ram (seems like its struggling) =)

What are your guys thoughts on this rig, compared to getting a new prebuilt, or building another, and as far as being overkill or not enough for what I want to do with it, alot better than my old rig? Staying cool in a warm shop atmosphere and reliability is what I need.

Thanks in advance, i just need help deciding what to do, or hear some pros and cons.

 

[ragsters]

I don't think it is a good deal. Now don't get me wrong this would have been a great set up at its time but now you can get better for equal price. In fact on sale right now Frys had a Lenovo system for $299.99 with a e5200 core 2 duo, 4GB memory and a 320GB hard drive. That system would murder your friends rig. On the other hand for gaming your friends rig would be better because of the sli graphic cards but for what you want to do it is probably a better idea you keep looking.

 

[jitpublisher]

Agreed ^ He is simply not making you a very good offer here.
Too much for quite frankly, a dated system on a dead end platform. Socket 939 and Standard DDR memory, an old Operton that likely has been overclocked for most of it's life. It's a really slow processor by todays standards, with the 600mhz overclock it is better, but still won't hold a light to a modern processor. A couple of 7800's in SLI? A single $100 card will spank them. It's an old gamers rig that's time has came and long gone.
I would not pay more than $150 for the whole thing including the monitor, or you are better off to start shopping for something new, with a warranty.
For CAD, you don't need much graphic power at all. You will want a quad to make it really run smooth, and on-board graphics is good enough for what you are doing.

 

[bwolfe]

Thanks guys, thats what I was wondering, and why i asked. I will now decide if i wanna buy something prebuilt, build something low dollar or find another used rig.