$2000 AU Gaming + Cad computer

[Sparky_01]

Been Reading the forums for awile now and think i have made the right componet choices but just wanted to make sertain

Thx for any help and advice

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next few weeks BUDGET RANGE: $2000 AU

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Games/ Cad (Solidworks 9, Mastercam 10, Auto cad 10 )

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: (e.g.: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Umart.com.au, Pccasegear.com (both have pickup and are 15min drive away so no delivery fees)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Melbourne Australia

PARTS PREFERENCES: i7 and anything else that is good value

OVERCLOCKING: Plan to overclock to 3.2-3.4Ghz and leave Turbo + HT on SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 28” 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Want the system to last for atleast 3 years and play the latest games, Games are my main focus and only do part time CAD work so CAD speed isn’t so much of a issue

Parts
From Pc case Gear
Case
CoolerMaster HAF 922 Case - $149
CoolerMaster HAF 922
Cpu Cooler
Thermalright Cogage TRUE Spirit - $45
Thermalright Cogage TRUE Spirit
This got very good reviews and is very cheap for its performance
GPU
Sapphire Radeon HD5870 - $599
Sapphire Radeon HD5870
Was thinking of getting 2x HD5770 for $100 cheaper, very simular gaming performance, but don’t think they will perform as good with my CAD programs ?
PSU
Corsair TX-750 Power Supply - $169
Corsair TX-750
750w should be plenty i think
Parts from Umart
HDD
Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3 SATA II 7200RPM 32M - $105
Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3
CPU
Intel Core i7 920 Processor LGA1366 2.66GHz 8MB Cache CPU - $359
Intel Core i7 920
No idear if this is D0 or C0 stepping
Memory
OCZ 6G(3x2G) DDR3 10666 Platinum CL-7-7-7-20 - $199
OCZ 6G(3x2G) DDR3 10666 Platinum
This seems to be the best bargain price for memory in the hole of Australia not sure why its $100 cheaper than anywhere else or any other brand
Mother Board
Asus P6T LGA1366 X58 6DDR3 FSB1600(OC) RAID GBLAN 3xPCIE2.0 ATX - $279
Asus P6T LGA1366 X58 6DDR3
DVD
Samsung 22X DVDRW Black SATA (SH-S223C-BL) - $37
Samsung 22X DVDRW Black SATA
OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM - $119
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM
Thermal Grease
Artic Silver 5 Thermal Grease - $15

Think thats all i need
Price ends up at $2075 a little over buget but should be cool

 

[2_good]

Very nice, but i would change your ram to 1600 G.skill NQ (MSY sell this) for $160 i believe

 

[MadAdmiral]

Another CPU cooler to check out is the Coolermaster Hyper 212. It might be a little cheaper, and it's one of the best available.

GPU: The reason not to get the two 5770s is that an entire upgrade path is gone. Also, not everything recognizes/uses Crossfire.

Mobo: Did you look at any of the USB 3/SATA III boards? They might be a tad more expensive, but they're much more future proof.

Overall, a very good build.

 

[zspturbo]

if you are serious about your CAD, ditch the gaming card and get a quadro. I got a quadro fx1800 on my build (i7 920, 12g RAM) and it plays games fine unless you are a graphics junkie. I'm an architecture student and after doing a lot of reading, I determined that it was worth spending the money on the quadro. Might be different for you, because I'm using different programs - Revit, AutoCAD, 3DS Max, and Photoshop.

I am currently downloading crysis so I'll let you know later how that runs, but I can tell you for sure that it runs Farcry 2 cranked almost all the way up on 1680x1050 resolution just fine.

 

[Sparky_01]

Thx for the advice

As for the memory I didn’t realize it was 1333 but the memory that u have suggested is CL9 timing and as I understood timing is pretty important so was looking for CL7 or CL8

I can get 1600 CL7 for an extra $55, happy to pay the extra if it will give a noticeable benefit

OCZ 6G(3x2G) DDR3 1600MHz PC12800 Platinum(3P1600LV6GK) - $255

Not sure which would give me more benefit speed or timing or a combination of both

Mobo

I did look at the USB3/SATA 6 boards and decided the extra price wasn’t worth it, I am unlikely to upgrade the HD to ever need SATA 6 and the only thing I have plugged into my usb port is a printer which is 7 or more years old and an MP3 player

Gpu

Think I’ll go with the 5870, I looked at workstation GPU’s and decided it’s not worth it for now for the amount of CAD work I’m currently doing, at the moment I’m using an E6600, GTX260 and 2 gig of mem and it’s not too bad. Will consider a workstation GPU if my work picks up maybe in 2011

CPU cooler

The Thermalright Cogage TRUE Spirit - $45 is on special and got good reviews and the Coolermaster Hyper 212 is an extra $20 more. Will check prices on the day that I buy, both seem to be able to perform quite well for what I want.