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Help with autocad/office system

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Hi, I'm building a system for an architect friend's office and could use some advice...

They don't do massive renderings with autocad, but they do use giant photoshop drawings, Sketchup, and generally multitask to the Nth degree (and I can't ween them off of Outlook!) Typical session might see iTunes, Autocad with 6 projects open, Outlook, Firefox with 10 tabs, Photoshop with a few 600mb drawings, sketchup, and a couple other programs all at the same time.

They want to strech this buy out for a few years but can't spend more than $1200. I haven't done a build in a couple years and I see that things have gotten rather complicated with the 1366 vs 1156 stuff! Here's what I have so far:

Mobo:
GA-X58A-UD5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

GA-X58A-UD3R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

ASUS P6X58D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


Mem:
Mushkin Enhanced Redline 6GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Processor:
i7 -920


HD:
Seagate (non-negotiable, I've used them for years sans problem...unless there's a 6gb/s drive out there)


Case:
Antec Sontata III
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
(I have one of these and love the silence and ease of maintenance and small size.)



I chose these 3 mobos because of early USB 3.0 and 6gb/s support. From experience, I know that these clowns will hold out on buying the next computer as long as possible, so it's best to try and cram some future proofing in there if I can.

I would love to get some advice on this if anyone has the inclination. It would be a shame to have to go and buy a Dell but I may well have to if I don't come up with a solid build soon!

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Oh sorry, didn't list graphics card yet...could use some advice on that as well. Thinking something in the 512mb arena...again, these guys do some basic rendering with Sketchup and Artlantis but don't do huge autocad renderings, cad is just for the 2D drawings.

My recommendations:
ASUS P6T SE

ATI 5670 (enough if not doing really complex renderings,etc)

i7 920

WAYYY over kill on the RAM there (Readlines are meant for high OCing), grab this GSkill kit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Keep the Sonata II, it should be fine for this build. However consider getting a bottom mounted PSU case and a case with EATX support if this will be upgraded to a 2P system down the road.

Also consider a Samsung F3. If you have the budget get a X25-M G2 80GB for OS/Boot/Program drives. I use Inventor and for opening large files, a SSD helps (I got my X25-M 80GB for $220 during Black Friday sales)

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More things to consider:

1. Customer service/support? Are you providing it for your friend?

2. OS?

3. What AutoCAD version?

Reason I ask #2 and 3 is because that affects each others selection (talking from personal experience here, YMMV).

Hey thanks for replying. I'll take a look at the F3 and x25, though I have a feeling I may just go with 7200.12 for now and then 1.2-2yrs from now move everything over to a 6gb/s drive when the prices come down, as a little upgrade.

I'll be providing support, that's my part-time gig. I'm thinking Win7x64 Pro to keep it current. I think they're on Autocad 2008 and may be going 2010 with the upgrade.

All that said, if there is actually a pre-made equivalent machine in that price range I'd probably go for that but I haven't seen anything too impressive yet.

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Quote:

I'll be providing support, that's my part-time gig. I'm thinking Win7x64 Pro to keep it current. I think they're on Autocad 2008 and may be going 2010 with the upgrade.

Yup, you'll need a x64 OS for it. Not sure about AutoCAD, however I have run Autodesk Inventor (2010) on Win 7 x64 and Server 2008R2 and for me, Inventor runs better on the 2008 R2 (as in uses up much less RAM doing the same/similar work). You may want to look in to that.

Quote:
Say, is the 500W Power Supply that comes with the Sonata III case going to be sufficient? Not doing any over-clocking, and I love how quiet mine is on my LGA775 system.

It should be as long as you don't put a power hungry card in there (ie ATI 5850).
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