My first Computer

[jake24a]

Hey,

So i'm building my first computer and need some insight.
- I will not be gaming with it.
- I will use it for high level software such as AutoCAD, Altium, Visual Studio, and PhotoShop.
- I"m going into Electrical / Computer Engineering so i'll want it to work for all that comes with that.

I need help picking out a processor / mother board combination. Right now i'm looking at i7 - 2600 (~$300), i5 - 2500(~$200), i7 - 960a (~$300), and ADM Phenom II x6 1090T (~$200).

Are any of these a good pick for me? Any other suggestions?

 

[jake24a]

Someone please help me....

Also will i want the option to overclock?

 

[vegettonox]

12 minutes and you post again you really are in need of some help, give me a few minutes to build a workup for yah, take into account though that the sandy bridge motherboards are just starting to come back on the market so you may have some problems finding motherboards at first. With cad applications and production software i highly recommend an ssd with standard hdd for extra storage purposes.

 

[vegettonox]

OPTICAL DRIVE
LG DVDRW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136216

STORAGE
Protected storage, get 2 of these hdds and set them into mirror raid mode 1.

HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.C
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145304

PSU
SILVERSTONE OP850 850W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256024

MEMORY
Purchase 4 of these, memory is a big winner the more the merrier.

CORSAIR XMS 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145327

PROCESSOR
Nothing can beat this bad boy except the 980-990x extreme at over 1k.

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

OPERATING DRIVES
Relate to working size on this if you only need 60 or so gigs for a work space get only 1 if you need around 140g get 2 of these and stripe them.

OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX80G 2.5" 80GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227685


When it comes to the graphics card you have 2 choices it doesnt seem like there is a solid winner on this one. Altium prefers heavy 3d gaming cards whereas autocad prefers workstation cards.

http://wiki.altium.com/display/ADOH/Performance+comparison+of+graphics+cards

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/hc?siteID=123112&id=6711853&linkID=9240618&is_results=1&card_sel=37954-4098&manufac=4098&card=0&cert=0&d_stat=1&d_stat=2&prod=AutoCAD-R17.2&prod=AutoCAD-R18.0&prod=AutoCAD-R18.1&os=1&os=512&os=256&os=2048&os=4096&os=8192&os=1073741824&os=536870912


GRAPHICS CARD (Hardware Assisted Software Acceleration)
Depending on your resolution I recommend either the

ATI 100-505571 FireGL V8600 1GB GDDR4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195090

or its younger brother the

ATI 100-505505 FireGL V7700 512MB PCI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195061

I generally recommend the better card but if price is a problem go with the cheaper 512. Check your other programs for graphics requirements as opengl 3 is not supported on the firegl series only on the pro which are significantly more expensive. Altium and autocad dont require opengl 3 though.

MOTHERBOARD
I recommend the gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4-B3 motherboard although i would wait for newegg to get in stock or purchase at any good retailer.

http://www.provantage.com/gigabyte-technology-ga-p67a-ud4-b3~7GIGB0AT.htm

CASE
COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233


OPERATING SYSTEM
Windows 7 x64 for the os unless one of your other programs has issues with this i recommend it.

Windows 7 x64
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116758

Thats about the gist of it, you may need to purchase an additional set of sata cables depending on how many the motherboard come with.

MONITOR
If you need a monitor to go with this beast but if you need extreme resolutions or extra work space grab 2 of these or anything 30+ inches with 2560 x 1600 or close to that resolution.

PLANAR PX2710MW Black 27" 2ms Full HD HDMI WideScreen LCD Monitor w/Speakers 300 cd/m2 1200:1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824016155

obviously any keyboard and mouse should be fine but make it usb.


Let me know if you have any other questions with this list and I will try to adjust it for your budget and/or needs. I took the stance that you wanted a hefty computer but if you need budget sense let me know and i can rearrange some of this.

 

[LePhuronn]

Nothing can beat this bad boy except the 980-990x extreme at over 1k.

I disagree - this is the one time I wouldn't recommend Sandy Bridge IF your 3D and engineering software can make use of more than 4 cores. If it can, go i7 970 on a solid X58 motherboard, drop in 24GB RAM and you're done for a long time.

The 6-core i7s will still come out top over Sandy Bridge if all 6 cores/12 threads can be utilised.

If you can't use 6 cores then yes it's Sandy Bridge all the way - i7 2600K, as suggested above.

 

[cbrunnem]

may i recommend you buy i general purpose or higher end laptop and save yourself a lot of money because A your going to need a laptop if you are going to be in college soon. B if your classes require you to use software such as AutoCad then they will have computers in labs more the able to use the software that they require you to use. on top of that i know atleast at my college(purdue) they have all the programs set up to run on software remote so i can use them on my laptop through the schools server, which from what i hear the engineering departments alone is the size of a 50 by 50 foot rooom? i dont think that you will need a desktop unless you really want one.

 

[jake24a]

Best answer selected by Jake24a.

 

[Wisecracker]

may i recommend you buy i general purpose or higher end laptop and save yourself a lot of money because A your going to need a laptop if you are going to be in college soon. B if your classes require you to use software such as AutoCad then they will have computers in labs more the able to use the software that they require you to use...

C) Unless you have significant software experience and knowledge the greatest utilization of your high-dollar workstation computer will be "System Idle Process" as your rig will always be waiting on you; and

D) A netbook for note-taking in class, and a 'general purpose' desktop (so you don't have to spend so much time in the 'computer labs') will free up a thousand dollars or more (from the looks of the above rig) that you may spend on 'educational' versions of software (at discounted price!) that will further let you expand your skill set.

 

[vegettonox]

The system wasn't built for budget if he had mentioned budget i would have revised it, I attempted to build a system that was very solid and had several additional performance aspects aka the ssds, video cards with onboard hardware assist that was supported for the majority of his software.

I attempted to assume that he would start using it as an educational device using the above software and eventually put it to use for said industry. Hardware support changes for program versions as well so in general i like desktops for these types of applications as you can swap out the video hardware easily for new releases or for better performance down the road. Point in case i was looking for expandability and performance i dont want to give someone advice then have them find out they have a budget system and need beefier hardware.

- I"m going into Electrical / Computer Engineering so i'll want it to work for all that comes with that.

^ This system should last him a great deal longer than traditional laptop, that and judging by what he said in his notes that he was interested in a desktop not a laptop possibly assuming that he already has one.

So i do know its expensive and there are several ways to drop the price, smaller ssds, less ram, etc etc but i would rather him have what should be more than enough for what he needs than to find out he doesnt have enough.

C) Unless you have significant software experience and knowledge the greatest utilization of your high-dollar workstation computer will be "System Idle Process" as your rig will always be waiting on you; and

This is a pointless statement as regardless of what you build or use a system for, unless its a server, 90 percent of the time its just going to be idle process anyways but when its needed it can process what he needs and do it efficiently

 

[Wisecracker]

....

C) Unless you have significant software experience and knowledge the greatest utilization of your high-dollar workstation computer will be "System Idle Process" as your rig will always be waiting on you; and

This is a pointless statement as regardless of what you build or use a system for, unless its a server, 90 percent of the time its just going to be idle process anyways but when its needed it can process what he needs and do it efficiently

LOL

You're just a little defensive, aren't you? And you completely missed my point (so you have failed in simple analytical reasoning).

 

[vegettonox]

LOL

You're just a little defensive, aren't you? And you completely missed my point (so you have failed in simple analytical reasoning).

No im aware of what you meant, the fact that since hes not yet in the field and hes not savy with the software yet that the majority of the system use is on wait time as he learns. I do admit to being a bit defensive but i do make mistakes and value other opinions. I could have worded my reply a little less harshly, my apologies im overtired.