Advice for an i7/MOBO CAD/3d Modeling Combo

[markludlow]

Hello,
Looking for advice for a mid-range MOBO/i7 combo for Solidworks & AutoCAD. Also, any opinions on the best value ATI-Firepro card?
THNX!

 

[sosofm]

What's your budget ? The best solution for you is expensive. There is i7 quad core and i7 six core. For what you work the 6 core is verry good.

 

[markludlow]

I am thinking 2600K.Motherboard advice. Need RAID, prefer 2X Ethernet (not a deal breaker. Looking for a $600 (prox.) graphics solution. Presently working with Nvidia Quadro FX 5600, but I think a much less power hungry, current-generation card should be able to keep-up; but which one? Looking for both good Open GL and DirectX 11 performance.

So:
Mainboard ??
Graphics card ??

Thanks!