Help my Dad build a GIS capable computer.

[Lotharian]

My dad wants to build himself a computer. Nothing fancy, nor expensive, probably below $800 usd. He wants to be casual, yet able to do some work. The best he has been able to tell me in regards to his work, is that he does stuff with GIS and things of that nature.

Right now, I'm using this build I did for my friend:

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12080209

as a jumping off point.

According to the ArcGIS website:

http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgisdesktop/10.0/arcgis-desktop-system-requirements

its most current version isn't exactly taxing on the system requirements, so I feel like if anything, I could cut down costs even more from the wishlist, but I would like to give him a computer that has options, so for right now, I'll leave it as is.

As far as gpu goes, I have 3 ideas. Two money saving ideas, and one... not money saving idea.

1) 2500k's integrated HD3000
2) Use 1 or 2 of my spare 5770s.
3) Nvidia Gtx 550ti

I think the integrated graphics would do, but I wouldn't mind giving my dad a bit more, just in case he for whatever reason might want to do a bit more with his computer.

Any ArcGIS experienced folks here with insight on how I can improve this budget work computer?

 

[rast_ice]

No experience building a computer, but lots of experience with ArcGIS. I can tell you that the build you did for your friend has 2x the memory of what I have at work. 1TB of storage is also good too. Probably at the minimum of what will be necessary though depending on what kind of data your Dad works with.

I wouldn't try and save money with the GPU. The biggest pain tends to be when working with image data and map rendering. Depending on the data your dad is using it may involve lots of work with imagery.

Hope this is helpful.

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My dad wants to build himself a computer. Nothing fancy, nor expensive, probably below $800 usd. He wants to be casual, yet able to do some work. The best he has been able to tell me in regards to his work, is that he does stuff with GIS and things of that nature.

Right now, I'm using this build I did for my friend:

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12080209

as a jumping off point.

According to the ArcGIS website:

http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgisdesktop/10.0/arcgis-desktop-system-requirements

its most current version isn't exactly taxing on the system requirements, so I feel like if anything, I could cut down costs even more from the wishlist, but I would like to give him a computer that has options, so for right now, I'll leave it as is.

As far as gpu goes, I have 3 ideas. Two money saving ideas, and one... not money saving idea.

1) 2500k's integrated HD3000
2) Use 1 or 2 of my spare 5770s.
3) Nvidia Gtx 550ti

I think the integrated graphics would do, but I wouldn't mind giving my dad a bit more, just in case he for whatever reason might want to do a bit more with his computer.

Any ArcGIS experienced folks here with insight on how I can improve this budget work computer?