$1000-1200 gaming and cad computer

[grantwilliams]

Approximate Purchase Date: Early august (for school)
Budget Range: 1000-1200

System Usage from Most to Least Important: CAD, gaming, programming.

Parts Not Required: I need help with the PC and if you know of a good deal on a monitor i'd be happy to take a look.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: any with decent customer service.

Country: US

Parts Preferences: Leaning towards AMD due to price but I like the I5-480m in my laptop so I would be willing to go either way.

Overclocking: I would like to eventually get into overclocking

SLI or Crossfire: doubt it

Monitor Resolution: not sure yet.

Additional Comments: Preferably not a full size tower, but i do not really care all that much.

Parts I'm currently interested in:
CPU
AMD: Fx 8150
Intel: 2500K

(I like the intel more for gaming, but from what I understand the AMD might be better for CAD software)

GPU
Radeon 6950 2GB

Note: I only need about 500GB of storage and if my budget allows i would like a small SSD boot drive.
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Thanks for any help guys!
-Grant

 

[g-unit1111]

I'd advise against the FX-8150 - too many things have gone wrong to recommend it. Instead of the 2500K, get the newer 3570K and a Z77 motherboard, and the Radeon 7850 instead of the 6950.

Maybe try a build like this:

Case: Corsair Carbide 300R - $79.99
PSU: Seasonic S12 II 620W - $86.99
Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme 4 - $139.99
CPU: 3.4GHz Intel Core i5-3570K - $229.99
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo - $34.99
RAM: 8GB G.Skill Ripjaw X 1600Mhz 1.5V - $46.99
HD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda ST - $99.99
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 - $249.99

Total: $971.89

 

[Patflute]

i5-3570k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504
Gigabyte Z77 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128543
G. SKILL2x4gb DDR3 1600mhz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
Radeon 7850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102984
Corsair 600w power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028
Momentus XT 750gb hybrid ssd/hdd
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148837
Cooler master 212 evo cpu cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
Windows 7 Home Premium
DVD drive

= $1018.91 with a HDMi cable and DiRT Showdown

Oh ya forgot the case, get ^

 

[g-unit1111]

i5-3570k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504
Gigabyte Z77 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128543
G. SKILL2x4gb DDR3 1600mhz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
Radeon 7850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102984
Corsair 600w power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028
Momentus XT 750gb hybrid ssd/hdd
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148837
Cooler master 212 evo cpu cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
Windows 7 Home Premium
DVD drive

= $1018.91 with a HDMi cable and DiRT Showdown

Oh ya forgot the case, get ^

Why would you get a laptop hard drive on a desktop build? That doesn't make sense.

 

[grantwilliams]

g-unit1111

Would 16Gb ram be over kill? I'm going to be using programs like autocad so a fast processor and lots of ram are probably going to be pretty important to me. Also if I had a SSD boot drive could I install autocad on it to help speed up loading times? (i think i would have it write the files to my HDD)

 

[g-unit1111]

g-unit1111

Would 16Gb ram be over kill? I'm going to be using programs like autocad so a fast processor and lots of ram are probably going to be pretty important to me. Also if I had a SSD boot drive could I install autocad on it to help speed up loading times? (i think i would have it write the files to my HDD)

That's a good question actually - I do a lot of CAD applications on my work PC and even on the heavy redraws I don't come close to using all 16GB of RAM (but I only have access to AutoCAD LT). I run an i3-2120 and it's plenty fast for that. The 3570K will be a good choice as well, but if you're doing any rendering work (Revit, Maya, etc) then you'll need at least 16GB and maybe even upgrade your CPU to the i7-3770K would be a good idea.

 

[grantwilliams]

That's a good question actually - I do a lot of CAD applications on my work PC and even on the heavy redraws I don't come close to using all 16GB of RAM (but I only have access to AutoCAD LT). I run an i3-2120 and it's plenty fast for that. The 3570K will be a good choice as well, but if you're doing any rendering work (Revit, Maya, etc) then you'll need at least 16GB and maybe even upgrade your CPU to the i7-3770K would be a good idea.

What do you think of the I7-2600k? It seems more stable for overclocking than the 3570k is.

 

[g-unit1111]

What do you think of the I7-2600k? It seems more stable for overclocking than the 3570k is.

That's debatable - the hardcore overclockers will tell you that Sandy Bridge is better than Ivy Bridge - but unless you're trying to squeeze that extra +-.2GHz out of your CPU you really won't notice - the 3570K can push 4.5 easily with the right heat sink and that's really all you need.

 

[grantwilliams]

Best answer selected by grantwilliams.