$2,000 Whole New Build

[imadorkous]

I am a first timer, building from scratch

Approximate Purchase Date: Tomorrow 10/24/12

Budget Range: $2,000 After shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Engineering work related, and some gaming

Are you buying a monitor: Yes



Parts to Upgrade: CPU, Motherboard, Ram, Video Card, SSD, Optical Drive, Full ATX Case, Water Cooler for CPU, Thermal Paste, Keyboard, Mouse

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, tigerdirect

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, Asus Motherboard, Corsair Ram

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution:

Additional Comments:

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I currently do not have a PC, and I need one to do my engineering (Solidworks, PROII, ChemCAD, etc) work. I currently do not have any parts that I have selected. Any help would be great.

 

[Spartin503]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/l8ke
The build doesn't have a keyboard and mouse but both of those are all about preferences. But this build will do what ever you need it to do. The cooler in this build ins't a water cooler but if you ask almost anyone in the Tom's Hardware community they will recommend it over most water coolers.

 

[imadorkous]

Thank you guys, this really helps! Ill make my decision later on tonight!

 

[excella1221]

Here's a build that has everything you need, and the full tower you want.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($83.74 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($432.86 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred V3 ATX Full Tower Case ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: OCZ Z Series Gold 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: BenQ XL2420T 120Hz 24.0" Monitor ($370.99 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm QuickFire Rapid Wired Gaming Keyboard ($73.51 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Wired Optical Mouse ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1855.50
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

I don't believe you need an i7's hyperthreading for those programs, but the 16gb of RAM should benefit you.

This is also OC and Crossfire-ready. The 850w PSU is so you won't have to upgrade wattage when you decide to add a 2nd GPU.

High-end air coolers such as NH-D14 and Silver Arrow match the performance of water coolers such as the Corsair Hxx series, so it's not worth the extra price. The difference in temps are barely negligible. If you want water cooling, consider those custom water loops.

 

[Wisecracker]

It's almost silly to spend $2k on a work station these days without a pro card. Even if you do *some gaming* ...

Folks with an AMD FX-8120, AM3+ motherboard and a $170 V4900 FirePro will eat you alive.

 

[boulbox]

if it is mostly engineer work, you can go with a 2011 system, it is still great for gaming but is much more expensive.

or you can go with 1155 with an i7 which still has decent speed compared to 2011.

and depending on what you will be working with(software) it can make a difference what kind of card you will be using.

If your software supports CUDA then get Nvidia, if it supports openCL then AMD

 

[Wisecracker]

if it is mostly engineer work, you can go with a 2011 system, it is still great for gaming but is much more expensive.

or you can go with 1155 with an i7 which still has decent speed compared to 2011.

and depending on what you will be working with(software) it can make a difference what kind of card you will be using.

If your software supports CUDA then get Nvidia, if it supports openCL then AMD

SolidWorks is OpenCL/GL.

The FirePro V4900 is the play, or, if the OP want to crank up the AA to the max, and toss in some ambient occlusion, the V5900 is roughly the same price as the HD7970 desktop.

Surprisingly, an AMD FX-8xxx Bulldozer/Piledriver will go toe-to-toe with the i7-3770k in straight out CPU rendering. When you toss in the FirePro OpenCL/GL editing and rendering, you have created a SolidWorks multi-threaded workstation monster.

 

[boulbox]

SolidWorks is OpenCL/GL.

The FirePro V4900 is the play, or, if the OP want to crank up the AA to the max, and toss in some ambient occlusion, the V5900 is roughly the same price as the HD7970 desktop.

Surprisingly, an AMD FX-8xxx Bulldozer/Piledriver will go toe-to-toe with the i7-3770k in straight out CPU rendering. When you toss in the FirePro OpenCL/GL editing and rendering, you have created a SolidWorks multi-threaded workstation monster.

yea i was thinking about the new piledriver since it has 8 cores and since it doesn't even have a problem in gaming either.

well +1 to you for reminding me about AMD since this forum is always suggesting intels after intels lol