Building a system for my dad - Advice Please

[littleturtle]

Approximate Purchase Date: This month

Budget Range: Absolutely no more than $550(still might be pushing it)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: CAD, emails

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Everything except maybe the DVD drive

Do you need to buy OS: Supposedly. But I just want the price of hardware for now.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Preferably all from the same site, but it won't hurt to buy from different sites if it saves me some $$$

Location: City, State/Region, Country - Austin, Texas

Parts Preferences: At least an i5 please

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1080p

Additional Comments: My client/father would like to have a small case because there is limited space where he is working.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My client has been using a 5 year old XPS from dell for his CAD renderings. From a scale from 1-5(1 being unbearably slow, 5 being smooth has butter) his computer has been running this program at about a 2. So, its about time to upgrade.

Edit:
This is my build so far:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DZUa

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz
Motherboard: MSI H61M-P31 (G3) Micro ATX LGA1155
RAM: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Storage: Crucial V4 128GB
GPU: MSI Radeon HD 6670 1GB
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000
PSU: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified


There is no big storage component because he is hooked up to a server. Any advice about my build would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[AMD Radeon]

i think your build is already good but i see some improvement on brand parts selection

 

[AMD Radeon]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($107.95 @ Mac Connection)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($96.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Rosewill Line-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $530.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-16 21:55 EST-0500)

fix some parts selection to get max price/performance
pick popular/trusted mobo
corsair ram
i am sure you want M4 (the most reliable ssd out there) not V4 (which is in contrary, very troublesome)
for similar price, get much more performance with low power 28nm card 7770 GHz (on sale)
rosewill line-m >> core 1000, i always love matx case read both review on newegg and see the difference

 

[littleturtle]

Thanks for the advice I edited my pcpartpicker in the first post because I accidentally put in the wrong URL. Sadly, I am not close to a Microcenter so I am unable to buy from there. So, the build you recommended may be out of my price range

 

[boulbox]

just go for an AMD A-series or an i3, doesnt look like he is doing anything that is going to stress the system anyways

 

[littleturtle]

Will an A-series or i3 keep up for another 5 years? I'm looking for really smooth performance.

 

[AMD Radeon]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($183.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($107.95 @ Mac Connection)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7750 1GB Video Card ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill Line-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $557.70
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-16 22:41 EST-0500)

fix microcenter issue

 

[littleturtle]

Thanks for updating the prices. One more check through and hopefully I will have a working machine by the end of this month