Build for AutoCad and Autodesk

[RazerZ]

Hi guys, RazerZ here. I'm looking forward to hopefully building my first pc which can handle AutoCad and AutoDesk Inventor. I'm also looking to do some gaming on the side. I'm only in highschool and trying to find some way to collect money for the build as I still have a long way to go. My budget is $300 which would include the CPU, motherboard, ram, hardrive, and PSU. I plan to reuse one of my old desktop cases from around 2000 ( can dinosaurs come back to life?) as well as a monitor which has some good years on it and has recently started to give major problems. Here's what I came up with so far:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A6-6400K 3.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($67.24 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-DS2 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($59.49 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($67.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $299.70
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-06 23:46 EST-0500)

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also planning to order parts of amazon as I currently have about $50 on there.

 

[Tradesman1]

Looks like a good start

 

[Saga Lout]

Which version of Linux are you planning to run on there? The Windows alternatives are quite expensive. Also, your old case may have difficulty in fitting in the cooling you'll need.

 

[RazerZ]

Looks like a good start

Which version of Linux are you planning to run on there? The Windows alternatives are quite expensive. Also, your old case may have difficulty in fitting in the cooling you'll need.

Planning to run windows 7/8.1 on the build as I have a friend who's dad works for Microsoft and he can hook me up Also since it's an APU would airflow really matter for it? The case I'm planning to use is either one of these:

http://www.df.lth.se/~triad/krad/compaq_deskpro_en.jpg

or

http://image.ec21.com/image/hanjinkorea/OF0000578683_1/HP_Vectra_Pentium_3_866MHz.jpg

or

http://www.maximumpc.com/files/imagecache/futureus_imagegallery_fullsize/gallery/june-01-compaq-presario-7000.jpg

 

[Nefos]

if you make that computer into that case, I think the world first "sleeper" will be made
(in cars we call sleepers when a car looks like it is a stock and slow car, for example old Volvo wagons, but there is a super powerful engine in them, so they are sleeping, but when they show their huge power, its even more suprising, because you do not expect it)

Anyway, would use a standing tower and use new and good fans in the case, it should do the job. Anyway, here in the UK, you can get houses from £15 new, that has good enough cooling, I dont know how things works overseas

 

[RazerZ]

if you make that computer into that case, I think the world first "sleeper" will be made
(in cars we call sleepers when a car looks like it is a stock and slow car, for example old Volvo wagons, but there is a super powerful engine in them, so they are sleeping, but when they show their huge power, its even more suprising, because you do not expect it)

Anyway, would use a standing tower and use new and good fans in the case, it should do the job. Anyway, here in the UK, you can get houses from £15 new, that has good enough cooling, I dont know how things works overseas

Here in the US it's the same I could pick up a case for $20, but that's already $20 over my budget which will make my goal even longer to get.

 

[Rammy]

Also since it's an APU would airflow really matter for it? The case I'm planning to use is either one of these:

http://www.df.lth.se/~triad/krad/compaq_deskpro_en.jpg

or

http://image.ec21.com/image/hanjinkorea/OF0000578683_1/HP_Vectra_Pentium_3_866MHz.jpg

or

http://www.maximumpc.com/files/imagecache/futureus_imagegallery_fullsize/gallery/june-01-compaq-presario-7000.jpg

Nobody seems to sell cases in beige anymore. Shame, hipsters would love that crap.

As I'd better write something slightly helpful...

An APU should run AutoCAD fine, but how well it handles stuff is really going to depend on complexity. If your in high school then it's probably going to be reasonably basic stuff and it'll have no worries at all. If you start producing really complex assemblies and stuff then your memory demands are going to skyrocket, which is likely to be exacerbated by the APU using the memory for display. I've never seen any evidence to support that though, it's just conjecture. I run Solidworks and AutoCAD on my gaming/HTPC/doorstop machine which only has 8Gb of ram and if you have a habit of leaving multiple drawings open, as well as your web browser and your music, it starts to become an issue.

 

[RazerZ]

Also since it's an APU would airflow really matter for it? The case I'm planning to use is either one of these:

http://www.df.lth.se/~triad/krad/compaq_deskpro_en.jpg

or

http://image.ec21.com/image/hanjinkorea/OF0000578683_1/HP_Vectra_Pentium_3_866MHz.jpg

or

http://www.maximumpc.com/files/imagecache/futureus_imagegallery_fullsize/gallery/june-01-compaq-presario-7000.jpg

Nobody seems to sell cases in beige anymore. Shame, hipsters would love that crap.

As I'd better write something slightly helpful...

An APU should run AutoCAD fine, but how well it handles stuff is really going to depend on complexity. If your in high school then it's probably going to be reasonably basic stuff and it'll have no worries at all. If you start producing really complex assemblies and stuff then your memory demands are going to skyrocket, which is likely to be exacerbated by the APU using the memory for display. I've never seen any evidence to support that though, it's just conjecture. I run Solidworks and AutoCAD on my gaming/HTPC/doorstop machine which only has 8Gb of ram and if you have a habit of leaving multiple drawings open, as well as your web browser and your music, it starts to become an issue.

Exactly what I was thinking, but couldn't I just add a GPU later on such as a 7750/7770?

 

[Rammy]

Yeah, though if you are only ever going to use it for this type of thing an entry level FirePro might be a better idea.
The thing about memory is the scaling. Nothing uses very much of it, but it can build up to ridiculous levels. Inventor lists minimum requirements as 4Gb of RAM but recommends 16Gb for large assemblies.
I'd assume you'll be fine though, as I'd guess most of the stuff will be fairly straightforward.

 

[RazerZ]

Yeah, though if you are only ever going to use it for this type of thing an entry level FirePro might be a better idea.
The thing about memory is the scaling. Nothing uses very much of it, but it can build up to ridiculous levels. Inventor lists minimum requirements as 4Gb of RAM but recommends 16Gb for large assemblies.
I'd assume you'll be fine though, as I'd guess most of the stuff will be fairly straightforward.

Alright thanks and do you think the pc cases I listed should work for the build?

 

[Rammy]

Don't see why not. I mean, you don't need a case at all, you could just leave stuff sitting on a desk. Any old case should do the trick. As long as it's not an airtight box, heat will dissipate, and you won't be producing much of it.

 

[Nefos]

probably yeah, they had hot CPUs and GPUs in them as well, with some fans they should work, although I am not sure with the horizontal layout.

 

[Rammy]

There are plenty of horizontal motherboard cases on sale today. (I say plenty, it's probably nearer to 10)
If anything, that orientation should help heat rise off the components, rather than travelling between them.
Either way, it's a non issue.

 

[RazerZ]

Great thanks for your help everyone!