Starting from the ground up....

[4440]

The time has come to get back up to speed with the tech world.

I need to build a new setup from the ground up with a reasonable budget. In all actuality I may be building more than one. Since I normally buy custom ordered machines from Dell I can piece together something that is fairly decent and reliable, but price is always an issue. Since I am not totally illiterate when it comes to this stuff I am fairly certian I can assemble one myself, but, when it comes to component selection and such that is sure to work with each other that is where I fail.

The machines primary purpose in life, (sorry HTC making money comes first) 

CAD: Solidworks 2011
CAM: TBD but will likely be HSMworks or CAMworks

Both the above are memory and processing power depended as well graphics heavy


Obviously, secondary will be online gaming, with AH being the only one I actually do, but I like COD and MOH

I would like to go with an SSD drive as the primary, but only in the 64 GB range because I/we are going to a network HD for file storage and file version control.

Windows 7 will be the OS as I personally will never touch vista voluntarily, and SW will no longer run under XP after the next release.

I also insist upon non AMD processors, SW runs like crap with those in comparison

I also prefer Nvidia vid cards as well.


Those are my basic parameters, Suggestions?

4440

[guttboy]

4440,

I applaud you for considering building your own rig!  I have had many PCs over the years and even had a "squaddie" build me a rig a while back that did exactly what I needed (still have it and it is up and running).  I did, however, want to try to build one myself.

I built this machine about 2 years ago and did so with a TON of online help from the folks at overclock.net.  Good bunch of guys there and they were tremendous in helping me choose the components and give me some awesome feedback in building it.

I have been out of AH for a while and decided to join again a few days ago.  I have no earthly idea on your requirements and how they will relate to the game nowadays but you may want to check out the folks at the site I mentioned.

Bottom line is that if you can follow a recipe, you can build your own computer!

[Spikes]

Hmm...I'm thinking an i7 with 6 gigs or possibly 12 gigs ( how much mem do you really need?) If you like nvidia I'd probably go with a Fermi unless you need some specific GPU power card for rendering stuff.

[Chalenge]

Fermi makes the best CAD solution either way. Ati absolutely sucks as a workstation card.

[zeromajin]

I work with CAD: Solidworks nearly everyday and have operated similar software for 8+ years.

i7-950 is somewhat of a no-brainer these days with the price drop earlier this year, making it the best "for the money" Intel (and IMHO the best otherwise as well)

As previously stated Nvidia's Fermi architecture has proven to be the superior solution in CAD applications.

I would suggest the new GTX 570, as it's the best mid priced card on the market as of this post.

You'd probably be happy with 6GB of memory, but I can typically saturate 9-10GB running CAD software.

Personally I prefer Kingston, Mushkin over Corsair RAM, since all 3 perform identically post overclock and Corsair's sticks are just too over priced.
(Although Corsair is still my favorite PSU manufacturer)

SSDs : My personal favorites are Crucial, OCZ Tech, and Kingston in that order.

The motherboard you choose will be based mostly on if you intend to overclock or not. If your not, then I wouldn't bother spending a lot of money on it as long as you stick with the "Big 3" (ASUS, EVGA, and GIGABYTE )

Just make sure you don't skimp on the PSU, if you splurge at all, put it in the PSU.

Have fun and good luck!
 

[Chalenge]

Quadro 580 FX is considered "entry level" and isnt Fermi...

GTX 570? Okay its better than any of the Ati cards (for CAD) but I could not say get that for CAD just so you can play AH. Of course I have to make a living with this stuff and the first thing I always get with CAD techs about is ROI concerning their equipment. Making the dollars from your equipment is the first thing you should always consider and so I always put money into a CAD machine with thought toward performance. I always hated it when I was working for someone else and they would give you a $100 card and tell you to make it work.

The Fermi solutions are the 4000 5000 and 6000s for workstations. The Quadro Plex 7000 isnt here yet but really I think the 6000s in SLI offer the same solution although I havent seriously looked into the 7000. The 5000s and 6000s have two displayports or a dual-link DVI and two of them in SLI can address up to eight monitors with x128 FSAA (in the case of the 6000 at least). The 4000 is not ultra-high end but it also has the dual displayport configuration. These cards are not for everyone obviously but in the case of the 4000 a mere $1100 will cure most of your workstation woes. You "can" play games with any of them but if you spend that kind of money you probably wont (I dont).

The memory frames are 2GB 2.5GB and 6GB... No. 6GB on the MB wont be enough.

Are you going to get one of these? Probably not. You will get your 570 most likely and try to make it work. When you get tired of the stutters (rotating complex models) and long refresh/render (complex models) times you know where to turn.  

[zeromajin]

See Rule #4

[zeromajin]

I built this machine about 2 years ago and did so with a TON of online help from the folks at overclock.net.  Good bunch of guys there and they were tremendous in helping me choose the components and give me some awesome feedback in building it.

Woot woot! OC.net is my regular forum, before I started playing this game. Best group of nerds around!

[4440]

I am shooting for grand or less.


Here is where I am now without a vid card yet. (I am working on the company dime for the first one)

 #

    Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
    Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
    Intel BOXDH55HC LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI ATX Intel Motherboard
    Kingston ValueRAM 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3K2/4GR
    OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
    Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950

The above puts me at 840.00

As a side note, my current rig handles the cad fairly well no stutters per se, but I don't get into too many large assy.  Mostly single item parts and injection mold design.

CAM wise,  lots of surfacing with .0002 tolerance, that is where I need the power.

[guncrasher]

See Rule #4

easy man, no need to dog anybody. everybody just giving suggestions based on what they have or know.  we are all giving suggestions and if yours is the only one that counts then just say so.

semp

[zeromajin]

easy man, no need to dog anybody. everybody just giving suggestions based on what they have or know.  we are all giving suggestions and if yours is the only one that counts then just say so.

semp

I'm in no way invalidating anyones suggestions, my suggestion was brought under criticism and I defended it.

No dogging, no disrespect. If a point I offer is counter-pointed,I'll simply take the time to respond appropriately. I'm not mean spirited, or ego driven, but I call it as I see it, and sometimes I'm even wrong.

In the event : I was unclear, I will clarify
                    my point is challenged, I will defend it
                    I am wrong, I will reconsider and adapt to new information
 

[zeromajin]

I am shooting for grand or less.


Here is where I am now without a vid card yet. (I am working on the company dime for the first one)

 #

    Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
    Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
    Intel BOXDH55HC LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI ATX Intel Motherboard
    Kingston ValueRAM 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3K2/4GR
    OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
    Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950

The above puts me at 840.00

As a side note, my current rig handles the cad fairly well no stutters per se, but I don't get into too many large assy.  Mostly single item parts and injection mold design.

CAM wise,  lots of surfacing with .0002 tolerance, that is where I need the power.

You will need a LGA 1366 socket motherboard for the i7-950

You may also want to consider triple channel memory.

Leaving $160 of budget left for your GPU may be a stretch. But in that price range your likely looking at a GTX 460.

If your saying your current rig runs your software satisfactory this may be enough, but then, I have no idea whats in your current rig.

[Chalenge]

See Rule #4

[zeromajin]

See Rule #4

[guncrasher]

zeromajin, there are no senior members here, perhaps some are retired and on social security, but we dont consider them in charge,   If somebody asks for ideas and you give yours and somebody else suggests something else or makes a correction then leave it at that, unless you believe you are right and explain further.  but dont attack the member directly.  let the member being helped make the final decision.

His reference to a quadro card was not to you, even i can see that, but you got stuck on believing that it was mean for you. read your posts you are attacking another member for no reason, other than offering a different choice.  It's not the way it should work here.  If somebody disagrees with you so be it and leave it at that.

semp