~$500 Workstation

[bkboggy]

Hi,

I'm trying to put together a $500 workstation to use with programs such as:

AutoCad
Google SketchUp
SolidWorks
SoftCam
ArtCam
Dolphin Partmaster Pro
MasterCAM
Rhino3D

Small to medium file sizes, nothing extreme. This is for personal use.

It doesn't have to be the best performance machine ever, I just don't want much frustruation while trying to turn my parts in work space and have to wait several second for it to turn, or I'm seeing bunch of weird stuff on my screen or parts are missing while trying to turn and look at them.

Here's my current setup:

Case (*$64.99 + free shipping*): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147104


Power Supply (*$49.99 + s/h cost*): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182016


Motherboard (*$74.99 + s/h cost*): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128376


Processor (*$63.50 + free shipping*): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103300


Memory (*$49.99 after $20 mail-in rebate + free shipping*): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220314


Video Card (*$84.99 + s/h cost*): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195073


Hard Drive (*$64.99 + free shipping*): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395


DVD/CD Burne (*$21.99 + free shipping*): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136144


I know that the powersupply is probably not good enough, so I need recommendations on that. If you can find me better stuff, please, let me knonw.

 

[Proximon]

Combo:
AMD quad core and kingston RAM $130
Your programs will benefit from more cores, at least some of them.

Combo:
Antec Sonata WITH EA500 PSU $110
Decent case with a GOOD PSU all for $110


If you could swing this 790GX board you would be better off. Back up GPU, better processor support for upgrades, excellent stable chipset.
ASRock 790GX $105

If that's too much, consider a micro ATX 780G board:
ASUS 780G

 

[the1tarheel]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106263
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner $21.99 free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119161
COOLER MASTER ELITE 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $44.99 free shipping

same hdd as you picked
same workstation card you picked ( you would know more about it than myself )
Proximon's suggestion for mobo (+1 Prox)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008
CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply Nice supply and a great company $59.99 free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103244
AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail OVERCLOCKABLE! $109.99 free shipping

everything for $510.39 with shipping included and is very upgradeable in the future as AMD gets their act together in the new round of QUADS

 

[the1tarheel]

oops forgot the ram another 45.00 with free shipping

 

[batuchka]

$507 plus $8 shipping?

Why settle for a Phenom 1 when a Phenom 2 is miles better and lower power consuming?

Near i7 performance at a fraction of the price?

 

[bkboggy]

The powersupply has to be about 500w range to keep things safe, right?

 

[theAnimal]

The powersupply has to be about 500w range to keep things safe, right?

The Earthwatts 380W is plenty.

 

[bkboggy]

Batuchka, you forgot video card, which would put it way over the top and I would have to get a bigger power supply.

 

[Transmaniacon]

CASE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005

MOBO & CPU Combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.161493

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231226

HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098

GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195073

DVD BURNER
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152

Shipped for $US491

If you can bump your budget to $600, you can get a good ATX Mobo, and the top of the line Phenom X4.

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103291

Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128381

 

[bkboggy]

I would bump it up to $600 but the problem comes with having to buy an OS on top of that and it's anywhere from $90 to $140. I'm going with either XP Pro or XP Home.... just have to figure out if it'll matter which I go with. I won't use it for network, but I want to make sure that Home will deliver same performance as Pro as far as hardware goes.

 

[Transmaniacon]

Yea, I think the cheaper of the builds is plenty for your needs, this will do quite well in those applications you mentioned with 4 cores and 4 GB of RAM, in addition to the workstation video card.

I would recommend getting a 64-bit OS, so you can take advantage of all the RAM, and possibly even more, seeing as those programs will utilize quite a bit. I would suggest Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit, but I am not sure about those program's compatibility.

I think Windows XP Professional 64-bit or the above mentioned OS are going to be your best choices to take advantage of the RAM.

XP: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116378

Vista: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

 

[Proximon]

Yes do check your programs compatibility, as Vista 64-bit is the most stable by quite a bit.

 

[Transmaniacon]

Vista Compatibility

AutoCad - Works
Google SketchUp - Works
SolidWorks - Works
SoftCam - (Cant find their actual website, but most dont mention vista in their supported OSes, though that doesnt mean it wont work)
ArtCam - Works
Dolphin Partmaster Pro - Works
MasterCAM - Works
Rhino3D - Works

So I think your better off with Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit.

 

[theAnimal]

Batuchka, you forgot video card, which would put it way over the top and I would have to get a bigger power supply.

The mobo has on-board video.

 

[bkboggy]

Yeah, but that onboard video is not going to be good for my purpose.

Hmm, that Vista 64 does sound good since it's just 10 bucks over XP Home's price. However, how do I know if the equipment I'm getting is compatible with it?

 

[Proximon]

I haven't seen any recommendations so far that would not be. Most modern hardware has 64-bit drivers these days.

 

[bkboggy]

Are there any known issues with 64bit? I know it's not a new technology, but for a while it was so popular and so hyped, but then all of a sudden the hype just died down. Will I greately benefit from it? I am planning to have 4GB ram in the begining and hopefully bring it up to 6 or 8 a bit later.

 

[Transmaniacon]

Well you have to have 64-bit for more than ~3.5 gigs of RAM, and nowadays its very stable and definitely a good choice for a new system.

 

[bkboggy]

Awesome, thank you for guiding me towards it, guys.