Advice wanted for Workstation PC (about $700 budget)

afnanmahmood1996

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Nov 25, 2015
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My friend wants to build a workstation pc. He will usually do productivity work on it. He will play some light games on it sometimes. We live in Pakistan and our budget is about 60000 to 70000 PKR (about $700 USD).

The softwares which he wants to use:
> Photoshop
> Premier Pro
> Illustrator (sometimes)
> SolidWorks
> ANSYS
> MATLAB
> Python Programming
> Proteus

I am interested in Intel build as they are readily available in Pakistan. Any help will be appreciated.
 
You didn't say if used was an option. Also I don't know what brands of computers are available in Pakistan. So I will give examples of what can be done here in the USA to just give you some ideas. Surplus LGA1366 workstations with 1,or 2 CPUs can be had for $100-$200. Dell T3500/T5500 are common. All the Xeons support Hyperthreading, and the faster versions support DDR3 1333 RAM, all support 3 channel memory. Dual GPU support is standard.
The least expensive CPUs are the 45nm Nehalem based CPUs. The fastest of these are the w3570/W3580 single CPU which can be found for $20. There are 2 CPU versions W5580/W5590. The very fastest is the Westmere EP 32nm X5687 4C/8T 3.6GHz which is $45 and can be run dual CPU. Then there are the 6C/12T 32nm X5680/X5690 3.33GHz, and 3.47GHz. or the single CPU W3680/W3690. The dual CPU versions support registered RAM RDIMMs, the single CPU versions UDIMMs only. So even running 1 CPU the dual CPU versions support more RAM, and less expensive RAM also.
 

JasonTechGamer

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lookup Xeon E5 2680 V2/Huanan X79 Deluxe from www.aliexpress.com. 10C/20T Sandy Bridge EP motherboard combo with ECC memory support for $330. Wouldnt purchase it myself though. Just giving a suggestion. Motherboard review can be had from youtube channel Geer Seekers
 
Really now the coffee lake i5's are 6 core they're good enough for multi-use,including everything youve listed & the integrated graphics are pretty much good enough for everything too up to a point.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B360M PRO-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.90 @ OutletPC)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $566.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-17 08:58 EDT-0400

Just a baseline for you to work from, essentially
An i5 8400
2x 8gb sticks of 2400/2666kHz ddr4 ram.
Whatever board suits your needs at the right price.
240gb ssd + 1 or 2 tb secondary.
Whatever case you choose.
Please don't skimp on psu quality, especially for a system that's going to be running long hours.l!!!

Hard to recommend absolute component choices as I'm sure they're fairly limited option wise in pakistan?

Room to add a gpu in there if necessary hopefully.

 

afnanmahmood1996

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Nov 25, 2015
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Yup Here in Pakistan the market of used (i-e branded systems) is very strong. We can get a i5 or i7 system easily.