Engineering Tower Under $1200

[ISUCyclone33]

Hey guys, I am fairly new to the computer building scene and I am looking at building a new desktop that will be used mainly for engineering/CAD software. My budget is a little flexible and I already have monitors, mice, keyboards, OS(get for free through university) etc. I just need the tower.

I have been reading the min. specs of some software and for my large projects they will need up to 6GB of RAM.

I want to incorporate the Intel i7 920 2.66 GHz processor. I was also thinking of getting OCZ 8GB DDR3 1600MHz (4x2) in triple channel for my memory. If there is a better memory out there that will work better with the i7 I ma definitely open to suggestions.

Thanks

 

[Shadow703793]

1. What software? Will you be doing any renderings?

2. Any gaming?

General build for CAD (ie Inventor 2010,SolidWorks,etc):
i7 920: $280
1TB WD HDD for storage :$90 **
Gigabyte X58-UD3R: $195
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600: $95 (Note: You can add in a 2nd kit to make it 2GB)
Antec 902: $120 (great case, but really it's personal preference)
VelociRaptor 150GB 10k RPM : $160 (For OS) **
SAPPHIRE ATI 4830 512MB : $90
Corsair 650TX: $100
XIGMATEK S1283V: $40

Total: $1170 before MIR and S&H

Note: You can also get 2*640GB WD HDDs in RAID 01 for storage/OS and/or a single 250GB for OS. I did not pick SSDs because usually with part library,etc the CAD programs are about 10-20GB (That's what I got when I installed Inventor and AutoCAD together) and that's almost 50% of a drive when adding in OS+updates.

 

[ssguy24]

Dont engineering programs prefer different video cards? like ATI's firestream?

Sort of a question as well as a suggestion

 

[Shadow703793]

^No. That's only in rendering mostly. If OP wishes he can swap out the 4850 to a smiler workstation card.

 

[ISUCyclone33]

What do you guys think of this (will everything work well together and am I getting good performance?):

Processor - Intel i7 920 2.66 GHz $280.00
Memory - G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 $95.00
Power Supply - Corsair 850watt $120.00
Video Card - ATI Radeon 4850 $200.00
Optical Drive - Lite-On DVD-RW 24x $30.00
Motherboard - Gigabye EX58-UD4P $236.00
Hard Drive - Seagate Pipeline HD 500GB 8MB Cach e $70.00
Tower - Antec 902 $90.00
Hard Drive - WD 160GB - 8mb Cache $45.00

TOTAL $1,166.00

 

[hunter315]

Where do you live that you are paying $200 for a 4850?

If you want faster boot times the WD Caviar Black 640GB is supposed to be one of the fastest drives available.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
Faster than either of your drives and only gives you 20GB less storage than those two combined.

 

[ISUCyclone33]

The video card is one thing that I am not exactly sure of. I have been looking at several different cards and I actually might go with this instead:

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit ($180)

 

[arogot]

yes... the 4870 is better then the 4850 and the 4850 should be alot less then 200... maybe 100
are you planing on gaming? because if not you don't need anything more then a 4830 even that is much
also look at the radeon 4770, its better then the 4830 and can Xfire like nothing else, its a great card for your build it seems

 

[ISUCyclone33]

There will be some gaming, however this will be used mostly for work, with different CAD and CFD software. With that being said is the 4870 a bit much? I would rather have a little too much than too little while I stay within my budget

 

[nss000]

Hey guys, I am fairly new to the computer building scene and I am looking at building a new desktop that will be used mainly for engineering/CAD software. My budget is a little flexible and I already have monitors, mice, keyboards, OS(get for free through university) etc. I just need the tower.

I have been reading the min. specs of some software and for my large projects they will need up to 6GB of RAM.

I want to incorporate the Intel i7 920 2.66 GHz processor. I was also thinking of getting OCZ 8GB DDR3 1600MHz (4x2) in triple channel for my memory. If there is a better memory out there that will work better with the i7 I ma definitely open to suggestions.

Thanks

I wonder ... can you take advantage of CUDA function with an NVidia graphics card ? Mebby something like the x250 or x260 cards ? They price under $200. I understand when CUDA works it gives huge floating-point speed-ups.

 

[Shadow703793]

^AFAIK there is not CAD/CFD software that take advantage of CUDA. I hear the next version of SolidWorks is suppose to have CUDA acceleration for FloWorks.

Processor - Intel i7 920 2.66 GHz $280.00
Memory - G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 $95.00
Power Supply - Corsair 850watt $120.00
Video Card - ATI Radeon 4850 $200.00
Optical Drive - Lite-On DVD-RW 24x $30.00
Motherboard - Gigabye EX58-UD4P $236.00
Hard Drive - Seagate Pipeline HD 500GB 8MB Cach e $70.00
Tower - Antec 902 $90.00
Hard Drive - WD 160GB - 8mb Cache $45.00

Looks good. But are you sure you have enough space? 500+160GB seems too small.

 

[ISUCyclone33]

I think I am going to put in 2 of the WD Caviar SE 500GB 7200 RPM (8mb Cache) for my hard drives. I also have an external 500GB WD HD too, which I will use for backing up most of my stuff.

 

[ISUCyclone33]

I think this is my final draft for my build:

Processor - Intel i7 920 2.66 GHz $280.00
Memory - G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 $95.00
Power Supply - Corsair 850watt $120.00
Video Card - SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit $180.00
Optical Drive - Lite-On DVD-RW 24x $30.00
Motherboard - Gigabyte EX58-UD4P $236.00
Hard Drive -WD Caviar SE 500GB 7200 RPM (8mb Cache) $60.00
Hard Drive -WD Caviar SE 500GB 7200 RPM (8mb Cache) $60.00
Tower - Antec 902 $90.00

SUB-TOTAL $1,231.91
SHIPPING $9.01
TOTAL $1,240.92

 

[hunter315]

If you use the Caviar Blacks that are only $15 more each you will get significantly better boot and load times, so you need to decide if thats worth the extra $30.

 

[ISUCyclone33]

I was under the assumption that a lower cache is better (reason for sticking with the Caviar SE)...can you clarify then why cache isn't as significant as some people make it?

 

[hunter315]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/understanding-hard-drive-performance,1557-5.html

Caches have gotten larger since that article but they still serve the same purpose of holding commands and memory transfer rates have greatly increased since that article, also the 640GB uses 320GB platters instead of 250GB platters so the data is denser which lends itself to faster read and write rates which will give you the most significant advantage.

 

[Shadow703793]

+1 for the Caviar Black. Unless you plan to CrossFire you DO NOT need a 850W PSU. A Corsair 550VX or 650TX would do the job.

 

[raybob95]

I'd recommend the Corsair TX750, or the TX650 if money's a problem. Be aware that the 750 would ensure you're safe, and it's only $10 more.

I'd actually recommend the NVIDIA GTX 260 Core 216 over the 4870. (Personal preference) Plus the GTX 260 is $5 cheaper, and in many cases will outperform the 4870. But in all truth, they're pretty much equal in price and performance.

Stay with the WD Caviar Black 1TB. Plenty of storage, only $15 more, and faster than the 640. P.S>, higher cache is better, and you WILL see a noticeable difference between 8MB and 32MB.

Two more minor things, an LG Optical drive is quieter and more reliable, and for the RAM, you should get this.

Also, click on the blue font for my links!

 

[Shadow703793]

^True, but the board allows for future CrossFire if OP get a ATI card.

 

[ISUCyclone33]

Hopefully the last part of my post, but I will be listening to some music (Pandora, iTunes) but all I need is a standard auxiliary output...a simple headphone jack. I will not be hooking it up to my surround sound so what type of sound card do you all suggest

 

[hunter315]

None, your motherboard comes with onboard audio which is sufficient for most people, unless you use really high quality speakers or headphones you likely wont notice the difference between onboard and a discrete card.