New system configuration help

[rschilling]

I would love any input on the following configuration for a CAD workstation:
Want strong graphics, quiet machine, decent power. Where would you spend more?
Where would you spend less and save? I am buying this from cyberpowersystems.com – you can tell me it is a good system, or you won’t hurt my feelings if you tell me to build it myself (which I would like to do, but don’t quite have the time…)or recommend another vendor.

System is built on a Quadro FX 1300 or 1400 PCI-E graphics card:
(buying on ebay)

Case: Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ01

Power Supplies
Standard 350 w Included
Upgrades:
Thermaltake 480w $69
Ultra x-connect 500w atx 49
Antec True550 120
Enermax EG565P 79

CPU: Athlon64 939pin 3200

Motherboard:
My choice: Foxconn/Winfast NF4UK8AA-8EKRS nForce4, just seems to have all I need/want.
Others:
MSI RS480M2IL ATI Radeon Xpress200 $-12
MSI K8N NEO4-F nForce4 Chipset -19
Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 nForce4 +14
ASUS A8V-E Deluxe VIA K8t890 +36

Memory :
2048 MB (1gbx2) Corsair value Ram PC3200 400mhz dual channel

Hard Drive:
2 Seagate 80gb serial ATA 150 8mb cache for RAID 1 mirror

Optical:
1 DVD dual layer burner, 1 CD RW

On board sound, fine for what I am doing.

Windows XP Pro, SP2

Thanks in advance!
Rich.

 

[dunklegend]

How much is this gonna cost you?

Nothing is as easy as it looks

 

[RichPLS]

I would opt for the upgrade to the Antec True550 and
Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 nForce4 or MSI K8N NEO4-F nForce4 Chipset
Memory, hard drives and DVD burner (Plextor is good brand) you selected are fine for CAD,
and graphics required from AutoCAD are not intensive, so there it depends on alternive uses, like gaming, etc.
The ATI x800 is an excellent choice with more than enough power for any CAD applications and will cost much less than the Quadro series.
As a matter of fact, you could get the fastest top of the line ATI X850 graphics card for less than the Quadro cards, and will get better performance to boot.

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[rschilling]

With the selections shown in my note total cost without video card is $1079 w/shipping. Another $96 for 3 yrs on site warranty, which I may or not do. I am still wrestling with video cards: Narrowed it down to a Quadro FX 1300 or 1400 from ebay if I can get it less than $300; or 6600GT or 6800GT. 6600GT is prob. fine for what I will be doing -- light to moderate cad/no games/no overclocking, but am intrigued by the "special drivers" the cad cards have. Some think they give you more; others don't.

 

[RichPLS]

Depends on what 3d Rendering you do. I have had two mid to high end graphics cards, and older Quadro and a ATI Fire both cost around $1000 each per card, and I now am using the ATI X800XT PE and it does more and better than the pro-grade cards.
BTW, I run a small engineering/surveying firm and run Land Desktop with AutoDesk Map and Raster Design.


<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[dunklegend]

<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813186037" target="_new">mobo
$104</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535" target="_new">CPU $199</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811163032" target="_new">case $140</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103933" target="_new">PSU $119</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440" target="_new">RAM 2X$79</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440" target="_new">HDD 2X$65.5</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145098" target="_new">Video $169</A>
This comes up to
954.5+ $50 for a DVD burner and this includes the video card

Everything takes longer than you expected