[SOLVED] System under CAD $400 for AutoCAD

[xibalban]

The older I get the lazier I'm getting. Sorry folks if I seem like I'm looking for easy answers here. I'm quite busy to do my own research, but somewhat lazy too to be honest, especially because I have no idea what the recent pc hardware have evolved into. I've been using MacBook for about 5 years now, hence I'm completely lost when it comes to current pc hardware. I wanted to sell off my MacBook and replace it with a desktop PC.

I wanted a windows PC to run AutoCAD, including other basic stuffs like web browsing and word processing. Could anyone suggest a quick rig for under $400 Canadian Dollars, please.

1. I'd want AutoCAD including 3D simulations to work without much lag
2. Prefer a wireless keyboard mouse combo
3. Need to connect to Wi-Fi, so a wireless hardware.
4. The Windows OS, obviously.

Have a great New Year fellas. Thanks in advance.

 

[bioax]

Here's a decent rig with all the things you need, but it is a little over $400: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/wLcWrV.
It doesn't include a windows key, but you can use an unactivated version without any issues. Since you live in Canada, prices are a lot higher than from where I am.

 

[xibalban]

Here's a decent rig with all the things you need, but it is a little over $400: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/wLcWrV.
It doesn't include a windows key, but you can use an unactivated version without any issues. Since you live in Canada, prices are a lot higher than from where I am.

Thank you @bioax for the quick response. The rig excludes a display so I feel that it's out of range for me at the moment. However, I feel that I have a good base to start with. Appreciate it.

 

[USAFRet]

Requirements:

1. Under $400 CDN
2. Run Autocad with no or minimal lag
3. Must include (valid) OS license
4. Incl monitor(?)
5. Incl mouse/keyboard/wifi
6. Reasonable system response

That is tough impossible.
The monitor and OS license brings the hardware budget down to $200. Actual Autocad functionality within that budget isn't gonna happen.

 

[bioax]

Requirements:

1. Under $400 CDN
2. Run Autocad with no or minimal lag
3. Must include (valid) OS license
4. Incl monitor(?)
5. Incl mouse/keyboard/wifi
6. Reasonable system response

That is tough impossible.
The monitor and OS license brings the hardware budget down to $200. Actual Autocad functionality within that budget isn't gonna happen.

In my opinion, an actual OS license isn't a big deal, since it only comes with a watermark and not having personalization options. The keyboard and wifi are pretty cheap, and are around $25 CA in total.
The hard part is the actual hardware, since the prices are a lot higher in Canada. RAM and SSD prices are almost doubled than those in the US, and CPUs are a good 25% more expensive.

 

[USAFRet]

In my opinion, an actual OS license isn't a big deal, since it only comes with a watermark and not having personalization options. The keyboard and wifi are pretty cheap, and are around $25 CA in total.
The hard part is the actual hardware, since the prices are a lot higher in Canada. RAM and SSD prices are almost doubled than those in the US, and CPUs are a good 25% more expensive.

Very true about the Windows license.
But, he stated it as a thing, so...

Still won't work within that budget.

 

[xibalban]

Haha, I get the point guys . Thank you for your responses. I've decided to use my 4K TV as the monitor, although it's too big a display.

 

[xibalban]

Requirements:

1. Under $400 CDN
2. Run Autocad with no or minimal lag
3. Must include (valid) OS license
4. Incl monitor(?)
5. Incl mouse/keyboard/wifi
6. Reasonable system response

That is tough impossible.
The monitor and OS license brings the hardware budget down to $200. Actual Autocad functionality within that budget isn't gonna happen.

Well, to be more realistic now let's say that the $400 was only for the hardware, and yes I'd prefer something with as small form factor (not strictly, but as much as possible).

The hard part is the actual hardware, since the prices are a lot higher in Canada. RAM and SSD prices are almost doubled than those in the US, and CPUs are a good 25% more expensive.

Just curious, why are the prices "almost doubled" or CPUs are 25% more expensive? Do you mean, due to currency exchange rates alone?

 

[bioax]

Well, to be more realistic now let's say that the $400 was only for the hardware, and yes I'd prefer something with as small form factor (not strictly, but as much as possible).


Just curious, why are the prices "almost doubled" or CPUs are 25% more expensive? Do you mean, due to currency exchange rates alone?

Well cause I noticed that on PCPartpicker in Canada, the cheapest 8 gb ddr4 stick I could find was around $60, while you can get one in the US for around $30. Everything else is at least 25% more expensive.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

I wil tak a stab at this:

you can get a windows license from a reseller like Kinguin for $25 or so, but not including windows, this is about as cheap as I can go in Canada, and its still $166 over


PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($80.00 @ shopRBC)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($58.75 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 Blackout 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($51.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Mushkin Enhanced RAW 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 2 GB Low Profile Video Card ($105.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Rosewill SCM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($36.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Power Supply: EVGA BR 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Canada Computers)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-AC600PCEv3 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Monitor: Acer UM.WV6AA.B01 21.5" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor ($97.92 @ Mike's Computer Shop)
Keyboard: Rosewill RKM-1000 Wireless Slim Keyboard With Optical Mouse ($19.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $566.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-24 11:16 EST-0500

 

[xibalban]

I wil tak a stab at this:

you can get a windows license from a reseller like Kinguin for $25 or so, but not including windows, this is about as cheap as I can go in Canada, and its still $166 over


PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($80.00 @ shopRBC)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($58.75 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 Blackout 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($51.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Mushkin Enhanced RAW 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 2 GB Low Profile Video Card ($105.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Rosewill SCM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($36.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Power Supply: EVGA BR 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Canada Computers)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-AC600PCEv3 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Monitor: Acer UM.WV6AA.B01 21.5" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor ($97.92 @ Mike's Computer Shop)
Keyboard: Rosewill RKM-1000 Wireless Slim Keyboard With Optical Mouse ($19.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $566.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-24 11:16 EST-0500

Thank you for the rig suggestion. I know that I must be practical, cost-wise and I think I must bump my budget by $200 CAD, so now my budget will seem more realistic with $600 CAD.

One information that I missed in my initial post is not being specific about system requirements. I only stated that I wanted to run AutoCAD (and family of similar drafting suites) and that's vague. I checked the requirements from the AutoDesk & Solidworks websites, and I understood most details except for these:

• Single- or MultiCore Intel, Xeon, or i-Series processor or AMD equivalent with SSE2 technology. Highest affordable CPU speed rating recommended.
• NVIDIA® graphics card: NVIDIA Quadro®/NVIDIA GeForce®/Tesla™ with at least NVIDIA Kepler™ chip; Dual-GPU setup with at least NVIDIA Maxwell™ cards for the best experience

The original links are:

SolidWorks System Requirements
AutoCAD/Autodesk Suites

Would your suggested rig fit in? Thanks again.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

wit CAN $600, we can do a little better:
[
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($80.00 @ shopRBC)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($62.45 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Crucial 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($40.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 570 4 GB RS XXX Video Card ($182.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: EVGA BR 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $571.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-27 15:51 EST-0500

the 1200 is a 4-core/4 thread CPU, but very cheap right now. The RX-570 is not an nvidia card, but will still run the autocad just fine. I am including a $100 Display with the build, which, if you don't need it, could be spent upgrading the CPU and GPU (to say, a 2600 and a RX580 or an NVidia GTX 1650 Super/1660). In any case, the board will take with BIOS upgrades the 4000-series chips coming this summer, making a solid upgrade (to an r7-4700 for 8 cores/16 threads

 

[xibalban]

Hello folks, I have come across some HP/Dell workstations (used ones) and they're very tempting at $300 CAD. Some of these have dual CPUs and most come equipped with NVIDIA Quadro GPUs. Here are the specs of a few that appeared tempting, what say:

• $90 workstation
• Xeon based $390
• $380

...and so on.

Your thoughts please, experts. Thanks.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

looking at the machines. the $90 workstation is a 9 year old GPU and CPU, with a tiny hard drive, and very slow
the $380 machine is a 12 year old design for the CPU (i7-860 equivalent) and an integrated GPU
and the $390 is the best of a bad lot at 6 year old CPU (Haswell). with a 5 year old GPU

of the ones listed the $390 using a haswell CPU is probly the best bet, but the all-new parts build I listed are as good or better. The Haswell build definitely has a stronger GPU (comparable to a 950 vs a 1030), and the CPU is a bit slower but has more threads, and has the option to add a second CPU, vs upgrading to a 8 core CPU on mine. I'd say a toss up between my build and that one

 

[xibalban]

looking at the machines. the $90 workstation is a 9 year old GPU and CPU, with a tiny hard drive, and very slow
the $380 machine is a 12 year old design for the CPU (i7-860 equivalent) and an integrated GPU
and the $390 is the best of a bad lot at 6 year old CPU (Haswell). with a 5 year old GPU

of the ones listed the $390 using a haswell CPU is probly the best bet, but the all-new parts build I listed are as good or better. The Haswell build definitely has a stronger GPU (comparable to a 950 vs a 1030), and the CPU is a bit slower but has more threads, and has the option to add a second CPU, vs upgrading to a 8 core CPU on mine. I'd say a toss up between my build and that one

Thanks a lot for the response. I'll go with a new build, i.e. your build.

UPDATE:

This is what I ended up finalizing: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/H9f8b8

I used @bioax 's base and bumped up:

1. The processor from the suggested 2200G to 3200G as this was less expensive and better
2. The ram from 8 GB to 16 GB
3. The MoBo to something that supported a display port as I bought a 4K Philips 27" Display
4. Added a DVD drive, as I rent and watch movies from the Toronto Public Library
5. Opted out from the Wireless card, as I chose to use ethernet instead
6. Chose to use wired keyboard and mouse combo

I'll keep this thread alive by posting pictures of my rig soon. Stay tuned and thanks a lot guys.