Spec me a PC for Autocad Work

Avathar77

Avathar77

Avathar77

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A friend of mine wants a PC for her office work to do Autocad stuff. They have seen one in Dell for around £700 with OS and a 19" TFT with K/B and Mouse.
Only thing I cant figure out is whats equivalent of a nvs300 quadro card in desktop?(thats what is in Dell)
So can some one spec me a PC for Autocad work? Budget around £700-£800, with OS and K/B and Mouse?
Thanx
 
something like this should do you nicely:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung B2430L 23.6" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black £169.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £131.99
1 x OcUK Value GeForce GTX 460 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119.99
1 x G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL ) £74.39
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £32.99
1 x Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
1 x Asus P8H61-M Intel H61 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £61.99
1 x Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse (910-000616) £23.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
1 x Logitech Deluxe USB Keyboard (Black) - OEM (967738-0120) £7.99
Total : £789.19 (includes shipping : £13.75).
 
I'm not an expert on this, but to run Autocad properly don't you need a quadro card? As nvidia/autodesk have made it so that gaming cards (which are cheaper and faster) don't work with all the advanced features - hence justifying the quadro's price.
 
saw this on the minimum requirements for 3D modelling in autocad:
1,280 x 1,024 true color video display adapter 128 MB or greater, Pixel Shader 3.0 or greater, Microsoft® Direct3D®-capable workstation-class graphics card

not a clue what that means

however, i can tell you the card i specced definitly had more than 128mb and the correct pixel shader version
 
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i have literally no idea how much quadro cards cost, and what the ranges are like, but i could certainly spec you the reat of the computer if someone can spec a good graphics card for this program
 
Reaper 392 said:
i have literally no idea how much quadro cards cost, and what the ranges are like, but i could certainly spec you the reat of the computer if someone can spec a good graphics card for this program
Click to expand...

over priced compared to graphic cards form ocuk.


Reaper 392 said:
something like this should do you nicely:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung B2430L 23.6" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black £169.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £131.99
1 x OcUK Value GeForce GTX 460 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119.99
1 x G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL ) £74.39
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £32.99
1 x Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
1 x Asus P8H61-M Intel H61 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £61.99
1 x Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse (910-000616) £23.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
1 x Logitech Deluxe USB Keyboard (Black) - OEM (967738-0120) £7.99
Total : £789.19 (includes shipping : £13.75).
Click to expand...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-283-IN&tool=3

+£4 for i7
 
Quadro/firepro cards are expensive, but if the OP's friend needs the extra functions they provide in Autocad then there really isn't much choice.

The fermi-based quadro 600 card is ~£160 (based on the GF108 - GT 430 core) and the Quadro 2000 is ~£370 (based on the GF106 - GTS 450 core) - have a look here. Obviously these are some big price premiums compared to their geforce cousins, but they do offer the extra features and should be powerful enough to run Autocad well, they certainly aren't made for games (nor does the OP indicate gaming performance is important).
 
kain666 said:
over priced compared to graphic cards form ocuk.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-283-IN&tool=3

+£4 for i7
Click to expand...

quadro's may be expensive, but thats because they can do the 3D cad work that the OP needs, along with countless other design things that the geforce graphics cards cant do

also, the i5 2300k is way better for design work than the i7 920:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=363
(comparison is i5 2400k, which is literally a slightly higher clocked i5 2300k
 
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this is the best i can do. replace the graphics card i have put on for a quadro 600, which is roughly the same price
i thought the gaming mouse would be useful so you could map the extra buttons to common in program functions. if you cant, then go for a cheapo mouse (and maybe a keyboard that has mappable buttons/macro buttons)

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 560 Twin FrozR II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £159.98
1 x Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £131.99
1 x BenQ G2222HDL 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £119.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte H61M-D2 Intel H61 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £69.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £32.99
1 x Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
1 x Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse (910-000616) £23.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
1 x Logitech Deluxe USB Keyboard (Black) - OEM (967738-0120) £7.99
Total : £793.98 (includes shipping : £14.75).
 
olivier renault said:
nice. What's the Dell specs, for a laugh?
Click to expand...


Components
PROCESSOR
One Intel® Core™ I3-2100 (Dual Core, 3.1GHz, 3MB, 1GT)
OPERATING SYSTEM
English Genuine Windows® 7 Professional (32Bit OS)
SECURITY SOFTWARE
Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security Services, 15-months
MICROSOFT® OFFICE 2010
Microsoft® Office Starter 2010
BASE
Standard Mini-Tower (Vertical orientation)
MEMORY
4GB (2x2GB) 1333MHz DDR3 Non-ECC
HDD CONFIGURATION
C1 3.5 inch SATA or SSD Hard Drives, NON-RAID for 1 Hard Drive
HARD DRIVE
250GB 3.5inch Serial ATA III (7.200 Rpm) Hard Drive
OPTICAL DRIVE
16x DVD+/-RW Drive
ROXIO DVD OPTICAL SOFTWARE
Roxio Creator DVD Software
POWER DVD OPTICAL SOFTWARE
PowerDVD Software for Vista Home Premium and Ultimate, WIN7 Home Premium, Pro or Ultimate
GRAPHICS CARD
512 MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 300 - 2 DVI
MONITOR
Dell Professional P2211H 21.5" 55 cm Wide HAS LED monitor VGA,DVI,USB, (1920x1080) Blk UK/I
KEYBOARD
UK/Irish (QWERTY) Dell KB212-B QuietKey USB Keyboard Black
MOUSE
Dell Optical (Not Wireless), Scroll USB (3 buttons scroll) Black Mouse
Accessories
SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
No Out-of-Band Systems Management
SPEAKERS
No Speaker Option
OPERATING SYSTEM RECOVERY OPTIONS
MUI Windows® 7 Professional (32Bit OS) Resource DVD
IMAGE RESTORE
Dell Backup and Recovery Manager for Windows® 7
SYSTEM RECOVERY
No Resource DVD
SOUND CARDS
Integrated Sound Card
Services & Software
DELL SERVICES: HARDWARE SUPPORT
1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day - Minimum Warranty
SUPPORT SERVICES
1Yr Basic Warranty - NBD Included- No Upgrade Selected
ANTITHEFT & ASSET TAGGING
No Asset Label Required
WINDOWS LIVE
Windows Live
POWER CORD / SHIP MOD OPTIONS
English Docs with UK/Irish Power Cord
Also included with your system
Order Information
Precision Order - United Kingdom
 
Thank you guys for all the replies.

They are doing Autocad 2010 3D, some small modelling and design work. Not playing any games with it(don't know if they play facebook games though :) )

I do agree that most of the consumer cards will work but since this is for a company pro work, I would sadly have to ask them to get it from Dell :o

They dont want to build from scratch or change just the GPU to a Quadro or a fireGL card after getting better parts for cheaper elsewhere.

So Dell 1 : Custom Built CAD PC 0 :eek:
 
Forget gaming cards - they don't work properly under AutoCAD in 3D.

Go for a proper workstation card such as a Quadro or a FirePro. The specs might look puny compared to the latest and greatest gaming cards but the software doesn't support them. ISV certification is the key.

Our AutoCAD users at work are very happy with the Lenovo ThinkStations we've been supplying.
 
Reaper 392 said:
quadro's may be expensive, but thats because they can do the 3D cad work that the OP needs, along with countless other design things that the geforce graphics cards cant do

also, the i5 2300k is way better for design work than the i7 920:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=363
(comparison is i5 2400k, which is literally a slightly higher clocked i5 2300k
Click to expand...

But out of those CPUs, only the i7 920 actually exists.
 
Thats the thing! Their office doesn't have some one to swap out or put a pro card in, after taking a pre assembled setup like in OCUK, although it would be much cheaper or powerful going for a custom built one, because of the lack of a "tech Guy" who knows whats what at their office, this battle is lost to Dell!
 
my take.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Dell Ultrasharp U2311H 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey £229.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £131.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £79.99
1 x Asus P8H61-M Intel H61 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £61.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply £42.98
1 x Silverstone PS02B Precision Midi Case - Black £38.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £28.99
1 x Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse (910-000616) £23.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
1 x Logitech UltraX Premium Keyboard - OEM (920-000189) £15.98
Total : £693.80 (includes shipping : £19.10).



For stuff like mouse and keyboard, probably best shopping around. the Microsoft Intellimouse is cheap and cheerful and has thumb buttons. The keyboard can be anything, but I like the Ultra X (midway between a desktop and laptop keyboard).

The Dell Ultrasharp are great screens (IPS panels, matte finish).

left some room for a graphics card, just about.

It's sometimes best to go OEM if you don't have a techie to sort out the glitches. You loose on the feature and power front, but gain on support.
 
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