Spec for general usage and CAD usage?

Scythe · 23 Jul 2011 at 18:48

Hi, I don't spend a lot on computers anymore, so I don't really know what the components are like these days. I'm running a Mac Mini for general usage, but I'm going to build a PC for new usage and CAD work, along with assignments etc for uni.

I don't regularly upgrade so I want a good spec now that will last me a while, USB3, i7 preferably, but other than that, I don't know.

Ideally:

USB3
1TB HD Capacity minimum
Plenty of RAM (preferably 8GB or more?)
No SSD
Futureproof

I've already got Windows 7 too, but nothing else. I won't be overclocking either.

Budget is £500, maybe stretch to £600 if it opens up many more opportunities.

Is it possible?

stulid · 23 Jul 2011 at 18:49

Do you need a monitor/keyboard etc?

Scythe · 23 Jul 2011 at 18:53

stulid said:
Do you need a monitor/keyboard etc?

I'm going to put away £500 for a system, and an extra £100 for a monitor, so that's why I can stretch to £600 if it's really needed for the spec.

Gonna be using a KVM switch with my Mac so using existing keyboard/mouse.

stulid · 23 Jul 2011 at 18:55

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £134.99
(£112.49) £134.99
(£112.49)
OcUK GeForce GTX 460 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £113.99
(£94.99) £113.99
(£94.99)
OcUK V-Line 221V2SB 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £83.99
(£69.99) £83.99
(£69.99)
MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
(£41.66) £49.99
(£41.66)
BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £44.99
(£37.49) £44.99
(£37.49)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £26.99
(£22.49) £26.99
(£22.49)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £509.07
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £104.06
Total : £624.38

£610.98 with free delivery

Thats got SATA3.0 and USB3.0
8GB RAM
1TB HDD
Nice case with lots of features and cooling.

stulid · 23 Jul 2011 at 18:58

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £161.99
(£134.99) £161.99
(£134.99)
OcUK V-Line 221V2SB 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £83.99
(£69.99) £83.99
(£69.99)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5770 Single Slot 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Stalker & AVP Games £77.99
(£64.99) £77.99
(£64.99)
Asus P8P67 LE Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** *LOWEST UK PRICE* £68.98
(£57.48) £68.98
(£57.48)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
(£41.66) £49.99
(£41.66)
BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £44.99
(£37.49) £44.99
(£37.49)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £26.99
(£22.49) £26.99
(£22.49)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £509.06
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £104.06
Total : £624.37

£610.98 with free delivery which you get.

Same as above but the "K" CPU and P67 board allow you to overclock the CPU.

Reaper 392 · 23 Jul 2011 at 18:59

arent you forgetting something stulid?

*edit*
now fixed

Scythe · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:00

Thanks for the quick response. It's got 12GB (8GB + 4GB packs) there, is there enough slots to accommodate this, or is it best just sticking to the 8GB due to dual channel?

Don't need delivery either so that'll save me a tidy sum

EDIT: I also won't be overclocking so doesn't matter, will stay stock

Reaper 392 · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:02

Scythe said:
Thanks for the quick response. It's got 12GB (8GB + 4GB packs) there, is there enough slots to accommodate this, or is it best just sticking to the 8GB due to dual channel?

Don't need delivery either so that'll save me a tidy sum

EDIT: I also won't be overclocking so doesn't matter, will stay stock

you would see a massive benefit from overclocking in CAD programs. its also really easy

stulid · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:04

Scythe said:
Thanks for the quick response. It's got 12GB (8GB + 4GB packs) there, is there enough slots to accommodate this, or is it best just sticking to the 8GB due to dual channel?

You already have DDR3 ram? how many sticks is it? how is it arranged?

2X4GB and a 4GB or 2X4GB and 2X2GB?

Scythe · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:04

Reaper 392 said:
you would see a massive benefit from overclocking in CAD programs. its also really easy

True but this system will be easily quick enough compared to mine right now what I've been working with

I suppose having the opportunity there is useful, I like to have a quiet, stable system without much messing about though to be honest.

stulid · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:06

Scythe said:
True but this system will be easily quick enough compared to mine right now what I've been working with

I suppose having the opportunity there is useful, I like to have a quiet, stable system without much messing about though to be honest.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500-2400-2300.html

Shows what a stock 15 2300 is capable off.

Scythe · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:06

stulid said:
You already have DDR3 ram? how many sticks is it? how is it arranged?

2X4GB and a 4GB or 2X4GB and 2X2GB?

No I'm running DDR2. I mean looking at the spec, it has

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £26.99
(£22.49)

and

Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99

Total is 12GB? It would be quite nice to have if it worked.

stulid · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:08

Scythe said:
No I'm running DDR2. I mean looking at the spec, it has

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £26.99
(£22.49)

and

Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99

Total is 12GB? It would be quite nice to have if it worked.

I blame my phone for that one sorry. lol

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £134.99
(£112.49) £134.99
(£112.49)
OcUK GeForce GTX 460 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £113.99
(£94.99) £113.99
(£94.99)
OcUK V-Line 221V2SB 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £83.99
(£69.99) £83.99
(£69.99)
MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
(£41.66) £49.99
(£41.66)
BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £44.99
(£37.49) £44.99
(£37.49)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £486.58
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £99.57
Total : £597.40

Reaper 392 · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:08

in that case, the best i can do is this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £161.99
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 460 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £113.99
1 x OcUK V-Line 221V2SB 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £83.99
1 x Asus P8P67 LE Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** *LOWEST UK PRICE* £68.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x OCZ ModXStream Pro 500w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply £44.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £41.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Midi Tower Case - Black £29.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £611.88 (includes shipping: FREE).

Scythe · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:09

stulid said:
I blame my phone for that one sorry. lol

Oh no worries, you're being a great help anyway!

Is it worth pushing the spec to an i7, or aren't they worth the extra cost?

stulid · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:11

Scythe said:
Oh no worries, you're being a great help anyway!

Is it worth pushing the spec to an i7, or aren't they worth the extra cost?

They benefit in multi threaded apps because they include Hyperthreading,
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/287?vs=288

But worth the extra £70? I dont really know.

Scythe · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:12

Is such a big card really required? With my work it's mostly processing power I lack, although a dedicated card will be needed. Possible place to cut back? I'm not sure

stulid · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:15

Scythe said:
Is such a big card really required? With my work it's mostly processing power I lack, although a dedicated card will be needed. Possible place to cut back? I'm not sure

Well with Nvidia you get CUDA, which if a application can use it to do the rendering will make the CPU power look like a ZX81,
http://developer.nvidia.com/what-cuda

Scythe · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:19

stulid said:
Well with Nvidia you get CUDA, which if a application can use it to do the rendering will make the CPU power look like a ZX81,
http://developer.nvidia.com/what-cuda

Fair play, thank you!

Is it worth having a dedicated sound card these days, or has onboard improved? I use my computer to listen to music a lot and was wondering if I can see any improvement with a sound card.

stulid · 23 Jul 2011 at 19:20

Another alternative is to use the CPU's built in GPU core only, which means a i7 can be squeezed into the budget

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £239.99
(£199.99) £239.99
(£199.99)
Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
(£74.99) £89.99
(£74.99)
OcUK V-Line 221V2SB 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £83.99
(£69.99) £83.99
(£69.99)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
(£41.66) £49.99
(£41.66)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 ATX '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £499.92
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £102.23
Total : £613.40

Thats £600 without delivery, but the motherboard is on pre-order, but because its a Z68 chipset and a K CPU you can overclock.

Scythe said:
Is it worth having a dedicated sound card these days, or has onboard improved? I use my computer to listen to music a lot and was wondering if I can see any improvement with a sound card.

The onboard HD 7.1 sound is much better these days.