Workstation Build - £450 ($600)

[a.grieveson@gma]

I have been asked to spec a workstation for a friend of mine. She is an Architecture student and will be using the system for work only (e.g. AutoCAD, Revit, Sketchup, Photoshop). NO over clocking, NO gaming. She has a strict budget of no more than £450 ($600) for the full build (She is moving from a laptop so has nothing).

I have built a workstation for this kind of use for myself before, but they have all been in the £2000 ($3000) range, and I have no real experience in where money is best spent on such a low end system.

The only constraint is that it will have a workstation GPU (e.g. Quadro 600).

Any UK supplier (or multiple).

What would your suggestions be?

 

[stulid]

Any UK supplier (or multiple).

If it cant be found at OCUK, then the competitor cant be mentioned/linked to or even the price mentioned.

 

[tempusfugit]

whats wrong with this ocuk bundle? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-033-OP&groupid=43&catid=2051&subcat=

 

[a.grieveson@gma]

If it cant be found at OCUK, then the competitor cant be mentioned/linked to or even the price mentioned.

Yes I assumed that I did not need to say that on here.

whats wrong with this ocuk bundle? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-033-OP&groupid=43&catid=2051&subcat=

That is £100 over budget and an incomplete system.

 

[LukieBoy007]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £101.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £69.95
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D2V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £41.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £39.95
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Midi Tower Case - Black £25
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £432.83 (includes shipping : £12.50).



This is the best I could get, Windows 7 takes up a lot of the budget

 

[Syncez]

Hey there.
My brother is studying Architecture and Interior Design up in a University in the midlands. I built him something along these lines:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £97.99
1 x Sapphire HD 7750 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £69.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DL002) £64.99
1 x ASRock H77M Intel H77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £62.99
1 x Mach Xtreme Technology 60GB 2.5" SATA 6GB/s MX-DS TURBO PREMIUM Edition SSD £57.98
1 x OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Kingston Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE SATA 16x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £489.96 (includes shipping : £11.75).



He uses the same software as you mentioned and so far the build has worked fine. No issues at all. pretty fast. The only difference with the build I gave him is the processor. He is running an i5 Sandy bridge.

Do you need an OS for the build?
Edit: Lukie got there before me haha

 

[a.grieveson@gma]

1 x Sapphire HD 7750 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £69.95

I am a bit wary of going with a no workstation GPU, I have noticed significant performance increases in CAD apps on workstations I have built with workstation GPU's over gaming ones. Though saying this all my experience is with much higher spec systems, so I do not know if the same is true for lower spec systems.

Do you need an OS for the build?

Yes an OS is required.

 

[Syncez]

I am a bit wary of going with a no workstation GPU, I have noticed significant performance increases in CAD apps on workstations I have built with workstation GPU's over gaming ones. Though saying this all my experience is with much higher spec systems, so I do not know if the same is true for lower spec systems.




Yes an OS is required.

The GPU is fine. As I mentioned, my brother does the same course as this person you're building this PC for. Is he/she in the first years or architecture or last? I suppose the early stages, a workstation computer isnt necessary. It is only later on and once he/she has enough money, a workstation GPU is always an option as an upgrade . As for the OS, you can remove the SSD from my build and stick an OS instead. comes to around the same.. ish