Need some help with making a few computers

[NeuromancerWGDD'U]

My dad's asked me to help him choose hardware to put into some new computers for his business. They're a construction company, and the machines would be used for CAD, as well as generic office applications (Excel, Word, etc.). I've never used CAD, so I have no idea what hardware is necessary/good to have. Is it RAM intensive? CPU intensive (I wouldn't imagine, but it's always good to ask)? I'm not sure if we'd be getting monitors as well, but if we are, what should I be looking for in a good monitor for CAD?

I have no clue as to what resources CAD uses, so any help at all would be immensely appreciated. Thanks...

 

[dragon2309]

CAD can be used in 3D mode or 2D mode. If it is 3D mode then it will be very RAM intensive and you would need high capacity low latency RAM, you would also need more than just the integrated grpahics on a mobo. Nothing too high end like a 7800GT but something that is capable like Radeon X600XT or the GeForce 6200.

I doubt CAD is too CPU intensive but lets not drop below the 3.0Ghz mark, i would say that INTEL would be a better option than AMD. This is because pentiums are better at multi-tasking than AMD processors are. You will obviously need these PC's to be stable so get a good mobo perhaps a Gigabyte or ASUS, do not get anything from PcChips or low end Abit's, they are not designed to cope with the kind of work you are describing.

I hope this helps, dragon2309

 

[Cromewell]

Actually among CAD users AMD chips are very popular and they have the performance to back it up.

 

[NeuromancerWGDD'U]

i would say that INTEL would be a better option than AMD. This is because pentiums are better at multi-tasking than AMD processors are.

Yeah, the people who use these computers have no clue what they're doing (outside of a CAD environment), and they have about 30 different apps running at the same time, so yeah....we're goin' Intel on these. Would we want to go for DDR2, or would DDR400 be sufficient? (oh, and, note: it's 2-d CAD. I wasn't aware that there was a 3-d operating mode)

EDIT: Hmm...I don't know, we may go AMD, but I'm not too sure...Would the multi-taking be too much of a strain on the proc? They have a metric butload of little utilities running while using CAD, so it's not as if there's too awful much competition for resources per app, it's just that they have a lot of apps...

 

[NeuromancerWGDD'U]

What speed of processer would be optimal for this? Well, obviously a very expensive chip, but with these we're being real miserly, so what would be the best price/performance ratio for this kind of work?

 

[Cromewell]

In AutoCAD Athlon XP processors show much higher performance than Pentium 4. Hyper-Threading technology, which helped the fastest Pentium 4 processor quite a lot in many cases, doesn't do it any good in this application. Sometimes, even the contrary happens. Besides, the bigger L2 cache of Barton based CPUs tells positively on the performance in AutoCAD. As a result, the laurels here go over to Athlon XP 3000+.

You can see pretty graphs http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/athlonxp-3000_2.html if you'd like they are about 1/2 way down the page

 

[diduknowthat]

generally AMD's are cheaper than Intel P4s, but I don't really know anything about CAD and stuff. Check this website out, www.pricewatch.com .

 

[NyRoN]

I would choose Intel for CAD...AMD to me i would choose if you were playin games...but get a P4 Extreme Edition and a good GPU and i would prefer the DDR2 for CAD...but its your call...and some people on this forum would know more than i do...but thats my suggestions

 

[NyRoN]

AMD stuff are cheaper than Intel...especially Intel's P4 Extreme line

 

[jesbax]

amd cpu would be better for cad. it is more dependable that intel. need a lot of ram about 1 to 1.5 gigs of ram and at least 20" monitor. Crt monitors are the best for cad. lot of cad apps can run 2d or 3d and you do need a good vidio card to go with it.

 

[691175002]

I would also add a workstation video card. An Nvidia Quatro (i think thats it) would work well.

 

[NyRoN]

wouldn't two cards under SLI perform better than a Quatro

 

[691175002]

wouldn't two cards under SLI perform better than a Quatro

Yes but they are not playing games and quatro cards have features that support CAD and have special drivers for that sortof stuff.

 

[Tony Williams]

Okay let's get one thing stright!

INTEL suck okay?

If I were you I'd opt for a 3000+ Venice

In a way the 3000+ is the same as a 3.0 GHZ P4!
A 3000+ would compete with a 3.4, 3.6 and in some cases a 3.8 in terms of gaming

Now, with video encoding I'd say the 3000+ competes with a 3.0 and 2.8

So in answer to your queston I'd get .....

AMD 3000+ Venice
1 GB RAM (2 GB if you have the money) this depends on your budget I feel the Corsair's Value RAM!

Umm as for the video card .... X300SE (PCIE) or 9200 (AGP)

I think you have the idea .....

 

[Praetor]

I've never used CAD, so I have no idea what hardware is necessary/good to have. Is it RAM intensive? CPU intensive (I wouldn't imagine, but it's always good to ask)?

Generically ... hunt down a midrange Intel/AMD box (although you'll prolly do better on AMD silicon) with either a simple video system (which i suspect will be sufficient) ... now if they are into hardcore CAD (which is more what an architect would do) then you'd be looking into a fancy CAD videocard but i dont think thats the case

If it is 3D mode then it will be very RAM intensive and you would need high capacity low latency RAM

The amount of RAM is more important than the low-latency

I doubt CAD is too CPU intensive

Ironically its quite CPU bound

generally AMD's are cheaper than Intel P4s

Back in the days of the AthlonXP

AMD stuff are cheaper than Intel...especially Intel's P4 Extreme line

Yes but yer silly if you are trying to compare a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition to say an AthlonXP

it is more dependable that intel

I dont know where you read that but thats plain silly. Short of incompetent overclocking or physical accidents, processors are effectively universally stable

I would also add a workstation video card. An Nvidia Quatro (i think thats it) would work well.

Only if they get into the architectural/heavy duty side of things.... if its there just to fireup CAD stuff and do light-medium work on it, Quaddro may be overkill

wouldn't two cards under SLI perform better than a Quatro

Except
1. For light-medium CAD work, its CPU and RAM bound
2. You assume Quaddros cant be SLI'd

Okay let's get one thing stright!
INTEL suck okay?

In a way the 3000+ is the same as a 3.0 GHZ P4!
A 3000+ would compete with a 3.4, 3.6 and in some cases a 3.8 in terms of gaming

1. Too bad it isnt
2. Since when the hell is CAD = Gaming?

Now, with video encoding I'd say the 3000+ competes with a 3.0 and 2.8

Too bad thats just plain wrong

I think you have the idea .....

 

[NeuromancerWGDD'U]

Thanks for the help everyone. Alright, so far I have:

Proc: [font=&quot]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103381
Mobo:[/font]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127162
RAM:[font=&quot]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141198
Vid:[/font][font=&quot]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102289

For the lazy people who don't want to click on the links, that's an Athlon XP 3000+ Barton, an Abit K7V, 1 gig of PC3200 CAS latency 3 RAM (it's unregistered/unbuffered and non-ECC, I don't know if the mobo supports those, so I went on the safe side. Is ECC important for CAD?), and the vid-card is a Radeon 9600 128 MB DDR.

Nothin' fancy, just what'll get the job done fairly well. Tell me what you think. Any suggestions are welcome as well, although, the cheaper the better, as long as it'll perform similarly, it's going to be considered.

With all other components (HDD, CD/DVD drive, OS, case) taken into account it's currently at [/font][font=&quot]631.83 USD.[/font][font=&quot][/font]

 

[Praetor]

for the lazy people who don't want to click on the links, that's an AthlonXP 3000+ Barton, an Abit K7v, 1 gig of pc3200 cas latency 3 ram (it's unregistered/unbuffered and non-ecc, i don't know if the mobo supports those, so i went on the safe side. is ecc important for cad?), and the vid-card is a radeon 9600 128 mb DDR.

ah thanks for that... newegg takes forever to load (and i usually know the specs when given the make/model hehe)... a few comments

• is there a reason you chose the discontinued K7 lineup over a K8 based system?
• whats the net budget?
• ECC is something that is determined by the motherboard and will generally be found on servergrade systems. since you're not looking at one, theres not much reason to go there. RAM 101

System

• AMD Athlon64 3000+ [OPN ADA3000DAA4BP] $145USD
• Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 $75USD or Chaintech VNF4 $75USD
• pQI 2x512 CAS3 $80USD
• XFX GeForceMX4000 64MB AGP8X $30USD or Sapphire X300SE 128MB PCIE $50USD

Subtotal = $330 or $350

Better performance, better price.

 

[NeuromancerWGDD'U]

Wow...not bad at all. I had considered a K7 machine due to the lower prices, but it appears I've been spending too much time dreaming about the overkill K8 machines, and hadn't realized that they were fairly inexpensive (well, the lower end K8...). Budget...I'm not entirely sure, but I do know that if I can get a fairly cheap machine, I'll be able to put them together (what a treat!). If I can't, however, compile a decent machine fairly cheaply, my father will resort to....*shudder*...Dell (I've got nothing personal against Dell, but if he goes Dell, there won't be any room to upgrade unless everything's upgraded).

 

[Praetor]

Wow...not bad at all. I had considered a K7 machine due to the lower prices, but it appears I've been spending too much time dreaming about the overkill K8 machines, and hadn't realized that they were fairly inexpensive (well, the lower end K8...). Budget...I'm not entirely sure, but I do know that if I can get a fairly cheap machine, I'll be able to put them together (what a treat!). If I can't, however, compile a decent machine fairly cheaply, my father will resort to....*shudder*...Dell (I've got nothing personal against Dell, but if he goes Dell, there won't be any room to upgrade unless everything's upgraded).

Well you've not listed anything that the system I spec'd out cant handle cleanly so I dont see why not to go that route (of course you should get a good PSU but the PSU101 has that covered)

 

[NeuromancerWGDD'U]

(of course you should get a good PSU but the PSU101 has that covered)

Indeed it does. Thank you for your help, I think I have a pretty good system here now.