- Oct 4, 2002
- 2,188
- 99
- 91
Well, the time has arrived. After flip flopping back and forth on just what I may need in a computer since my last build died my mind has been made for me. I just found out that after a many year hiatus I will be dipping my toe back into the CAD/Design field and so that means I need a reasonably priced mid-range build.
Since I am building this myself, this also affords me the opportunity to tweak the build to meet my needs. What I need from the AT community is a little bit of a guiding hand in this regard.
EDITED TO BETTER REFLECT THE FORMATTING IN THE STICKY
First off, my thanks to mfenn for his awesome mid-range guide it has been quite helpful.
1. Occasion CAD Work (w/ some 3D possibly), general productivity. No significant gaming. Future possible use as a file server/sync/backup for our mobile devices.
I eventualy would like to use this build as a central file server of sorts. I envision synchronizing my laptop and future mobile devices via wireless to this server. Its also a possibility that I may VPN (I believe I am using this properly) into this computer from a remote worksite with my laptop. There will be most likely a cloud storage type of system in place as well but I can forsee being able to access files on this system remotely in a pinch being handy. I may not have the tower space to accomplish this entirely in one unit but I certainly need to keep this in mind when laying out the basic infrastructure. I've never had a good backup system in place as well and this seems like a good time to start.
2. ~$600; Most likely this will preclude buying ALL hardware at once but this should be more than enough to get it up and running with purchases ready to go in the future to upgrade.
3. USA
4. n/a
5. No brand preference. Value for money and reliability.
6. Earthwatts 380W PSU, Old Antec Case (4 Front Drive Bay, 2 Floppy), ATI Radeon 9500 Pro (Assuming not going to be used)
7. Possible overclock but nothing requiring any effort. I ran an overclock by changing the multiplier for awhile until age made it unstable.
8. Current resolution is 1024 x 768 but will be eventually 1920 x 1080.
9. Within next month. Going near microcenter this weekend.
So, to get the system itself up and running should require....
1. A motherboard
2. A processor
3. RAM
4. HDD
5. OS
The other bits can be added as needed/when on sale. The catch of course is that I need to spec a motherboard up front that can handle those bits when they are added. So I suppose that is my primary focus and there are a TON of options to look at. As a starting point let's have a look at this....
1. ASROCK Z77 Pro4 - $59.99 (bundle price). Has 1 less PCIe slot than Extreme 4 and less USB ports but has 4 SATA 6Gb/s. Is this more important than PCIe? Extreme 4 is also $20 more.
2. i5-3750K - $189.99
3. 16GB (2 x 8GB) Crucial Balistix CL9 - $67.99 (bundle price)
$340.11 so far when you factor in tax.
Any comments thus far? I really need to spec the right MB that can handle my future needs.
Thanks! Yes, I do know that I am missing a HDD and OS.
P-X
Since I am building this myself, this also affords me the opportunity to tweak the build to meet my needs. What I need from the AT community is a little bit of a guiding hand in this regard.
EDITED TO BETTER REFLECT THE FORMATTING IN THE STICKY
First off, my thanks to mfenn for his awesome mid-range guide it has been quite helpful.
1. Occasion CAD Work (w/ some 3D possibly), general productivity. No significant gaming. Future possible use as a file server/sync/backup for our mobile devices.
I eventualy would like to use this build as a central file server of sorts. I envision synchronizing my laptop and future mobile devices via wireless to this server. Its also a possibility that I may VPN (I believe I am using this properly) into this computer from a remote worksite with my laptop. There will be most likely a cloud storage type of system in place as well but I can forsee being able to access files on this system remotely in a pinch being handy. I may not have the tower space to accomplish this entirely in one unit but I certainly need to keep this in mind when laying out the basic infrastructure. I've never had a good backup system in place as well and this seems like a good time to start.
2. ~$600; Most likely this will preclude buying ALL hardware at once but this should be more than enough to get it up and running with purchases ready to go in the future to upgrade.
3. USA
4. n/a
5. No brand preference. Value for money and reliability.
6. Earthwatts 380W PSU, Old Antec Case (4 Front Drive Bay, 2 Floppy), ATI Radeon 9500 Pro (Assuming not going to be used)
7. Possible overclock but nothing requiring any effort. I ran an overclock by changing the multiplier for awhile until age made it unstable.
8. Current resolution is 1024 x 768 but will be eventually 1920 x 1080.
9. Within next month. Going near microcenter this weekend.
So, to get the system itself up and running should require....
1. A motherboard
2. A processor
3. RAM
4. HDD
5. OS
The other bits can be added as needed/when on sale. The catch of course is that I need to spec a motherboard up front that can handle those bits when they are added. So I suppose that is my primary focus and there are a TON of options to look at. As a starting point let's have a look at this....
1. ASROCK Z77 Pro4 - $59.99 (bundle price). Has 1 less PCIe slot than Extreme 4 and less USB ports but has 4 SATA 6Gb/s. Is this more important than PCIe? Extreme 4 is also $20 more.
2. i5-3750K - $189.99
3. 16GB (2 x 8GB) Crucial Balistix CL9 - $67.99 (bundle price)
$340.11 so far when you factor in tax.
Any comments thus far? I really need to spec the right MB that can handle my future needs.
Thanks! Yes, I do know that I am missing a HDD and OS.
P-X
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