Please help design a fast PC for an architecture student!!

[maggie11]

Hi, I'm planning to buy a new PC for my firend in school.
FYI, he is an architecture student that will use the PC mostly for HEAVY 3D modeling/rendering and 2D photo editing. not into games, but should be using the internet and watching movies alot, so love to be able to hook TV up as a second display.

Budget : approx. $1,500 (including decent 20 or 21 inch CRT monitor) willing to go over budget a little if deemed highly beneficial.

CPU :
RAM : 2 Gigs (maybe more?)
HDD :
Video :
Sound :
DVD Combo : yes
Monitor : 20 or 21 inch CRT
what else??

Thanks in advance!!

 

[suicidalpigeon]

is he going to be overclocking? do you need mouse/keyboard? operating system? case? speakers? dooes he really want a crt? lcd's are more benificial. oh and a power supply.

 

[maggie11]

overclocking is needed, i THINK.mouse/keyboard is needed,of course.$1500 only,Is it enough to buy LCD?

 

[mOeeOm]

Originally posted by: maggie11
Hi, I'm planning to buy a new PC for my firend in school.
FYI, he is an architecture student that will use the PC mostly for HEAVY 3D modeling/rendering and 2D photo editing. not into games, but should be using the internet and watching movies alot, so love to be able to hook TV up as a second display.

Def get an X2 then, will help him a lot in those tasks.

 

[d2arcturus]

Text

I second the X2.

 

[suicidalpigeon]

be aware with that monitor, x2 will be difficult to add into the system. right now im having a brain fart just including the l90d and everything else to meet the price after shipping.

 

[d2arcturus]

Originally posted by: wafflesandsyrup
be aware with that monitor, x2 will be difficult to add into the system. right now im having a brain fart just including the l90d and everything else to meet the price after shipping.

Howabout a Pentium D, or wait for 3800 X2, Monarch starts shipping Aug. 12.

 

[suicidalpigeon]

yes waiting for the 3800 will be the best choice. intel's dual cores arent really dual cores. they're just two single processors added together to make an even bigger heater. but as of now im assuming the op needs it asap.

 

[d2arcturus]

Well it's for school, so I'm guessing it'll be needed for Sept. Best wait for 3800 X2.

What kind of video card would you need for rendering? Would a 6800GT be fine or would you need one of those workstation Quadro/FireGL dealies?

Edit: 500! Woot. :beer:

 

[suicidalpigeon]

6800gt will be plenty.

 

[svi]

Workstation-class video cards are meant for this kind of thing, but they are hideously overpriced considering that they are almost identical to consumer-level cards (remember, things are priced for what the market can support). I'd get a highish-end nVidia card (nVidia cards typically do better in OGL workstation apps) and install workstation drivers for them, or at least use SoftQuadro.

The rest of the system... an X2 3800+ if you can fit it in there, you can make serious use of two separate cores with CAD/CAM. Monitor is important, but should be dealt with only after you've added up everything else, as it has the most price wiggle room. HDD isn't that important, get something reasonably large and fast. Oh, and he should definitely get a very good mouse and keyboard.. save him a lot of frustration. Working with substandard I/O gear is hell with any computer-assisted design.

As for the rest of the stuff.. recommendations are pretty much the same as they'd be for any general-use computer. Get a decent, easy-to-work-in case, a high-quality PSU, that sort of thing. What speakers will he be using for movie watching?

 

[BOLt]

Originally posted by: svi
Workstation-class video cards are meant for this kind of thing, but they are hideously overpriced considering that they are almost identical to consumer-level cards (remember, things are priced for what the market can support). I'd get a highish-end nVidia card (nVidia cards typically do better in OGL workstation apps) and install workstation drivers for them, or at least use SoftQuadro.

The rest of the system... an X2 3800+ if you can fit it in there, you can make serious use of two separate cores with CAD/CAM. Monitor is important, but should be dealt with only after you've added up everything else, as it has the most price wiggle room. HDD isn't that important, get something reasonably large and fast. Oh, and he should definitely get a very good mouse and keyboard.. save him a lot of frustration. Working with substandard I/O gear is hell with any computer-assisted design.

As for the rest of the stuff.. recommendations are pretty much the same as they'd be for any general-use computer. Get a decent, easy-to-work-in case, a high-quality PSU, that sort of thing. What speakers will he be using for movie watching?

Good advice. $1500 might be a bit of a squeeze with a rig like this. Does any one have stuff priced out for him to look at?