New PC Build.

[QMaze]

Hello,

I am wanting to put together a system that will be primarily used for CAD, Solidworks, AutoCAD plus be able to run the latest games as well. It does not have to be the fastest at playing games but the ability to at least run the newer games.

I do have have a max budget around $700 for the tower but would like to spend less, if thats possible. I have choosen to use the Aspire X-QPACK ($121) as the case. I am not sure which processor/board combo and non of the hardware has to be the latest technology, which will help to keep costs down. I just want a stable reliable PC. I have been looking locally and have noticed a lot of the smaller computer stores in my area are offering ASRock mobo's with Semperon CPU's but have no experience with these newer makes or models. The last PC I built was P3 800 so its been awhile.

I await your suggestions. Thank you.

 

[deathwalker]

$121 for a x-qpack?..my god...go to newegg.com..they are much cheaper than that. I would recomment a Micro-atx socket 939 board..newegg has several of them..the new ATI chipset boards are actually doing very well in those platforms..for a proc....you will probably have to stay at or under a amd64 3200 to keep on budget. AT least 512 meg of ram 1 gig if you can afford it.. for video..something like a nividia 6600 might work on your budget, it will run most games but its not a screamer...nothing less than a 80 gig drive...and a NEC or Benq cd/dvd burner, they are inexpensive and work well...floppy drive if desired...Newegg.com is a decent one stop shopping location for this entire build.

 

[ajikan]

here's a list for a pretty fast computer:
http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wis...ISTORY&ID=1638965&WishListTitle=budget

(for the case, choose your own.)(you might have to spend just a little over 700, but it's all good..)

-always use newegg, cheapest prices, best quality

 

[QMaze]

Sorry I should have mentioned thats CDN dollars, my apologies. Hence the price of the Aspire.

Heres a list so far of some components I have choosen to price out today.

Aspire X-QPack $121.99
Samsung TS-H552U Dual Layer DVD Burner $54.99
Floppy Drive 26.99
Gigabyte 7VM400M-RZ and Athlon XP 3000+ $169.99
Ultra PC2700 512 RAM $60.99
Connect 3D Radeon 9600 XT/128MB AGP $107.99
Maxtor 160GB ATA-133 $81.99
Thermaltake EXtreme Volcano 12 CPU Cooler $34.99

Total $ 659.92 Canadian before taxes 15%

What do you think?

 

[ajikan]

some suggestions:

-get PC3200 RAM
-for the DVD, look for a LG DVD combo drive, those are really nice.
-i would switch to pci-express, not AGP (make sure your mobo supports it)
-also, use SATA drives, not ata
-get the zalman CNPS-7000 for the CPU cooler, the best air cooler you can have.

 

[QMaze]

Well in order to keep under the budget I can't go with the latest technology. I would love to use the SATA and PCI-X but the cost goes up quite a bit. I can get the LG for the same price and it didn't look like Zalman makes a socket A cooler, could be wrong. thats the one I wanted but didn't find it.

Thanks