Newbe wants to build CAD and music computer! Please Help!

[yosh2000]

hello, newbe making his first post here looking for some help. i'm going to be in the need for a new computer in the next couple of months and i want to starting looking and researching now.

purpose of computer: 1) CAD (im a mech engineering student and am looking to get really into the whole 3D modeling and stuff, probably 3D solidworks for desert trucks and such. i want to design suspension for trucks and sandrails so being able to revolutions and motion in the programs is a must!), 2) music (basic mp3 stuff like naming, organizing, storing and then transfering to my creative zen player), 3) video burning (i would like to be able to copy my personal DVDs to make loaner copies, and to be able to make my own movies and burn them to DVDs), 4) other basic computer such as email, word processing, money management, etc.

i DO NOT play any sort of games on my computer, never have and never will, simply not into gaming at all!! no offense to anyone here!

i am looking to spend right around $1000, or less if you guys can recomend anything!!

i have a dell inspiron 4150 right now, w/ a Pent 4 1.7GHz processor, ATI 16mb video card, 256mb ddr 266MHz RAM. this is my benchmark. i would like a computer that is a lot faster, and that is able to run a couple of programs at once. like i said, CAD will be the main purpose of this computer, but i will also be doing a lot of music and some movie editing.

i have begun to do a little research, but i simply do not know where to begin! i'm not trying to be lazy, but all this computer stuff is greek to me. i have purchased a book to begin to learn the basics about putting a computer together. dont get me wrong, i am mechanically inclined, i installed a lift on my truck by myself and did many other things to it, so i'm not stupid when it comes to putting stuff together, just computers is a new territory to me!

i believe i have covered all the basic info for some recomendations, but if you need more, i'll be more than happy to post up! thanks again for taking the time to help me out, i really appreciate it!

also, my brother was saying that i might want to run two harddrives, one solely for the CAD stuff, and another for music and everything else. he said this way, the computer wont have to search all around between drawings and music, basically, that it will speed things up, is this true? if so, how hard would it be to do a two HDD computer? remember, still learning here!

[flanzig1]

For that kind of work, you'll need a computer with some horse power. Here's my general recommendations: Intel motherboard, at least a 3ghz processor, 2 gigs of ram, sata HDs, middle of the road video card. I'm sure someone will come along with specific parts(dial-up too slow to search).

[glc]

Newegg pricing (not including shipping):

Video card: ATI FireGL V3100 PCI-Express 128mb $189.00
Motherboard: Asus P5GD1 $106.00
Processor: Intel 530J retail box $175.49
Ram: Corsair Value Select PC3200 2x512mb dual channel kit $80.00 (NOTE: If you can afford it, two of these for 2gb)
Hard drive: Seagate 250gb SATA $127.00
Opticals: Lite-On 1693S DVD burner (approx. $50.00, choose beige or black depending on case) and Asus E616P3 DVD reader (approx. $25.00, color as above)
Firewire card: Koutech IO-PFW310 $13.50
Floppy drive: Approx. $10.00

We are right around $800 here. You will need a case, power supply, operating system, and peripherals. You need a quality 400 or so watt power supply with a 24 pin ATX 2.0 connector, I'd recommend you get a case with no power supply and a XClio 450 watt PSU, it's about $55. There aren't too many cases yet with ATX 2.0 power supplies preinstalled, much less ones with dual +12 volt rails, which the XClio has. I chose that video card for Solidworks compatibility, it's certified without costing a fortune. Try the onboard sound, if it's not up to your standards, add a sound card later.

[yosh2000]

thanks guys for the quick response.

concerning the case - i think i found a case last night, it is a rosewill R103A w/ 350 power supply, only $27 at newegg.com. looks to be a solid, cheap case, and since i'm not going for looks (all function, no form here!) looks to be what i'm going with. now, will this run cool enough for the 530J chip? i was reading that this chip runs a bit hot, how do i properly cool it so it will run smooth?

now about the power supply, how exactly do i tell how much i will need? i checked out that XCLIO 450W supply, will that do me good? is there a online caclulator, or any recomendations on power supplys?

also, my brother was saying that i might want to run two harddrives, one solely for the CAD stuff, and another for music and everything else. he said this way, the computer wont have to search all around between drawings and music, basically, that it will speed things up, is this true? if so, how hard would it be to do a two HDD computer? remember, still learning here!

again, thanks for all the help for the newbe asking dumb questions!

[kram 2.0]

Welcome to PC Mech forums

Yes, the Pentium 4 530J does generally run a tad bit hotter than its predecessor - given one fan blowing into the case and one fan acting as the exhaust, you should be fine. The Heat Sink Fan'll do the job at dissipating heat as long as you keep a good air circulation within the case.

XCLIO 450W PSU will get the job done for you.

Two Hard Drives shouldn't be too hard. It's like adding optical (CD/DVD) drives to. Just install one of them, install the Operating System on it, and once you're settled, at the second and format that HDD - it should be fairly straightforward. We're here if you need help.

kram

[glc]

If you are after function, why not look at the Raidmax, Codegen, and Maxtop cases with no power supply?

There is no advantage to 2 hard drives unless you use one for the OS and all the software, and use the other as strictly a data drive.