Not a Gamer and not a CAD Box

[Daydreamer]

Hello all,
I am thinking about building a new pc. I will use Vista 32 bit as my OS. I’m not a gamer but I do have Chief Architect Design software that I use heavily. It uses OpenGl for 3D rendering. Other than that, I have Microsoft Office 2007. I don’t do a lot with Photo’s but I may in the future.
Due to the graphics rendering demand I selected the Asus board with 2 PCI x16 slots in case I decide to run graphics cards in SLI in the future.

I am trying to put together a reliable, expandable and reasonably cost machine.
Here are the items I have chosen so far. All are from our friends at Newegg.

Rosewill R604TSB-N 120mm Fan ATX Mid Tower Computer Case+450W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147031

ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131225

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115028

Kingston 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134582

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288

LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106057

ASUS EN8600GT/HTDP/512M GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121097

Logitech 967738-0403 Black 104 Normal Keys USB Standard Deluxe 250 Keyboard - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823126013

Logitech RX1000 931710-0403 Black/Silver 4 Buttons Tilt Wheel USB Wired Laser Mouse - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826104014

Any and all comments will be gladly accepted.

Thanks in advance for all of your help.

[shadowpr]

Get a better power supply. http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

Also, you might want to consider either the E8400, or better yet, for your uses I think the Q6600 would be better.

Not sure how tha video card will work with your needs, I'll let someone else comment.

Make both the hard drive and dvd drive sata connections. For dvd drives, Lite-on retail drives are highly recommended.

[Daydreamer]

Thanks shadowpr...
I'll take a look at your suggestions.
Okay, I see what you mean.

I changed the HD and the DVD out in my specs.

[Khalil]

I am not sure if the 8600 is the best card for what you want to do. This card here will probably do much better for you than an 8600 since you are not gaming http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814195008
Both Seasonic and Antec offer 5 year warranty.

[shadowpr]

Look at this hard drive: for a few dollars more, you get double the cache: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288

[Daydreamer]

Okay, I can deal with the HD change.
I have edited the post.

Thanks again shadowpr

Khalil,

I need NVIDIA because it works better with the 3D software I have. I also want to keep my options open for going to SLI.

But thanks for your input.

I'm still working on the case/psu choice.

[shadowpr]

If you want a combo case/psu look at the antec sonata III

[Daydreamer]

I'm still looking at the case/psu issue...
I dont' like the looks of th sonata III...
I'm an old guy, I want the bays exposed so I can get to things.
I'm from the day when swapping floppies was the only way to work, and Windows was still locked up in someone's brain.

[shadowpr]

Could just get a case you like, and then buy the power supply seperate then. Probably your best option.

[Daydreamer]

I'm thinking that's what I am going to do.
I will get it sorted out and re-post before I act on anything.

Thanks again for all of your help.

[Daydreamer]

Okay, what about this for the case and psu?

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068

Antec earthwatts EA500 ATX12V v2.0 500W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, CB, C-tick, CCC - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007

[Khalil]

Excellent power supply, but those cases are not very well built.

Here is a better choice for $10 more http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129024 but free shipping makes it less than what you listed.

[Daydreamer]

How about this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129018

[Khalil]

Great case but it will cost a lot more once you put in the EA500 Antec power supply and shipping.

[Daydreamer]

okay, the sonata III it is.

Other than this last issue, does the system look pretty sound?


I guess I need to remember that "nothing changes if nothing changes."

[Cricket]

There's nothing wrong with that Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW, quality is similar to the Antec Solo you linked to in your other post. Cooler Master cases are much better than those flimsy Apevia/Aspire and RaidMax cases.

Cricket

[Daydreamer]

Thanks to everyone that shared their input.
I appreciate it.

[gods_son_is_me]

You also might want to give a 64-bit version of Vista a try. With 3D generating programs you can really use a lot of RAM. and With the Vista you have, you can only use 3GB. Just some advice.

[Daydreamer]

Hey Darius,

Yeah, I'm using VISTA 32 bit with 3 gigs right now. I am trying to find out if the software supports 64 bit. I haven't received an answer on that yet.

[StykFacE]

You sure you want to run a gaming card for a software package that utilizes a workstation-level graphics card?

[Katreat]

I would recomend you make a post in the video forum about your needs and get some card recomendations. You might get a few experts there who dont spend much time looking over build posts.

Kat