Building an Engineering Computer

[GeMan]

Hey

I searched a couple of forums, but couldnt find the answer i am looking for.... I am going to building a second computer... and the main reason is for engineering purposes. i do a far amount of coding, and matlab work.. and a bunch of AutoCad....

1. Is it better to go with Athlon 64 chip or a High end P4... or will and XP or Lower end P4 work just as well?

2. Is it worth it to go with decently fast RAM.. ie pc3500+ or just stick with some cheaper Pc2100 or 2700?

3. Any mobo suggestions out there for the cpu choices?

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

[SneakyStuff]

Considered an Opteron processor? newegg.com

 

[jpeyton]

Budget? What components do you already have? Will you be gaming at all? Are you a student?

 

[GeMan]

Budget - dont want to spend an arm and a leg -- but willing to spend around 200 - 300 dollars on processor...

I have nothing really for components..

Not really gaming.. maybe once in a blue moon. have n xbox for that..

Yes i m a student

 

[So]

If you're not overclocking, don't buy faster ram than your processor can run stock (so for an Athlon 64, 3200) I don't think nay non overclocked processor runs faster ram (correct me if I'm wrong here, I haven't followed intel sutff closely in years).

 

[jpeyton]

BAM, tough actin' Tinactin!

AMD Athlon 64 2800+ $184

Chaintech VNF3-250 - $80.99

Hitachi 160GB SATA - $96

Corsair Value Select 1024MB PC3200 CAS2.5 - $168

NEC 8X DVD +/- RW - $67.99

Powercolor Radeon 9800SE 256-bit 128MB - $127.74

Antec SLK-2650 BQE w/ PSU - $79

Arctic Silver Ceramique - $3.99

SATA Cable - $1.99

IDE Round Cable - $2.30

TOTAL: $812.00

Don't forget a good monitor. You'll be staring at the screen for hours everyday; get something big, bright, and sharp. At minimum, get a flat 19" CRT. And LCD would be easier on the eyes, but not the wallet. 19" is a good size for either type, because you'll need the real-estate when you're multitasking.

 

[dmw16]

I think that most anything you build with decent specs will do fine. I am and engineering student and I do a decent amount of C++ coding, matlab work, AutoCAD, and some FEMlab. Depending on what you are doing you may need a gig of ram - particularly for large arrays in matlab and also for femlab work if you do that sort of thing. YOu can see my specs below...that system has never had any trouble with anything engineering related I have thrown at it.
-doug

 

[imported_dawurz]

this is a tough one with the info you've provided since workstations are/can be such specialized beasts.
the opertons are a great value against the competition andi would also consider an opteron based system, specially if the apps you mention offer 64 bit support. and you can always drop in a fast video card

general opteron info:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_8826,00.html

workstation chipset comparo:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2003q3/workstation/index.x?pg=1

possible configurations:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2003q3/workstation/index.x?pg=6

if this doesn't convince you you need a jumpstart
http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q2/opteron-x50/index.x?pg=16

dawurz

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Powercolor Radeon 9800SE 256-bit 128MB - $127.74

Depending on how graphically intense your CAD projects are (and if you want to do some gaming on the side), you might want to consider a 9800Pro for about $200, or an NVIDIA GeForceFX 5900-class card for about $180 (NVidia generally has the edge in workstation graphics, but both cards are very fast). The 9800SE is considerably slower than a true 9800 or 9800Pro.