Workstation/Gaming PC Suggestions

[afuentes]

I am currently a student in need of a new computer. I am studying architecture so I will be running programs such as AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor and 3ds Max. At the same time I want to be able to play games. In total I only have about $1000 to spend. That includes computer, mouse, keyboard and monitor. I have no other parts that I can reuse. I also live in the United States. For the processor and memory I was thinking that the bare minimum would be a xeon e3 1231 and 16 gb of ram. I only say that because at school for a while we used i5's with only 8 gb of ram and it just wasn't enough until we upgraded to the xeons with 16gb of ram. Thanks for any suggestions

 

[Ken g6]

Huh, I thought it was going to be hard to fit all that and gaming into that budget. But it actually works fairly well:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($241.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($54.75 @ OutletPC)
Memory: *PNY XLR8 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: *OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($80.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.90 @ Amazon)
Video Card: *PNY GeForce GTX 960 2GB XLR8 Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Case: *Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: *Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: *Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($86.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: *AOC i2267Fw 60Hz 22.0" Monitor ($118.51 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: *Microsoft Wired Desktop 400 for Business Wired Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($9.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $998.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-27 10:12 EDT-0400

Since you're a student you should be able to get Windows cheaper, but I don't know by how much. It might only cover the shipping prices not listed here.

 

[cboath]

As someone who uses that stuff professionally - you don't even really need the Xeon, though at that price it isn't going to hurt you at all.

Pretty impressive build for the price.

 

[Kaido]

As someone who uses that stuff professionally - you don't even really need the Xeon, though at that price it isn't going to hurt you at all.

Pretty impressive build for the price.

Same. I gave up on Xeon & ECC RAM & haven't looked back. That, and gaming cards are more supported now, so you don't necessarily need the more expesnive CAD version of a video card, unless a program specifically calls for it.

 

[mfenn]

As someone who uses that stuff professionally - you don't even really need the Xeon, though at that price it isn't going to hurt you at all.

Pretty impressive build for the price.

Xeon E3's are rebranded desktop chips with different SKUs. So an E3-1231 V3 is really just a way to get an i7 with a slightly lower clock speed and a lot lower price.

 

[cboath]

Interesting info there. I did say the price wasn't going to hurt, though

After 20+ in the biz, so to speak, it seems to me there's a misconception out there that things like AutoCAD/Revit/Inventor/max/etc require or really should have Xeon's. It simply isn't true. It's especially true if you're in school. You won't be working on anything remotely large enough in school to require that level of horsepower. Professionally, that's another issue but you really have to be pushing the envelope.

By Autodesk's definition, i'm building things they'd probably put in the middle third of their 'large assembly' definition. I have a Xeon/Quadro/32GB. I haven't passed 4GB of memory on the program yet and the processor rarely pings over 30%, if that.

Still, in this topic though, if that chip is the cheaper way to go, that's great and it's not going to hurt you in the slightest. I just try and fight the misconception when it pops up.

Ad for their 'supported hardware' - they only test it against certain things. If it's not on their list, it doesn't mean they tested it and it failed (that'd actually be on the list), they just didn't test it.