Top spec workstation components please?

[Bacardi]

Hey.

I need suggested components for a very high end CAD workstation.

I wanna use an Intel C2Extreme quad core processor on a mobo that supports to 16GB DDR2 RAM. Not interested in DDR3 yet.

A good fan/cooler would be nice as watercooling won't be an option and it'll be under a desk by my knees.

Recently got a quote for a dual Opteron processor on a Tyan Thunder S2915-E board but there are no benchmarks for that kind of setup for the software I'll be using... Id rather go for a more mainstream set of components that I know others have used without issues.

Gonna be using a nVidia Quadro 3700 gfx card and 300GB Raptor HDD.

I have a budget of £2000.

What do you reckon?

Cheers for any help/advice you can give.

 

[mapadale]

Hey.

I need suggested components for a very high end CAD workstation.

I wanna use an Intel C2Extreme quad core processor on a mobo that supports to 16GB DDR2 RAM. Not interested in DDR3 yet.

A good fan/cooler would be nice as watercooling won't be an option and it'll be under a desk by my knees.

Recently got a quote for a dual Opteron processor on a Tyan Thunder S2915-E board but there are no benchmarks for that kind of setup for the software I'll be using... Id rather go for a more mainstream set of components that I know others have used without issues.

Gonna be using a nVidia Quadro 3700 gfx card and 300GB Raptor HDD.

I have a budget of £2000.

What do you reckon?

Cheers for any help/advice you can give.

QUAD CORE HIGH END SYSTEM

Thats what you want as a base start, then just up the memory. The G/Cards in it is enough to work the lates Auto/Cad - This will even run things like Cato, just increase the memory to 8GB and your away.

 

[Bacardi]

When are the Nehalem processors out? Or are they already. I sense a price drop on the C2D coming.

Im not knocking your opinion and I thank you for the link, but in benchmarks running our CAD software the qx9650 outperforms all Phenoms. I lost faith in AMD after C2D was released.

Plus its for my workplace and the company wont buy off ebay. They need a highstreet or reputable online store where they can get a decent warranty.

Gaming graphics cards don't perform as well with CAD as you may expect. 12 months ago I got a GTX8800 and it was so bad I traded it in for a low end Quadro which worked much better. Even the GTX 280 is outperformed in FEA by a mid range quadro for a similar price.

I think I now just need a decent stable motherboard choice. One that supports 16GB DDR2 and has had good reviews.

 

[mapadale]

When are the Nehalem processors out? Or are they already. I sense a price drop on the C2D coming.

Im not knocking your opinion and I thank you for the link, but in benchmarks running our CAD software the qx9650 outperforms all Phenoms. I lost faith in AMD after C2D was released.

Plus its for my workplace and the company wont buy off ebay. They need a highstreet or reputable online store where they can get a decent warranty.

Gaming graphics cards don't perform as well with CAD as you may expect. 12 months ago I got a GTX8800 and it was so bad I traded it in for a low end Quadro which worked much better. Even the GTX 280 is outperformed in FEA by a mid range quadro for a similar price.

I think I now just need a decent stable motherboard choice. One that supports 16GB DDR2 and has had good reviews.

Buldoser is out from next month suposdly.

Ebuyer is good, though I've noticed they don't seem to do a lot of really high spec stuff.

Also for high end system's and belive me or not, Asrock mother boards perform really well. They also have the capacity to go 16gb, 32gb & 64gb boards for ram. Ether DDR2 or DDR3

 

[AgentSmith]

get a sun machine i have sold a few of these to people wanting a machine for cad