Hi All, I'm new to building my own computer so please give me any suggestions that you may have. I am trying to build a decent desktop mainly for running 3D CAD software and also intensive MATLAB algorithms. I'm trying to keep the price point right around $1000 - $1300. Please let me know what you think. 2 Main questions: 1) Am I missing anything that I am going to need 2) Any recommendations? I know that a Quadro Card would give me better performance for the CAD software, but the Price is just too high for those cards. I'm open to any suggestions that would allow for better performance though. ( I was initially going to softmod the GPU but I understand that NVIDIA has patched that process ) This is my current NewEgg Cart: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2375037/Newegg_Cart.pdf Thank you in advance for your help
Why do you get the GTX470? It's an old generation of high end cards. Try GTX570. Do you need monitor calibrator? I'm not sure about Pantone, Spyder3 Express is not too bad. Looks like the bundled price is quite attractive.
Couple of comments... 1. Do you actually need a DVD burner? I probably used my notebook's DVD burner less than 5 times in the last 2 years, and even then, it was only to read CDs people passed to me! 2. FYI, the 6 Gbps interface of the Seagate HDD won't improve its performance - the HDD isn't fast enough to even hit the 3 Gbps limit. If it's part of the combo, then it's perfectly fine. However, if you can split it out and get a 3 Gbps model, you will probably save a bit of money, or use the difference to upgrade to a 2 TB HDD. 3. Go for 8 GB of memory! Memory is always useful if you do serious work, like CAD, video editing, etc. Heck, my most hardware-intensive app is Photoshop and I cannot do without 8 GB! 4. Chai's right - why bother with the older GeForce GTX 470, when there's a newer and better GeForce GTX 500 series? Of course, the GeForce GTX 570 will be more expensive, so why not try something like the GeForce GTX 560 or GeForce GTX 560 Ti? The GeForce GTX 560 will be slightly faster than the GeForce 470 and it's cheap at about $200-$230. If you go for the faster GeForce GTX 560 Ti, then it will only set you back by $250.
According to this PassMark Software - Video Card Benchmarks - High End Video Cards the 470 is faster than the 560... Why should I get the newer generation?
Because you should never read from just one source with a single benchmark comparison. Benchmark Results: 3DMark11 (DX11) : Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti Review: GF114 Rises, GF100 Rides Off GeForce GTX 470 vs GeForce GTX 560 Ti – Performance Comparison Benchmarks @ Hardware Compare AnandTech - NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 560 Ti: Upsetting The $250 Market They are quite evenly matched, almost a clear draw. 560Ti is cooler, newer. GTX470 is literally a crippled GTX480, which is a power hungry chip. 560 Ti is a revised version of the GTX570/580 chip, hence there's some optimisation, and uses less power. I would definitely pick 560 Ti. But I got a 6950 2GB instead anyway... hehe.
@Chai... You are right in the performance specs of the two cards. Now my only question is does the soft mod still work? The 470 architecture lines up with Quadro 6000 architecture, however the 560 uses the GF114, which currently no Quadro cards utilize. So... If I can softmod the 470, thats what I'm going with... However if I can't I'll go with the 560. So here's the questions... Can the 470 be soft modded or has Nvidia fixed it so that it can no longer be done?
