Need help for info to build a CAD workstation.

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Tue, Sep 14, 2004 at 07:04:09AM -0700, Frank Peng wrote:
> Hi, 
> 
> I am building a computer like this:
> 
> INTEL SE7525GP2 MOTHERBOARD MAX 8GB with PCI EXPRESS

Hard to find I suspect.  I only found an online dealer with a quick
search based in texas: www.neqx.com

> 16X(INTEL 915P can install only 3GB memory. )

Remember, that no single application can use more than 3GB in general
unless the OS and application and system are all 64bit.

> INTEL XEON 2.8GHZ 800 FSB CPU 

Hmm, the 800FSB looks hard to find so far, except from the places that
have that motherboard.

> 4 X 1GB DDR PC2700 333MHZ MEMORY

I think that should be possible to find.

> ATI FIREGL V7100 VIDEO CARD(PCI EXPRESS)

If I was building a CAD system I would want very good OpenGL support,
and would get a Quadro FX based card (like the PNY cards).  ATI screwed
me with driver support once too many in my lifetime.

> SATA 40GB HARD DRIVE

I agree with the other suggestion of a sensible HD size.  160G is about
85cents/GB now.  40GB is more like $1.50/GB.  The larger disk is faster
too.

> CD ROM

or DVD-ROM or DVD+/-RW (they can be gotten for $130).  Given what the
rest of that system will cost, why frustrate yourself being unable to
save files on disc for people, and do backups.

> KEY BOARD

Trivial to find. :)  Can I suggest a nice optical usb mouse too?
Logitechs are nice and are pretty cheap.

> 19" CRT FLAT MONITOR

ViewSonic P95f+ is very nice in my opinion (1600x1200 at 85HZ) 19" and
cheap too (about $300 should be possible to find).  Heck get two.

> Anyone who has infomation to buy these parts in
> Toronto, also any better ideas to build a computer for
> CAD will be appreciated. 

Where to get a board like that I am not sure.

Looks like building an AGP system is still easier unfortunately (until
Athlon64 systems get PCIe).  I suspect in terms of availability a Dual
opteron would be easier to build than a dual xeon.  For many
applications fast too. :)  Good luck with finding those parts.

Lennart Sorensen
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://tlug.ss.org
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://tlug.ss.org/subscribe.shtml