AutoCAD build around $700?

I'm putting together a rig for an engineer, mainly for AutoCAD.
Right now, they’re grinding away on a laptop with 8GB of RAM and a 2500U. It gets the job done okay, but we need more horsepower. We already have the monitor and peripherals covered.

One route is just upgrading that current laptop with another 8GB stick.

But I’m looking to cut costs, so I’ve been eyeing a build around a 4650G with 2x8GB of RAM.
From what I gather, integrated graphics should be fine for AutoCAD.

Send me your suggestions. Paying cash, any shop works. Happy to buy pre-built or hunt for parts at different retailers if it saves money.
Just a 512GB SSD for now—external drive for everything else.

Do those "Pro" features on the Ryzen actually matter?
I was also thinking about an ASRock DeskMini X300 I saw at Micro Center, but it doesn't come with a stock cooler out-of-the-box, which makes things a bit more complicated.

This was my line of thinking:


Anyone got a better idea?

An ASRock DeskMini X300 would probably cost about the same—smaller footprint, sure, but likely worse connectivity and maybe some cooling issues?

It’s a decent setup. You could probably save some cash by opting for a cheaper power supply. But honestly—how much does having a smaller footprint actually matter to you?

Yeah, you could definitely go cheaper on the power supply. Got any specific suggestions from Micro Center?

A smaller chassis is great if you want something you can practically pack up like a laptop and take home from the office—saves a ton of desk space. Otherwise, just stick to a standard tower.

By the way, I called Micro Center and they confirmed the DeskMini X300 comes with a tiny little cooler. You can actually mod a Wraith Stealth to fit, which performs better than whatever stock cooler is inside the DeskMini.
It’s pretty sketchy that nowhere in ASRock's official online documentation actually mentions if a cooler is included. 🤦🤦🤦

Look, I’m telling you, any of those will just struggle to keep up. You should grab something higher quality—something that actually leaves the door open if you decide to drop in a GPU down the road.

https://www.newegg.com/p/fortron-power-supply/

Unless, of course, you decide to go the DeskMini route.

Kimberly Gomez34 said:Look, I’m telling you, any of those will just struggle to keep up. You should grab something higher quality—something that actually leaves the door open if you decide to drop in a GPU down the road.

https://www.newegg.com/p/fortron-power-supply/

Unless, of course, you decide to go the DeskMini route.

Ended up grabbing that Seasonic 550 w semi-modular unit. They told me they were out of stock despite the site saying it was available, so I swapped it for a Fortron Hydro Pro 500 W. SAD. Now I'm wondering if I should've gone with the Integra m 450 w instead, but whatever—cable management isn't my top priority.

Doubt I'll ever throw a high-end card in here, but even if I do, it shouldn't be an issue. This thing is solid enough; I went a step up just because it wasn't a $33 big deal. We ended up coming in way under the initial budget we set for a MacBook Pro around $2333
.