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Best student PC build for CAD?

Started by Sarah Morgan5 · · 👁 4 views · 5 replies

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Participants Sarah Morgan5Robert Rodriguez2Kevin Coxcrimsonstag84Kimberly Gomez34
Sarah Morgan5 Sarah Morgan5 NewcomerOP
1 message
joined Jul 2016
#1 ·
I need a build capable of running AutoCAD 2D/3D, CATIA, and SolidWorks smoothly.
It’s for schoolwork—nothing massive, no huge assemblies or insane levels of detail.
Just the tower; I don't need a monitor or peripherals.
Would an AMD A8 x4 7650 k with integrated graphics cut it, or am I forced to buy a dedicated GPU?
Robert Rodriguez2 Robert Rodriguez2 Regular
353 messages
joined Jul 2015
#2 ·
What kind of budget are we working with here?
Kevin Cox Kevin Cox Member
26 messages
joined May 2015
#3 ·
These programs aren't actually that demanding, at least not based on what we deal with in our engineering programs here. I used to run Pro/ENGINEER and AutoCAD on my old laptop without any issues at all.
It would be a smart move to grab an NVIDIA graphics card, though, just to take advantage of CUDA technology.
Robert Rodriguez2 Robert Rodriguez2 Regular
353 messages
joined Jul 2015
#4 ·
AutoCAD might be manageable, but CATIA is a whole different beast. It’s incredibly demanding, especially when it comes to how much RAM you need.
crimsonstag84 crimsonstag84 Regular
518 messages
joined Jun 2010
#5 ·
Budget-friendly setup here, featuring an NVIDIA card and an SSD:

The AMD Athlon II x4 870k GIGABYTE Main board desktop AMD A68 features an AMD Athlon II x4 870k processor.
I guess I'm looking at this GIGABYTE motherboard setup with the AMD A68 chipset—it's got the usual basics like DDR3, SATA III, and USB 3.0, plus some RAID support. It seems like a pretty standard, straightforward little build.
The Inno3D GeForce GT 710 with 1GB of SDDR3 (model INO-N710-1SDV-D3BX).
Maybe someone's looking at a single 8GB stick of Kingmax DDR3 1600? It’s the KIN-8GB model. Just a thought.
The MS VOYAGER 2 case, just the chassis—no power supply included.
Zalman 400 w pas LX Series Retail, ZAL-ZM400-LX
I guess I'm looking at this 120GB AData SSD (SP550 ASP550SS3-120GM-C).
Maybe consider the Toshiba DT01ACA100 1TB 3.5'' drive? I guess it could work.
The LC Power LC-CC-95 CPU cooler—the 90mm version.

All in all: $876 I guess I'm just checking in.
Kimberly Gomez34 Kimberly Gomez34 Regular
686 messages
joined Jul 2009
#6 ·
Even his AMD graphics would perform better for AutoCAD and SolidWorks, but at his price point, it honestly doesn't even matter.

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