Intel i7?

[Paul H]

Anyone know much about these new chips? Are they designed solely for the gaming community or could they benefit CAD users?

Reason being, I'm buying a desktop to last for a very long time as I'm returning to study and won't be able to upgrade for about 5-7 years.

Any thoughts?

[ReMark]

There are CAD systems based upon the Intel i7. Just visit Xi Computers to see for yourself.

[Paul H]

Thanks. Nice, pricey though eh?

[ReMark]

Yes. I purchased three workstations from Xi over the past few years. Our bean counters usually throw a fit when they see the price! LOL

[Paul H]

Yeah, I bet! Unfortunately, this is the first time I'm paying for setup myself as I take on study, childcare and freelance projects!

I'm thinking of one of those ebay custom builds with quad core, big RAM and a 22" monitor and then get a Quadro FX580 or similar...comes in about £650...unless you can think of a better setup for that kind of cash?

I'm doing mostly 2D, plan on doing more 3D but very little rendering...

[ReMark]

Take a look also at a company called ibuypower.com. I've bought two home systems from them that turned out to be pretty good and the pricing was much better. They are set up more for gamers though so watch your selection of graphics card.

[StykFacE]

x64bit Windows with as much RAM as your budget allows. I'm a firm believer of this new setup since I upgraded. :)