DIY Computers

Assuming that you currently have no parts (case, power supply) and want to stay on the budget side, I'd start out with a build similar to this:

AMD Athlon 2 X4 635
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103702
This is a budget quad core processor. Intel's are a bit faster right now, but the price to performance ratio skew in ATI's favor when you want 4 cores. You could also substitute the Athlon 2 for a Phenom 2 which will feature L3 cache. The jump in speed is alright, but on a tight budget I would go for the Athlon 2. I've got the Athlon2 x4 630 in my main computer and have zero complaints.

MSI 785G E53
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130254
Absolutely fantastic motherboard. The 785 chipset is surprisingly quick and runs very cool. The Bios options make overclocking very simple if you want to go down that route.

4GB of ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211364
It's ram, nothing special about it. Higher speeds don't show enough difference to justify spending more than you have to.

ATI 5770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102864
I wouldn't recommend anything less than a 5770 at this point. Of course the sky is the limit when it comes to video cards. You could spend over a grand on video cards alone if you wanted to. The 5770 will run anything you need to run at a sane resolution.

WD 500 GB harddrive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136358
It's a hard drive.

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811517007
Basic and cheap. As long as it has good airflow front to back any ATX case will do. You can go cheaper. You can go more expensive. You can go for different styles. It's all pretty much the same.

Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
There are cheaper supplies out there. Please don't buy a cheap power supply. If there's one area where you want the best quality you can afford it's the one part that can destroy everything else in your computer should it experience a failure. I've never had a Corsair supply fail on me.

Monitor
Prices on monitors have been all over the place lately. Plan to spend around $150 on a good 24" once a sale comes up.

You'll also need to factor in a dvd burner and keyboard/mouse combo. Don't spend more than $30 on a dvd burner. Spend however much you need to on a keyboard and mouse that you're comfortable with.

That should get you started. Those parts will run extremely cool and are very power efficient. The speed difference between that system and your dv6000 will be mind blowing. I would also recommend that you check Fry's electronics if you have one nearby. They have been running insane CPU+motherboard combo deals lately.

 

Skip the build-it-yourself if'n all you want is more graphics horsepower. Get/keep a good laptop with either a 34mm or 54mm ExpressCard slot. Then buy a ViDock2 external video card box for around $200+ and stuff it with a high-powered video card and go to town. Note that you can buy the ViDock box empty for ~$200 or pre-stuffed with selected video cards for more $$$.

Nifty way to cram more video power into a notebook.

I recently did this, and the only issue I saw for most people was whether the end grating on the ViDock box would match the outbound ports on the actual video card. Other than that, these babies are pretty neat.

On my laptop(Lenovo W700), it's possible to get both 34mm and 54mm Express slots, so down the road I'm considering testing whether I can add a second ViDock box(I need a LOT of multi-monitor support).

I used to build my own mini-towers, back in the day when it was the only affordable way to get mips/horsepower on a pc. I quit doing that in ~2000 as laptops started coming into their own.

If you're an electronics hobby guy, then maybe building it is the way to go; otherwise, spare yourself the hassles, time, effort, busted connectors, etc., and try a ViDock. All it takes is one crapped out motherboard to make you regret doing it all yourself. And, one more thing - build your own ALWAYS costs more than you originally budget.

 

If you're doing heavy computational work like CFD you don't want a laptop. I have to do a lot of simulations myself and I'm very happy with my Intel Core i5. It's seriously fast, and rather on the cheap side. At the university institute where I'm currently doing the work for my diploma thesis, they recently built a whole set of computers for numerical computing (incidentally, they're currently too used for CFD), and our IT guys decided to use Core i7 CPUs on Asus boards.

 

Completely disagree with basically all points here! Laptops always are a trade-off between performance and size (=cooling capacity), and laptops offering high performance are usually ridiculously expensive. For the price of the suggested dock alone the OP could buy a really nice CPU. With today's sockets and connectors, it's nearly impossible to do anything wrong. Everything fits neatly together in exactly one way, there's absolutely no part involved where you need to apply any kind of force, and there are so much tutorials out there explaining every single step...

Speaking of the budget, yes, you will end up spending a bit more money than you originally planned to. But spending 650 instead of 600 is better than paying 2k for a laptop with the same performance....

 

There are a few video cards designed for this work. They are workstation cards and the processor doesn't really make that big a difference as long as its not ancient. These video cards run in the area of $500- $1000 each. They are designed for the work you describe and do not perform well on games. I forget the name of them but if its a big deal to you I will look for them. Laptops are pointless for this work. You need to be able to upgrade freely. I also agree with only using asus boards(high end ones). Newegg is a good place to buy parts. Do not be skimpy on the power supply.

 

Mainboard brands: Asus, Gigabyte and EVGA are all quality stuff.

RAM: Corsair or Crucial.

Power supply: Corsair or Seasonic.

Video card: No clue what CATIA requires.

Hard drives: Hard to go wrong with Western Digital.

CPU/Chipset: Intel Core i5 750 (quad core) with an Intel P55 chipset.

Chassis: Get this! It's a nice case. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119215&cm_re=cm_690_II-_-11-119-215-_-Product


You can also grab what JJJJS suggested and won't be hurting. You won't be at the level the Core i5 is at, but at the same time you'll save $150 and won't be in suckville at all. Just substitute the ram brand for Corsair or Crucial and grab that Cooler Master CM 690 II and you'll be all set.

 

if you are mainly interested in CAD work and don't need the latest ultimate whiz bang graphics card then have a look at the ATI FireGLV7700, looking at the reviews will be okay with your CATIA requirement, I picked one up the other day for £150, absolute steal at that price. I'm running it on a Windows 7 64 bit system, ATI have all the latest drivers.

It works well with AMD chips, so have a look at some of the middle priced quad core offerings.

With regard to HDD's the latest Samsung F3 Spinpoint are worth a look.

With regard to a worthy screen the latest Dell U2711 is hard to beat at the mo, I'm using one for pics and very pleased with it.

 

Yes asus motherboards. That ATI fire card someone suggested a few posts above should be just fine. If you live near a microcenter, you can pick out the parts and have them build it for you. Unless you have built a machine before, ordering parts off newegg and doing it yourself is a bit of a learning process. I prefer corsair dominator ram, I like it and it works well for me. I like the architecture design of intel processors and intel chipsets personally. My first three computers had amd processors. Good Luck and let us know if you have any more questions.

 

although UK based Newegg gets a thumbs up from me, very handy reading customers views on each item of kit.

Corsair RAM also gets a thumbs up, never had any probs with the cards and they do exactly what it says on the tin.

It looks like you are after a 'graphics' orientated' system so maybe keep clear of anything to do with gaming.

Plenty of RAM and more RAM.

Like ATOM says, come back with more questions...

 

I used to build my own PCs but its not worth the time anymore. There is a certain level of satisfaction picking everything that goes into it, but nowadays that isn't really an issue.

I would highly recommend pricewatch.com. I could provide more direction but it depends what you're looking to spend and what the main function would be. It sounds like graphics so spend a little extra in that regard.

Laptops are neat and all, but it will always cost more for the same performance. Get a tower with 4+ gigs memory, a quad+ core processor, 64-bit OS, and check which video cards are qualified for your CAD/CFD software.