I wouldnt spend all 2000 on the computer. With 1200 you'll get pretty much top of the line.
Should probably spend the other 800 on beer.
There will always be something better, prices will always drop. So its up to you to decide when you need this computer. I know I'd have a hard time having 2000 in the bank without touching it.
__________________ Proc e2180 m0 @ stock Video 8800gt 512mb (broken) using temporary x1300 pro Display 22'' Monitor Chemei 5ms RT, 800:1 CR Mobo Abit ip35-e Mem Crucial Ballistix 2 x 1 gb DDR2 800 @ 960 (broken) Case NZXT Zero ATX Aluminum Full Tower + 8 silent fans- 7 x 120mm 1 x 80mm Sound Logitech z-5300e 5.1 + Icemat siberia full black headset + Creative Soundblaster Audigy SE PSU Corsair 520hx OS Vista 64-Bit Home Premium Cooling Stock fan, mx-2 (no more tuniq HDD Seagate 500gb 32mb Cache
Games like Fear,Oblivion, Half Life2, World of Warcraft
I have also recently started using Zbrush, Mia, Photoshop CS and 3D studio Max on a friends computer and would like to start messing around with it on my own.
Also been having to use Solid Works at work a bit to help the engineers when they have problems so would like to throw that on my comp to learn about it.
Are you in engineering or computer science? I design stuff in solidworks all day - its an awesome program.
If your school participates in the Microsoft Academic Alliance then you can get XP SP2, XP 64, vista business, vista business 64 and so on.... all for free.
A dual core processor should be more than adequate with solidworks unless you will be doing a lot of FEA/FEM studies - these use numerical method schemes which require quite a bit of number crunching and iterations to obtain solutions. I dont know how more cores would benefit photoshop.
A top of the line gaming card should do well to handle medium sized assemblies - if you're going over 1000 parts you'll definitely get some hang ups, but even my workstation computer hangs up when I'm dealing with them.
__________________ Proc e2180 m0 @ stock Video 8800gt 512mb (broken) using temporary x1300 pro Display 22'' Monitor Chemei 5ms RT, 800:1 CR Mobo Abit ip35-e Mem Crucial Ballistix 2 x 1 gb DDR2 800 @ 960 (broken) Case NZXT Zero ATX Aluminum Full Tower + 8 silent fans- 7 x 120mm 1 x 80mm Sound Logitech z-5300e 5.1 + Icemat siberia full black headset + Creative Soundblaster Audigy SE PSU Corsair 520hx OS Vista 64-Bit Home Premium Cooling Stock fan, mx-2 (no more tuniq HDD Seagate 500gb 32mb Cache
Only thing i'm curious about is the AMD's quad core coming out soon. Supposed to be really good and when that comes out Intel will probably drop their prices also.
Also does solidwork, Mia, 3d studio max and other programs take advatage of SLI or Crossfire?
I was pretty sure mya and 3d studio benefitted from more cores. So if you are sure you want to have $2000 budget I would go for a quad.
Invisible's build looks good. Though I wouldn't buy a open box mobo since you got plenty o' cash.
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thats a good build... but u need to add a 120mm fan for the CPU sink...
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