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View Full Version : How much would you spend on a CAD system?



cadkiller
2006-10-10, 04:52 PM
What is the most money you would spend on a CAD Workstation?
Hardware only (CPU, monitors, plotters, printers, etc.)

thomas.stright
2006-10-10, 05:05 PM
Are we talking personally or getting the company to pay for it?

I've personally spent $3k, Company has boxes in the $12k range.

cadkiller
2006-10-10, 05:15 PM
I guess it was meant more for a self employed person.

robert.1.hall72202
2006-10-11, 12:43 PM
3k is generally a good price range. I have had a computer for 5+ years that
fell in this price range. Doesn't have any of those new fangled dual core processors
or 64 bit processing. Still runs pretty slick for a pentium 4.
If I do not get caught up in the latest technology, I will still have the same system
for another 5+ years.

I use this analogy:
"A Hummer is a fun vehicle, however, it is not required to get to work and back!"

Ogre
2006-10-11, 01:04 PM
This really depends on your CAD work...If you are using Vanilla AutoCAD, then 2K should suffice for a few years...I would just make sure that I got a machine that is upgradeable...That is why I am trying to stay away from Dell...They make decent machines, but I would prefer something that I can fix myself...

thomas.stright
2006-10-11, 01:05 PM
I would prefer something that I can fix myself...Then why not just build it yourself....Or do ya?

Ogre
2006-10-11, 01:07 PM
Then why not just build it yourself....Or do ya?
I am going to...For work, I had to order them from a company, but I used companies that have machines that I can upgrade if I want to...My next home machine will be homebuilt...And something that's smokin'!!! :)

cadkiller
2006-10-11, 02:01 PM
It certainly all does depend on the type of work you do.
I created this poll for the stand alone CAD workstation and this could vary from 2D (AutoCAD LT) to 3D (AutoCAD/ADT).
Like Ogre said you could get by with a entry level workstation; but who really wants to just get by.

madcadder
2006-10-11, 02:51 PM
$4,339.55 (w/ s/h & tax)

IS is inspecting it and loading the apps now.

(I gotta new toy)

Ogre
2006-10-11, 06:22 PM
It certainly all does depend on the type of work you do.
I created this poll for the stand alone CAD workstation and this could vary from 2D (AutoCAD LT) to 3D (AutoCAD/ADT).
Like Ogre said you could get by with a entry level workstation; but who really wants to just get by.
True...Who does want to get by...I think most companies want to get by with a skeleton CAD department and minimum system requirements...That is a real shame...

Wanderer
2006-10-29, 06:35 PM
What is the most money you would spend on a CAD Workstation?
Hardware only (CPU, monitors, plotters, printers, etc.)home... just under 2k, refurb.

at work... MUCH MUCH LESS... I don't know what their budgets are per workstation, but, it is not enough for a decent cad machine.

~workin on the same specs as the secretary~

Brian Myers
2006-10-29, 07:46 PM
About 2 thousand if we're talking just the computer system, much more if we're discussing a large format plotter in the mix. (I'd go higher if we need some sort of "render" machine or small scale render farm).

Wanderer
2006-10-29, 07:55 PM
About 2 thousand if we're talking just the computer system, much more if we're discussing a large format plotter in the mix. (I'd go higher if we need some sort of "render" machine or small scale render farm).oh, I wasn't even thinking about a plotter... comes from a totally different budget. The computers are paid for by corporate level IT and spec'd by them as well. I spec out plotters, and they come from our Company-Dept Capital Equipment fund (yeah, I'm fighting for a plotter against Air Handling Units and Pneumatic Tube upgrades, that's why it took four years to get my MFP ;) ), and my desktop printer comes from our Department's Office Supply budget.

tc3dcad60731
2006-10-30, 01:43 AM
Custom built PC with:

Win XP Pro
P4 2.4
80Gb HDD
DVD - RW
CD-RW
ATI Radeon 9250 256Mb Video Card
1G pc2700 ram
Floppy, NIC, Firewire, Sound, 56k Modem (yes, I said modem)
19" LCD Flat Screen
Speakers and Keyboard
MY Logitech Trackball

All of this was built for just over a grand! If I was doing more rendering, walkthroughs, etc I would more than likely drop 2Gs or more on an HP dual core!

stusic
2006-10-30, 01:11 PM
I recently upgraded my old workstation. I found a pretty good deal at Best Buy (of all places) on an HP with an Athlon 64 FX dual-core machine. It rang in just under a grand, but only had a Gb RAM and a 250 Gb HDD (but did have some nice features like dual-layer dvd w/ lightscribe, media ports, but alas, no floppy or modem). After adding another HD, plopping in another 5 Gb RAM and a good graphics card, the total was sitting right around $4,000. I found a 22" Trinitron for $100 on ebay and added that with my 19" LCD. If you want to add in the SpacePilot and executive office chair...

I don't even want to talk about my machine at werk. It's one step up from a Learning Journey Desktop. (http://www.drtoy.com/2005_3/2005_3_052.html) Bleh!

dekinia
2006-11-01, 09:31 PM
I personally would spend about 2-5k on a good cad package..as long as it allowed me to function with the jobs i was doing..i.e. raster images, design programs like LDD or Eagle point. I do alot of site design along with presentations using images so it would have to function well with less lage time when generating large dwg files.