BleepingComputer.com: Desktop for Mechanical Engineering Final Year student/Young Engineer

I have two semesters left in my Bachelors Degree of Mech. Eng.

I'd like a decent/moderately powerful desktop for work purposes as well as leisure usage that would get me through my final year project/thesis as well as to be used at work/home office. I intend to do side freelance engineering works. Size does not matter. Quality and price however, does.

My budget for the new computer is:
Somewhere around $1500 USD. Less is better. But I understand the limitations.

What are the primary uses for this computer (IE: mail, web browsing, programming, games, etc)?
Mail, web browsing (research), engineering/3D analysis, engineering design, music, movies/videos, no games at all.

What software do you intend on using on the computer?
Microsoft Word and Excel, Finite Element Analysis software, 3D modeling software ie: SolidWorks, ProEngineer/ProMechanica, Autocad Autodesk 3D etc.
And of course, internet browsing for research purposes.

Do you play games? If so, what type of games?
Not at all.

Do you tend to have a lot of programs running at the same time, or do you close every program when you are done using it?
Maybe 2 or 3 programs but I make it a point to limit my multitasking and clear off any unused programs/windows.


Do you store a lot of pictures or music on the computer?
Yes.

This post has been edited by Wan Djawad: 04 June 2011 - 10:49 AM

First, do you want build the computer or do you want buy a pre-built one? If you want to build one then do you also want a monitor and keyboard/mouse?

Hey,
Thanks for the reply. I would prefer a prebuilt one. Would be easier to handle with problems or damages when they're covered by warranty.

I suppose so. In my opinion i would handle the problem myself. Ok, which website do you prefer buying from? I can not use NewEgg because NewEgg does not ship to Malaysia.

It doesn't matter, I would still prefer to take a look myself before buying, but I'd like to know the make and model first just to have a few line ups for evaluation.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229234

This can handle any task you throw at it and does not include a monitor.

This post has been edited by killerx525: 05 June 2011 - 08:47 AM

wow it looks intimidating! ill look into it!

The particular PC is very powerful,but,this seems to be more for the hared core gamers,I'm just looking for something powerful,but not "too" powerful

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227326

but not delivery to Malaysia eh? hmmmmmmm
do you have anything good from dell or anything like that right out of the box?

Hello Wan Djawad

I found you a nice little system, upgradeable with more then enough power for about anything you want to do, and if not simply add 4GB more DDR3 memory. You could find better ones for more money, that will be out dated just as fast as this one. Take a look give you more idea's anyway. This one is good enough I would buy one if I had the money right now, the i7 processor is about $400 dollars in its self.. Here is the link long form so you know where your going before you click! http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=19568&CatId=4928

Here is another close to the same power a little cheaper comes with mouse, and keyboard too.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dddwyc1&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&model_id=inspiron-580 tower, mouse, keyboard with 2 year warranty $699.99


http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=176587&CatId=2775 22" LED $109.97

I like dell better then Gateway, but for the money and the first one having the i7 processor instead of the i5 I think I would go with it, you might be able to save some money if you have it shipped with less RAM and add it in yourself, dell wants $50 for a 2GB ddr3, you can get them cheaper then that. Anyway if you have more questions you know where to post them.

If there is no delivery to Malissia, maybe you could have someone nice on here ship it there for you? The way things are today you could handle all payments over the internet, and it wouldn't really be a big deal for a lot of us to just drop it off to ship with you new shipping label on the box. Just an Idea....

Sounds good enough for me. Yeah, I'm sure I could get someone to ship it over here for me ;)
thanks for the suggestions, i'll take a look now.

You could have a look at your local computer shops.