Oceanfire & Paradox - yep last 2 things I'm unsure on.
Win 7 or 8.1? Dunno. I think if I went 8.1 I could get cheap/free update to 9 which is being rushed out very soon.
8.1 defo more modern in terms of system usage, and I'm good at tweaking so I could make look/feel like 7 within an hour, I'm betting.
The 1 think I like is the registry reset/system refresh button, that's supposed to make it run like a fresh install at the touch of a button.
OTOH
I *like* win 7. 
Vid card - anyone suggest good, cheap, solid performer for CAD system?
Select to expand quotekiteboy dave said...
Oceanfire & Paradox - yep last 2 things I'm unsure on.
Win 7 or 8.1? Dunno. I think if I went 8.1 I could get cheap/free update to 9 which is being rushed out very soon.
8.1 defo more modern in terms of system usage, and I'm good at tweaking so I could make look/feel like 7 within an hour, I'm betting.
The 1 think I like is the registry reset/system refresh button, that's supposed to make it run like a fresh install at the touch of a button.
OTOH
I *like* win 7.
Vid card - anyone suggest good, cheap, solid performer for CAD system?
I run Win7 on my laptop and 8.1 on my PC...I hated 8.1 for the first week, now I prefer it....you just need to customise it, and yes I installed "startisback" just because I could not work the thing without a start button.... ultimately the choice is yours, both do the job....my recommendation is still 8.1 though.
Vid card - it is just a plug in...try it without, you will soon know if you need one. If so then you can look at options and install easily yourself very quickly.
I think this is going to be the final order.
Vid card has blown out the budget but it's a newer architecture one that uses far less power. I know I won't buy another or bother upgrading for at least 5 years so I think it's better to spend a bit extra and get it done right.
Should be a decent machine for the money.
If you have not already - make sure you check the power supply requirements now you have added a GPU.
500w seems in the ballbark for the setup to me - but I know you had 600w then dropped down to 500w and then added a GPU......
There are websites, plus the supplier should do it for you if he is building it......but.....
Oh - and just confirming that you aren't really wanting to be doing hard core stuff like 3D rendering on this? It is a base build for simple 2D type drafting right?
Just checking on expectations....
Thanks Paradox she's done and away now, paid deposit and all. I can do serious rendering at work if need. I will do some 3D drafting but mostly small fabrication parts, not massive assemblies.
I think on the whole it's pretty grunty for the money and I could easily walk in somewhere and get quoted $2,500 for similar spec.
Part of why I spent a bit extra on the vid card is that is has low power requirements - less heat and less power draw and less stress on PSU. So I think the 500w will be fine. It also has 2gb of DDR5 memory x 128 bit so it should render ok for simple stuff.
By simple stuff I mean like this below was my pool area I did in about 2hrs - and I learned Rhino materials / UV mapping in that time so it was slow. I am sending this to someone to discuss an issue as we speak..
^ I do agree with you in part but he's on a budget and he said "light work".
Is there a chance he'll have an issue yes, but if he minimizes use of the Rhino shaded view ports he should be "OK". I could be wrong.
As long as the i5 that's chosen has Intel's HD4600 graphics I believe it's approved by Autodesk but not rhino (issues with OpenGL) but if you look at the Rhino site they're having issues with a bunch of cards with V5 and they say don't use NVidia at all though it runs fine on mine. You can check it on both of their websites. Oddly Solidwork's approves the HD4600 graphics as well.
As he's pointed out as long has he has the board and case space he can put one in later an possibly spend a bit more money on it.
Select to expand quotekiteboy dave said...
True, I have 12gb at work and sometimes run out (contours do it mostly) and then it's a painful painful wait for it to respond again while you sit there calculating how much rework if you kill it.
Ha! Just got to this post while I'm waiting for my CAD to respond and considering how much rework I'll have to do if I kill it. 
I have 32GB ram though, and still 25 to spare while this is going on. It's some wireframing stuff that's killing me at the moment.
Rework done, lunch eaten and rest of thread read. Looks like a good machine for the job. Next time I buy a PC I'll be back here to work out how...
To round this out for anyone interested......kind of off topic but I think Kiteboy Dave is done 
If you are after a higher end monitor and are looking to pay over $400, then do not buy anything until you have considered the 27"/30" super high res jobs (2560*1440 and 2560*1600 respectively) coming out of Korea...
Read this first. http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2023067
It's not for everyone, but I have a 27" and it absolutely blows me away everytime I sit down to the computer.....best money I have spent for a long time.
