Need Help With a Build Plan For A New Desktop

[Synergy]

A need a dedicated business computer. I have been out of the loop for building desktops as I have been using prebuilt laptops for quite a few years. My last build was running XP!

Software I will be running:
-SolidEdge 2D CAD/CAM
-Inkscape
-Gimp
-Vinylmaster (image design & vinyl plotter/cutter software)

Possibly down the road:
-Some kind of video editing

I have always had a preference for AMD over Intel, plus they used to cost less. I am not looking to build a bare bones budget system, but I also don't need a full on water cooled gaming rig. I would like the option of running dual 27" monitors.

[deebix]

Because there are so many manufacturers, I will tell you what to look for. For video editing, you definitely want an intel "i7" CPU and atleast 8gb RAM. SSD drives are now common enough to be expected in newer machines so don't skimp out for a crappy typical harddrive. Check out newegg.com

[BenHa]

Budget? 1080p or 1440p monitors? are you planning to game?

[pitbull30]

Whats your budget?

You said you like AMD. How about something like this.. 8 Core AMD. 8gb DDR3 RAM.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8564588&Tab=11&NoMapp=

Ive always had good luck with Newegg and Tigerdirect.

[Tempus]

Budget is really where this conversation starts.

How much ram? When doing rendering or video editing the answer is usually All The RAMS. This is a good little combo (intel I know. sorry) http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1690327

Mobo rolls heavy. 128gigs in 8 sockets. 5 pci-x 16x slots so you can run a few video cards if you really need it and the application like multiple cards.

[NorCalAthlete]

Lots of video editing? How about a hybrid drive for booting + storage? Haven't tried them myself but heard good things about them.

[AreWeFree]

First, I wouldn't waste money on AMD especially if you are considering editing video.

Next we really need to know a budget, and just as important, how will you be backing up your data? If you're making a business system then step #1 is having a disaster recovery plan.

[woods]

I know you said no water cooled but some 8 core AMDs come packaged with water cooling and are quite affordable. You might consider it just because of the noise reduction and great cooling.

Other than that just stick to motherboards you know wont fail like a good Asus or MSI or something.

With virtual machines being as awesome as they are I prefer a system with at least 32 gigs of ram, and Samsung Evo 1TB for my main system and a Western Digital Black 3TB for bulk storage and the Virtual Machines.

I also use open source tools like Gimp and switch back and forth between Debian, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Kali Linux. In Linux I've had much better AMD Radeon Graphics card drivers than with Nvidia. If you are doing audio/video and imaging this will be a huge issue for you. The newest cards are stupidly fast, more fast than you will need on your videogames or most work, so getting a 7870 or 7970 if you find one on sale might be just as good as a brand new R9 for your purposes. Even as a gamer I usually try to search for the "Ghost", "Silent" or "Quiet" tagged graphics cards.

And remember shop42a.com =)

[RobertMW]

Because there are so many manufacturers, I will tell you what to look for. For video editing, you definitely want an intel "i7" CPU and atleast 8gb RAM. SSD drives are now common enough to be expected in newer machines so don't skimp out for a crappy typical harddrive. Check out newegg.com

Is he video editing, or is he creating the next Michael Bay movie?

OP, spend $100 less on an i5 and get 85% the performance, in fact you get 100% the performance except on very select programs. Only video editors that are dealing with half hour renders of visual effects will ever get the performance bump from getting the i7. Besides, the real performance bump from going i7 is getting an extreme edition that gives you 3-4 channels of memory, rather than just 2.

Yes 8Gb or more RAM. 4Gb modules are dirt cheap now.

Yes SSD if you need little things to load constantly.

If you get an SSD as your operating disk, get 16Gb of RAM and learn about RAMdisk software. Convert 2Gb of your RAM into a virtual hard disk and point windows, and every other program that uses temp or cache files, to that virtual disk, it saves the SSD from tons of extra write cycles for no reason.