Building a new computer from the ground up...

[Jev Moldara]

Okay, just so you know, my only working computer is an HP DV7-3165dx. It's a nice laptop, and the specs are pretty good even for being two years old.

- AMD Turion II 2.5GHz dual core processor
- Patriot DDR3-800 RAM 8GB (an upgrade from the 4GB that came with it)
- Toshiba 500GB hard drive
- ATI Mobility Radeon 4200 graphics card
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

However, I do CAD work for a living, and some commission work on the side. My laptop, while good, is not the best for the job, especially when 3D work is involved. It barely copes. As a result, I have gathered the following equipment together to make a desktop that will be up to the task, and then some.

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LE PLUS
Processor: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4 GHz (3.8GHz on TurboBoost)
RAM: 16GB (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1866
Primary Drive: Crucial M4 256GB Solid State Drive
Secondary Drive: 3TB Seagate Barracuda
Video Card: GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB GDDR5 video card
O/S: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Yeah, this, coupled with the SEVEN FANS in the case, will be a screamer.

[Jev Moldara]

Update: I decided to go crazier.

I added another SSD drive (for the OS and basic programs... the first one will be strictly for CAD, 3D, and graphics programs) and another 3TB hard drive (which I plan to mirror with the first one), plus a hard drive fan.