Fun Time - CNC Milling Machine Workstation

Wang Chung

Yeah, that's what I have to build. Oh, and I have a $1000 budget. We "need" a 21in monitor.

Here's what i've got mapped out so far
- AMD (potentially dual core) ~3000
- Decent MOBO with SATA/RAID support for future expansion
- Case with 110% guaranteed non-flake PSU. That's the important part.
- 21in monitor (will need to find a piece of shit)
- 1GB + RAM
- 2 drive setup - WD raptor 40gb 10kRPM main. considering IDE storage drive, but no raid/expansion options. jones prefers WD over Seagate too.
- A damn good workstation card

Any help appreciated. I can manage my own so don't stress yourself, simply looking for suggestions. I've got it in the pocket if need be Smile

Though I strongly believe, the more educated opinions I can get on such a subject, the better we are. $1000 isn't a lot of money for a workstation comp.

Official LoP:

-WD 36.7GB 10,000 RPM 8MB SATA HD
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Last edited by Wang Chung on Wed Jun 20, 2007 6:56 pm; edited 1 time in total

Brutus · Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 6:06 pm Post subject:

Pretty much a gaming rig setup - you know your shit. Very Happy

Good luck with the 21" monitor though - that's half your budget if you roll in shipping. Rolling Eyes

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firefox_71 · Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 6:09 pm Post subject:

damn Wang, they had those WD drives at Fry's three weeks ago for either 39 or 59 bucks, I was going to grab one but I was there for a 300G Seagate that was on sale as well

if it is just CNC, you shouldn't have to go all out on a Quadro or anything

I used to render some really intricate 3d stuff on a 32M Elsa Gloria
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Wang Chung · Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 6:35 pm Post subject:

It's CNC + SolidWorks + CAD + GMAX. I'm shooting for the top drafting station in the district.

I had considered quadro but the prices are rediculous. I need a power card for around $200. I can't let it eat up more than $250. 256MB VRAM is unfortunately a must in this situation.
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Wang Chung · Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 6:36 pm Post subject:

Brutus wrote:

Pretty much a gaming rig setup - you know your shit. Very Happy

Good luck with the 21" monitor though - that's half your budget if you roll in shipping. Rolling Eyes

I was appalled that a 21in CRT cost so much. The only reason this is so is to boost LCD sales. Looks like we'll have to go second hand.
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theboomboom · Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 7:05 pm Post subject:

I took a tech class last semester, and one of the activities you could do was a cnc milling machine. I could get you the teacher's email if you want to talk to him about the set-up our school has. Email me or something if you wants teh email Razz

And as far as monitors I saw these two

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824008036
Thats the cheapest 21in newegg has to offer. It is a widescreen, so you could load up quite a but of information onto one screen if you wanted to. But my reccomendation if you are willing to shell out a bit more money is...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824222013
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824161024
one of these two set up in a dual monitor setup. Of course, that would also mean you would probably have to spend little more on your gfx card or get one of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817107511
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You do not say that the wheel is fatigued, yet the body is as material as the wheel

Wang Chung · Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:09 pm Post subject:

Not really sure what I'd do with a VGA splitter. Running the same screen twice is useless.

LCDs are out of the question. 21in is a must and the only viable way to do that is a 3rd party CRT. But, we could easily do a pair of 17-19" CRTs for rediculously cheap. Everyone knows dual-screen is awesome, especially if we go with a dual core option and run two apps at once. We'd be in good shape then Smile

I'll discuss dual screen options with jones tomorrow.
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theboomboom · Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:18 pm Post subject:

Gah, dual CRTs would suck. I guess I misread the VGA splitter thingy, but you would probably need something like that if you didnt have a vid card that would support it. And the price gap between LCDs and CRTs is closing, so you probably would save a whole lot either way.
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You do not say that the wheel is fatigued, yet the body is as material as the wheel

Wang Chung · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:45 pm Post subject:

theboomboom wrote:

Gah, dual CRTs would suck. I guess I misread the VGA splitter thingy, but you would probably need something like that if you didnt have a vid card that would support it. And the price gap between LCDs and CRTs is closing, so you probably would save a whole lot either way.

Why would dual CRT's suck? I guess you did misread it.

The price gap really isn't closing. Companies are just employing schemes to improve LCD sales so they can phase out CRTs.
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