New Dell maybe.

[RYAN1986]

I'm considering buying a new computer, possibly a dell and probably a desktop. It is to run CAD Programs such as Pro Engineer. I heard from my college I would need 2 gigs of ram, however the PTC site reccomends just 1 gig. What would be the cheapest system (I'm a student so it has to be cheap) I could smoothly run Pro E on? Also, I'm concerned about upgrading in the future. How easy is it to upgrade ram on these machines? I've never fiddled with computer internals before. Also how much does RAM memory cost? for example how much would a gig stick cost to go into one of the slots on say a dell e521. One last thing, if i buy an e521 (for example) and it has 2 slots folled with 512 ram, can I add 1 or 2 sticks of 1gig ram to make 2 or 3 gigs total? would this work? Thanks for any help. Ryan.

[Jason]

Hi,

Have you considered getting one custom built? This might be the cheapest option.
Upgrading RAM is very simple, the prices vary depending on where you look but a 1gig stick wouldn't set you back much.

As for the amount of RAM you can put it that depends on the motherboard and the chipset used. If it comes with say 2 slots with 512 in each you could easily swap them out for two 1gig sticks.
If you're buying from Dell though, check for those Free Double Memory promotions they sometimes run.

How much are you willing to spend?

[gunslinger]

How much are you willing to spend?

i think thats what it comes dows to. although i do think you could build a lot cheaper than buy, even more so when you are talking dell. Building a computer is fairly simple, troubleshooting maybe not so much.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by RYAN1986

I'm considering buying a new computer, possibly a dell and probably a desktop. It is to run CAD Programs such as Pro Engineer. I heard from my college I would need 2 gigs of ram, however the PTC site reccomends just 1 gig. What would be the cheapest system (I'm a student so it has to be cheap) I could smoothly run Pro E on? Also, I'm concerned about upgrading in the future. How easy is it to upgrade ram on these machines? I've never fiddled with computer internals before. Also how much does RAM memory cost? for example how much would a gig stick cost to go into one of the slots on say a dell e521. One last thing, if i buy an e521 (for example) and it has 2 slots folled with 512 ram, can I add 1 or 2 sticks of 1gig ram to make 2 or 3 gigs total? would this work? Thanks for any help. Ryan.

Dell computers really limit your upgrade options however they use the BTX format and are so quiet you can hear a pin drop, yet run cool. Sadly, my XPS 400 will not do what I wish so I must upgrade and go back to the (ugh) ATX format.
I think you could do so much better by finding a friend to help you build one from scratch