Gamers exult in the power of their computers; touting gigaherts CPUs and Nvidia-based graphics cards as necessary for Quake III killing sprees, but the best of these systems pale when compared to a solidly built CAD station. The very games that are played with such glee are often designed on systems that would make the average gaming machine look quaintly slow. CAD, or computer aided design software, is used all over the world to draft plans for everything from skyscrapers and dams, down to the smallest mechanical components used in machinery. The various types of CAD software are pretty specialized, and require vastly different hardware configurations to support them, the most notable being in the realm of graphics cards. For most 2D work, a card with massive 3D acceleration isn't necessary, while high-end 3D modeling software can benefit from graphic chipsets far more powerful than the gamers' favorite NVidia GeForce.

Of course, at the heart of any system is the CPU, and for CAD, just like many other applications, the more power the better. For single processor systems a chip running at 1.2 or 1.4 GHz is adequate, while dual processor systems can combine two chips that fall under 1 GHz for very decent results. Intel and AMD are, of course, the only two chip manufacturers, and choosing which to go with is a crucial decision. A Pentium 4 will offer a lot of speed and gets coupled with the very fast RDRAM, while Athlon will approach the same speeds and can be used with DDR RAM, which offers substantially faster speeds than standard RAM.

Also important to remember is whether it's RDRAM or DDR, CAD performance will benefit from a maxed out motherboard. Most CAD stations sport 266 to 384 MBs. Generally, a Pentium 4 system is going to cost more, and be more expensive to upgrade.

Of graphics cards found in CAD stations used for 3D work, hardware-proud gamers will only recognize the names Elsa and Nvidia, both of which are elative newcomers to the professional graphics market. Elsa's GLoria III, powered by NVidia's Quadro2 Pro, carries 64MB of DDR RAM. Other cards in this field are the 3Dlabs Oxygen GVX420 and SonicBlue Fire GL2. 3Dlabs also makes the Wildcat 4210 and the new Wildcat II 5110, which have been recognized as the leading cards. For less-intensive 3D work, 3Dlabs' VX1 and ELSA's Synergy III are good choices. OpenGL is de rigeur for CAD 3D development, although a very small movement towards DirectX exists. Of course, if the workstation will only be supporting 2D work, then an inexpensive TNT2 can be used.