a cheap system for an Architecture Eng

[SaFrOuT]

Hi all
a friend of mine wants to buy a cheap system for his work he usually do multi-tasking using the following programs
AutoCAD
CAP
STAD
3DMAX
Premavera management
so according to his budget either i will get him one of the following setups
[1] 3600+ X2 AND 1GB of ram
OR
[2] 3500+ AND 2GB of ram
of course i will overclock the system for him a little to increase the price/performance ratio but will keep it in the very safe area so which will help him more in his work, a dualcore with less ram or a single core with more ram ?

[Kumakichi]

I'm a heavy Autocad user and run ProEngineer Wildfire. I also have to run some graphic programs for work. I'd go for the 2gb of ram and a decent vid card. With those kinds of apps you can't have enough ram.

[HungryForHertz]

Ugh this is a difficult one. You want to focus on RAM and VRAM.

[SaFrOuT]

ya i know it is difficult :)

thanks for ur help

@Kumakichi

x800 or X1600pro, will any of them be good enough ?

[Nanometer]

I say dual core, even if it's half the RAM. You can always upgrade the ram to two gigs for about 140 bucks.

[Kumakichi]

There are so many cards on the market now I don't know what to suggest. I'd just go for a vid card that was comparible to the cpu you were going with since they both work pretty much hand in hand. I think 1600xt's go for around $100?