Need advice on what kind of computer to build

[LittleKnownDude]

The title says it all. My moms a computer wiz and will be able to help me do pretty much everything but I was wondering what kind of specs it should have. I plan on using it for 3D Character animation and design.

Thanks, Keep it Kool :dude:
LKD

[Amethyst]

Maybe this thread can be useful to you. Good Luck in building your computer.
http://www.gameartisans.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9656

[LittleKnownDude]

it didnt help but thanks for tring

[Lamont]

Start with "How much do you want to spend?", "Do you want an off-the-shelf machine?" and "Mac or PC?"

Then we can proceed to spec out a computer.

Maybe a thread is in order where different spec machines can be priced out. Update it yearly :).

[Mrpearlzildjian]

Depending on your budget...

High End:

Quad Core Intel, or i7
QuadroFX(Intel)
DDR3 RAM(6GB)

Mobo's is preference, most people know asus and them, but I personally use a DFI, and it's never failed me. That parts up to you.

You can also get TB HDD's for cheap now too.

JUst wanted to keep it simple. You can PM me if you have any questions.

[zeke3d]

I would say that a wacom intous 3 or 4 at a medium size is probably high on the list of essentials.

[Lamont]

I'll be having a Wacom Intuous 3 w/6D art pen for sale... soon. ;) ;)

[pimpofpixels]

Here are the specs for a computer I built 3 months ago. It works great, and was less than $2000 to build.

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (bare drive) - OEM
Item #: N82E16822136296

ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835118020


LG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech Black SATA Model GH20NS15 - OEM
Item #: N82E16827136149


BFG Tech BFGEGTX260MC896OCBE GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video ... -
Item #: N82E16814143173

ASUS P5Q Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P45 Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131297


Antec Performance One P180 Silver cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129154



Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM
Item #: N82E16822136284


Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 - Retail


(QUANTITY 2 so 8 gigs of ram)
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820231166

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit

Antec EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16817371015


The only thing I'd change is I'd have gotten a different heat-sink. The case has a lot of cooling built in, and the heat sink included in this spec doesn't cooperate well with the case fans. This is because the heat-sink listed above blows towards the back of the case, and the case has a fan right there which blows the other direction. What I ended up doing was reversing the direction of my case fans, but it'd be a whole lot easier to get a horizontally mounted CPU fan like the one below.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118115

Good Luck

[LittleKnownDude]

thanks guy this is great I personally cant make heads or tails of it but Im sure my mom would be able to. thanks again and if you have anymore advice plz offer it

keep it kool
lkd

[Lamont]

- OCZ or G.Skill for memory (Good customer service and lifetime)
- BFG Tech for videocards (Perfect customer service and Lifetime/10 year)
- If you're gonna drop $$ on a Velociraptor, buy two and raid them for your OS/Apps disk. Otherwise, regular SATA's will do.
- Get your HSF combos at FrozenCPU.com, huge selection.

[urban_rebellion]

having just built a brand new rig for graphics/gaming I will say this: think ahead. get a setup thats going to provide the necessary grunt for you plus a bit extra so that as software (or games) becomes more demanding your comp can keep up with it.

first thing you need to do is pick a CPU as that dictates everything about the mobo etc. AMD or Intel? I went for intel as at the moment they are leading the cpu market with their nifty (if a little pricey) i7's (which perform bloody amazingly)

Once you choose your cpu you have to choose a motherboard with a chipset that supports your cpu. its pretty straight forward, google some reviews of the CPU your going for and see what mobos are being used with the cpu. theyll often mention it in the body of the review as well.

for the graphics card, again its a choice of two main types, either ATI or nVidia. its a personal preference thing again, mine is nvidia (i got the GTX260 by the way, its quite cheap and performs really really well). as for future proofing, if you get a mobo that has sli or crossfire (the ability to have two graphics card plugged in and linked together) then later on down the track you can buy a second graphics card for cheap and boost your graphics performance greatly that way.

ram is a funny one. it depends if your going for a 32 or 64 bit operating system. a 32bit system can only use about 3gigs of ram max which isnt a whole lot (although its managable) in the graphics world. 64bit can access terrabytes worth of ram so ppl can (and do) have 24 gigs of ram in the one machine (the current maximum available in desktop machines). you wont need that much, but if your going for a higher end system go for 6 gigs. as for the operating system, if using vista its really good at running 64bit software and running 32 bit programs too. I havnt had any compatibility issues at all.

power. dont skimp on it! get a brand name power supply and get an extra 100w more than you need, for several reasons. in the future, if you do need extra hardware/harddrives/graphics cards/fans etc youll need the extra power. having that extra power headroom means the system will be that much more stable as well.

the rest (case, hard drives, display etc) you can figure out yourself based on your needs.

for the record my setup is as follows:

cpu: i7 920
mobo: gigabyte p6t
graphics: gtx260
ram: gskill 6gigs
power: 750w antec realpower
etc

runs like a beast.
best of luck with your computer buying endevours!