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View Full Version : Buying new PC, but which?

Rist
07-29-2006, 06:49 PM
I'm going to be recieving a grant and loan soon from Student Finance, and instead of following the student trend in spending it all on alcohol, I thought I should buy a top class computer.

My ideal system would be one that can handle very large photoshop files for 2D image-editing (either art or photos), and also have a large 20 inch widescreen monitor, and plenty of HDD space. Now, I also like to play games asa hobby.

So, what hardware/system would you recommend for a novice PC user (know the basics and basic troubleshooting and maintenance), that might also need some money on the side for a Graphics Tablet? I currently have the Graphire 3xt studio, but wanting to upgrade as its not very ideal.

Summery:

- +£1000 Budget (maximum unknown right now)
- Enough HDD memory to last a long time, and cope with large files.
- Strong enough graphics card to handle the latest games (Oblivion), and be able to handle photoshop on detailed work.
- Wide enough screen to see what I am working on comfortably, and also for gaming luxary.
- Good sound card, least important though.

in the future I might start using 3D programs like 3DS Max, so room to use that too would be good.

I have an idea of the things I want in my machine, but I would love to ask some of the pro's here what they think.
Thanks in advance.
Draconic
07-30-2006, 08:23 AM
Building your own machine, will get you more bang for your buck. And its a load of fun. Now to the serious part. My 5 year old pc plays Oblivion.. great game btw.
Heres what my latest system is just built it last week.

Pentium 805 D Processor 2.66GHz, 533MHz FSB, Socket 775, 2MB Cache, Dual Core (http://forums.cgsociety.org/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80849)
overclocked to 3.8ghz and running smooth with no heat issues and only air cooled.

3gbs of ddr2

800gb hd (4 200gbs drives)

Graphics card is my old one Radeon 9800pro
(looking to upgrade soon just not made up mind yet)

Cheap olde pc case with a 500w power supply. Has 2 fans in case...and still system is only 35c on start 45c full load.

Cost was pretty cheap. You wont need the 800gbs of storage I am sure.
My cost was 500 USD (not counting hdds.)
So you can easily add lots of storage better graphics card and get a great monitor and still be under your budget.
Thinking about adding a 6800gt and softmodding it to a quadro. thats about the best system for under 700usd around.

Summary I tend to ramble at almost 2am
805d over clock it
you only probably need 1-2gbs ddr2 ram
get a 200gb hd there are cheap now. Plenty room to grow.
Cheap case with 500w powersupply or get a good one since you will still have the cash.
Graphic card is up to you I am 89% leaning towards a softmodded 6800gt.

Thats alot of system and power for pennies!!! Enjoy and have fun and I hope this was somewhat helpful.
PanzerMKZ
07-31-2006, 01:10 AM
300-320 is where the sweet spot in drives is. around 100$. if you want something that is sweet out of the box and you got the cash to burn then go box. www.boxxtech.com (http://www.boxxtech.com) The merecedes of computer hardware. look for Ed.




Panzer
Draconic
07-31-2006, 05:56 AM
300-320 is where the sweet spot in drives is. around 100$. if you want something that is sweet out of the box and you got the cash to burn then go box. www.boxxtech.com (http://www.boxxtech.com/) The merecedes of computer hardware. look for Ed.




Panzer

Man I so wish I could afford a boxx. And some render nodes. But my build will have to suffice and plenty of power for the buck.
PanzerMKZ
07-31-2006, 07:26 PM
You can use anything for a render node. I would suggest though newer stuff. P3 and up. reason being is the addon's like SSE,SSE2, and SSE3. Yea I know what you mean on the builds but opterons can be pretty cheap.



Panzer
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07-31-2006, 07:26 PM
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