need new desktop ... any ideas?

[GregHess]

Check with the university. They may have special pricing deals on laptops. ie, you'd be able to get more computer for the same money.

[lots]

The only real issue you may have with that setup will be the ATI graphics. Generally speaking ATI has poor driver support in 3D apps. There are fewer problems with an Nvidia card. Granted, both have issues, they're more common on ATI hardware.

Then again, some people experience no problems at all. But since the majority of complaints about graphics cards tends to be ATI based, I wouldn't gamble on it working out for you.

[maX_Andrews]

on a 15.4" screen the optimum resolution is 1440x900, and the 1280x800 will be a bit low for a screen of that size. Can you get it with an upgraded, higher resolution screen?

[djjimmy2k2]

sorry about the very late reply, havent been able to get onto the site until now.

GregHess, unfortunately the uni doesnt have anything like that. there are a couple of places that do student offers but the comps they have arent really that high spec.

lots, ive taken into account what youve said and i dont want to have any problems down the line so i think ill avoid ATI graphics.

maX_Andrews, the screen resolution was my biggest worry cos i know you need as much desktop space as you can get with this kind of work. unfortunately it cant be upgraded on that model.



anyway, ive had a look around and ive found another laptop, this one is made by evesham and the model is the Computer Active Quest A430 (http://www.evesham.com/products/info.asp?e=7B6057E5-59AE-4BDB-9247-F18D7007E019) (click the name to see the site). here are the specs:

Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Processor AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-50
Memory 2 x 256MB DDR II RAM 533MHz memory
Hard Disk 80GB 5400rpm Serial ATA hard drive
Graphics 256MB* GeForce 6100 graphics
Monitor 17'' WXGA X-Bright widescreen display (1440x900)
Sound Built-in audio and speakers Ports
Ports - 4 USB 2, Firewire, VGA, PCMCIA, Express Card
CD/DVD Rewriter DVD/CD-RW/ Dual Layer DVD-RW drive
Battery 6 cell Li-Ion battery (life up to 3 hours approx)
Standard Software Microsoft Works 8 Roxio Easy Media Creator 7
Modem/Network Wireless Mini PCI 802.11bg (54Mbps) LAN & bluetooth
Other Built In card reader (XD/SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro)
Warranty Silver 3 year warranty - 1 year in-home service (parts & labour). 2nd & 3rd year return-to-base (labour)
Dimensions 395mmx278mmx26.5-34.9mm Weight - 3.5Kg

price - £699.00

not as much RAM and HD as the other laptop i showed but its got the screen. the rest i dont know about, is it a better processor, graphics etc?



failing that though ive been thinking about swapping my idea of getting a laptop for a desktop instead. ive found a couple, still made by evesham.

the first is the Axis Spirit (http://www.evesham.com/products/info.asp?e=5FFE32E3-E10E-4ACF-ABBB-C22DDF03981B) (click the name again) and these are the specs:

Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Processor AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 dual-core 4600+ processor
Memory 1Gb DDR-2 Memory
Hard Disk 320GB 7200rpm S-ATA hard drive
Graphics 256MB* NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Graphics XFX GeForce 7600LE 256MB graphics
Monitor 19'' wide TFT monitor
Speakers Creative I-Trigue 3220 2.1 speakers
CD/DVD Rewriter Sony 16x Dual Layer DVD rewriter
Ports 4 x USB
Keyboard & Mouse Logitech S96 Black Optical Mouse Logitech Value Keyboard (PS/2)
Case Mini tower case (411x175x365mm)
Standard Software Microsoft Works 8 Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 Bullguard Internet Security - Anti-virus with FREE 90 day updates - plus firewall and online backup
Modem/Network 10/100 network connection (on-board)
Other Optional floppy drive & modem Warranty Gold 3 year warranty - 1st & 2nd year in-home service (parts & labour). 3rd year return to base (parts & labour)

price - £799.00



and the second one is the Axis Blaze (http://www.evesham.com/products/info.asp?e=4264B917-16E7-4689-A10E-A0AB42D0B2C0) (click the name again). here are the specs:

Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Processor AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 dual-core 3800+ processor
Memory 2 x 512MB dual channel DDR2 RAM memory
Hard Disk 250GB Serial ATA hard drive
Graphics 2 x ATI 256MB ATI Radeon X1600XT graphics
Monitor 17'' X1700DS TFT LCD monitor
CD/DVD Rewriter Sony 16x Dual Layer DVD rewriter
Ports 6 x USB 2.0
Keyboard & Mouse Logitech S96 Black Optical Mouse Logitech Value Keyboard (PS/2)
Case Midi tower case (453x222x495mm)
Standard Software Microsoft Works 8 Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 Bullguard Internet Security - Anti-virus with FREE 90 day updates - plus firewall and online backup
Modem/Network 10/100 network connection (on-board)
Other Optional floppy drive & modem Warranty Silver 3 year warranty - 1 year in-home service (parts & labour). 2nd & 3rd year return to base (labour)

price - £799.00


so what do you all think?

thanks

[lots]

Well, while the Athlon64 X2 and the Turion X2 are good CPUs, Intel's Core 2 Duo is better. So I would look towards that insted.

Also, that laptop in your last post has a Geforce 6100, which is the bottom end of Nvidia's graphics line up. The second machine has a Geforce 7600LE, which is also a low end part. Granted its a fair bit better than the 6100 :).

Personally I'd look for a system with a Core 2 Duo, a Geforce 7900GTO, and 2GB of RAM. If you're looking at desktops. Since it looks like you want to save money though, you could probably drop a few specs a bit, lower vide ocard (7600GT), and get a slower version of the Core 2 Duo (E6300).

[djjimmy2k2]

ive found another desktop, im looking on other sites at the moment but this one is an evesham like the others ive shown. i took into consideration what you said about the intel core 2 duo processor and the graphics card and this is what ive come up with, its the same price as the other desktops aswell, coming in at £799:

the model is the Solar MX100 (http://www.evesham.com/products/info.asp?e=3C02EBE2-AEC6-4F5C-840D-7601181E0669) (once again, click on the name)
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Memory 2 x 512MB DDR2 RAM memory Hard Disk 250GB Serial ATA hard drive Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 7600LE 256MB graphics Monitor 19'' widescreen TFT monitor Sound Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio sound card Speakers Creative I-Trigue 3220 2.1 speakers CD/DVD Rewriter Sony 16x Dual Layer DVD rewriter Case Mini tower case (411x175x365mm) TV Card Dual DVB-T TV tuner Standard Software Microsoft Works 8 Roxio Easy Media Creator 7Other Media Center receiver and remote control Optional floppy drive & modem Warranty Silver 3 year warranty - 1 year in-home service (parts & labour). 2nd & 3rd year return to base (labour).it is the lower end, like you said about dropping a few specs a bit but what do you think?

[newman]

It will work fine, I just have a couple of remarks - the first is RAM. 2x512 MB may not be the best combination for future upgradeability, if you're going for 1 GB of RAM a far better option would be to have just 1 DIMM of 1 GB installed, that way you have more slots free for future upgrades. Also, RAM is fairly cheap, consider bumping that up to 2x1 GB, you'll find working will be much more comfortable with 2 GBs of RAM.
The second issue is the monitor. It just says 19" widescreen, they say nothing about model or make, or any specs for that matter. In any graphic work, be it 2D or 3D, the monitor is a critical component, and I'd never buy it blindly like that. Also, I wouldn't get a 19" widescreen - wides work better at 21" or higher, the height of the screen is way too low on a 19" wide imo.
You might consider asking them if they'd be willing to sell you that system, but with 2x1 GBs of RAM, and without a monitor - which you can then buy separately.

[djjimmy2k2]

well ive just had a look and found out what the monitor is, its a 19" Iiyama PLE1900S (Black) DVI TFT...

[newman]

Well, Iiyama's CRTs are among the best.. don't know about LCDs, or this particular model for that matter. I do know that Iiyama is a much respected monitor manufacturer. Still, now that you know the exact model of the screen, it might be a good idea to check the reviews to see if it's good. But you might consider swapping it for a 4:3 19" or 20" screen (a 20" 4:3 LCD will work in 1600x1200, a very nice work res..)

[djjimmy2k2]

ive had a bit of a play around on the site and chose some different components and what-not. for an extra £230 or so (making a total cost of £1,033.94) i can get this setup:

Intel® Core 2 Duo processor E6400 (2.13GHz)
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition
2GB DDR2 RAM
250GB SATA Hard Drive with 8MB Cache
256MB DDR NVIDIA 7600LE PCI-Express Graphics
20" Viewsonic VA2012W-2 (Black/Silver) Wide TFT
Multi Format 18x Dual layer DVD re-writer
DVD-ROM (16x) / CD-RW (52x32x52) Combo Drive
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Creative I-Trigue 3220 2.1 Speakers
Floppy Drive with 7-in-1 Card Reader
Dual DVB TV Tuner & Media Centre Remote Control
Logitech Internet Pro Cordless Desktop
Microsoft® Works 8.0
Roxio Easy Media Creator
Bullguard Antivirus Software & 30 Days Updates
Evesham Silver Warranty (1Yr OSM 2Yrs RTB

any better? and is it worth the extra money id be paying out for it? to be honest it is a bit over budget but oh well, i want something decent for my money. so what do you think?

and thanks for all your help so far too :-)

[newman]

Much better config. If it's a bit over budget but you can stretch it, do so, you'll be able to use the system longer.

[djjimmy2k2]

so you think its a good system? worth the money? you think i should make the investment? would i be able to do everything id need to do with maya on that system though? would it be able to handle the amount of polygons ill be using and the rendering and everything? and of course ive got to be able to us my current programs, like dreamweaver, photoshop, flash, illustrator etc but my 733mhz p3 can run all them so theres no worries there. i guess what im asking is if its a capable computer for doing all the usual animation stuff.

thanks

[newman]

so you think its a good system? worth the money? you think i should make the investment? would i be able to do everything id need to do with maya on that system though? would it be able to handle the amount of polygons ill be using and the rendering and everything? and of course ive got to be able to us my current programs, like dreamweaver, photoshop, flash, illustrator etc but my 733mhz p3 can run all them so theres no worries there. i guess what im asking is if its a capable computer for doing all the usual animation stuff.

thanks

In a word, yes. It should handle all the abovementioned programs just fine. As for polycount, it should work fine, but you should take into account that every system can be sluggish if you're working with extreme polycounts - the difference is slower systems will become sluggish a bit sooner. The key to solving this problem is partly intelligent modelling (to keep the polycount as low as possible while retaining quality), and partly tricks - hiding stuff you don't need, having different values for viewports and renderers etc - basically, viewport optimizations. Can't go into greater detail - these depend on the app you're using (and I'm a max, not a maya user), and I'm slightly getting offtopic as it is. At any rate, the system above sounds pretty solid and should work more then fine in all the apps you mentioned.

[djjimmy2k2]

well. evesham have taken the 20" monitor that i mentioned off the website so i cant choose that now. now i have to go for a 19" (1280x1024) or pay about £100 more for something larger.

hmm ...

EDIT: question - what is the difference between the intel core 2 duo E6300 and E6400, as in the performance? would it make a difference if i went for the lower one or is it something you wouldnt recommend?

[djjimmy2k2]

ive just done a search for other online computer shops and ive come across one and in particular this computer:

its from pcnextday.co.uk and its called the Zoostorm 4-6401 Advanced PC (http://www.pcnextday.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?ProductCode=3364-6401) (click on the name for the site) and these are the specs:

<LI>Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.40GHz 1066MHz Processor
<LI>2GB DDR2 667MHz DIMM PC5300 Memory
<LI>320GB SATA, 7200rpm Serial ATA300 Hard Drive with 8MB Cache
<LI>256MB Inno3D NVidia GeForce 7900GT PCI-Express Graphics Card
<LI>Creative Labs SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Music Soundcard
<LI>ECS P965T-A Motherboard
<LI>7 USB 2.0 Ports
<LI>3 Firewire Ports
<LI>16x DVD+/-RW Double Layer Drive
<LI>16x DVD-ROM Drive
<LI>52 in 1 Flash Card Drive
<LI>5603 Black & Silver 'Vader' ATX Tower case
<LI>400W Silent PSU
<LI>54Mbps Wireless LAN Network Adapter
<LI>19" AOC LM-965 LCD Monitor, 1280x1024 resolution, 8ms response
<LI>Philips MMS460 5.1 Speaker System
<LI>Microsoft Mouse & Keyboard Set
<LI>Microsoft Windows XP Home
<LI>Ahead Nero CD/DVD writing software
<LI>Cyberlink Power DVD playback software
1 year on-site warranty


the specs seem, to me, to be better than the evesham and its slightly cheaper too coming in at £999. one thing though is that with the evesham you later get a free upgrade to windows vista, with this you dont. what do you think?

P.S. still only a 19" monitor

[lots]

I'd stay away from that motherboard, and what PSU is that exactly? What brand and model?

[djjimmy2k2]

i have no idea what the PSU is.

i asked a couple of questions in the post before last but cos the thread went onto a new page you mustnt have seen them.

i said that evesham have taken the 20" monitor that i mentioned off the website so i cant choose that. now i have to go for a 19" (1280x1024) or pay about £100 more for something larger. what do you think?

and also, could you please tell me what the difference is between the intel core 2 duo E6300 and E6400, as in the performance? would it make a difference if i went for the lower one or is it something you wouldnt recommend?

[Decade]

The difference between the 6300 & 6400 is fairly small (ie barely noticable in use) but so is the price difference, either will be great.

[djjimmy2k2]

ive been messing around on the dell site and ive come up with this setup. its still slightly over my budget but i can probably stretch it this much, just no further:

Intel® Viiv™ Core™ 2 Duo E6600 Processor (2.4GHz, 1066MHz, 4MB)Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Incl Operating System Re-installation CD)
2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz [2x1024] Memory
Dell™ Black Enhanced USB Multimedia Keyboard - UK/Ire (QWERTY)
Dell™ 19" Value Flat Panel (E197FP)
256MB nVidia® GeForce® 7900GS graphics card
320GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe [2x160GB 7200rpm drives with DataBurst™ cache]
Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader & 1.44MB Floppy Drive
Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black
16x DVD +/- RW & 16x IDE DVD ROM Drive
Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™ ADVANCED HD software
Dell™ A525 Speakers with Subwoofer
Microsoft® Works 8 - English
MCE to Vista Premium Upgrade on: www.dellvistaupgrade.productorder.com before 03/31/07
Resource CD - contains Diagnostics and Drivers
90 days trial of Network Assistant included
FREE Dell™ Colour Printer 725
Basic Warranty Package, 3 Year At-Home Service

all comes to the final price of £1,089.99

it still has the 19" monitor but im just gonna put up with it, with a 1280x1024 resolution, until i can afford a bigger one somewhere down the line. i mean my old monitor was a 17" with 1280x1024 and it was good to work with (that was until we moved house and it got ****ed up), and the ones at uni are the same. what do you think of the system though? it seems better than any others ive shown and its not a bad price i dont think.

thanks guys ...

[djjimmy2k2]

just noticed that noone replied to my last post, any chance i could get some feedback on that system?

[djjimmy2k2]

er ... guys? can i get some input?

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