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scottisskill
07-13-2009, 10:37 PM
Hi all,

This is, I'm afraid, yet another of those requests for help picking a new system. I've read through a fair chunk of the forums, but I thought I'd try posting up the specs and see if anyone can see any weaknesses and save me making any expensive mistakes.

I'm planning to use the system for 2D art and for learning 3D - probably mainly Maya and 3DS Max. I'm planning to start a degree in 12 months time if all goes well, in either animation or game art and design, and I'd like the system to get me through most of the the three years as much as possible. I've got a budget limit of £1300, and I've put together this system with pcspecialist.co.uk:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 (3 Ghz)
Memory: 4GB Corsair XMS2
Motherboard: Asus P5Q WS
Graphics: PNY Quadro FX1800
Monitor: LG W2252TQ 22"
PSU: 450W
HDD: 1TB

Any suggestions would be much appreciated - either on alterations to these specs, or alternate systems that might do the job better. I've played with it from every conceivable angle for weeks now, and I'm up against the border of my understanding at this point.

Any help for a rookie?

Thanks in advance!
andytw
07-14-2009, 07:24 PM
Firstly in my opinion for your intended purpose the Quadro card is overkill.
If you do a search of this forum you will find a lot of threads about Quadro vs GeForce or Pro vs Gamer graphic cards for 3D work.
A mid range (£100-£200) gaming card will be more than adequate for learning Maya/Max and will leave more money for the rest of your system.
Graphic cards are also very easy to upgrade at a later date.

If you go to PC Specialist, click on Build your own desktop, then choose Intel>Workstaion>DDR3 you can configure the following system

Intel core i7 920 2.66Ghz
6 GB Corsair DDR3
Asus P6T
GeForce GTX 260
PSU 700W (450W would probably be enough but would leave little room for future upgrades)
1TB hard disk

This comes in at under £1000 without a monitor or £1138 with the LG you picked.

This system should be as fast or faster for most tasks compared to the one you listed and you have £150 to tweak it.
You could go for a 24" LG monitor and faster graphics (GTX275) and still be inside your budget.
It will also be more future proof in terms of upgradability in the future if needed.

Andy
scottisskill
07-15-2009, 01:40 AM
Thanks for that Andy - looks brilliant to me. You sort of answered all the questions I didn't quite ask, and came up with a great system for me. Think I'll go with this one!
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07-15-2009, 01:40 AM
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