[BiGJoN]

Just wondering what is important to get in a new system designed for digital art... both 3d and 2d art (maybe some games also *grins*).

And whats more important in progs like photoshop and 3dmax... cpu or graphics card?

And how much ram should I aim at for a minimum...?

ok thats it till I hear from you all.

[Ian Jones]

Hi fellow Queenslander.

If you want some pro's advice then... Loki has some advice.

I wouls say jsut get the best you can afford. RAM is all important for large images and in photoshop when doing a print quality a4 page (300 dpi) your really need 256mb.. I have 128mb and it gives me "out of ram" messages so I am currently ordering an additional 256mb chip.

Processor speed is always good. Go for best. Good gfx card like geforce.. apparently there's a new one coming out soon that will roxor's the pants of everyone. IT is capable of running scenes from Final Fantasy the movie, in real time! Holy shteet!

Get som gigs too. GFX takes up alot of hardisk, besides you'll need space for all those games.

go for a 17 inch monitor or even bigger if you can, 15 is just horrible. I don't know what else to say. I'm not really a guru with computers.

Hope that helps.

[BiGJoN]

Thanks man... just making sure what I thought to be true was.

Uhh yeah that seems to be the general idea at the moment...lots of RAM, lots of CPU, lots of HDD and a god graphics card.... not much different to ANY new computer you'd want! haha

Loki's page was a big help thanks alot.

[c]

i dunno about the 'buy the best u can afford' deal. if the best u can afford is 900 bux, yea that's cool, but if the best you can afford is like 10k you don't really need to spend that kind of money. it'd just get outdated by some cheap compaq within a few years.

buying the newest and fastest rarely gives you the most bang for your buck. look for a good price performance ratio and just upgrade often, instead of buying one super computer that you will be stuck with forever.

i'm lazy so i end up just buying barebone systems from mwave.com. if you are leet then you can build your own and stuff. generally stay away from pcs you get from the store. dell.com as a last resort , or if you absolutely need tech support.

nowadays ram is pretty cheap, about 100 bux for 512mb ddr so get at least that much and preferably a bit more since your working with graphics. a nvidia geforce-something should be fine, the newer radeon 8500 is pretty good and cheap too, just watch out for the drivers~_~.

get a decent sized hd. anything around 60+ gigs should be fine and not too expensive. hd collecting seems to be a hobby of mine seeing as how i have about 488 gigs of storage now.

oh and go with amd and skip intel. intel's slower and more expensive.

[ceenda]

There's a rumour that DDR RAM prices could be going up again soon.

[Laemtao]

AMD AMD AMD!!! makesure its an Athlon Thunderbird XP Its without a doubt it spanks P4's ASS in terms of number crunching (meaning computing power). And u gonna need that badly when u are rendering scenes in 3D appz like 3D max. Plus with the amount of money you save from not buying intel.. u can use that saving on more RAM. Photoshop is a processor hogger .. get as much RAM as u can. Photoshop and 3d Appz utilizes as much ram as u can get. If u can get 1 Gig of ddr RAM or more.. you're in biznez. (Plus if u are running XP.. u actually need 256 MB or RAM.. 128 is bare minimum.. and thats only for the OS!! damn those MS ppl =P)

As for graphicz card.. a decent 32/64MB Geforce is good enuf, (there are too many variations of geforce cards to pick.. but u can read up reviews on video cards at [url=http://www.tomshardware.com)]www.tomshardware.com)[/url] unless u are going to do 3D seriously.. then check out Elsa's Quadro.. Thats a good 3d graphic card for 3d animators/modelers/etc.

Hard drive.. make sure u have a decent sized 7200 RPM ATA 100 HD. at least 40 gig. They're not that expensive. U can always add a secondary Hd at a later time if u run out space. But if u are a broadband user and downloads Animes MP3's etc.. jeez.. 40 gigs is nothing.. and i'm not surprised that C has 488gigs.. WOWZA

And oh.. if Ceenda says ddr ram is going up.. better buy the rams now.. GOGOGO..now.. =P

Mo

Ps. I like Abit MOBO's.. the Abit KG-7 Raid is damn nice..
Also i agree on not buying the latest stuff.. I always tend to buy stuff that is like 2 steps or 3 steps down from the latest/fastest processor available.. they tend to be the best bang for the buck IMO.

[Gort]

Hmmm...
There's lots of good advice here. Before going with AMD, I would seriously research the performance benchmarks for apps like Photoshop on both AMD and Intel. Intel does have a stronger rep for faster floating point processing; now I am not dissing AMD; I am saying just do the research before you plunk down the coin.

If you seriously want to do 3d work, also doublecheck the GeForce performance as well. nVidia makes killer stuff, but a Quadro chipset (nVidia) is better suited for a professional workstation. GeForce cards, as powerful as they are, are tailored more for gaming; that isn't to say they're not good for work related stuff - I own one, and it works ok for 3d, and it's 2d performance rocks (I am not a 3D artist - 2d mainly). In reiteration, if you're seriously trying to build a box based on professional standards, consider a card with the Quadro chipset.
http://www.nvidia.com

Dual porcessors are the way to go; having "dualies" will blazingly expedite functions in Photoshop and 3D Studio Max.

Raid Controller
Good golly it is fast. It is really, really fast. A RAID setup will definitely boost everything. It isn't really necessary, but it would sure make you happier to have it.

And the memory? Don't skimp on memory; it's cheap as all get out right now and the more the better. If your motherboard will support 1 gig, then get 1 gig and so on and so on.

I would try to get something put together that you can easily upgrade. Dell, Gateway - those guys make good stuff, but they're not going to be able to tailor to your specifics.

All of this, of course, hinges on your budget, so make sure you research thoroughly before plunking down the big coin. If you're seriously wanting to pursue a career that utilizes these technolgies and specifications, you'll have to spend.

Whew - that's my take on it.

[Laemtao]

Alo Alo? the Intel has better floating point performance? errmm are u sure? Last I checked on www.tomshardware.com and www.anandtech.com, even the P4 has trouble matching the Athlon in terms of comparing similar clock cycle processors.. Anyone else here agree with Intel being the superior processor for floating point operations?

Other than that.. I do agree Quadro is a good starter card for serious 3D users.. but mah dream card.. the Wildcats!! yumz... Slurp.. But!! AIYAHHHH... SOO expensive..

Mo

[Laemtao]

AIYAHHHH..... double post!! wow.. this is first time it happened.. Aiyahh..

Ermm.. might as well reemphasise.. MORE RAM! GET MORE RAM!!


Mo

[ January 11, 2002: Message edited by: Laemtao ]

[Laemtao]

OMG!! 24" Monitor?? dagnabits!! how much is that babee cost? 4K? 5? Nice Setup Loki. Yeah.. i heard the Quadro DCC rocks.. My buddy in florida just bought one.. he was lucky.. he found it on Ebay for dirtcheap.. dammit too bad he bought his whole new system after i left the States.. so i didnt get to play with it.. dagnabit.

BTW.. thanks for sharing your system specs.. damn.. dont mind if i emulate that 10 gig scratch disk do u? heh heh...

Mo

[Sukhoi]

If you're looking for a GF3 card you should look out for Leadtek, GF3 Ti500 winfast.
It supposedlu has GREAT 2d quality due to some changes made in the hardware. http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardware/winfastti500/page2.asp

Yeah!

Sukhoi

[BiGJoN]

Uhh ok first off to all... I'm in Australia. Our dollar is worth a bit over half US so bear with me for these costs.

I have $2500 to use me thinks.. ($1250 US$). Just to give you an idea of the price range! Haha so dual video cards with RAID-ed HDDs along with 24" monitors isn't quite going to work. But thanks for the suggestions (wish-lists) haha. The downer is that the system currently being used is a few years old.. and so I need a new case, sound keyboard and mouse... all are long overdue. So its not all going to go straight into the important components.

Umm is everyone agreeing to keep away from the new boards.... *shrugs* I have heard that you should leave technology to "mature" a bit before you jump the gun. But... damn this new stuff is fast!!! haha

I was looking at two Graphics cards in particular (AUS$!):

Hercules 3D Prophet Titanium 200: $399
(Good driver's, reliable, slower than radeon and slightly cheaper)

and

ATi Radeon 7500: $412
(Faster than above, apparently has good 2d uses as well, apparently the driver's aren't that flash hot (but it is still faster than Geforce so WTF?))

So thats the first ting I'll sort out. Anybody have any qualms with Radeon besides the fact they are a little new?

Definitely going AMD Athlon 1.4Ghz...not XP.

Motherboard looks like its between Asus A7M266-E: $313 (Whats the "-E" mean?) and the Abit KG7A: $339. But the Asus is a little faster.. and cheaper so I am going there. Any problems? (I know it DDR as well).

Ummm whats next?

HDD. Seagate Barracuda IV 60GB, 7200RPM, ATA100... nuff said.

Also got the hint from your site (Loki) about how music is really important when your being "arty". But hmm I use headphones alot. So would a big sound system like Game Theater XP be worth it???? If not I'll just go with the cheaper Sound Blaster Live... *shrugs*. ANy help?

And I am going all out with the keyboard and mouse... Logitech Optical Freedom range... about $225...hmm just need to get a CDRW and/or a CD/DVD Rom.

I am ordering in two days! Yee-haw...

Any other help or suggestions?

Thanks all for the help.

[Loki]

AMD has a better FP performance. Period. That's what they're known for in part. Here are my latest setup specs if anyone's interested:

* CPU - 1.4Ghz AMD Thunderbird - overclocked to 1.5Ghz

* RAM - a Gig of PC2100 DDR Ram, running under an FSB of 148Mhz - around 800MB/sec throughput - this is important for large image speed

* HD: a 120GB array made out of two ATA100 IBM disks - very, very important for PS speed - got a 10Gig partition for PS temporary files on it too - that really makes a difference

* GFX Board - Elsa Quadro DCC (GeForce 3 Chipset) - this card simply rocks - for 2D and 3D.
And with the new drivers I'm able to run 1920x1200 in 85Hz on my 24". No real slowdown noticed either! I can just recommend that card - but even a normal GeForce3 packs a wallop compared to older and other cards - no reason to spend $1000 for a professional OpenGL card anymore ...

There ya go

[Digital Genesis]

Ok.. a few chip-ins from me, since I'm looking to buy new stuff soon too.

First of all, why not get althon XP? It is clearly better than the older ones.

Secondly, consider holding off on a motherboard before you can get one which uses the thermal diode in the XP processor. That can prevent a lot of grief from overheating, just like P4 has it.

for a mobo, if you REALLY have to get one now, consider the KR7A-RAID.
It has ATA 133 support and raid. Don't shoot yourself by getting anything less, since that IS the new standard.

Thirdly, don't get barracuda. Get the new Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X.
More quiet and it's ATA 133 (faster)!!

Can't recommend on graphix card, but the Radeon seems like it is a good contender.
The only beef I have with ATI (the producer) comes from my friends who state that ATI is not exactly the king of drivers.

Other than that, get a GOOD power supply. I don't know if you want a quiet system or just one that is rock-stable. But I would recommed an enermax power supply for the stable side of things.
A good power supply is often underrated. And frankly, if you have lots of drives and a big processor, 300W is a bit on the low side. 350 or 400+ is good and leaves you plenty of space to grow in.

Hmmm, I'd suggest getting an Antec case (since lian li is too expensive) but I suppose you could just reuse your old one if it is a good one

It's always nicer to have lots of good quality components which you upgrade less frequently, than mediocre stuff that breaks, is unstable, unpleasant to work with, needs to be exchanged often, etc..

What else... hmm.. don't worry about usb 2.0 being no your board. You can fix that with a pci card. And also, for your mobo, if you don't mind waiting a bit, get one with 66 PCI slots, instead of the usual 32 ones.. (they are already out there, but not a lot)

Thta's all. Good luck :P