I need help with assembling new PC

[slug]

Basicly im scraping together any cash i have to build a new pc. Im complete beginner when it comes to 3d software and will try and learn maya, maybe zbrush and play the ocasional game on it (though I might not use the pc for gaming at all) Now I need your advice with what parts I should buy. I am aiming for athlon 64 3400 cpu. But will 3200 or even 3000 be more than enough for my needs. Also I am really in dilema what gfx card I should buy.geforce 6800 gt with 256mb of ram looks realy atractive but it is a bit over my budget, so what will be a reasonably priced card to suit my needs? Also any recomendation an a motherboard and ram? ram will definitly be 1gig, does it matter what brand I buy? I bought a new case recently for my old pc and it has 350wat power supply, do I need to buy a new case or is that enough? Anything else that i should be aware of or I might need? And finally, I need good speakers that are loud and have nice quality sound, but that are not terribly expensive. ANY help is greatly apreciated, thanks in advance :)

[Lauren Short]

well first off, how much are you willing to spend, that's the main issue


as for processor speed...anything in the 2ghz+ range should suffice (especially the athlon 64's, awesome chip)

ram is the most important thing in your system, get either kingston, corsair or crucial (best being crucial and moderately priced yet still effective being kingston) 1gb should be fine


video card isn't as important as you think if doing 2d, but since you seem like you want to do 3d stuff, it's pretty damn important(on that note might wanna go for 1.5gb of ram) so yea go for ATI 9800 or a high end nVidia fx 5200 ultra or something higher...you'll need it


as for accessories, well it helps to have a zip drive(sounds dumb but they're a great way to store a file w/o wasting a cd or dvd)



monitor wise, get a viewsonic, they are one of the best for sure



hope this helps, good luck w/ your comp man :teeth:

[darth massacre]

For 3D software its best to consider a card that can push the polygons instead of a gaming 3D card. Most likely you won't need the built in effects those newer game cards can render (reflection, real time particles and so on). They're good for games for sure :D So a good card is great, the 5900XT is a great budget card (about 1/4 the price of a high end 6800) and it pushes polygons as hard as a 5950 and a 9800 (close but not as good), sure its no 6800 or x800, but for the price you pay you're getting a good deal out of the power it has.

I'd really suggest specialised 3D cards like the ATI FireGL. Which is essentially a souped up 9800 Pro but without all the unnecessary built in decoders for real time particles, smoke and water effects (found in games). Pushes more polys too.

Dunk the rest of your money into RAM and CPU. Make sure you got some spare cash for cooling systems :teeth: You don't want a super computer that crashes once every 30 mins due to running too hot eh? :D Also be sure to invest in a more secure PSU that;s rated to at least 350watts and above...just in case you need to add more HDDs or other components...you don't want to run out of power while adding another HDD. Be sure to set aside some money for a UPS too....its cheap and it will save you when you least expect disaster to strike (blackouts and forgot to save anyone?)


Also make sure you get a kickass mouse.


Don't forget that 30 inch monitor from Apple :teeth:

[Miticu]

Well the rest of he guys that posted here realy helped you with your GF card decision but I can still help you with some other things.

1- You realy need a good cooling system if you plan to build a High-end PC (mine is mid-ranged and it has like 5 cooling systems :$ )

2- If your looking for some killer sound I'd recomend an Audgy sound card toghether with a Creative 7.1 Sound system. (200$)

3- As for a screen I can't say withc but you should go flat.

Well I hope I helped. :teeth:

[Lauren Short]

o yea i forgot to add the cooling system...


Zalman (http://www.zalman.co.kr/) fans kick major butt, if you're going for an AMD 64 i recommend anyone of the fans that fit on the 64 chips

i have one and my system stays super cool all the time <3 ;)

[slug]

Thanks for the replys! I don't need to spend money on a monitor because I already have one, I also have a 160gig maxtor harddisk, so I wont be spending money on HD. This maxtor does realy heat up though, you can't touch it right after you switch off the pc :nohope: any way to add a cooling system for the harddisk?
I didn't think of investing in cooling, is it really importent?
I am looking to spend about 1000$(600£)
Should I invest in Athlon 64 3400, 3500 or just the 3000 or 3200?

[Pontemonti]

as for accessories, well it helps to have a zip drive(sounds dumb but they're a great way to store a file w/o wasting a cd or dvd)you gotta be kidding! has anyone ever used those? :bashful: Honestly, I don't see why you should get a zipdrive when there are big and rather cheap usb memories available. They can be read by more than just your computer...bring it to a friend, plug it in, and start copying :)
an alternative is a flash memory card, but that will require a memory card reader if you haven't already got one...and the cards are more fragile than a usb memory stick thingy.

[eerok]

I don't like the sound of that hot hd -- definitely get an auxiliary fan for the case because that drive will heat up the whole box; I went with 2 80 GB drives because I didn't trust the durability of those huge ones

I've played with 3d progs (cinema 4d) and they're very cpu intensive; I have 2 GB of ram but I've never needed that much to do a render; however, I've had my p4 3.0 GHz run at 100% for 50 hours -- that's the bottleneck

I just have a cpu fan, and never had any heat problems

--

[Pontemonti]

any way to add a cooling system for the harddisk?
I didn't think of investing in cooling, is it really importent?I bought a CoolDrive 4 (http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=LHD-V04&other_title=LHD-V04CoolDrive%204) not long ago. It pretty much kicks ass. Not only does it provide a cooling fan and temperature sensor for my harddrive, but also for my CPU, video card and case fan. I can now see that, with the help of the fan, my harddrive runs at around 34 degrees celsius constantly. Great stuff. I just wish I could have two CoolDrive 5 (http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=LHD-V05&other_title=LHD-V05Cool%20Drive%205)s now for my two other HDs. Will need a bigger case for that, though...

and...yes...cooling is important. if your drives are constantly very warm, they may break faster...become less stable...perhaps corrupt data if you're unlucky... I'm not saying that it happens to everyone, though.

[Slash]

The real power in any pc lies in the powersupply!









:bashful: