[Vinlight]

Hi, I’m new to these forums.
I’ve been reading some of the other post and I see a lot of great advice being handed out. So, I am posting to get some advice as well. I am looking to put together a new computer to further my education (and entertainment). I am a little more than rusty on my computer hardware knowledge so I am asking for some suggestions on what I should get.

Here are some things you need to know to help.

-What I will use it for:

School- I am currently working on a certificate on 3D modeling and Animation. We use 3D’s Max, Mudbox, and Photoshop. Max and Mudbox can slowdown the computer a lot especially with complicated scenes and geometry heavy objects. Lit and textured scenes can also take its’ toll.

Gaming- Can’t learn how to create great video game environments and characters without playing them, right? As for this, I don’t need the best. I want to be able to play todays and tomorrows games but they don’t have to look their intended best. Of course this probably means I will have to update sooner than most.

-Budget – As for this, I am a college student so I don’t have much and I don’t even know what range I should look into. With that said, I am ready for the long haul. However long it takes to save up enough money, I’ll do it. I just need to know where to start.

Also, assuming great advice is on its way, where will I be able to obtain the parts I need.

And lastly: Thank you, in advance.

[waldojim]

First, how seriously are you looking at getting into 3d modeling? If very serious is your answer, then things are going to get expensive quick. Those programs are designed to run on pro-grade graphics cards. Nvidia Quadro, or AMD's FireGL. I wouldn't even consider the AMD route for modeling though. Historically, this has been Nvidia's domain, and they price themselves accordingly. Example, the Quadro 2000 is a mid range card rocking the same internals of the GTS 450. The difference in price? $330. The difference? Firmware design. The Quadro is designed and certified for 3ds, autocad, Maya, etc. The Quadro handles multiple overlays. The Quadro is binned for higher accuracy parts. And so on. Is there a difference? Yes. The question is, how much does it matter to you.

Second, I would suggest waiting a tad (not much longer at this stage) for Ivy Bridge CPU's from Intel. They are the next big thing if you will, and will be launching shortly. Once out, they will provide all the CPU power you could need for a few years at least. Then, when they launch, grab up a 4 core model with or without hyperthreading. I don't see any real benefit to HT, but others claim they do. Also grab up between 8 and 16GB of ram. Ram is cheap, get some high performance ram over cheap stuff though.

Third, let us know what country you will be ordering from, and we will list off a few sites worth ordering from.

[Vinlight]

I live in the U.S.

I'll have to look into the Ivy Bridge CPU's. Thanks for that.

One last thing: Any particular 4 core models I could look into.

[LiveBrianD]

Right now, the i5 2500K is an amazing bang for the buck, and the i7 2600K is also worth looking into. The Sandy Bridge-E LGA2011 CPUs are even faster, but WWAAYYY more expensive (not to mention the cost of the motherboard), so it's questionable whether it's worth it in a lot of cases.

[waldojim]

Vinlight, on 27 February 2012 - 02:25 PM, said:

I live in the U.S.

I'll have to look into the Ivy Bridge CPU's. Thanks for that.

One last thing: Any particular 4 core models I could look into.

From the Sandy Bridge lineup - an i5 2500k, or the 2600k from the i7's. They are nearly identical except that the i7 has hyperthreading.

From Ivy Bridge, it is too soon to tell.

For ordering, my prefrences are as follows - in order of preference:
1. Newegg.com
2. Frys.com (or local)
3. TigerDirect.com / Compusa.
4. Amazon

[LiveBrianD]

Amazon's site is such a PITA sometimes - the search function doesn't even work properly half the time. NO, a laptop for $500, new, does NOT mean a laptop that can be hard for $500 USED or $650 NEW. IT's $<500 AND New, NOT $<500 OR New. And as I recall, when looking to buy a laptop, the site showed a few 15" and 17" laptops when I searched for 11-13" ones. Gee... is it just a coincidence that I then gave up and eventually bought a laptop elsewhere? They have lost a LOT of business from me that way. Newegg, followed by Frys, are the places I usually look.

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 27 February 2012 - 05:32 PM, said:

Amazon's site is such a PITA sometimes - the search function doesn't even work properly half the time. NO, a laptop for $500, new, does NOT mean a laptop that can be hard for $500 USED or $650 NEW. IT's $<500 AND New, NOT $<500 OR New. And as I recall, when looking to buy a laptop, the site showed a few 15" and 17" laptops when I searched for 11-13" ones. Gee... is it just a coincidence that I then gave up and eventually bought a laptop elsewhere? They have lost a LOT of business from me that way. Newegg, followed by Frys, are the places I usually look.

Learn how to navigate the site. I went right in and went directly to this: http://www.newegg.co...2&name=Netbooks

This post has been edited by coastie65: 27 February 2012 - 05:48 PM

[LiveBrianD]

No, it's simply that when I set certain limitations on the search they are sometimes ignored in part, and things like price and new/used/refurb limits on the search don't get logically used. (AND, not OR)