Brian

Hi

first of all I've missed this forum.

I'm gonna buy a new computer. Could someone please
recommend a good choice in computers for running psp and 3d rendering? I dont gonna spend so much money so iMac and built-in system are out of my sight.

my intersts components are:

Mother board:

Proccessor & chach memory: (does it make any different if its slot 1 or not?)

Memorey Type and amount:

Video card (For two screens) :

Thats it i think!(Do i need addition thing?)

Thanks
Shay

Blinky2004

Hi Shay...

Well most everything in your list is quite dependant on how much ya wanna spend. Honest. There are SO many options out now, that price range really does dictate choices.

Can you provide a ball-park figure at all? $500? $750? $1000?

I just upgraded my system by a lot, from what i previously had, and it costed about $650 Canadian to do it. If you're in the US, it would only cost you about half that amount.

I don't mind sharing this info, so here's a screenshot of my system specs.

Brian

hi

yes i can spend 500-600$. i have some componrnts all i need are mother board.memory and proccessor.

i can see the speed of your hardware btu not thir brand.

thanks

Bacardi

-Slot1 was only used for the first generation of PIII processors.
-Video needs a big hard disk, prefereably two
-3D needs a very strong processor that does the calculating directly without the help of a cache. ( a cache is, simply said, used to store temporarily data so the processor does not have to recalculate them).
-3D also needs a powerful video card with prefereably 128MB video ram, like Mark's or the ATI 9700Pro
-Even Intel has quitted RDRam or rambus as DDR, most certainly now with the double use, is much faster.
-AMD processors need more cooling, but, depending on where you live, they may be noticeably cheaper.

As you want to do "the big things" with your comp, I suppose you better try and save some more money first.
Using olderhardware is one of the reasons PC had a bad reputation. Use only quality parts, like brand RAM and a good mobo (Asus, Gygabyte are names that spring to mind).

jpfitness

100% correct and in agreement with you Erik

Sami...... I see that mark has a Gigabyte Mainboard......... AMD Athlon XP CPU and DDR ram........... generally when we order parts we don't have a "name" for the ram ...... well not on the price list any way [bustagut] [bustagut] [bustagut] ........ I personally have upgraded last year from a AMD Athlon XP1800 to a ........ P4 2.0 CPU so I have a Gigabyte Mainboard, Pentium CPU and DDR ram - oh and the same video card as Mark
sfm

Blinky2004

Ya i'd agree with Erik's points also Samifox.

You can see the names of my hardware in that list i posted:

Mainboard is "GigaByte"
CPU is AMD Athlon (xp) 1700+
RAM is 512 DDR (didn't notice what name brand it is).

For 500-600 bucks though Samifox, you should be able to get some good hardware. I recommend the GigaByte board i have because it's capable of AGP8x and 400mhz bus. It's a board that's a bit ahead of what's out there right now. So you wouldn't have to upgrade it for awhile.

CPU will vary for you. But as Erik said... the Athlon chips are a couple hundred cheaper than the Pentiums. But just as fast if not faster in most tests; comparitively. Price it out, and if you can, i'd suggest an AMD Athlon (xp) 2200+/2400+.

DDR ram is pretty much a given these days. Get as much as you can afford! In fact, get the RAM last and spend whatever ya have left to get as much as possible. DDR ram costs a tad more but is faster overall.

Oh and so ya know too... you can find reviews anywhere on the Web for this hardware. Just type the product name in a search engine and away ya go!

Bacardi

Here in Europe, there is nearly no difference in price between Pentium and Athlon, and both have their users. Luckily.

The main advantage of the Gigabyte boards is the double BIOS. Whenever you flash one and it goes wrong (can only happen whet the current's cut whilst flashing), you still have the other one.

Also know that you need more power nowadays 350 watts is best for a strong new comp. So don't try to use an old case with only 250watts as you may well be in trouble.

Blinky2004

Ya i forgot about the BIOS percs too. I also have this perc on my nVidia gCard.

And yes, more power definately. Which will usually mean a larger tower too. But you should be able to get both of those in one package for $20 US. We can get a new tower with a 350w power supply/fan preInstalled, for $40 CAD.

Bacardi

Huh??? A basic tower here costs some 100USDollars...
An AthlonXP2400 some 220US and a PIV 2,4 some 235US...

ladyfinger007

Erik, that's why our country got his name... btw, did you see, there is a comic book who's title is absurdia...