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need help for an artist PC :: parts

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - need help for an artist PC :: parts

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usktech   11-16-2007 at 01:31:25 PM

hi people, :hello: :)

i wanted to build a new PC for a friend (i have already built one for myself, but with the help of my father, a geek.)

its to replace an old one and my friends happens to be a amateur artist. we have a budget of exactly 1 grand ($, BUT WE NEED TE SPEND THE LEAST POSSIBLE!!!) and we need a cheap mainstream PC with a mid-range graphics card. do you have any suggestions? :)

i have a book that suggests this for a mainstream PC:
INTEL D865PERL MOTHERBOARD
INTEL PENTIUM 4/3.2E
2 CRUCIAL PC3200 DDR-SDRAM
ATI RADEON 9200
SEAGATE BARRACUDA 7200.2SATA 160 GB
PLEXTOR PX-708A DVD WRITER
APC BACK-UPS LS700
and a midrange graphics card
ANTEC SONATA MID-TOWER CASE
:D
that is from a 4 year old book, and so can one still get those parts? how much would it cost? îs it a good choice?
do you know of any other list of components that are vcompatible with each-other and that would fit my needs and still be cheaper? :p

any help would really be helpful people.
total noob here so please avoid any technical terms, or at least explain.

thx a great deal guys :sol:

- usk

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ USKteam
thx for the help people!!!
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tlmck   11-16-2007 at 02:37:21 PM
- 0 +

usktech wrote :

hi people, :hello: :)

 

i wanted to build a new PC for a friend (i have already built one for myself, but with the help of my father, a geek.)

 

its to replace an old one and my friends happens to be a amateur artist. we have a budget of exactly 1 grand ($, BUT WE NEED TE SPEND THE LEAST POSSIBLE!!!) and we need a cheap mainstream PC with a mid-range graphics card. do you have any suggestions? :)
- usk


Yes you have a very old book. The following would be a much better bet.

 

COOLER MASTER Elite 330 Case - Item#:N82E16811119115 - $39.99 -$15.00 Mail-in Rebate = $24.99
GIGABYTE GA-P31-DS3L Motherboard - Item#:N82E16813128062 - $78.99
SAPPHIRE 2600XT 256MB Video Card - Item#:N82E16814102700 - $99.99
Antec Earthwatts 430W Power Supply - Item#:N82E16817371006 - $69.99 -$30.00 Mail-in Rebate = $39.99
Intel Dual-Core E2180 Processor - Item#:N82E16819116052 - $89.99
CORSAIR 2GB DDR2 667 Memory - Item#:N82E16820145098 - $41.99
Seagate 250GB SATA Hard Drive - Item#:N82E16822148261 - $64.99
Sony NEC Optiarc 20X DVD±RW Black - Item#:N82E16827118003 - $28.99

 

Totals - $514.92 After rebate $469.92

 

Prices do not include shipping. Very solid system with very good mid range graphics. Can even play some games at low settings if desired. Upgradeable to next generation Intel Penryn technology later. Prices are from Newegg.com.

 



Message edited by tlmck on 11-16-2007 at 02:37:50 PM
Reply to tlmck
aadamszc   11-16-2007 at 03:32:08 PM
- 0 +

tlmck said it all. That pentium 4 would have been awful.

Reply to aadamszc
mahoumatic   11-16-2007 at 04:17:00 PM
- 0 +

tlmck's suggestion is much better, and you may end-up spending more or less the same with the suggestion and your old book list.

Go for Pentium Dual-Core E2140 and 2600 Pro GDDR3 if you are looking for even less spending...

Reply to mahoumatic
nhobo   11-16-2007 at 04:19:36 PM
- 0 +

That's a nice budget build! Who would have ever thought that one day you could get 2GB ram for $42?

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to nhobo
tlmck   11-16-2007 at 04:36:34 PM
- 0 +

nhobo wrote :

That's a nice budget build! Who would have ever thought that one day you could get 2GB ram for $42?


It is "value ram", but it runs just good as the DDR2 800 heat spreader stuff for most people. I have used it in DDR and DDR2 form with no problems.

Reply to tlmck
KekaiGenkai   11-16-2007 at 05:02:22 PM
- 0 +

Considering that your friend is an artist, you may want to get more ram. Granted, using a 32 bit system (windows XP, most versions of Vista) the most you'll be able to utilize is 3 gb. When doing any sort of image manipulation or 3d modeling-type programs, such as photoshop, mudbox, or Maya, RAM is sometimes the most important part. If your friend is using any of these programs then there's no reason not to get high quality ram and lots of it, especially since prices have been so flamin' cheap lately.

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ AMD X2 6000+/ GA-M61P-S3 Mobo/ 2 GB Patriot PC2-6400/ 160 GB WDC HDD/ Sapphire X1950XT/ LG DVD RW/ Enermax Noisetaker 600w
 Reply to KekaiGenkai
tlmck   11-16-2007 at 05:54:55 PM
- 0 +

KekaiGenkai wrote :

Considering that your friend is an artist, you may want to get more ram. Granted, using a 32 bit system (windows XP, most versions of Vista) the most you'll be able to utilize is 3 gb. When doing any sort of image manipulation or 3d modeling-type programs, such as photoshop, mudbox, or Maya, RAM is sometimes the most important part. If your friend is using any of these programs then there's no reason not to get high quality ram and lots of it, especially since prices have been so flamin' cheap lately.


You are correct about the more ram thing. A quad core processor would be preferred as well, but neither quite fits in a low budget build.

The 32 bit 3gb rule is also a bit misleading to some folks. While it is true that a 32bit OS tops out at ~3gb, if done incorrectly, it can hamper performance more than help. The correct way to do 3gb in a dual channel system, is 2x1gb modules, and 2x512mb modules. A lot of folks just add a 1gb module to the 2x1gb in their system which messes up the dual channel setup. This ,in turn, pretty much negates any advantage of the extra 1gb, as all 3 modules will run in single channel mode.

Reply to tlmck
usktech   11-16-2007 at 11:36:53 PM
- 0 +

geez people you saved my day!
wow that seems to fit perfectly.
kekaigenkai this is an arts teacher a a school, who owns a crappy ten year old PC at the moment, so ill stick with that list.

tlmck where do i get those? what website? (im a noob, and if its from tomshardware i wouldnt know, i dont even know if they sell anything, lol)

geez if theres anyway i can get back to you and even out what i owe you then please! tell me!

thx to the bilionth power people
have a happy day!

Message quoted 2 times
Message edited by usktech on 11-18-2007 at 07:54:09 PM
Reply to usktech
usktech   11-16-2007 at 11:41:32 PM
- 0 +

oh and one more question
is that all i need? i just order that list and ive got all ill ever need? no extra parts or screws or whatevers?


thx

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to usktech
mahoumatic   11-17-2007 at 09:27:19 AM
- 0 +

usktech wrote :

geez people you saved my day!
wow that seems to fit perfectly.
kekaigenkai this is an arts teacher a a school, who owns a crappy ten year old PC at the moment, so ill stick with that list.

tlmck where do i get those? what website? (im a noob, and if its from tomshardware i wouldnt know, i dont even know if they sell anything, lol)

geez if theres anyway i can get back to you and even out what i owe you then please! tell me!

thx to the bilions power people
have a happy day!



usktech wrote :

oh and one more question
is that all i need? i just order that list and ive got all ill ever need? no extra parts or screws or whatevers?


thx



Please state what country you are in. On Tomshardware.com we are from international, and case will be different in each country...In most case you just need to pass tlmak's list together with a keyboard/mouse/monitor list to the website and they will take care everything for you with their listed charge, but most vendors will not ship to other country and the policy of vendors varies, so please state where you want the new computer to function...

Reply to mahoumatic
usktech   11-17-2007 at 09:35:01 AM
- 0 +

hi,
thnx for the answer.
the computer is going to be used in Switzerland, but i have an adress it can be shipped to in the US.
i just need thePC itself and not the moniter/mouse/keyboard so where do i order tlmak's list?

thx for t3h help
-usk

Reply to usktech
tlmck   11-17-2007 at 04:25:05 PM
- 0 +

Newegg.com is where I priced the components. When you get there, you can just paste the item numbers above into the little search box, then click on add to cart. Every thing you need will be included.
http://www.newegg.com.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by tlmck on 11-17-2007 at 04:25:34 PM
Reply to tlmck
Joe_The_Dragon   11-17-2007 at 05:06:55 PM
- 0 +

usktech wrote :

geez people you saved my day!
wow that seems to fit perfectly.
kekaigenkai this is an arts teacher a a school, who owns a crappy ten year old PC at the moment, so ill stick with that list.

tlmck where do i get those? what website? (im a noob, and if its from tomshardware i wouldnt know, i dont even know if they sell anything, lol)

geez if theres anyway i can get back to you and even out what i owe you then please! tell me!

thx to the bilions power people
have a happy day!


you can get amd system with a better MB and a faster CPU for the same price and get DDR2 800. Also you may want to get 2x2Gb of ram.


Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ http://www.moola.com/moopubs/b2b/e [...] 4e6a593d-2

http://www.sendearnings.com/?r=JoeDragon
 Reply to Joe_The_Dragon
usktech   11-18-2007 at 07:52:50 PM
- 0 +

tlmck wrote :

Newegg.com is where I priced the components. When you get there, you can just paste the item numbers above into the little search box, then click on add to cart. Every thing you need will be included.
http://www.newegg.com.




thx tlmck, thats perfect. ill order them asap. you were so helpfull i just hope i can get that back to you someday.

Joe_The_Dragon wrote :

you can get amd system with a better MB and a faster CPU for the same price and get DDR2 800. Also you may want to get 2x2Gb of ram.



joe, you are very probably right (i havent checked it myself) but im fine with the performance that is in the list given by tlmck. thx anyways,

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ USKteam
thx for the help people!!!
 Reply to usktech
tlmck   11-18-2007 at 09:13:10 PM
- 0 +

usktech wrote :

thx tlmck, thats perfect. ill order them asap. you were so helpfull i just hope i can get that back to you someday.


Consider it my contribution to the arts! :)

Reply to tlmck
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Phenom II 955 or i5 750
By Silvune, 9 hours ago:

I like that build. However considering that the OCZ 700W PSU doesn't have enough connectors to be able to power more than one 5870, then save some money and change to this combo: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB & OCZ ModXStream 600W $110 with $25 rebate.

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