Build me a PC - £1000/$2000 - must run Maya and CS3 well

Hi,

Can you guys help me build a new workstation? It needs to run Autodesk Maya and Adobe CS3 quickly. I'm thinking of building this around the Q6600 (or possibly the QX if the budget can stretch) and an ATI FireGL card (perhaps an 'older' version to save on cost; the 7300 for example is still a bloody good card. I don't really want to use a Quadro as they're not quite upto the job and i've had annomolies with them before.

I've never built a PC before and would appreciate any help/other website that can help me. I am not really looking for a gaming PC, this is going to be a bit of a work horse - though i wouldn't mind running the odd game or two

I'm a long time mac user, and i'm happy using my macbook for personal use, however i think an XP machine (not going near Vista thank you very much) will run the apps i need well.

Any help appreciated

No need to get a Quadro or a FireGL. Just get a decent graphics card and it will run it fine. Most of the work is CPU dependent. I have built PCs for these exact apps (Maya, SolidWorks,CS3, AutoCAD), and never had noticed improvements from buying a Workstation graphics card. I recomend you get a card with at least 512MB dedicated RAM. For the CPU any Intel Quad core (Q6600 or better), a good motherboard like the DS3R/L. 500GB or more HDD(s).
**If possible get a Raptor for the OS and the critical programs (ie. CS3) you WILL notice a difference in save time, rendering, etc.

At least 2GB RAM and if going with 2+GB RAM a 64bit OS.

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