My first build - primary function digital design

You could get a 4850 for just a little more. Much faster card.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX...

that Q9550 is too much pricey and isn't that fast from Q9450
i would go with q9450 and overclock it a little
and save some money
i just think its price is not justifying
and in that price of 8800gt you may buy the 4850 which is more powerful

You might want a P45 motherboard, if you are not interested in SLI or Crossfire:

Asus P5Q-E Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB...(Socket%20775)%20PCI-Express%20DDR2%20Motherboard

You can save on that power supply if you get the 4850:

ATI Radeon HD 4850 System Requirements

450 Watt or greater power supply with 75 Watt 6-pin PCI Express® power connector recommended (550 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)
Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSU for a list of Certified products.

Since you are under budget you can get a nice CPU cooler:

Top 5 heatsinks:

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-cooler-charts,1...

Top 5 Low Profile Heatsinks on Frostytech

http://www.frostytech.com/top5_lowprofile_heatsinks.cfm

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=&name=Corsair%20HX%20520W%20ATX2.2%20Modular%20SLI%20Compliant%20PSU%20(CMPSU-520HXUK)
this would be suitable
and save a little more i thinks after effect work need harddisk speed
so if you saved some money you may buy a raptor HDD

Im no good with this overclocking stuff... If the q9450 was not overclocked, would you think I would feel much of a difference in performance with the apps I use?

So with the kind suggestions offered my new spec would be looking like:

Case
Antec Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] ce=froogle
£35.24

Processor
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.66GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-202-IN
£206.79

Motherboard
Asus P5Q-E Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-281-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1155&name=Asus%20P5Q-E%20Intel%20P45%20(Socket%20775)%20PCI-Express%20DDR2%20Motherboard
£99.86

Graphics card
HIS ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-099-HT
£123.36

RAM
Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX (2x2GB)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] %20(2x2GB)
£64.61

PSU
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=&name=Corsair%20HX%20520W%20ATX2.2%20Modular%20SLI%20Compliant%20PSU%20(CMPSU-520HXUK)
£70.49

2 Auxiliary 120mm fans
Arctic Cooling Arctic Fan 12PWM 120mm Fan - 4-Pin PWM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] -Pin%20PWM
£18.78

Optical Drive(s)
Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] %20-%20OEM
£17.61

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] 3250410AS)
£34.06

2nd HDD - SWAP disk
Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (WD740ADFD)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-087-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=167&name=Western%20Digital%20Raptor%2074GB%2010000RPM%20SATA%2016MB%20Cache%20-%20OEM%20(WD740ADFD)
£92.81

Monitor
Samsung SyncMaster 2253BW 22" LCD Monitor
http://www.pcaccessories.org/Samsu [...] 3PSOT0.htm
£151.53

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Am I getting my money's worth here, or is there anything I could do that could drastically improve my proposed pc's performance?

As a complete noobie to all of this, do all the proposed components seem compatible? Is there any known issues with the parts, ie motherboard not quite sitting right with the case or motherboard not giving the graphics card enough space etc...


Again a huge thank you gor your responses.

What OS are you running? If 32bit, stay where you are, if 64bit, you might think of more memory...doesn't Adobe and Maya really like RAM? I think 4gb on XP would be OK, 4gb on Vista...you might consider more if you run 64bit.

Im thinking about this. I have concerns about compatibility issues with Vista 64X. I do have another PC which I use for general use however, so if I use this build as purely a workstation I may be better off just getting a 64X version now.

you absolutely need at least another HD for scratch disk and if it´s bigger than the other if better

why does it need to be bigger?

Since this is a workstation pc, and not a gaming pc, a powerful vga card is not necessary. I would suggest a 9500GT for about 40#.

Your applications can benefit greatly with lots of ram. I think there are some 64 bit optimized versions coming out from Adobe. Ram is cheap, get an additional 4gb of matching ram.

To utilize 8gb of ram, you will need a 64 bit OS. Vista 64 bit home premium is very good.

Two hard drives is a good idea. Put your input on one, and your output on the other if you can. From a performance point of view, all the 7200rpm drives will be about the same. 10,000rpm RAPTOR drives will be a bit faster. Just pick the capacity you need. Vista uses ram instead of swapping if it has enough ram available. If 300gb will be enough, and if the price is not too bothersome, then the ABSOLUTE best hard drive is the VELOCIRAPTOR. The difference will be noticeable.

I find it very useful to use two monitors, the bigger, the better. Don't skimp on monitor, you will keep them through several generations of PC. The 9500GT I referenced above would drive any two you want very nicely.
--good luck---

I've heard that the Quadro graphics cards are great for 3d work. Also a lot more expensive. Im not planning on using this machine for gaming, so would it be a sound investment to look at the quadro as opposed to the 9500GT or 8800 GT?