Another stupid question ....I dont know what I need

[poomwah]

Hello,
I just enrolled at art institute of pittsburgh online. I need to plan my build for a system to be capable of what I'm going to need, but on a tight budget.
I'm really lost on trying to figure out what I'm going to need

 

[tecmo34]

First... you need a budget

Second... You need the following components
1) CPU
2) Motherboard
3) RAM (Memory)
4) Hard Drive
5) Graphics Card
6) Heat Sink (if overclocking)
7) Power Supply
8) DVD Player
9) Case
10) Operating System
11) Monitor
12) Keyboard
13) Mouse

 

[poomwah]

my problem is not knowing what I'm going to need for each of those parts. I don't know how to determine how much memory I will need, what video card, etc.
from what I gather I'm going to need a work station for animation and 3d modelling, but the field I"m going into is game design, so it seems like I should build something capable of gaming as well.

 

[tecmo34]

First... You have to start with a budget and work your way back into the components you need. If you give us your budget, we can help you out with the recommendations

 

[poomwah]

thanks for being so patient tecmo.
I found this after I posted

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE:3 months
BUDGET RANGE: 1000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: 3d animation, game design, gaming, multi track audio recording

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, input devices, speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com and tigerdirect.com
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: US

PARTS PREFERENCES:always liked amd processors, full tower cases, and creative labs sound cards

OVERCLOCKING: undecided
Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION:unknown

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:the 1000 budget is just for whats in the tower, I can upgrade a bit later if I need to

 

[brennon7]

Do you have a monitor?

 

[tecmo34]

Here is everything inside of a tower and would better meet your needs than an AMD build (OS not included)

■CPU/MOBO Combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.408495
■RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303
■HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433
■GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447
■HSF: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134
■Case/PSU Combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.410730
■DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

 

[poomwah]

thank you VERY much techmo :]

 

[poomwah]

a new development, after a lot of thinking, I've decided I want to run two monitors. Other than a video card and monitor, what will I need? can I hook another video card to that motherboard?

 

[Omniblivion]

a new development, after a lot of thinking, I've decided I want to run two monitors. Other than a video card and monitor, what will I need? can I hook another video card to that motherboard?

That video card will support two monitors. Two monitors is downright vital for productivity, doesn't help so much in gaming (unless you're running games in windowed mode).

 

[poomwah]

awesome, not to be a nuisance, but... what would I have to do to run THREE monitors?

 

[Omniblivion]

If you're planning on gaming on 3 monitors (Eyefinity), then you need a much better card.

Edit: It looks like that card can support 3 (2x dvi 1xhdmi)- although I wouldn't recommend gaming on all 3 at the same time. You /might/ pull it off on low graphics.

Someone else will have to advise on other possibilities- not that experienced with 3 monitor setups other than what's mentioned above.

 

[brennon7]

I have three monitors h233h only the 5850 and up ATI cards will be able to run 3 monitors for gaming.

Check out my youtube channel I have a bunch of videos of various setups I have had running eyefinity.

I picked up some matching used monitors off of cowboom.com to get three monitors without breaking the bank.

My current set up is 2x 2gb eyefinity 6 editions in crossfire. Crossfire 5850 worked well for $600

http://www.youtube.com/user/atieyefinity

 

[poomwah]

I'm thinking of getting a matrox triple head, that way I will have more options for cards, and if I change the card later, I dont have to worry about how many outputs it has