Desktop for animation (dell precision?)

[squarebubble]

Hey all c:
I'm a an animation student and am currently looking into getting a desktop computer to use with my course..
I toyed with the idea of building my own computer, but I am a complete noob when it comes to hardware and after a couple of hours trying to find out what I would need, seeing the price ofg components and genrally confusing myself, I gave up on that idea xP

So, so far I've heard dell is pretty good and am looking at maybe getting this one: http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/precision-t1650/fs

Looking at getting the base one at the moment, since I don't have much money, but if there's a huge advantage to the essential model I could scrounge up the extra money for it xP

So yeah, do you think this is a good choice, will the base model be good enough? How easily will I be able to install extra RAM/ a better graphics card if I need to? Any other desktops that would be better (whilst keeping to a similar price)?

My course does a mixture of 3D, 2D and stop-motion (and I'm thinking of either concentrating on 2D or stop-motion in my final year, although at the moment I need it to render a small 3D scene in 3DS max )

Thanks in advance C:

 

[snakej]

I wouldn't completely ruled out the idea of building yourself, it is a very simple process once you have everything in front of you, and there are ton of guides and video on how to do it.

Plz post your question 1 more time using this format http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice

and Toms-hardware community will have the info needed to help you further.

 

[squarebubble]

Sorry, is this better? c:

Approximate Purchase Date: Not purchased yet, want to buy ASAP, considering this model , but not sure if it's good enough xP

Budget Range: £300 - £600

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Animation/ art programs, everyday use, maybe a tiny bit of gaming (probably the most taxing game I'll run on it is the Sims 2 though xP )

Are you buying a monitor: Yes - considering this one



Parts to Upgrade: N/A

Do you need to buy OS: Yes (it's included in the price of PC I've selected though, getting Windows 7 professional 64bit )


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: dell.com, ebuyer.com

Location: England

Parts Preferences: N/A

Overclocking: Maybe??

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe??

Your Monitor Resolution: N/A

Additional Comments: I'm just a student, so the computer doesn't need to be top of the range, just good enough to do my coursework for the next few years (My course includes 3D, stop motion and 2D animation)

 

[snakej]

Sorry, is this better? c:

Approximate Purchase Date: Not purchased yet, want to buy ASAP, considering this model , but not sure if it's good enough xP

Budget Range: £300 - £600

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Animation/ art programs, everyday use, maybe a tiny bit of gaming (probably the most taxing game I'll run on it is the Sims 2 though xP )

Are you buying a monitor: Yes - considering this one



Parts to Upgrade: N/A

Do you need to buy OS: Yes (it's included in the price of PC I've selected though, getting Windows 7 professional 64bit )


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: dell.com, ebuyer.com

Location: England

Parts Preferences: N/A

Overclocking: Maybe??

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe??

Your Monitor Resolution: N/A

Additional Comments: I'm just a student, so the computer doesn't need to be top of the range, just good enough to do my coursework for the next few years (My course includes 3D, stop motion and 2D animation)

Ok at that budget and because its mainly for rendering AMD its going to be the way to go:

CPU: AMD A10-5800K
£86.99 inc VAT

Motherboard:Asus F2A55 AMD A55 Chipset
£74.99 inc VAT

RAM:Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3
£35.99 inc VAT

GPU:MSI HD 7850 OC 1024MB GDDR5
£131.99 inc VAT
Now this is the part that you not going to find on most branded PC and its the one that really gives you the most performance on games and 3D rendering.

HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB
£49.99 inc VAT

DVDD: Asus 24x DVD±R
£17.99 inc VAT

PSU: Antec VP550P 550W
£54.98 inc VAT

CASE: Antec Sonata Proto Quiet Midi Tower Case
£49.99 inc VAT

OS: Microsoft Windows 8 Pro 64-Bit
£109.99 inc VAT

Monitor: Samsung S22B300HS 22
£99.98 inc VAT

Total :£729.38

Now the Dell Precision armed with the FirePro card would be good for modeling but would suck at playing games, and im talking about the $699 model that starts with just 4GB of ram than it gives you the option to configure of course increasing the price in the process.

Win 7 pro vs Win 8 pro, not much different there as the only advantage of having 7 is Windows XP mode, but most 3D modeling software its very up to date so i dont think you should debate from one or the other I choose 8 because I couldn't find 7.

The Monitor you picked its a 18.9'' about the size of a big laptop now for a desktop that would be the most disappointing experience so dont go with nothing smaller than a 22'' stay current will save you money on the long wrong and from having purchased something that doesn't benefit you will make you want to replace it to soon thus spending more.

 

[squarebubble]

Ok at that budget and because its mainly for rendering AMD its going to be the way to go:

CPU: AMD A10-5800K
£86.99 inc VAT

Motherboard:Asus F2A55 AMD A55 Chipset
£74.99 inc VAT

RAM:Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3
£35.99 inc VAT

GPU:MSI HD 7850 OC 1024MB GDDR5
£131.99 inc VAT
Now this is the part that you not going to find on most branded PC and its the one that really gives you the most performance on games and 3D rendering.

HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB
£49.99 inc VAT

DVDD: Asus 24x DVD±R
£17.99 inc VAT

PSU: Antec VP550P 550W
£54.98 inc VAT

CASE: Antec Sonata Proto Quiet Midi Tower Case
£49.99 inc VAT

OS: Microsoft Windows 8 Pro 64-Bit
£109.99 inc VAT

Monitor: Samsung S22B300HS 22
£99.98 inc VAT

Total :£729.38

Now the Dell Precision armed with the FirePro card would be good for modeling but would suck at playing games, and im talking about the $699 model that starts with just 4GB of ram than it gives you the option to configure of course increasing the price in the process.

Win 7 pro vs Win 8 pro, not much different there as the only advantage of having 7 is Windows XP mode, but most 3D modeling software its very up to date so i dont think you should debate from one or the other I choose 8 because I couldn't find 7.

The Monitor you picked its a 18.9'' about the size of a big laptop now for a desktop that would be the most disappointing experience so dont go with nothing smaller than a 22'' stay current will save you money on the long wrong and from having purchased something that doesn't benefit you will make you want to replace it to soon thus spending more.

Thankyou so much C:
Yeah, I ran this through with my friend who has just finished building his own computer, and he thought most things seemed pretty decent, but suggested these changes:

GPU: XFX Radeon HD 7870 Core Edition AMD Graphics Card - 2GB
HD: Seagate 1.5TB Barracuda Hard Drive
PSU: Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Monitor:ACER G225HQVbd LCD TFT 21.5" DVI Monitor

What do you think of these changes?