[Advice]Pc Fit for uni (For Sept 2004)

[sputnik found]

hey guys

im after some advice. im looking to start a very good pc for uni in sept. As im going (hopefully) graphic design/web design or games design, i was thinking that my current rig will not be able to do the job as well as it could. So what do you all advise? Do i get a dual rig? Dual displays? how much ram, hard drives, etc.

[Merlin]

If you're into graphics seriously and want so stay with PC (as opposed to mac - very much the industry standard) then you could probably make something of the system you've got. Don't go throwing away perfectly good stuff!

I'm not familiar with the MSI mobo, but i'm assuming its 400fsb, in which case you could buy an AthlonXp 3200 and stick it in there. This would get you the processing power you need for graphics work, and with the advent of A64 the AthlonXPs are getting cheaper all the time. Personally, i wouldn't recommend going down the 64bit root at this time, but thats more from a value-for-money point of view.

From a graphics point of view, its a compromise between 2d and 3d performance. A card from the Matrox Parhelia range would be ideally suited to high performance 2D work, but its 3D performance lets it down if you want to play games.

Whatever graphics card you end up with, you probably want to go dual monitor. From a colour fidelity point of view, CRTs are still the way to go as TFTs just can't compete yet. Ideally you want a pair of high quality 21" CRTs, but you may have to compromise on this given the budget and desk space available.

Storage is another consideration - you will need most probably need more than 60Gb and a RAID array might be an idea as well. Nothing specific required here, just quantity.

Other than that, a serious semi-pro digital camera would be useful if photography comes into it, and a film/flatbed scanner if you need one (Epson Perfection 320o is the one to go for if you've got the cash), and perhaps a photo inket printer as well.

Hope thats helpful,

Merlin

[Merlin]

And now for the things i forgot!

RAM - quantity is probably more important than quality, so consider another 512 of ebuyer, or maybe replace with 1gig of something more expensive.

Software - take a look at the new Adobe Creative Suite - Photoshop, Illustrator, GoLive and InDesign all in one box.

[sputnik found]

cheers, i use 1.8Dual G5's at college
Its a nforce 2 msi broad.
I have a canon s50 camera, its a 5mg pixel and its damm good.

Cheers, anymore ideas anyone?

[Tom]

i dont think the 3200+ processor would be barely any upgrade over what he currently has, some more memory, hard drive and perhaps even look at the professional graphics cards? they do leave a nasty dent in your pocket though

[Kezzer]

i would recommend RAM to handle all those memory hogging programs

[Avalon]

More storage (shift your page file to a 2nd drive).
More Ram
An extra screen for productivity (Uni digg's tend to be small to say the least so think desk space).

Depending on your usage a dual is probably overkill. You have to be doing a fair bit of multitasking before a dual shines above a uniprocessor rig. May want to consider a new video card but even that won't be essential. One thing i'd say about uni is take MP3's not CD's. It's easy for someone to half inch a CD but running off with a PC is a little more blatantly noticable.