My first PC (UK)...
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- josimarX
I've got a mac (yay) but work on a PC now (boo), and want to buy a desktop PC to learn 3d Studio Max at home...
Budget of about £500 for a machine and anything else I need to support two 17" (1280x1024)monitors I'll get separately.PLEASE HELP! cheers doods.
- imakedesign0
build it your self £500 will get you as higher spec as you could pretty much ever need, graphics card aside.
- josimarX0
and where do I start if i wanna do that? url's to online shops would be rad. ta
- imakedesign0
doing it this way you get to pick the best hardware not just number hunt. e.g 1gig of RAM is not the same as another gig of RAM
- josimarX0
cheers bud, I'll take a look. I'd really like a small (mac-mini) sized machine... not too sure about PC's and graphics cards and stuff.
- moural0
I second making one yourself. You can save tons of money, plus you don't get all the useless software preinstalled.
If you do a search for "shuttle" on that link imakedesign gave you, it should show some micro ATX cases which are similar to the mini. Basically, the barebones ones already have a motherboard and fans, so that would save you some trouble.
I just made one for my folks not too long ago, so if you want, post another message or shoot me an email and I'd be glad to help you out.
- pr20
well if PCs are so booo then why don't you take your £500 and buy yourself a mouse for your Mac instead of high end pc.
- josimarX0
haha, some folk really hate it you say anything about their beloved pcs.
anyway, ta moural:
do I buy a case, then memory, a video card, motherboard, dvd drive all separately or what? It's all a bit of a mystery.Then, would I have to solder anything to stick it all together?
What about operating system and any basic software?
ta dood
- moural0
Well, like I was saying, those Shuttle cases already have a motherboard installed. So, you'd just need a processor, hard drive, some memory, a video card, dvd drive, and whatever else you want - sound, ethernet, etc...
If you get a regular case, chances are you'll need to buy a motherboard as well.
It's not too difficult to install the stuff, since most of it can only go in one way, plus they'll have manual - it's really not as intimidating as it looks, and no you don't need to solder anything. :)
As for software, all you need is to get a Windows XP CD (if that's what you want to run). There's really no other software you need. Windows will usually/sometimes/once in a while/rarely recognize your hardware, but in the case it doesn't, your motherboard, video card, or whatever else will come with a CD.
- jaylarson0
As for soldering and stuff: nope. just pop-in, click, and screws. you should be able to find some guides online as well.
good luck.