joyojoy

My kid is getting ready to go off to college at the Expression College for Digital Arts, where she'll be majoring in game design (on full scholarship, the proud mom adds ). She needs to buy a computer powerful enough to crunch out the 3D programs she'll be running, such as Maya, Unreal, Zbrush and Mudbox.


She has about $1000 to spend... I'd appreciate any recommendations on:

• 64bit (or not?)
• Processor
• Graphics/video board
• To RAID or not to RAID? (Just what the heck is that, anyway?)
• Good resource for an overall decent machine that will last at least the 2.5 years she'll be in college

As always, your expert opinions will be most appreciated.

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joyojoy

BTW... Would something like this be a good candidate?...
FRYS.com*|*HP

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chastity

Well 64bit is a given if she is going to play in 3D modeling/rendering

RAID=redundant array of inexpensive drives, does a game designer need or not I guess is up to the person.

Standalone video card would be the better choice as they are able to handle more then onboard, though onboard video are a lot better then they used to be

The processor is more of a subjective question. Me personally like Intel but others swear by AMD so again that comes down to more of a personal choice

You might look at zipzoomfly, newegg or tigerdirect to see what they have. Nothing against Fry's or even Bestbuy but the more research you do the better and both Tigerdirect and Newegg have a larger selection of systems.

That HP system isn't bad spec wise but you might be able to get something better for less via one of the sites I suggested. Also read reviews for any system you are thinking about to see if customers who have bought one had problems and if so what kind etc

LordOfLA

AMD quad or hex-core
4 to 16GB ram - 8gb recommended (corsair recommended)
AMD graphics (5750 or higher)
Asus Crosshair V formula mainboard
Corsair TX850 PSU

Knock yourself out on the rest

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Johnny

You want to get a good graphics card. I would go semi cheap with the mobo and spend as much as you can of the budget on your vid card.

Raid is at your discretion. Some gamers use raid 0 for the performance.

I want to build a new one myself. But I want it to be a six core

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