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gr8_smyll
I don't plan to use it for work. Only for games and fun stuff--movies,music, etc.
Answer
Your question is relatively broad, as the level of your gaming, music, and movie usage isn't defined. Will you simply be watching movies or editing them? When you say games, do you mean online Yahoo! poker or do you want to play The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on the highest graphic settings? The answers to these questions change my recommendations greatly, but I will give a quick, sweeping overview of components anybody should look for with a PC.
If you are going to buy the PC from a major company such as Dell, Gateway, etc. you will find that they offer different level computers for different levels of needs. As somebody suggested, a desktop will typically give you more performance for the price if you plan on using it at home. But, there is something very nice about being able to e-mail from your couch and surfing the net wireless.
Still, you listed movies as one of your concerns, and this typically calls for a large screen and robust sound system. You can get a large screen for a laptop, but then it ceases to be all that portable and you'd still have to hook it up to stationary speakers or headphones to get any kind of audio enjoyment from your music/media. In this regards, do no skimp on the monitor. Look for an LCD monitor with a high refresh rate (for gaming purposes) and make sure it is big enough for your purposes. 17" is a good starting size, but you'll thank yourself if you go 19" or larger. Widescreen is a luxury you can choose if you wish, but I wouldn't say it's required to any degree.
As for the guts of the computer, you're going to want to look at CPU, memory, graphics card, and hard drive space. There are, of course, other components, but these are your core essentials when judging what type of machine you're looking at.
How much CPU power will be completely dependent upon what types of applications you wish to run. If you see yourself doing movie editing, every ounce of horsepower counts. But if you don't plan on doing editing or extremely high end gaming, basically anything that is a 64 bit processor will suffice. It is important you get the 64 bit processor, as this technology will be taking over soon and you don't want to be lagging too far behind after only a year. There are two major brands of CPU: Intel and AMD. Both are good choices and you will find people that swear by one or the other. I've used both, and can say it's hard to make a bad choice.
Memory (RAM) is simple. The more you have, the better. A year ago I would have said 512mb would get most people by, but that's swiftly changing. I'd recommend at least 1gb of ram. If you plan on doing any sort of 3D gaming, put the most in you can afford. RAM is probably the cheapest and easiest way to notice an improvement in your computers performance.
Graphics cards can get more complicated. I wrote another suggestion on graphics card I will link for you here if you wish to read more:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=As7hHFFE_Y86a_2VkUktXL3sy6IX?qid=20061130225304AA7j0co&show=7#profile-info-fa45dee379360ef00b1118481e6ba8c0aa
If you plan on doing extensive 3D gaming and movie watching, you will want a nice graphics card. Get at least 256mb of memory on it. This would be the minimum now for gaming, so if you can upgrade, do it. However for most people, a graphics card with 256mb is going to do the trick for awhile.
Finally, the hard drive. This is just how much stuff you'll be fitting onto your computer. Again, the more the better. If you're downloading music, games, and movies 100gb (gigabytes) gets small really quick. Look for something with over 150gb, and upgrade as you see fit to your needs.
In short: Get a nice monitor! This is something you'll be looking at for hours, so make it pretty. When getting a CPU, make it a 64 bit processor. The best graphics card you can afford is future proofing you to be able to do games for at least 2 years. The more RAM the better, at least 1 gigabyte (But you probably wouldn't need more than 2gb). And the more hard drive space the better: you want to be able to store all your videos, movies, music, and games.
There are other features to look for, but by follow these basic standards you'll be sure to find a PC to suit your needs and price!
A quick word on Apple computers:
These are a great alternative to the PC, especially now that they come with an intel processor. However, they are going to typically cost more than a PC and not every piece of software/hardware will work for it. Still, they are beautiful machines and if you can afford the price tag I wouldn't think twice about recommending a purchase.
Your question is relatively broad, as the level of your gaming, music, and movie usage isn't defined. Will you simply be watching movies or editing them? When you say games, do you mean online Yahoo! poker or do you want to play The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on the highest graphic settings? The answers to these questions change my recommendations greatly, but I will give a quick, sweeping overview of components anybody should look for with a PC.
If you are going to buy the PC from a major company such as Dell, Gateway, etc. you will find that they offer different level computers for different levels of needs. As somebody suggested, a desktop will typically give you more performance for the price if you plan on using it at home. But, there is something very nice about being able to e-mail from your couch and surfing the net wireless.
Still, you listed movies as one of your concerns, and this typically calls for a large screen and robust sound system. You can get a large screen for a laptop, but then it ceases to be all that portable and you'd still have to hook it up to stationary speakers or headphones to get any kind of audio enjoyment from your music/media. In this regards, do no skimp on the monitor. Look for an LCD monitor with a high refresh rate (for gaming purposes) and make sure it is big enough for your purposes. 17" is a good starting size, but you'll thank yourself if you go 19" or larger. Widescreen is a luxury you can choose if you wish, but I wouldn't say it's required to any degree.
As for the guts of the computer, you're going to want to look at CPU, memory, graphics card, and hard drive space. There are, of course, other components, but these are your core essentials when judging what type of machine you're looking at.
How much CPU power will be completely dependent upon what types of applications you wish to run. If you see yourself doing movie editing, every ounce of horsepower counts. But if you don't plan on doing editing or extremely high end gaming, basically anything that is a 64 bit processor will suffice. It is important you get the 64 bit processor, as this technology will be taking over soon and you don't want to be lagging too far behind after only a year. There are two major brands of CPU: Intel and AMD. Both are good choices and you will find people that swear by one or the other. I've used both, and can say it's hard to make a bad choice.
Memory (RAM) is simple. The more you have, the better. A year ago I would have said 512mb would get most people by, but that's swiftly changing. I'd recommend at least 1gb of ram. If you plan on doing any sort of 3D gaming, put the most in you can afford. RAM is probably the cheapest and easiest way to notice an improvement in your computers performance.
Graphics cards can get more complicated. I wrote another suggestion on graphics card I will link for you here if you wish to read more:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=As7hHFFE_Y86a_2VkUktXL3sy6IX?qid=20061130225304AA7j0co&show=7#profile-info-fa45dee379360ef00b1118481e6ba8c0aa
If you plan on doing extensive 3D gaming and movie watching, you will want a nice graphics card. Get at least 256mb of memory on it. This would be the minimum now for gaming, so if you can upgrade, do it. However for most people, a graphics card with 256mb is going to do the trick for awhile.
Finally, the hard drive. This is just how much stuff you'll be fitting onto your computer. Again, the more the better. If you're downloading music, games, and movies 100gb (gigabytes) gets small really quick. Look for something with over 150gb, and upgrade as you see fit to your needs.
In short: Get a nice monitor! This is something you'll be looking at for hours, so make it pretty. When getting a CPU, make it a 64 bit processor. The best graphics card you can afford is future proofing you to be able to do games for at least 2 years. The more RAM the better, at least 1 gigabyte (But you probably wouldn't need more than 2gb). And the more hard drive space the better: you want to be able to store all your videos, movies, music, and games.
There are other features to look for, but by follow these basic standards you'll be sure to find a PC to suit your needs and price!
A quick word on Apple computers:
These are a great alternative to the PC, especially now that they come with an intel processor. However, they are going to typically cost more than a PC and not every piece of software/hardware will work for it. Still, they are beautiful machines and if you can afford the price tag I wouldn't think twice about recommending a purchase.
What computer should I get for Animation classes. ?
Ms Spook
I'm looking to get the absolute best I can get. I'm going to school for 2d and 3d animation in Chicago. And I'm lost as to what to get.
I think 3 grand is the best I can go as for price.
Answer
You don't really 3k, with 1.5k you'd have a very good comp.
You'll want
1) good CPU
2) as much RAM as your mobo can fit, probably 16GB ddr3
3) a pretty good graphics card (but no need for top of the line), a workstation graphic card (one specially for graphic rendering) would be better than those made for gaming but more expensive.
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K or i5 2500k. Depends if the apps you will use take advantage of hyper-threading or not. If you don't use hyper-threading, the i5 is pretty much the same as the i7 and 100$ cheaper. If you DO use hyper-threading, the i7 is much better. Since you seem to have a lot of cash, you might as well go for the i7 if you're not sure.
GPU: I'm not familiar with workstation GPUs so I can't help. If you decide to put a gaming GPU, something like a gtx 560 ti or radeon 6950 would do the job.
Other components: Watch out because stores that sell computers already built usually skimp on the less important components (building your own comp is better..)
PSU: You want one that is rated silver or gold. Skimping on the PSU can damage your computer, and cheap PSUs are noisy.
Case: Don't pick a case for the bling, pick a case that can block sound yet provide good aeration (like fractal design cases)
Fans: Cheap fans make a lot of noise, so buy good ones. (like noctua, and other good brands)
Fan controller: Allows you to make your computer a lot more quiet for cheap.
SSD: For what you plan to do, it is completely unnecessary, luxury really. A good fast one is crucial m4 if you want one anyway.
HHD: You'll want a fast one. Capacity depends on how much stuff you plan to put on the computer. 1TB if you don't have a ton of very large files, 2TB if you do. Cheap HHDs are slow, watch out for the times(speed).
Also, you might want to consider a mac, however I have no knowledge on those so I can't help.
You don't really 3k, with 1.5k you'd have a very good comp.
You'll want
1) good CPU
2) as much RAM as your mobo can fit, probably 16GB ddr3
3) a pretty good graphics card (but no need for top of the line), a workstation graphic card (one specially for graphic rendering) would be better than those made for gaming but more expensive.
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K or i5 2500k. Depends if the apps you will use take advantage of hyper-threading or not. If you don't use hyper-threading, the i5 is pretty much the same as the i7 and 100$ cheaper. If you DO use hyper-threading, the i7 is much better. Since you seem to have a lot of cash, you might as well go for the i7 if you're not sure.
GPU: I'm not familiar with workstation GPUs so I can't help. If you decide to put a gaming GPU, something like a gtx 560 ti or radeon 6950 would do the job.
Other components: Watch out because stores that sell computers already built usually skimp on the less important components (building your own comp is better..)
PSU: You want one that is rated silver or gold. Skimping on the PSU can damage your computer, and cheap PSUs are noisy.
Case: Don't pick a case for the bling, pick a case that can block sound yet provide good aeration (like fractal design cases)
Fans: Cheap fans make a lot of noise, so buy good ones. (like noctua, and other good brands)
Fan controller: Allows you to make your computer a lot more quiet for cheap.
SSD: For what you plan to do, it is completely unnecessary, luxury really. A good fast one is crucial m4 if you want one anyway.
HHD: You'll want a fast one. Capacity depends on how much stuff you plan to put on the computer. 1TB if you don't have a ton of very large files, 2TB if you do. Cheap HHDs are slow, watch out for the times(speed).
Also, you might want to consider a mac, however I have no knowledge on those so I can't help.
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Title Post: Im giving myself a computer for the holidays. What should I keep in mind when making a purchase?
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Rating: 98% based on 9457 ratings. 4,7 user reviews.
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Thanks For Coming To My Blog
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