A good PC for 400$, is it possible?

Blond

Ok, I already see some of you laugh but yeh..I need a new PC to improve my port-folio..

Thing is I have a 2006 family PC..Windows Vista, 2 GB of Ram, Nvidia Geforce 6150, amd 64 X2 Dual core processor...

On top of that, it's a 32 bit system so I can't even run Maya 2014..:(


My situation is that I'm an animator. Most rigs, whenver I hit playback, lags and skips some frames..The same thing happens when I move a curve controller on some rig, even if the character is on the lowest definition..

Any tip?

AtticusMars

Do you need to buy drives? A new monitor? What about 64 bit windows?

If you don't need to buy any of that then building a decent computer for $400 should be easy

Blond

I aready have a good monitor.

By the way, budget just went up to 500$ now.

I don't need to do fancy renders, just animation and a bit of modeling.

And yes, 64 bit windows would be really cool..

StephenVyas

Have a look at this link to see how far your money can go.
http://www.logicalincrements.com/

Blond

thx stephen, you as an animator, what are the most important specs?

Because I wanted to run mutliple programs at once, I wanted to have good RAM but don't know if i should focus on the graphics card or the processor, what do you think?

ZacD

You'll probably want 8 gigs of ram, a dedicated graphics card, and the best CPU you can afford. It's a lot easier to upgrade a graphics card than the CPU.

EmAr

Also, keep in mind that GTX750 series cards require much less power which means you can get away with a slightly lower spec PSU. The cards themselves don't cost too much either.

EDIT: this article has some nice benchmark comparisons:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-750-ti-review,3750-18.html

Fuiosg

ZacD wrote: »

You'll probably want 8 gigs of ram, a dedicated graphics card, and the best CPU you can afford. It's a lot easier to upgrade a graphics card than the CPU.

agreed. I'd probably go with a 750 ti, and don't buy just any PSU, there's a couple good deals going on now:

CSM 450m
XFX TS 550w (believe this is seasonic made)

You shouldn't need more than a 500w PSU really, unless you're planning on SLI. And if you go with the 750, which is really energy efficient, you can go even lower than that.

Oniram

these guys have some videos that might help.

(this specific video may not apply since its mostly targeted toward gaming but check their other build your own pc videos).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGrvRItaCDY

Blond

thx to all of you