But there's a difference between listing a system requirement and telling someone that if they use zbrush a lot they need CPU power instead of graphics card power.
That sounds like a good idea. Maybe we could list the specs by price to make it easier. I still think there could be some general advice like, zbrush needs CPU power and 6GB is more than enough to run all your game art programs.
Building a computer is really all about fastening a few screws, connecting a few cables and cards to their respective slots. Don't even need to sweat over finding a helping friend. Just read the manuals that came with your motherboard, case and power supply, and you pretty much get all you need to know.
I'd be wary of this mentality. Air capacity and air flow are two totally different things. Without getting into a discussion about aerodynamics and thermodynamics, the basis is moving air is good, stagnant air is bad. Just because a case is larger doesn't mean the air is going to flow better, it just means you have more…
Quadros are really really expensive video cards that are great at doing things like.... anti-aliased wireframes for complex CAD applications. When it comes to games related stuff, running realtime engines, shaders, etc they get outperfomed by even an average "gamer" card. You'de have to buy a $2000 quadro to get the same…
Here is what I have so far: LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support - $31.99 Rosewill Smart One ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $49.99 (Purchased) Western Digital AV-GP WD10EVDS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $89.99 Auria EQ2668 Black 25.54" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD…
I think you're over estimating the power you need. A computer from two years ago will do just as fine for Game Art (Zbrush, Maya, Max, Photoshop, Sketchbook, etc.) as a computer from this year. All the surplus cash you put into your build is a waste. Top end equipment is what... a 10% increase in performance for a 200%…