Right
Look for a system that has at least 512MB DDR RAM preferably.
You want a good Processor (Min 1.5GHz but dont pay for the Best, not worth it. If you can, 2-3GHz)
Here is something you need. Twin piggybacked Hard Drives.
LocalDrive, doesnt really matter, 10GIG - 20GIG (This one will do the work for the system and store progs)
2nd Drive. This is your work storage drive so get it as large as you need.
Organising and maintaining the drives is important.
Graphics Card, Animation? ‘Pure Render’ Cards £2500 Eight chips, masses of RAM. MAYA Support only, i think?
If you are doing limited pres renderings in MAX, Min 128MB RAM- 256 If poss. Make sure the Card has a fast bus speed 550MHz + NVidia Chips on most cards. Open GL 8x AGP or PCI
Windows 2000 Pro - Simpe, reliable, my choice
Windows XP- Arty farty, tends to crash more often, i think it runs more background crap so beware on slower machine. Works real well with some programs though.
Plenty of USB ports, Firewire, etc. You never know…
Internet access on a system running CAD is a big issue.
Obviously Internet security is important, but it should be turned off when using CAD. The two dont like each other very much. Especially Norton. Constantly scanning work. Sucks processor power.
Broadband DSL Modem
Good Image management monitor (Cant advise well, sorry)
Hope this helps
