Hi, next year (well, uni year.... --> september 08) I will need a new computer for uni, as my laptop will not cope with what it needs to do.

What I want, I know I cant have, but someone please point me in the right direction.. I know by september, the parts you suggest will probably be "old" but still.

Right....

Monitor, keyobard, mouse, speakers: Got them, not needed...

But I need the computer to be able to handle high spec programs without struggling, (E.g. Autodesk 3D Studio Max MUST run fine, even when rendering something large and full off detail - must not choke...)

HDD space Im not too fussed about, so long as it's over 80GB..

Ram n all those sorta stuff.. Straight over my head, but as I said before, needs to run high spec graphics programs, and also all these new nifty computer games out there.

Processor n that lot, I prefer AMD...

Also like a small or small-ish tower, I hate big ones!!

I dont know whats good and whats not, so if someone could point me to pieces you think would be good to get (I can build computers... well ive done it once or twice hehe) or if you could point me in the direction of a good computer already out there....

But theres a catch!!!

I am skint, so relatively cheap.. I.e no more that £500/$1000 hmmm? preferably £350 lol..

Thanks for any advice

First you have to decide if you're going to use a 32 or 64 bit OS.
System requirements for Vista 64 bit:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/
Also consider the requirements for Autodesk 3D Studio Max:
http://usa.autodesk.com/
You'll need a decent power supply for sure. Also remember the best graphics card for games isn't necessarily the best for your purpose

Preferably, I dont want vista... Unless you can tell me that its worth it to get it, and ensure me that I wont have any problems with it..

What would you reccomend, 32 or 64?

Other staff members here have Vista and say it's OK and the service pack will be released soon. That should be a major improvement. It's been a while since it's release and most of the vendors are supplying better drivers now. Any time you try something new there's a learning curve. People don't want that. It's the same thing when they try Linux. More 64 bit programs are being offered every day and some 32 bit programs are already compatible. I'm thinking about a new build at the end of the year and I'm considering 64 bit. It all depends how fat my piggy bank is when the time comes

Ditto, lol.

Well I'm looking at buying one in september. And if Vista seems muuuuch better than when it first came out, because I do like it, just was not sure about it due to things I've heard from it about bugs etc.

What about hardware though, any ideas?

Thoughts on what parts I could buy?

Get a good minni tower and a real good PS (550W), the trick here is to get GOOD cooling. Pick a nice AMD MoBo w/maybe 2.5G processor and 4 to 8 GB of ram (DDR2/800). Get a decent graphics card(remember what Garmama said; work or play, pick one!) and a nice WD 500G HDD and maybe a Sony DVD/CD player/burner. For the OS I'd stick with XP sp3, it's solid and you can always upgrade to Vista but you can't always go back!!! Sadly, I've tried and cried. That's it, you've got a good system for under $500US. Go have a pint with your mates and celebrate.

You can now play games 'til your fingers bleed and you should be able to crunch graphics 'til the cows come home and the beauty is it's very up-grade-able.

If money's no object that the list would be quite different. Cheers.

Dont need the HDD...

I want to work and play... But I'll go with work, since its more important.. Any ideas?

Oh wow, I didnt even know there was a SP3 out... It go with XP media center?

Cheers for the advice.

Vista's SP1 has already been released and fixes many issues. Also, if you want to run games with high requirements, you will need either a large graphics card, such as the GeForce 9800GTX, or a smaller but hotter and less efficient 8800GT. This means that you should get a computer case with plenty of depth. This does defeat the purpose in getting a small case. As for rendering, this will need a great deal of RAM. Many motherboards support up to 8GB of RAM. Keep in mind that to use RAM past 4GB you will need a 64-bit OS. The Windows XP version of 64-bit is not that great, Vista 64-bit is very nice. I personally haven't had any issues relating to 64-bit in a very long time. As for the AMD over Intel thing, you have to determine what you can live without. AMD's processors are usually less powerful and less expensive whereas Intel is the opposite. You could try building the computer using prices at Newegg.com, but I'm not sure if they ship internationally.

How much would 8GB of ram cost? The computer over all cant cost more than 500 Pounds, prefereably £350 (6/700 dolars) hehe

You don't need to get the full 8GB right away, you can go for 4GB then upgrade later. The cost depends largely on the type of RAM you're using followed by manufacturer. The cheapest 8GB RAM kit I found was $200. 4GB is about half that. Keep in mind that if you want a computer that can do gaming very well along with rendering AND not have to be upgradable in a year or so, you're going to have to spend money.

A mini-tower case can cost $50 or more, it won't have much room, or very good cooling. A mid-tower case will cost about twice that. A decent AMD motherboard will be $75 or more. A quad-core AMD Phenom processor is about $200. RAM is also about $200 (8GB). A 160GB Western Digital HD will be about $50. An EVGA 8600GT graphics card will cost about $130.

$1000 is my limit...

I'd say you're looking at about that limit. Since it's your limit, you may want to get a computer that is easily upgradable. When you have additional cash for improvements, you'll be able to make them easily.

Here's another thought Dark Messenger. I see that you will be attending University. Many universities, at least here in the U.S., have special deals for students and faculty for computers and software. I would definitely look into that before buying a new system. You also want to be sure that whatever you get will be compatible with the software programs the university wants you to use. Up until I returned to grad. school, the word processing program I was most familiar with was WordPerfect. While the school computers did have that program installed, most of my professors that wanted electronic submission of papers wanted them in Microsoft Word. What a drag, but because of the special deals for students I was able to get the entire MS Office Suite including the disks for $25 once I got my own computer.

Another thing you might want to check. At the university here, they have a surplus warehouse. Items there include computer equipment as young as a year old. The university is frequently installing and upgrading to the latest, so one can get close to cutting edge tech. stuff for a lot less money there. You may wish to see if the university you will be attending has something similar.

Orange Blossom

OO nice odea orange, I will look into that! Thanks... even though I think our computers are crap

Hows this?
cross fire mobo, 2 gig ddr2 1066MHz, triple core cpu, ati 3870, 250gig hdd, 750watt psu, case, dvd-rw, for 580 pounds? Incl vat and all that stuff..