Computer for FIRST

[Hinkel Y.]

Woburn robotics is looking to buy a computer for Animation and for other stuff... This computer is basically gonna be funded by the students outselves so we won't have a really shiny penny... (prob $800 CDN at most and we're gonna build it) Some parts such as the monitor, CD ROM, HD, etc... would be donated by us...

What are the specs for other FIRST teams' computer(s)?

[NoodleKnight]

Our computer, which is extremely old, runs windows NT 4.0 workstation, pentium 1, 512 ram (which is a lot for a computer that old), sound, video, and others are integrated I believe, that or they're too old to be worth anything, it was actually useful for programming, but nowadays we do everything on new laptops.

Basically you want to invest in a high amount of (preferable high speed, good quality) RAM, it makes a huge difference when it comes to animation and the sorts. Super graphics card isn'tthat necessary. Any current processor should do, just don't get celerons or durons.

[miketwalker]

Originally Posted by NoodleKnight

Basically you want to invest in a high amount of (preferable high speed, good quality) RAM, it makes a huge difference when it comes to animation and the sorts. Super graphics card isn'tthat necessary. Any current processor should do, just don't get celerons or durons.

He couldn't be more right. Stick to a good processor, and a basic video card (you could get away with a GeForce4MX perfectly, and they're cheap now). Invest in good RAM. Go for a motherboard with DDR (and I think DDR-2 is coming out/is out already... if so I'd go for that) and get at least 2 sticks. This speeds up the RAM speed as well, since DDR is designed to be Dual-Channel. If you've got extra money to play with after you setup a configuration, buy Crucial RAM. It's very good quality RAM, very well made. The more RAM size you have and speed, the faster your renders are (and you'll learn that's important on those final nights when you're trying to test last-minute things out and can't wait a night to see what's right/wrong so you can make your final render overnight). I hope this helps.

[Aignam]

Originally Posted by miketwalker

He couldn't be more right. Stick to a good processor, and a basic video card (you could get away with a GeForce4MX perfectly, and they're cheap now). Invest in good RAM. Go for a motherboard with DDR (and I think DDR-2 is coming out/is out already... if so I'd go for that) and get at least 2 sticks. This speeds up the RAM speed as well, since DDR is designed to be Dual-Channel. If you've got extra money to play with after you setup a configuration, buy Crucial RAM. It's very good quality RAM, very well made. The more RAM size you have and speed, the faster your renders are (and you'll learn that's important on those final nights when you're trying to test last-minute things out and can't wait a night to see what's right/wrong so you can make your final render overnight). I hope this helps.

Crucial is good stuff, but not your only option. Corsair makes good ram, as does Kingston---OCZ is said to match them on performance but cost less. Look around for reviews and such and try to maximize performance and reliability for price.

[FRANK(WGH)]

Try newegg.com they usually have great stuff that's cheaper than you can find in a store and good service.
I think i priced out a computer with everything but a monitor for around 500 USD. and that was with a decent video card, motherbaord with 10/100/1000 nic, and audio integrated, an ok p4 chip, 120 gig hard drive, 512 ram from kingston i think and of course the case and periferals.
you just have to look around to find deals.

[Aignam]

Don't forget to search for specific items on www.resellerratings.com. That's a wonderful resource that I use quite often.

[Denman]

my current pc at home i built for £400 (~900 canadian dollar)

it had radeon 9800, 2.8 ghz, 512 ram, 80gb hard disk and a case and psu. Most bits were from www.ebuyer.com , except the graphics was from overclockers.com

I had my own monitor keyboard and mouse already ...

[Greg Marra]

Originally Posted by NoodleKnight

Basically you want to invest in a high amount of (preferable high speed, good quality) RAM, it makes a huge difference when it comes to animation and the sorts. Super graphics card isn'tthat necessary. Any current processor should do, just don't get celerons or durons.

Eh, that used to be true, but the newer celerons aren't so bad. As long as you do your research and making sure you get something decent, these can be pretty good budget chips.

Still, you're probably getting more for your money with an Athlon for under $100.

Building your own computer is a great way to knock down the price a lot.