Hello everyone. I have a question for you all. What would be the best resonably priced computer system to purchase for my graphics work? i will be getting some money in a few months and I am starting to do my homework. As a musician, I can easily put togather a system for audio work, but for graphics, I am not sure. I am currently running a p4 at 2.79 gig with 1.49 gig of ram. Try as I may, I can not find anything on the video graphics card that is in the machine. I think that it is just a generic one.
  At any rate I want to do more with my art. Right now I am doing mostly illustration useing Daz Studio,Bryce, Photoshop and Printshop. I have Carrara (sp) 5 pro and a few other graphic applications that I havnt really messed with to much. But I want to get into animation and get even better render results. 
    When I do anything really intense, my computer crashes.  I am useually in Bryce when it happens. I am guessing that the problem lies with the graphics cards. 
  So by resonable I am talking about $1000.or less. Any ideas anyone?
Thanks.

In D|S, Help>About your video card should give you some information. Or right-click on the desktop, select properties, and the monitor and video card wil be listed on the settings tab (tyou can click the Advanced button to get more information on the Adaptor tab).

A decent (but not necessarily super-powered) video card, plenty of RAM (up to 3GB if you will use Windows 32bit), and a Core 2 Duo or Quad chip would be the obvious things to get, plus one or two large hard discs, DVD burner (or something with highercapacity) and a good quality display that you can calibrate.

tomshardware.com has good reviews and advice, but you may have to dig around a bit in their site and do a lot of searching.  But, in my experience, it really helped me make a decision on what to buy depending on my budget.  So, if you have the time, or willing to put in the time, this is a good beginning.

I think a 32-bit system can only address 2 gigabytes of RAM.  It may register more, but because of the way the 32-bit system is structure, it won't be able to use more than 2 gigs or RAM.  If you want to stay under the $1000, you may want to stay away from the quad-cores for now because the cheaper versions aren't really worth it because they only give a slight performance advantage, and as of my experience, most programs don't really take advantage of multiple cores, and if they do, having more than a dual core won't speed up performace.

As for graphics, anything above an ATI 1600XT, or above an Nvidia 7950GT should be fine and within your budget (taking in the other parts, that is).  I think nvidia lowered their prices for the 8800gts for some reason.  Try to get one with 512MB, but definitely get one with at least 256MB of VRAM.

That's my advice, but definitely visit tomshardware.com and search their database.  I'm probably a bit outdated with some of the technology out there.  Good luck on your new machine.

A 32-bit system can use up to 3(and a bit) GB, but no single application will use more than 2GB.

I just looked this up, a 32-bit OS can actually access up to 4gb of RAM (2gb for kernel, 2gb for apps).  Sorry for the misinformation.

Dell vosto series have a nvidia 8600 for $700, with 17 inch screen. w/dual core, bla bla bla too.

Quote - I just looked this up, a 32-bit OS can actually access up to 4gb of RAM (2gb for kernel, 2gb for apps).  Sorry for the misinformation.

it all depends on what the mhz is of the ram used. my system's motherboard(biostar) can hold 3 gig of ram but if i use ddr 400mhz then it will only hold 2 gig...something to do with the motherboard i have, for me to use the full 3 gig then i would have to use something thats got less mhz...

only saying this cause a tech guy advised me of this when i upgraded the ram in my pc.

Although a system may accept 4GB, much if not all of the top GB (and possible some of the GB between 2 and 3) is using addresses that are already taken by components of the system (such as the video card) and so it cannot be used. You would be wise to regard 3GB as the limit for a 32 bit system, unless you are expecting to dual boot with, or imminently upgrade to a 64 bit system.