I'm looking to get a new system that's geared more toward doing graphics, however, I'm on a very tight budget. The best I can come up with that fits under my budget is this: Dell 2100 Series 1.1gb Celeron Processor 40gb hard drive 256mb SDRAM Intel 3D AGP Graphics Video Card - 4mb dynamic video memory

Just make sure you dont get windows millennium edition. I have the dell 4100 dimension,love it.

As a person that knows more about DELL systems than the average person, I can't say why tho lets' just say I get money from them) the 2100 is a great little workhorse Dell has done very well to keep that system a little runner. the only thing you may not care for is the video. Don't get me wrong the video in this system is very solid and is capable of working very nicely with poser. The intel video is not fully designed as a performance video. It is AGP and it does do 3d rendering pretty well. The thing is the the 4 mb dymanic memory is comming from your conventional memory That 256 Mb you plan on) So the deal is this, the system you are planing on is a runner and will do well with poser and many 3d games and apps. but it will not be the performance system TJ has.

You'd do best to get a higher system. I'm not partial to the celery sticks they use for a processors... get either AMD or P4. Video card sucks baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. Minimum for graphics is a 32mb card so its NOT drawing from system memory. OS, get Win2k Pro, I have it and love it. and it handles most games. Not to mention you could do better on the HD.. Get at least a 60gb on that bad boy so you know you have the room for games and for those horrendous sized renders. That's all I got to say!

You may be able to build one to your liking cheaper. Many companies sell the motherboards, cpu chips, memory, harddrives, video cards, etc. Thats what I do. I use a ZEUS motherboard with the AMD Athalon processor. This motherboard allow up to 8 perifials, i.e. hard drives, cdroms, cdrw's, zip drive, etc. Also allows 4 USB inputs. This board requires a 300watt power supply (about 39$) I also would suggest an AGP video card with at least 16 meg vid mem onboard. And of course, the more memory the better, I use 640 megs, it is relatively cheap right now. 59 bucks for 256 meg around here. If you go for a big drive, I would recommend partitioning it to at least 10 gig minimum. 20 gig drive=2 10 gig drives. I use a 10 meg drive for my "C" only. I use other 20+ gig drives for graphics, games, etc. This is in case my operating system crashes, I will still have intact my graphic, game and misc programs on the other drives. Partitioning drive also makes it alot easier to back it up! Also you can defrag and virus scan in little pieces instead of one long session. You could try TigerDirect.com to start, but there are alot of places to buy parts individually. (Sometimes you have to pay for the Name too) Good luck in you search and your future purchase! TMG

Attached Link: http://www.buyabs.com

You might want to consider an ABS system. I just bought one and love it. They seem to have more bang for the buck. I was torn between Dell and ABS, but all I was really getting for the extra bucks from Dell was the name. If that makes you more comfortable, then it's probably worth it to you. I think the OS is a major consideration. I personally would not touch ME or XP, would go with Win 98se, or Win 2000 depending on if you want the "consumer" or the "professional" level of OS. But at least check out an ABS. They have a good on-line configurator too. jon

How much are you spending for the Dell system?

I know this will probably get flamed but... I have an e-machine 533id2 and have had no problems whatsoever running poser, bryce and photoshop all at the same time (when I render I don't switch back and forth though) The machine is a 1.5 years old and the newer machines are bigger & faster at the same price. The time is approaching for me to replace this one and I plan on sticking with the same maker as the money I save on the computer I can spend on whatever extras I need (memory, CD-RW, wacom tablet, software, you get the picture) My current set up cost a total $900 (computer, monitor, printer, CD-RW, speakers cuz the ones they give you suck, and a few other little things) It seems to me what is more important with poser is your graphic card, memory & OS rather than the computer itself.

TMG, that's an Asus board, not Zeus. I have the same one that you're talking about... though I had to add in 4 fans into my case cause I over clocked a 1.0 ghz Athalon to 1.3 :)

I also biult an Athalon system for about the same amount you are planning on spending for the 2100 it has this 1Ghz t bird 266 fsb K7 Turbo-R 512 Mb pc133 sdram 32 Mb G force DDR AGP 40 GB 5400 rpm ata 100 hdd mid size ATX case Price $550 I had a spare cd rom and FDD keyboard and mouse

Bladewolf, yeah thats what I meant to say! CMOS overclocking is nice with that motherboard. TMG

Thank you for your advice. My budget is about $900 and I may have found what I need either at ABS or UnitedMicron. I have owned two Dells, but I just cannot afford what I want. :(

Just my 2 cents. Essentials to my understanding would be; GForce type Video card with at least 32mg Athlon or P4 CPU 512mg SDRAM PC-133 type. Monitor no less than 17inch. Biggest Hard Drive you can get. (30Gb or more)

Attached Link: http://www.tomshardware.com/

Check out the G450 Matrox or the ATI dual monitor card. I'm running dual monitors and once you do you can't go back. you can buy the second monitor later. the G450 has one of the fastest ramdacs out there and 32MB of DDR Also check out the deals at accessmicro or axiontech or streetprices. many places have bare bones systems that you can put together. just takes a screwdriver. then add on the RAM and video card. it really is simple. and most places have good enough tech support. tom's hardware has very good guides for building overclocked or just solid systems. tells you all about the best motherboard/cpu combos

Windows 98 se has the capability of multiple monitors. just insert an additional (pci) video card to your AGP card, the operating system will input it and when you go to settings you can place it in one of 4 positions, above, under, left or right to your main monitor. Then when you drag something off the screen it automatically appears on the second monitor. This is great for using photoshop type programs, tools on one screen and work-pic on the main. Also is nice when upgrading your current monitor, gives you something to do with the old one! use it as an additional one! Try it ! It works great! TMG

I have all of the poser controls and tool bars on one screen and the main document window on my second screen. Ends all clutter. Set a UI button and your done. Some PCI cards do have problems and some programs will not drag to your second monitor. This also depends on the drivers for your graphics card. You're right TMGraphics about this being a good way to make use of that old 15" monitor and pci card just laying around. But for $75 to $95 for the single card the screen refresh rates and better drivers may be worth it for some users. Either way, i don't know how i made it without the two monitors. If you do video editing you just won't believe it! With your firewire and digital video camera you can view and scrub through video real time to a TV monitor and make all your edit decisions on your two PC monitors. Don't try this in California. I'm pulling about 500 watts. Here's a morsel for you Mac guys/gals: It's been on the MAC for about 6 years.

not to mention for rendering and the like, the G450's and ANYTHING ATI sucks.. period. Don't matter how fast the MEMORY is, its how fast the Graphics Processor is. Memory helps too... and that fastest made is the GeForce 3 64MB DDR. NOTHING beats that card :)

That's the only thing Macs have that they beat the PC too.. but with the faster technology and processors(which Mac is lagging behind in majorly), the PC has whipped the Mac like a red headed step child. Not to mention the fact that PC's can support up to 4 processors on one machine :) Oh, and the DVD-CDR-DVR drives.. we've had those on the market for the PC for about 3 years.. just in the last 18 months have they become affordable.

Dual monitors are very cool. I use them at work all the time. Maybe someday at home... But I seem to recall that they are not supported in Win XP, so if they interest you, you had better research that aspect. jon

Chalk up a vote for Win2000 - but make sure your system can handle XP, it rocks :)

yeah and with XP, don't you dare upgrade... BUY A NEW PC LOL. That product activation sucks big time.

yeah and with XP, don't you dare upgrade... BUY A NEW PC LOL. That product activation sucks big time.