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Last Updated: 01/10/2008
The Multimedia/Web Design department has put together some information for those students who want to buy their own computer system.
- Operating System
PC-Windows XP or Vista - CPU (Processor)
PC – Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 or higher model (2.2 GHz or higher). - RAM (Memory)
You need to get the most RAM you can afford. At least 2GB of RAM minimum. Most of the software we use in our industry is heavily dependent on the amount of RAM you have. Sacrifice processor speed for more memory if necessary. I recommend 4Gig since RAM is very inexpensive at this time. - Display Card (Video Card)
While the processor and the ram are the core of the speed of the machine, the display card can be a bottleneck for the displaying of the information. Get a card that includes a minimum 128 MB of RAM. NVIDEA GeForce 7000 series or higher is recommended. Also consider getting a video card that supports dual monitors. - Monitor
The bigger the monitor the better. Minimum of 17” viewable area. Consider getting two monitors if money is not a problem since many popular software packages support working with dual monitors. Another option is LCD monitors. LCD monitors use less electricity and produce less heat. They also give take up much less desk space than CRT monitors. - Hard Drives
Recommended storage is 120-300GB. We recommend one drive for data and another for the OS and applications. The drives should support a minimum of 100MB/sec transfer of data or ATA100. If you plan to do video editing Serial ATA300 or Ultra SCSI 320 or faster is recommended. Be sure and back up often. - Removable Storage
You will need a CD/DVD Burner. The faster, the better. This will allow you to easily take files from home to school and back. USB Flash Drives are also very useful and vary in size from 32MB to 7GB. You should get a couple of these to back up files to. I recommend 2GB or larger. MicroCenter has USB drives at very reasonable prices. http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0250132 - Miscellaneous: Sound
Sound Card, Sound Blaster or Better and External Speakers if the system does not include them.
A good place to check for current prices is www.pricewatch.com. Also check with various computer manufacturers for student or educational discounts.
Software used in Multimedia/Web Design:
Adobe Creative Suite 3 - Master Collection, MicroAngelo Icon Creator, and Microsoft Office. Before purchasing any software, check with a department instructor to determine the version in use at AiDallas and to determine the feasibility of the purchase. Some of the software listed above will be used on a limited or infrequent basis; therefore it would not be particularly cost effective to purchase it. To purchase software, investigate the various Education software vendors for discounted packages.
