Help upgrading an Acer Aspire X3400 to maximise 3Ds Max

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Morgotha

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Feb 10, 2015
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I'm looking to upgrade/rebuild my PC and need some help please, as I'm new to all this.
Primarily I'm working with 3Ds Max, Photoshop, Mudbox, etc. and I also use it as a media station (films/music), with very limited gaming (Anno 1404, etc.). I'm using two monitors. The PC is very slow when rendering and can't handle using multiple programs at the same time, ie. rendering frames, playing video and using Photoshop together. I need it to be able to cope with this. (Waiting half an hour to render 100 frames and not being able to do anything else in the meantime is not ideal!!) The specs are:

Acer Aspire X3400 (SFF)
AMD Athlon II X2 220 Processor 2.8Ghz
DA016/078L Motherboard
8GB RAM
640GB hard drive
Win7 64 bit
220 PSU
NVidia GeForce 9200 (integrated)

I hope that's enough info. Having looked things up on the net, I realise that I'm going to have to completely overhaul it, but there are so many variables I'm not sure where to start. I have a standard case that I can move everything into, as there isn't enough room in the current case to fit anything in. Can I transfer the current motherboard and CPU into a larger case and buy a new GPU and PSU, with the option of changing the mobo/CPU later or would it be wise to just start from scratch? Unfortunately I'm on a bit of a budget, so I guess I'm asking for suggestions on how you'd all go about it. I was recommended to go for a FirePro graphics card and 600+ PSU, but this is well beyond my means. Having looked at everything out there I'm completely bamboozled, so any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks! 🙂
 
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Thanks Sandstorm3000. This originally started with me just wanting to upgrade the graphics card until I realised I was limited to a low profile one and probably didn't have enough power for it. I was looking to buy a decent second hand one for about £50. I guess budget would probably be up to about £150 at the moment. I'm not after a super duper gaming rig, just a PC that I can work with. I'm not averse to going for really good second hand/last gen components. Not too bothered that it's not a completely up to date computer. Just one that works well for what I need.
 
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Wow. That was quick! Thanks! I'll have a look at all of those. I hate being ignorant of these things, but very glad for the help. So this should be enough for me to happily work away on 3Ds Max and other programs without getting bogged down?
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And the case is prettier than the one I've got lying about! 🙂
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Sorry for being inept, but are these for building a smaller unit? Having had a couple of mini systems which have been a complete nightmare, I thought it might be a good idea to go for a decent sized machine this time! Sod the space! 🙂
 
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Sorry, i have made a little mistake. You do also need new RAM. Your current RAM is DDR2, while your new motherboard will only support DDR3. (didnt know there were 4GB DDR2 Sticks) Anyways. Now you can go with cheaper 4GB Of RAM, or a bit more expensive 8GB.

This build is 100 times better than your current build, so yes you should be able to work easily on your things. The motherboard is meant for smaller systems, but it will just fit in a regular case. Like this case so there is plenty of room to work with. (sorry if this isn't what you meant, english isn't my main language 😛)

A 4GB option: http://www.amazon.co.uk/HyperX-Series-1600MHz-Memory-Module/dp/B00J8E92R6/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1423606262&sr=1-4&keywords=ddr3

8GB option: http://www.amazon.co.uk/HyperX-Series-1866MHz-Memory-Module/dp/B00J8E91T0/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1423606262&sr=1-1&keywords=ddr3

Tell me if it needs to be cheaper, i can probably find something 😀
 
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Let me explain a bit, your RAM. So the memory from your old PC can't be used in the new one. Because it uses another type of connection. That is why i suggest other RAM. So you can take 4GB, or 8GB.
 
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I understand that. I just meant that what started as a new GPU has turned into a completely new machine!!! :-D

I was hoping that maybe I might be able to build around the motherboard and CPU, rather than building from scratch, but I suppose I can't do that with what I need the PC to do. 🙂
 
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Oh sorry 😛, you could also only add a GPU, but your power supply won't be able to handle it. And your CPU is bad in comparison to the pentium
 
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