A good pc 3d workstation?

[Bokaja]

Hey :)

Any have experience with a good system-spec that works well for nextgen
pipeline - without costing a fortune...

All from combination of various hardware (graphics card, motherboard, cpu etc...) to off-the shelf pc-system that just proved to kick ass...

Trying to figure out a good setup for my next pc :>

Thx

[Deto]

Get good amount of memory, decent mobo, but concentrate on memory. And then average videocard. 3D programs (atleast MAX) don't use videocard for drawing, but draws all its power from memory. If you get Vista based comp, get at least 3GB extra memory for the vista itself :P

[Bokaja]

Sounds like I'm ganna get an 8GB system - THE HORRORS! :D

O wel - did'nt know that about Max actually - thx for info :)


Cheers!

[Shadownami92]

I suggest looking through Mwave.com and Newegg.com (mainly just the daily deals for newegg)

You can find some decent hardware there for pretty cheap.

[cookepuss]

Also keep in mind that however much RAM you get will invariably effect what OS you get.

Anything above 3GB is pretty much a waste on a 32-bit OS. Once the system reserves global address space for video RAM and system overhead, 3GB is (more or less) all you'll get under a 32-bit OS. You may get a couple of MB more here or there, depending on how much video RAM you have, but a 32-bit OS is ultimately limited by the sheer number of potential addresses in 32-bits of data.

With anything over 3GB, you'll definitely want to go 64-bit. No doubt about it. You'll get full use out of that extra RAM. I've got 8GB installed and I'm loving every bit of it.

From personal experience, I can tell you that Vista x64 is rock solid, has excellent 3D app support, and is utterly unavoidable win a new PC. :) As much as many people love XP64, that's last gen. Every manufacturer is pushing Vista x64 nowadays. A year ago, I would've laughed at the notion of moving over to Vista - any flavor. Video driver support was shameful. Games played like garbage. 3D apps were just getting up to speed with the 64-bit executables. Today, driver support has improved drastically. Many games play as fast on Vista as they do on XP - in some cases even faster. Most 3D apps are fully prepped for the 64-bit experience and benefit from it by leaps and bounds. You'll even see performance improvements in apps that aren't 64-bit enabled. ZBrush users know what I'm talking about.

Vista does indeed have a larger RAM footprint, but with 8GB you never notice. RAM is getting cheaper nowadays so I can't see why you wouldn't go in for the kill if you've got 64-bits behind you.

I've been using Vista x64 for about 4 months now. I can't imagine going back. I actually installed my old XP on a virtual machine. I never realized how much the small workflow enhancements and "creature comforts" of Vista actually improved my overall experience.


Beyond OS....

- Big hard drive: These things are getting cheaper too. No such thing as too big. You may not fill it all up with apps and work data, but you can certainly find a way fill it up with music and videos. I've got 1.5TB in the chassis and I've managed to nearly over stuff it. Had it not been for my externals.... :)

- CPU: Quad Cores have begun filtering into the mid-range price brackets over the past couple of months. I've even seen some quads in the semi-low end price brackets too. Dual cores are still nice and cheap, but a quad core will really cut a whole lot of render time.

- Video: Doesn't matter much since it'll all be obsolete next week anyway. :) Regardless, whatever you do, don't opt for on-board video. That never works out, especially for 3D. A GeForce8 family card will get the job done just as well as a newer gen card and for far less money. I can push about 2-3 million polys in C4D on what I've got (see specs) and am quite happy. Unless you plan on beating the snot out of your system with the latest cutting edge games, don't make your wallet sweat too much.

- TV: Okay... Not really a "must have" where work is concerned, but it's a nice feature that's becoming more and more standard in off the shelf PCs. Kind of a fan of these things. I've got dual ATSC/NTSC tuners in mine I can record multiple TV eps while I work.

- Monitors: Dual all the way. Stick your tools on one screen. Stick your main 3D window in another. Best time saver ever.

Everything else is gravy.

The specs for my rig are in my sig, in case you're curious.

[Aftermath]

heres a pc build a friend/instructor gave me which i will be building. Its around a 1k build.



Processor:

Pentium Quad core Q9450

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0287628

MOBO

Asus P5KC

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131188

Case w/500w power supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024&Tpk=sonota%2bIII

OS drive

150 gig 10000rpm sata drive raptor x

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0235237

Storage Drive

640 gb sata drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

Video Card

PNY 8800GT 512mb

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133205

Memory

8 gigs (4x 2gig sticks) 2 packages

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184


I do not have cd drive because I already had one that I just swapped from another computer. The only thing I didn't list was an extra fan/heatsink for the processor to replace the stock setup.

[cookepuss]

I'd probably go with a better power supply. 500w is probably enough, but vid cards tend to be a pretty big drain. Better safe than sorry.

[Jido]

As far as Vista and Memory goes, it's a good to get decent IT friend to disable many of the background non-critical processes (most of which are executed but never used). That way you can cut the amount of memory Vista uses. It's a good technique if you start without a full rack of lamb... I mean RAM.

[cookepuss]

Even if you disable a lot of non-essential services your base RAM footprint isn't going to get as low as XP's. No way around that. Vista has a massive footprint, anywhere from 3x-4x that of XP.

The bare minimum RAM I can get XP down to is around 250 MB - 300MB.

Now, Vista is a whole other thing.

I'm talking about getting the OS pretty stripped. No Aero or visual enhancements. No antivirus. No firewall. No iPod support. Strip out services like error reporting, remote assistance, automatic updating, UAC, system restore, the various media center services, windows defender, non-critical tablet services, indexing, etc...

With Vista, the lowest I can get RAM usage down to, without crippling my PC, is about 1.2GB. Like I said, Vista has a mighty mighty footprint.

Still, with lots of RAM and a 64-bit OS, you never notice.

Also, some people say that one key to better Vista performance is disabling Aero. I tend to disagree. Yeah, Aero may consume a little more RAM, but the UI is a lot more responsive when it's being accelerated by the vid card. I'm willing to sacrifice a couple of megs if it means that windows update a bit faster.

[Shadownami92]

Automatic updates are very threatening to some programs actually. A new windows update actually breaks Zonealarm so it cuts the internet connection completely.

I tend to stop most useless processes right at start up too.

Another thing to stay away from with software is getting certain firewalls or antiviruses. Macaffee's Mcshield takes a lot more memory usage than most other firewalls that work better.

For hardware I just think getting the best you can without spending much. (usually on newegg daily deals, mwave or another good site)

[YdoUwant2know]

As cookepuss said, make sure you go with a 64 bit OS.

Even brand new Vista 32 bit maxes out at 3.8 gig of allocatable memory. This is total memory, not just ram. Meaning you have to add your video memory into the equation.

For the 64 bit version, max ram also depends on which version you have.


Home Basic 8 GB

Home Premium 16 GB

Ultimate 128+ GB

Business 128+ GB

Enterprise 128+ GB