HELP!!! Considering a new PC
polycounter lvl 18
I also posted this on gameartisans but I'm pretty desperate to get this figured out asap.
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Ok so my comp crapped out last night I'm thinking it could be the hard drive.
However, if the problem is worse I'll be looking at a new comp. I'm looking into something probably $500-1000. I'm a little confused on what is awesome for Zbrush, and 2048 textures in photoshop. It also looks like I'll be using Vista Ultimate since XP seems impossible to find (plus it's probably time to update).
So is 64 bit better than XP? I imagine I'll get 8 gigs of RAM. Just curious what people are using now with their setups for making Next-Gen-PRO-Dom-War-4-hyper-map awesomeness.
Right now I'm just confused on all the CPU Chipset stuff...Quad Core, Dual Core, Phenom??
I was running dual Geforce 7800 GTX SLI and that was pretty sweet so I was hoping to transfer the GFX cards over to save money, but it's not necessary.
So ya ANY help would be appreciated with this.
If you just want to post your pimp comp specs I'm fine with that too as I can at least get an idea of what people that work in 3D are using.
Thanks!
B
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Ok so my comp crapped out last night I'm thinking it could be the hard drive.
However, if the problem is worse I'll be looking at a new comp. I'm looking into something probably $500-1000. I'm a little confused on what is awesome for Zbrush, and 2048 textures in photoshop. It also looks like I'll be using Vista Ultimate since XP seems impossible to find (plus it's probably time to update).
So is 64 bit better than XP? I imagine I'll get 8 gigs of RAM. Just curious what people are using now with their setups for making Next-Gen-PRO-Dom-War-4-hyper-map awesomeness.
Right now I'm just confused on all the CPU Chipset stuff...Quad Core, Dual Core, Phenom??
I was running dual Geforce 7800 GTX SLI and that was pretty sweet so I was hoping to transfer the GFX cards over to save money, but it's not necessary.
So ya ANY help would be appreciated with this.
If you just want to post your pimp comp specs I'm fine with that too as I can at least get an idea of what people that work in 3D are using.
Thanks!
B
Replies
If going with Vista just purchase Vista Home Premium 64 bit. Between it and Vista Ultimate 64 bit there are not enough reasons or features that validate it's purchase at a higher price point. Since you live in Maynard, take a trip down to Cambridge and buy your hardware / OS from Micro Center. They're right on Memorial Drive along the Charles River going east of Harvard Square. You should be able to buy an OEM copy of Vista Home Premium 64 bit there for about 70-80 bucks. This will allow you to run 4-8 gig of ram no problem and once you turn off several unnecessary services in the OS and maybe dial down some of the OS graphic features your machine will boot up in under 10 seconds and be super stable.
I only use Intel chipsets and right now only quad core CPUs. You can get a lower end Q6600 CPU from Intel for around 200 bucks or a lil less easily. If you're willing to go with it look to spend about 300 on the CPU for a upper mid range / low high range quad core Intel CPU. For a mother board the EVGA 780i or 790i are perfect. They also allow you to equip up to 3 GPUs in SLi mode or just running extra GPUs for multiple displays above 2. I'm currently running 4 displays with 2 GPUs. Video card, I'd say go with no lower than an Nvidia 8800GT which you can pick up for around 150 - 180 or so. I can run Crysis on all settings set to the level right below max at 1600 x 1200 and have no framerate issues and that is with one 8800GT. I have ran the 2 I have in SLi to see if any difference and it was negligable. As far as Max, ZBrush, Mudbox and UE3, it all runs smooth as butter with just the one 8800GT. Also the specific 8800 GT I recommend if you go with it is the EVGA Superclocked version. Lifetime warranty, overclocking is warranty covered since they did it for you already, and they have a great upgrade program that allows you to send it in and pay the difference to upgrade to a newer card in the future from them if need be. System memory will vary depending on what mother board you choose. The 790i allows higher clock speed on system memory. That 790i board I think runs about 350-375 currently. Just be sure you run a power supply at least 800 watt - 1000 watt minimum. That mother board has built in two LAN controllers and a decent 7.1 surround sound on board audio with a digital optical out right on the board. Whatever case you go with I'd recommend as well upgrading the case fans with 120mm Enermax Magmas. They're super quiet and have awesome airflow at high speeds. They do make a big difference in case temp and stress on the hardware from heat. I think they're about 20 bucks a pop. Case wise I've been using Cooler Master Cosmos. They're high quality, lots of room inside and just really nice. A final suggestion too, be sure to use a raptor 150 gig hard drive from Western Digital as your primary drive and only install the OS to it and nothing else. Add in another 500 gig drive for about 100 bucks, cheaper is you pick up OEM and put all your software on it and storage. Your system will thank you and you will not having any performance issues for it. Micro Center does sell OEM hardware and software, but most of the time you have to ask for it and they'll have to get it from the back. They also store higher price stuff in the back and don't shelve it out in the store. Just go on their website and grab the SKU numbers for products before you go in there and just give it to them and let them go get the goods for you based on your list. It makes the shopping a lot faster and you'll get out quick.
I didn't even know there was a Microcenter store out here!
I'll definitely swing by it.
B
Here are the specs:
q6600 quadcore intel
asus pk5-e wifi mobo(can get cheaper than this tho, different pk5s)
8 gigs of pc 1066
8800 GT 512 meg
250 gig HD
dvd burner
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP case
evga 680i - Free
Intel E8500 - Free (enginering sample. really wanted a quad core but i couldn't argue with free)
8800gt. bought a while back. Think it was around christmas for $230. I wouldn't mind getting another one to power 3 or 4 monitors, but right now i can't even afford a second monitor....
4 GB GSkill PC 6400 - $80 purchased from Newegg. GSkill ram rocks for the price. Very nice to overclock two. We wont carry it at work though cause our general manager thinks thier name isn't well known enough.
all my other parts were recycled from my old system.
If you want a cheap computer now, and no OC:
-With memories, there isn't any appreciable difference of perfomance between ddr2 800 - ddr2 1066. 8GB ram ddr2 CL4 is the cheapest and best option, you save money.
-Two good and cheap mobos are Asus P5Q and P5Q Pro for crossfire. Mobos with SLI are very expensive if you buy one with the chipset 790i.
-The power supply, with a good 650-700W with enough perfomance you have enough. 1000W are mainly for systems with crossfire or SLI. I'm sure you don't want to pay more in your electricity bill, but if you had two 7800... dunno.
-About HDs, there are new Seagate HDS of 640 gb with 2 disks mounted on the drive instead of the usual 3. Their perfomance is more than 100mb/s, they are very good and are very popular here.
-Graphic cards is up to you
-Vista 64 gives great perfomance and memory management. In Max 2008 64bits, i can handle 20 millions of polygons with my quadro fx 3500 (an old dx9 workstation card).
Hope this helps
- MSI P7N SLI Platinum: $149
- 2x 2GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800: $90
- 2x EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB SLI setup (only need 1 to start): $300 (for both)
- 2x Western Digital Caviar 500GB RAID 0: $135
- Creative XFi Audio: $45
- Thermaltake W0116RU (750w) PSU: $150
- Sony 16x DVD+RW burner: $15
Pretty damn decent rig for $1037 (SLI) or $887 (no SLI). This also assumes you already have a CPU cooler and PC case. I'll be building another system similar to this in the near future. My PC is somewhat close to this right now, but it's running on some 2yr+ old hardware (soundcard is 5yrs old, mobo/ram are 2yrs old).
You can also save more money by cutting things out. Forget RAID and go with 1 drive (-$67) or drop a 2GB stick (-$45). Go dual core instead of quad (E7200). Cut out those (and the 2nd GFX card) and you're down to $727.
performance wise it goes like this
slowest at top.
8800GTS 320
8800GTS 640
8800GT 256
8800GT 512
8800GTX
8800GTS 512
i can't remember where the 8800GTX ultra fits in here......i can't remember if it's better than the GTS 512 or not....it's definatly way too expensive though.
Apologies for the layout it's from the shopping cart:
So my question is this...the CPU is a FSB of 1333, yet the RAM is 800...the price for DDR3 1333 is PRICEY right now...so is it better to bite the bullet and get the better ram? or just go 8 gigs of the DDR2 800? I also plan to buy the other 4 gigs at Newegg as it's much cheaper there. My buddy says the 8 gigs isn't worth it...as most motherboards were hacking the ability to use 8 gigs.
Total price is $1337.00
A truly 1337 price!
# CAS: NZXT Zero Aluminum Full Tower 420W Case (Black/Silver Color)
# CS_FAN: Extra Case Cooling Fan (2 x Fans)
# CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz 1333FSB 12MB L2 Cache 64-bit
# FAN: Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX Gaming CPU Cooling Fan (Excellent Overclocking + Silent Proof 16dBA)
# HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
# MOTHERBOARD: (3-Way SLI & QX9650/9770 Support) EVGA nForce 780i SLI Mainboard FSB1333 DDR2 3 x PCIe x16 SATA RAID w/ USB2.0,IEEE1394,&7.1Audio
# MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)4GB (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
# POWERSUPPLY: 800 Watts Power Supplies (NZXT PP800 Performance Power ATX 2.0 Power - Quad SLI Ready)
# VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 1GB 16X PCI Express (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA)
Good?
B
I need to go to the microcenter this weekend sometime and yell at them. suckas owe me money.
http://www.buy.com/prod/gateway-gt5678-desktop-intel-core-2-quad-q6600-nvidia-geforce-7100-v/q/loc/101/209112786.html
yeah its a refurb
I have a 8800GTX thats cooled by a single 120mm antec fan in the front of the case with no problems.
I thought newegg.com was still offering XP for system builders but I might be wrong...
Is vista performance really better? I understand that DX10 is more efficent for DX10 enabled games, but I also heard that alot of games that were experiencing as much as a 30% performance hit using vista. I have vista, don't like it greatly.
I did the cooler because people said to get awesome coolers and fans and what not. I'm pretty much doing what people tell me to.:)
I'm only thinking of Vista because in 3 years people will be using it whether you want to or not....I mean Windows 7 will come out, but i doubt XP will continue to be supported if microsoft plans to not support it.
B
I bought a 500GB external USB 2.0 drive when I bought my new iMac (500GB model) for £55 on Amazon. A quick search on Amazon US shows that you'd get 500GB for about $100. Of course, you'd probably get away with a 300GB drive and only back up selected folders.
fixed.
I already picked up a 500 gb drive to try to boot XP. I also have another back up USB drive and I just bought 50 DVDR's for another form of backup. My next form of backup is a laptop:).
B
EVGA 780i SLI
Intel Q9550
Nvidia 9800 GTX+
8 gigs Gskill Ram
Thermaltake Tough 850W
case??
Fan/heatsink??
However, what kind of Heatsink/fan should I'm looking for something (possibly Thermaltake) that fits on the board, and works. I've heard some heatsinks need to be modded to fit into cases and over certain mobo's and I'm just not looking to do that.
Any help would be VERY appreciated.
Thanks!
B
Nice post there Frog, some good info, I was wondering why you'd need so much space just for the OS though. I got a 75g raptor and partitioned it for OS,Apps, and pagefiles, and it still has plenty space left over.
Antec Performance P182 Miditower is a really popular case which I can recommend if you want something with a clean, simple design. It's famous for being a very silent case with good airflow at the same time, and at a reasonable price. It comes with three reasonably silent fans out of the box but can be modded to be totally silent if you want(it can have a total of 5 fans). I really liked working in it aswell, since you can open the back and pull cables behind the mobo so you get less resistance to the airflow.
You don't really need a PSU with more than 650W nowadays though. Pick a modular one, it helps with building and is good for better airflow, I can recommend Corsair, Seasonic and Tagan.
Also keep your older graphic cards, you won't notice much difference when working with Zbrush, photoshop or Maya. Save that upgrade for later.
Good luck and have fun building it!
/Dimitris