i need a new computer
Hey all
looking for help on getting a new computer .I am wondering what are the better machines to buy to run z brush, 3ds max and photo shop? I want to get a new computer because my old one is "old" and needs a good long dirt nap . please help a brotha out.
looking for help on getting a new computer .I am wondering what are the better machines to buy to run z brush, 3ds max and photo shop? I want to get a new computer because my old one is "old" and needs a good long dirt nap . please help a brotha out.
Replies
You probably only need to spend $1200
Do you need a monitor, keyboard/mouse?
Overpriced, I'll help the OP more once I get some sleep.
One thing you shouldn't do leibarg, and that is handing over your money to those greedy bastards at Alienware.
Is really Alienware that bastard? I didn't know... Here in Europe, Alienware is a sub-section of Dell sellers.
If I was upgrading today, my parts list would look something like this:
Intel Core i5-750 $200
MSI P55M-GD45 $110
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 x2 $220 (8gigs total)
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W $75
XFX GS250XZDFU GeForce GTS 250 1GB $150
OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX 2.5" 30GB SATA II $100 (SSD Boot Drive)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM $90 (Storage Drive)
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW $60
You might want to add in aftermarket heatsink/fan for the CPU and possibly the vid card, depending on if you want to OC or have noise concerns. Arctic Cooling, Zalman and Scythe are all good choices.
That's right around $1000 for a solid, up to date machine that'll handle most anything you want to throw at it and should last you several years. Keep in mind some of this stuff can get reused if you rebuild in the future...case, PSU, drives are all good to reuse. When you need to upgrade, the only things you really need are CPU/mobo, RAM and maybe a gfx card if you've got a solid base to build on. That really brings down the cost of future builds.
If you wanted to spend more, you could step up to a bigger gfx card or an i7 processor and mobo (LGA 1366), more storage, etc. I personally think this is a waste...I'd rather spend my money on a new tablet, external HDs or other cool toys. You could easily spend less as well, dropping the CPU to something like a Q9400 and appropriate mobo, slower RAM and an older gfx card. It's all about what you want to spend and what you need.
I've built my last 4 systems off of parts I order from newegg.com. Just looking at their bundle deals this doesn't seem so bad.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.361352
I just built a new PC about a month ago, I got:
Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (retail version, although you could go OEM if you plan to overclock and grab a higher performance cooler, but the Intel one that ships with the retail processor is perfectly adequate if you're not gonna overclock).
ASUS P6T Motherboard
6GB Triple Channel RAM
ASUS GTX275 GPU
Coolermaster Elite 335 (awesome case and low price too)
Corsair TX650 PSU
WD 500GB HDD
Pioneer DVDRW
This all came to around £900 which I guess translates to about $1500 although probably less due to the lower prices in the US.
It runs like a dream, performance is impressive and rock solid. All the apps I run (Max, Maya, ZBrush, Photoshop CS3) are super smooth. I haven't done much gaming with it yet but I'm getting about 60fps in Crysis at max settings (except AA obviously which I set to 4x or 8x), the only other game I've played on it is WoW which averages about 160fps, although that's not really a useful benchmark I suppose.
In terms of the GPU, you've got a bit of choice if you wanna go with NVidia. I'd say the GTX260 is still a good buy, and slightly cheaper than the 275, in fact from comparing the two cards running my usual apps etc, there's very little difference. I'm not sure if the 285 would be noticeably better. Of course you've got their new DX11 cards which could be a consideration, although much more expensive.
I don't wanna start a debate but you've got the ATI cards too, I've read great reviews on the 5770/5870 but there does genuinely seem to be people having driver issues with the 3D apps with those, I'm not saying everyone has them, but it certainly seems like a lot more people have problems than those with NVidia cards.
A couple considerations could also be extras like a better HDD setup, an SSD drive for your OS and software will give you ultra fast startup times but they're still a little expensive, worth it though from what I've heard. For the sake of $50 or so you could probably add another 500GB HDD for backup too.
Also a sound card might be worth looking at if you listen to a lot of music or want higher quality audio from games, the onboard sound on most motherboards is 5.1 but I'm not overly happy with the quality of mine, you can get an ASUS Xonar card for like £50 which are supposed to be awesome.
Something like a GeForce GTX 275 I wouldn't go too overboard on a graphics card because DX11 card are expensive and I'd wait until they are cheaper, and its kinda silly to get a really high end DX10.1 card
Most cases would work, find something decent size with decent air flow, and you like.
PSU, is the last thing you figure out
but I'd probably go for around 9 gigs of ram, zBrush really relies on it for performance.
And you should think about going for a SSD and 2 HDDs
http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=64997
Seconded. On an related note, I'd love to see some tips and tricks for setting up and optimizing your OS specifically for 3D work. It's always interesting to see what other people are working with.
just make sure to have a quad core for renders/builds, and at least 4gigs of ram. go for 8, if you can. 500mb graphics card will do just fine. i have a gts 8800, and it works just fine with everything i do. I bought my system 3 years ago, and havent had an issue with anything but the power supply. all the programs run fine. i do suggest that you dont go TOP OF THE LINE. all the brand new parts last half the time as somewhat older stuff. top of the line is meant for performance, not duration. unless you dont mind replacing parts in a year or two, id say go for the previous gen top of the line stuff. they are built to last now. all the kinks are worked out.
I think it does, but then you have to add in the 1-2gb for system overhead, plus whatever else you might be running (background stuff plus other 3D apps). With 4gb of ram you could only realistically use about 2gb in ZBrush. With 6gb you could get the full 4gb in Zbrush with a bit left free for other stuff. With 8 or 9gb, you could comfortably run ZBrush at 4gb along side something else (Max/Maya/UDK) with enough left over to web browse and listen to music or whatever.
Lolwat. I run permanently overclocked and never have problems. This is the first time ever I hear someone say this about OC'ing (and i read a lot before I started). If that guy does the dry ice stuff, then sure, but if it's just a bit of boosting FSB, I'd say the only drawback is you have to invest a day or two in tweaking it, but then you're set.
same here, as long as the heat is under control its fine, I lapped my processor and my heat sink and over clocked my processor from 2.4 to 3.2 ghz and its been running great for 2 years.
The i7's auto overclock btw.