Is this a good rig for Modeling/Gaming?

aajohnny · Feb 2011

Mark Dygert · Feb 2011

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Artifice · Feb 2011

It'll work. I didn't bother to go through and total what you spent, but my initial impression is more RAM, faster HD, less PSU, less case. Unless you're Crossfiring your GPUs or running 6+ hard drives, you really don't need 750 watts. It'll cost more to run, probably be louder and won't increase your performance one bit. Same with the case. Larger doesn't mean cooler, but it does have those neat lights... recycle your old one or go with something in the $60 range.

Were it me, I'd start with 8 gigs of RAM and a decent sized SSD drive. Tack on a 1TB storage drive for $65, doesn't have to be anything fancy. You only need to fit your OS, programs and whatever you're working on at the time on the SSD, so like 60 gigs? I've got a 30 gig that works just fine, I just can't have ten games installed at a time. Anyway, those are the two biggest performance boosters for the money, RAM and an SSD drive. Price those, then build the rest. Personally, I'd step down to a cheaper CPU before I'd give up RAM or HD speed.

Also, in before Vig

DAMNIT! TOO SLOW!

PS, type out or copy/paste what each thing is next to the link. Most people won't be bothered to click through just to find out what you're buying.

EarthQuake · Feb 2011

Yes, less case, less psu, more ram.

makecg · Feb 2011

or more everything and more money

Ehnn · Feb 2011

exacly what artifice said but go with a SSD bigger than 30, I got one too and once you get near the limit it sucks to have to be cheap about memory and add up the numbers whenever you want to install something

also, from my experience, every graphic card generation tends to have that card 'everyone' buys much more than the others, try to find out what it is and stick with that. they tend to have nicer deals and are guaranteed to work under fire
I think nowdays it's the 460/470, unless it changed since a few months ago

System · Feb 2011

It all depends on how long you want your system to last: with a decent motherboard, processor and ram it could last 10-15 years of being continuously battered, compared to a measly 5 years with most crappy consumer systems.
Here's some hard facts that I've learned over the years from building systems.

Good motherboard = Intel or Supermicro. Asus is cheap consumer crap, available everywhere and anywhere.

Best processor = Intel dual or quad core (Xeon). AMD run hotter, less data checks, less reliable full stop.

Best ram = ecc (Kingston,Corsair,Supermicro). Everything not ecc is a waste of money.

Best gpi card = nvidia or amd, both have some nice powerful solutions available.

check out http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/index.html and build your respective parts list from compatible parts.

DrunkShaman · Feb 2011

makecg wrote: »

or more everything and more money

Yessss, thats about right!!

Del · Feb 2011

~ Meh.

I completed my dom war entry on a laptop with a single celeron processor and 1gb Ram.

The whole thing crashed if I viewed all in zbrush, but essentially any average computer bought nowadays is 'good for modeling'

Joshua Stubbles · Feb 2011

Yeah pretty much any PC these days will be good for modeling. If you want to have more than 2 mil polys in Zbrush though you need a good amount of ram. I used to have 3GB and could only push around 5mil polys whereas now with 8GB it defaults to 22mil polys - huuuge difference.

I spent about $450 on my recent upgrade and I couldn't be happier with it (I already had a PSU, GPU and case).

I ended up getting:
- Intel i52400 3.1ghz
- ASUS P8Pg7 Pro UEFI
- 2x 4GB (4 modules total) Corsair Dominator DDR1600

I use a Thermaltake Armor case, 2x Nvidia GTS250s in SLI and a Corsair 750w PSU. I was running a Toughpower 650w PSU but that wasn't supplying enough power when both GPU's were at peak in games like Crysis and GTA4 - they would reboot my PC. Since the PSU upgrade last week (got it for free from one of the devs at work) it's been butter smooth, no crashes.

Chrisis · Feb 2011

AMD's are cheaper, though not the better option, but I'd imagine that's why he is going after an AMD. I really don't recommend the x6. I know the whole idea sounds cool, and it's nice to see 6 boxes move around when you bake those maps, but when it gets to using only 1 core, you just sit there and wait; as for that core performance thing, it works only in their design plans not in reality. Also the dual-channel thing in x6-es is not really good with 4 sticks of ram, you have to tie the ram to a single channel, which looses some performance.

greevar · Feb 2011

I wouldn't recommend a 700 series chipset when AMD has 800 series chipsets now. Unless you're going to make several systems and set up a render farm, quad core is good enough. More RAM is always worth it. A single GPU or a dual GPU card is better than two cards in SLI/CF. It's less power draw and easier to upgrade later. Assuming that you're only using one 6850, a 125W CPU, and a single HD drive, 500W is probably enough. I personally like to leave at least a 10%-20% margin so I don't wear out my PSU too quickly. I'd scale back on the case. Antec makes pretty nice cases for under $100. I bought the Antec 900 for $99 and I've been pleased with it. I just wish I wasn't so lazy with cable management.

Artifice · Feb 2011

A lot of the information in this thread is still relevant: Per's hardware adventure.
Some of the parts are slightly out of date, but the ideas are very, very solid, especially relating to systems specifically for 3D work.

Also, COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 $65 after shipping. It's a great case. The difference pretty well takes care of another 4g of RAM.

Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Quad Core $160, or even Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto 3.2GHz Dual Core for $90.

Honestly, you're not going to tell the difference, especially if you spring for more RAM and a faster drive. Most everything you do, including gaming, isn't optimized for more than two cores. Rendering is, but AO maps are going to take forever regardless of what you buy. You can tell yourself you're future proofing, but really you're just spending money in the wrong place. Spend the cash on a good GPU and SSD which you can recycle in 2-3 years when you're ready to replace your MB/CPU/RAM.

aajohnny · Feb 2011

Thanks, Idk about ssd's . I am trying to get the best for the cheapest since I don't make a lot of money and my laptop is dieing.

Is this a good rig for Modeling/Gaming?

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