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What's a good PC rig for modelling?

Hey, my laptop's on a bit of a downward spiral so I'm looking for a new desktop. I was hoping someone with some experience in the matter could inform me on what an ideal rig would be for someone who works with 3ds max and photoshop a lot. Thanks :)

Replies

  • Bad Spleen
    You must have the following -

    * plenty of RAM (the more the merrier)
    * a decent Gfx card, you get what you pay for there really.
    * A good monitor (CRT's have superior quality, though many will disagree)
    * more RAM
    * a second graphics card
    * A good mouse, which is something people often skip on
    * A pornographic mouse mat
    * USB coffee warmer (I'm not joking)
    * Upgradability (if thats a word) you want to be able to expand in the future.

    PS, a graphics card that supports dual monitors is a must.

    I have never built a PC so I will offer no advice on motherboards or processors, just remember for all the components, you need high quality.

    -Adam
  • Calabi
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    Calabi polycounter lvl 12
    A tablet would definately be recommended saves on rsi and allows more fluidity and accuracy.
  • Firebert
  • .Murder
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 275, Core i7, 6+gb ram (64 bit operating system) are all a must for a high end quailty machine
  • Lonewolf
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    Lonewolf polycounter lvl 18
    invest most of the money in the cpu and ram if youre going with hi poly work

    i got q6600 and 8gb ram and im stuck

    :(
  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    Bad Spleen wrote: »
    You must have the following -

    * plenty of RAM (the more the merrier)
    * a decent Gfx card, you get what you pay for there really.
    * A good monitor (CRT's have superior quality, though many will disagree)
    * more RAM
    * a second graphics card
    * A good mouse, which is something people often skip on
    * A pornographic mouse mat
    * USB coffee warmer (I'm not joking)
    * Upgradability (if thats a word) you want to be able to expand in the future.

    PS, a graphics card that supports dual monitors is a must.

    I have never built a PC so I will offer no advice on motherboards or processors, just remember for all the components, you need high quality.

    -Adam

    2 graphics cards only boosts performance by 20% (at most) and it costs more the twice as much (for the more expensive motherboard). Just get one decent graphics card.

    Ram is cheep, go for 4 gigs if you have a 32bit OS, or 8 if ya got 64bit.

    Upgradability? Not a word. Future proof? a word, but not too smart. USB 3.0 is just around the corner and the cpu sockets are always changing, you could get DDR3 ram though.
  • Rwolf
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    Rwolf polycounter lvl 18
    Lonewolf wrote: »
    invest most of the money in the cpu and ram if youre going with hi poly work

    i got q6600 and 8gb ram and im stuck

    :(

    wow, what kinda polys are you pushing?

    I have a 6600 n' 4 gigs and haven't had too much problems with XSI + Zbrush

    I would say Intel's entry level quad cores would be a good starting point. i7's are brand new and pricey.

    I wouldn't really bother of looking into upgradeable mobo and cpu wise. Buy the time a better affordable cpu comes along, you'll need a new mobo to go along with it too.
  • EarthQuake
    Lonewolf wrote: »
    invest most of the money in the cpu and ram if youre going with hi poly work

    i got q6600 and 8gb ram and im stuck

    :(

    lol what stuck? I have the same system and find more often then not the programs i use can't take advantage of my 4 cores, and are barely pushing my system than it is being maxed out. Would like to know what crazy sort of stuff you're doing, as my q6600, 8gigs and 8800 gt can handle just about anything!

    Sure i would love a i7 for AO baking, but c'mon
    Rwolf wrote: »
    I wouldn't really bother of looking into upgradeable mobo and cpu wise. Buy the time a better affordable cpu comes along, you'll need a new mobo to go along with it too.

    Very true. Pretty much every pc but the last that i've built i thought i would be smart and cheap out on the CPU, thinking i would simply upgrade it when i could afford something better. Not once in the past 10 years have i ever upgraded a CPU, because it is a flawed concept. By the time you actually want to upgrade your CPU, you will pay more money to get a very slight performance increase on your current mobo with a supported cpu than you would pay to get a much better cpu with a new mobo(within a year its virtually garunteed there will be a mid-range CPU out on a new socket that will outperform the highest-range CPU on your old socket, but this old high-end CPU will still cost you an arm and a leg).

    Upgradable CPUS are a myth! Buy the best CPU you can afford because you will NEVER upgrade it.
  • IronicallyMaiden
    My laptop died today :'(

    So now I really need a new pc :) Thanks to everyone for the advice.
  • Isaiah Sherman
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    Isaiah Sherman polycounter lvl 14
    .Murder wrote: »
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 275, Core i7, 6+gb ram (64 bit operating system) are all a must for a high end quailty machine

    That is exactly what I have.

    GTX275
    Corei7 920
    6gigs of Corsair Dominator DDR3 RAM
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

    Just built this bad boy myself in July. I also bought a wonderful Intuos 4 as well.
  • achillesian
    Bad Spleen wrote: »
    * A pornographic mouse mat

    links?
  • t4paN
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    t4paN polycounter lvl 10
    Haiasi wrote: »
    That is exactly what I have.

    GTX275
    Corei7 920
    6gigs of Corsair Dominator DDR3 RAM
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

    Just built this bad boy myself in July. I also bought a wonderful Intuos 4 as well.

    I hate youuuuuu. :veryangryfacesmiley:

    Sounds like your system can push a lot of polys eh?
  • vargatom
    Also keep in mind that Zbrush doesn't use any 3D acceleration features of your graphics card, it's only software rendered. So if you want to work in high resolution, get an even faster CPU.

    Dual core is a must, quad I'm not that sure about - but if you want to do some nice GI renders as well, then go for it...
  • IronicallyMaiden
    I found what I think is a good deal but thought I'd consult some people more in the know, i.e. you lot.

    HP Pavillion p6110uk
    AMD Phenom x4 Processor 2.3GHz
    4GB RAM
    640GB Hard Drive
    ATI Radeon Graphics card (2207MB)

    My main question is about the processor, I don't know much about AMD vs Intel and was wondering is there much difference.
  • glib
    I found what I think is a good deal but thought I'd consult some people more in the know, i.e. you lot.

    HP Pavillion p6110uk
    AMD Phenom x4 Processor 2.3GHz
    4GB RAM
    640GB Hard Drive
    ATI Radeon Graphics card (2207MB)

    My main question is about the processor, I don't know much about AMD vs Intel and was wondering is there much difference.

    We can't tell you if it's a good deal until you tell us what it costs.
  • vcool
    RAM.

    Got it?

    Get some more.
  • iWeReZ
    I can do everything i need on my laptop which is :
    Dual Core 2.1 GhZ
    3 gig ram
    nvidia 8400m
    Windows 7

    Gets me by :D
  • IronicallyMaiden
    Sorry I forgot the price, 767 euro
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