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March 19, 2008 - 1:23pm
- 1754 reads
Hi
Im in the process of building a new computer but I was curious to see what you all recommended as a nice setup in order to run everything (unreal,zbrush,max,photoshop) at a nice speed to keep a steady pipeline going without worring about slowdown or technical issues (crashes,etc)?
Also, can u guys give a heads up as to what new tutorials your planning on creating for more next-gen content?
Im excited to hear whats next!! 
-Thanks
Hi
Also, can u guys give a heads up as to what new tutorials your planning on creating for more next-gen content?
Im excited to hear whats next!!
-Thanks
Very soon we will be announcing a new Video that goes over the UE3 material editor. Starting with the basics the instructor goes through common nodes, and then goes through a few real world examples on how to create some really nice shaders and understand what is going on. These techniques can easily be translated to other game engines or even other 3d packages.
Other than that we have a few professionals that will be working on some really cool videos. Nothing is official, as you know things can change easy. We definitely want to get a really nice FX dvd using UE3 by a lead FX artist, a kismet scripting DVD with a lead scripter, another dvd like old pillar but this time using more of a modular approach and larger more complex output, and probably yet another one from a sr environment artist demonstrating how to quickly previz a game level using UE3, 3dsmax, etc.
If anyone has any suggestions, please let us know!
Eat 3D
Thanks Riki! Your info helps out a lot I definately was considering the 8800gt because it fits more in my budget. Im still deciding whether to go quad 2.6 or duo 3.0 obviously quad would be a better choice but don't know if I want to fork out the extra change for that right now
Ive only played with u2 editor so ive been anticipating getting my comp upgraded so i can get u3 up and running.
Im definately looking forward to learning the mat editor in u3 so consider at least one copy sold 
thanks yall for all the great info ^^
I saw this deal on a Mac Pro and couldn't pass it up. I sold my dual 2.66 dual core to absorb most of the cost. I cant believe how cheap it is. You can also install Vista 64 and run it as a PC!
Dual Quad Core 2.88ghz with 2gigs of ram, only $2399. I went with a 8800GT from newegg for $199, 2 - 2GB sticks of ram also from newegg $80 each, and Windows Vista Business 64bit ($130). Such a great deal, Ill let you know how it turns out when I get everything.
Riki
Hey Riki,
How did your new computer get on?
I have been dying to hear about it
I have decided that the next version of windows i am going to buy will be Vista 64bit.
Would you recommend this?
The main problem that i have is running out of Ram...i currently have 2GB (1.4 after windows takes its share) and can only subdivide up to a fixed point before i run out.
I feel this is really holding me back.
Is there anything i need to watch out for?
Are there any tips you could give me to ease the upgrade pain?
I heard that you cant run unsigned drivers also...is this true?
My current system has the following:-
Windows XP Home SP2
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ @ 2800 MHz (Liquid cooled)
2GB DDR2 PC2-6400 (2 x 1024 @ 400 MHz with 4-4-4-12 timings)
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe ( nVidia nForce 590 SLI)
Logitech MX518 1600dpi mouse
Maxtor Sata 2 HDD C:\ (250GB OS and Install)
Samsung Sata 2 HDD D:\ (400GB Data)
DirectX Version 9.0c (March 2008)
OprnGL Version 2.12
ViewSonic VX912 - 19 inches 1280x1024@60Hz
If i upgrade to 8GB of Ram what sort of performance/results do you think i should be able to get?
Is there anything that is holding the system back performance wise?
Sorry for all the questions :S
Thanks for reminding me, I finally got everything setup with the Mac Pro 2008 (there is an earlier version of this that carried the dual dual core).
The main problem I ran into was buying this video card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143118
it is completely incompatible with the mac pro. I did some research and found out you can flash the bios on the card with the macpro 8800GT bios, but it only works on certain cards, and the BFG is not one of them. So I RMA'd the card and went down to fry's and got one that was flashable, this one:
[URL="http://shop2.outpost.com/%7BaobthF1bu4l9CliC4WI9vQ**.node3%7D/product/5434329;jsessionid=aobthF1bu4l9CliC4WI9vQ**.node3?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG"]http://shop2.outpost.com/%7BaobthF1bu4l9CliC4WI9vQ**.node3%7D/product/5434329;jsessionid=aobthF1bu4l9CliC4WI9vQ**.node3?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG[/URL]
So I went through all that trouble to save around $100 and the next week apple drops the price of the 8800GT on their site, you can see here:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=MTM5NDY&nplm=MB137Z/A
I also purchased some sticks of ram from Newegg here at an amazing deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208391
The only problem was when I tried to mix this ram with the 2x1GB sticks that came with the MacPro. If you put the ram in the 2nd dimms, it wont work. You have to put it in the 3rd or 4th slot in order to mix them (I have a feeling it has something to do with the dual channel nature of the ram and chipset).
Other than that everything worked perfect 
. Now I have an amazing fast dual quad core 2.8ghz with 10GB of ram and an 8800GT, for around $3k (just so happens I sold my dell precision for $3k) and is completely silent.
I also have vista 64-bit and I've been through the ups and downs with 64bit over the last 4 years or so. I remember I built a dual opteron back in the day and when XP-64bit came out I was excited until I realized nothing took advantage of it. These days however there are many programs that perform really well in 64bit mode. (3dsmax being a major one).
Its true that some old hardware may not be compatible because you need 64bit drivers for them to work, but now-a-days that's not really a huge problem.
You could upgrade to vista-64 without much pain at all I would suspect, but the performance gains maybe disappointing in some areas. Any 32-bit application will be limited to 2GB of ram even in a 64-bit OS (Mudbox, Photoshop, etc). Mudbox will probably perform better, and you may get more subdivisions in, but it will not be as dramatic as going from max-32 to max-64. Where it really helps is having tons of programs open at the same time, and being able to continue working no matter what is going on.
My current system is:
Windows Vista 64-bit
Windows XP Home SP2 (virtual PC)
OSX Leopard
2xIntel Xeon Quad Core @ 2800 MHz
10GB DDR2 PC2-6400
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
Mac Pro Motherboard
Logitech MX518 1600dpi mouse
2xMaxtor Sata 2 HDD (500GB OS and Data)
Seagate Sata 300 HDD (1TB Data)
Westinghouse - 37 inches 1920x1080@60Hz
I hope this helps man, feel free to ask more questions, I dont mind.
Hey Riki,
Glad to hear your computer is working
Its quite a system! (your monitor is bigger than my TV lol)
In you opinion what is holding my system back performance wise?
Do you know of any way i could load non signed drivers into Vista64?
I am so used to using the newest beta drivers for my GPU and Nvidia seem to be slow in getting them signed.
Do you know of any way to improve the OpenGL performance on the 8800GTX? as it seems slower than my old 6600.
I think one of the main problems i could be having is that i mainly use Blender as my 3d application of choice and its not that great when it comes to high poly counts. 
I mainly sculpt using Silo 2 and unwrap with Blender initially, then fix the UV's up in Unwrap 3d 3.
I swap between Pshop6 and PSPX for texture work...though i do plan to get CS3 when funds allow...i missed the chance to upgrade.
Which version of Pshop do you use? CS3?
Is the extended version of CS3 worth the extra cash?
Thanks for being so helpful
p.s could you guys implement a scroll bar for use when we post as i keep having to hit the down arrow key to see what i written lol
Its quite a system! (your monitor is bigger than my TV lol)
It was a risk to get the westinghouse, I almost got the dell 30" but the westinghouse was 1/3 less in price. Now that Ive had it a while, I know I made the right choice.
Do you know of any way i could load non signed drivers into Vista64?
I am so used to using the newest beta drivers for my GPU and Nvidia seem to be slow in getting them signed.
Send me a link to a driver and I will test it out for you. I dont see why it wouldnt work.
Do you know of any way to improve the OpenGL performance on the 8800GTX? as it seems slower than my old 6600.
I havent used opengl is on many years, so I dont think I could give a decent opinion on it. (DX in max is really amazing)
Which version of Pshop do you use? CS3?
Is the extended version of CS3 worth the extra cash?
Yeah I recently upraded to CS3, I wouldnt have gotten the extended version but it came with the web premium package as part of the deal. To be honest I do not use any of the extended features, definitely not worth the money for the things I do everyday.
p.s could you guys implement a scroll bar for use when we post as i keep having to hit the down arrow key to see what i written lol
Ahh yeah, sorry about that, there is no scrollbar option but now if you look up at the top here, you will see little arrows on the right, click those to make the window bigger and smaller.
Glad to be of any help metalliandy,
Riki
Thanks for the reply
HERE is a link to the driver.
I only asked because i heard that Microsoft requires signed drivers for 64 bit vista :S
But nevertheless I shall upgrade to Vista 64 asap as i can see the benefits far outway any negative aspects.
CS3 looks like its going to make a dent in my wallet too....Im sure my girlfriend will rejoice with me when i finally buy it...lol
Thanks for all the help mate, i really appreciate it
Looks like the drivers will install fine. When you try and install the unsigned driver it just brings up a warning that you have to confrim. Come to think of it Ive seen this before, so Im pretty sure any unsigned driver will install with confirmation.
Do some research on deals for cs3, it took me a while but I eventually found some good deals. Be carefull though because there is a lot of fraud out there. You can usually find some good deals on the adobe stuff, however with autodesk, it is impossible, so dont even try. (unless of course the deal is through autodesk themselves).
Great stuff!
Thanks for the advice:)
Hi Riki,
Here is the specs I have put together over at dell website, let me know what you think.
I was also thinking of getting the basic package and buy my own components to help me get more for my money.
PROCESSOR
Standard Base Mini-tower (Vertical orientation)
OPERATING SYSTEM
(English) Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate x64 SP1 Media
PROCESSOR
Two Intel® Xeon® Processor X5550(2.66GHz,8MB L3,6.4GT/s,95W,QC)Memory runs at 1333MHz
GRAPHICS CARD
1GB Nvidia Quadro FX3800 - 2 DP,1 DP-DVI (1DP-DVI,1DVI-VGA adapter)(MRGA16H)
MEMORY
12GB DDR3 1333MHz ECC-RDIMM (6x2GB) Requires 64 Bit OS
RAID CONTROLLER
Perc6i Controller Card Not Included
HDD CONFIGURATION
C1 All SATA Hard Drives, NON-RAID for 1 Hard Drive
HARD DRIVE
160GB (10000RPM ) SATA Hard Drive with 16MB DataBurst Cache™
2ND HARD DRIVE
160GB (10000RPM ) SATA Hard Drive with 16MB DataBurst Cache
OPTICAL DRIVE
16xDVD+/-RW Drive +16xDVD+/-RW Drive for Vista Ultimate 32Bit-64Bit with Roxio (PowerDVD in OS)
SOUND CARDS
Creative SoundBlaster™ X-fi Titanium Sound card
FLOPPY/MEDIA DRIVES
Info no Floppy Drive
Accessories
MONITOR
24in 2408WFP WIDESCREEN UK/Irish Black (1920 x 1200) TCO03 DVI-D Height Adjustable
ADDITIONAL MONITORS
24in 2408WFP WIDESCREEN UK/Irish Black (1280X800) with TrueLife TCO99 DVI-D Height Adjustable
KEYBOARD
UK/Irish (QWERTY) Dell Standard Quietkey USB Keyboard Black
MOUSE
Dell Black 2 Button USB Optical Mouse
SPEAKERS
Internal Speaker
SYSTEM MEDIA
Precision No Resource DVD
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Hello Jim,
Building a new computer? Sounds like a lot of fun! Things change so much so fast but one thing I have fallen in love with is 64-bit. In order to really go 64-bit you will need a cpu that supports it (seems almost all of them do these days), a 64-bit OS (like vista64 or xp64), and a 64-bit application (like 3dsmax 64-bit). Note that although 64-bit versions of software are increasing fast, there are still many programs that are still 32-bit (mudbox, photoshop, etc). These will still run fine inside a 64-bit OS or actually better since they can access their limit of ram. (32-bit apps limit the amount of ram accessible to like 2GB. If you have a 32-bit OS then you are limited 3GB for the whole OS!
Also to really get anything out of 64-bit you will need at least 4GB or ram (preferably more).
A good example of this is when I created the thick mountain chunk rock on my website. I was able to get this to about ~10mil polys inside Mudbox, however I was not even able to import this into 3dsmax 32-bit. I was able to import this into 3dsmax 64-bit effortlessly, not only that but I could even render AO maps, rotate my view at 30fps, and even use soft select to edit the mesh some. I only had 4GB of ram but max was able to access as much of it as it needed. I also had 2x Dual core Xeons @ 2.66 and a 8800GTS. I think though, a single CPU with dual core 2.66 would probably be similar.
Depending on your budget and needs you will need to decide if you want a desktop or a workstation. Normally a desktop means a single CPU with around 4 ram slots. A workstation normally means multiple cpus and 8-16 ram slots (ram for workstations usually need special sever ram and is more expensive). There are other differences but that is the main ones. These days you can get a really fast quad core single CPU and 2gig ram sticks for very cheap. This coupled with a 8800GT (or equivalent) and you are really set to do anything you would like.
I hope that helps, Id be happy to be more specific if you need.
Riki
-Riki