help for assembling a cheap rig

First topic message reminder :

Hi! Tanong ko lang kung anong ok na specs ng CPU na kaya ng 16k budget (sana hindi kayo masuka ), bibili pa kasi ako ng pen tablet at OS :/

Student lang and beginner pa lang sa 3d, so hindi ko pa naman siguro kailangan ng halimaw na rig Upgrade na lang pag gumaling na at kailangan na. Wala po ako gaano alam sa mga brand/model ng mga specs pero ito yung mga balak ko kunin.


Processor: AMD II X4 (Mura kasi at maganda naman daw)

RAM: 2gb ddr-3 (Para di lag sa viewport, dagdag na lang pag kailangan na)

Hard disk: 500gb hard disk (Sakto na siguro to for now dagdag na lang din pag mapupuno na)

Video Card: Nvidia (Compatible ba to sa AMD? Ano po ba yung sakto lang sa kailangan ko? Hindi ako mag gagames sa pc)

Motherboard: Di ko alam pero gusto ko sana yung makakapagupgrade ako ng 4gb ddr-3 na RAM (Masusulit ko po ba ung 4gb ddr-3 na yun kung naka 32 bit lang ako?)

Casing: Wala akong idea dito, hindi ko rin alam kung aabot ung budget ko para sa magandang casing :p Siguro ung casing lang na may kasama ng PSU, tapos dagdagan ko na lang ng fan? Posible ba yun?


Yan lang alam ko :p Patulong naman po mga boss. Balak ko na kasi bumili sa december, ang hirap dito sa laptop e. Dual Core lang kasi to at 2gb ddr2 talo pa yung video card, naghihingalo na. THANKS!

@bRuTuS pano nangyari yun na hindi compatible?
can u explain further? baka sakali may matutunan kami dito.

Hindi naman sa hindi compatible... na overlook siguro dahil sa pag push sa T7500. I have Dell T3500 with Quadro FX580 (512MB) which runs better that T5500 with Quadro FX1800 (1Gig)... by experience mas satisfied ako sa yung T3500.. thought alam ko na mabilis pa rin yunt T5500 ng doble.. kaso nag fre-freeze nga lang pag nag render na. sa T3500, pwede pa mag browse, photoshop and heare music while waiting for rendering..

Dell officially unveiled its new range of workstation-class systems today with the launch of the Precision T3500, T5500 and T7500. Like all new workstations being announced this week, the new Precision family is based on Intel’s Xeon 5500 Series (Nehalem) architecture, which offers incredible power for multi-threaded applications; particularly those that take advantage of HyperThreading, such as 3ds Max and HyperShot.Like most of the major workstation vendors, Dell has bypassed Intel’s Core i7 platform for its new Precisions, instead waiting for ECC (Error Correcting Code) memory for better accuracy, which is not supported on Core i7. The new Xeon platform also, uniquely, supports Direct Cache Access (DCA) which enables the cache of inactive cores to be accessed by those that are active.Dell has expanded its range of graphics options with new cards from Nvidia including the Quadro FX 580, FX 1800 and FX 3800, but has also increased the number of AMD ATI FirePro cards it carries in the range with standard options available on the FirePro V3750, V5700 and V8700. Up to two Quadro FX4800 and FX5800 are available in the high-end T7500.Acoustics has been a major design concentration for the new Precisions with low duty fans aiding the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) designed airflow. Dell has also done a lot of research into ‘what if’ scenarios, modelling what would happen if one vent was blocked off, for example.In terms of machine positioning, the single socket T3500 will take up the entry-level role, but Dell will continue to offer the Core 2 Duo-based T3400 for those on incredibly tight budgets. The mid-range T5500 is a particularly interesting machine, specifically because Dell has managed to pack so much technology into such as small chassis. Dell gave DEVELOP3D a sneak preview of the machine and we were astounded by the engineering that has gone into this, with the second processor and memory located at 90 degrees to the motherboard on a riser card. With such a small footprint, however, the T5500 is fairly limited in its expandability and this is where the T7500 fits in with capacity for up 192GB RAM and a ridiculous amount of hard drives. It also includes an on-board SAS controller.While the new systems will ship with Windows Vista by default, Dell will continue to offer Windows XP downgrades (with XP recovery disks) as well as Linux. However, thorough its custom factory integration program Dell can supply workstations with XP pre-installed, and it is also possible for customers to supply disk images for Operating System, network and applications, which Dell installs prior to shipping.Dell is also in the process of developing a new Flash-driven workstation advisor website, which is designed to make it easier for customers to choose workstations according to which applications they use.


for more info.... ito yung site nr source ko.

http://develop3d.com/tags/tag/firepro


Remember, I am talking about compatibility issue on 3D Max 2011 with Dell T500... Check this from the autodesk website:

http://download.autodesk.com/us/qualcharts/2011/3dsmax2011_qualifiedworkstations.pdf

It also stated here that AMD is supported although not officially certified in exception of AMD opteron

@ sir brutus, very informative, nice response! galing ng research / comparison mo

Always my pleasure to share as my way of thanks sa mga admin... Through bokkins, kurdapaya, celes, eigma, tribal tuesday, norman, at sa mga iba na di rin nagsawa sa katuturo sa akin, why not na i-share mo rin knowledge mo dito.

@EmilDR

i wont breakdown your budget because your getting what you paid for. AMD offers cheap multi-core setup, but not as fast with Intel's i5 and i7 offerings which will cost you more. so if your budget within 15k-20k, expect a mediocre ones.

if you have an old PC where you can practice with, i guess that's enough for you now, If your investing for a career in 3D, you'll need to expanding your budget a little more, i mean more, because that will be worth in the coming years to come. Around 35k ~ 45k is not that long to save..

as for my advice, invest a lot more in these three parts.. and add a decent PSU if you can.

- Processor = this will push your rendering further, general rule is; the more core, the better; faster and it will be merrier, ex. i7 got 4 cores/8 threads thats 8 buckets in Vray while AMD Phenom X6 black got 6 cores/6 threads equals to 6 buckets.. if you can get the i7 950 @ 2.88ghz at almost the same price with i7 930, then get it.


- Motherboard = thinking about more on upgrades in the following months to come, or building a reliable 24/7 workstation with solid caps, socket 1366 is recommended while waiting for i9 to be release in Q2 2011 which will give you 6 cores/12 threads like the expensive i7 980x and 5680 Xeon counter par.

curious about overclocking? then invest more in this part, but you'll need help with a decent memory stick, 1600mhz to 2000mhz to help you push your cpu.

a little bit on future proofing*, i recommend getting the Asus x58 Sabertooth, almost cheap but almost on the enthusiast segment.. it got USB 3.0 and 6gb Sata already.


- Memory - this is your main resource in 3dsmax/Vray, the rule is 3d/video encoding is the more ram, the merrier... Quantity > Speed of Ram, got good experience with Mushkin's Black and Redline, tried Team and Geil before in the Philippines wayback and recently this overpriced 2000mhz Dominator GT's from Corsair

===

now..


- Power Supply = this is the heart of your workstation, it will pump all the juice in your system (a must if your overclocking). Everytime i build a new workstation, i always get the best and finest in the industry, because if your PSU fail, all your parts will be f*ked up and you will not like it when it happens. This is the least part that usually depreciate in price, compare to other parts of your pc. Buying a good branded one (Enermax, Corsair.. etc) will be enough for a lifetime usage. I have a 6year old Enermax Noisetaker 650watts alive and kicking.

just recently got Corsair AX1200, thats a gold standard psu with a pool of 1200watts, enough to do SLI/Xfire and water cooling i'm planning in mind.



- Video Card = for now just don't bite Nvidia Cuda on Gaming Cards, Vray is not using that yet, though this might be in use in RT but not now, hope they will implement it on Vray 2.0.

There are ways in speeding your frame rate in the viewport, logically; you can use it for free.

Professional cards like Firepro/Quadro for a learner is not recommended, imo. The price versus your little knowledge in 3D doesnt give justice to this card at all. A decent Ati 5770 or Nvidia 460 is way recommend or get the new Ati6870, which was recently unleashed this week, its dirt cheap equivalent to Ati5870 performance, then you can have the fun while not learning 3dsmax.


hopethathelps..

very well said sir dpyxl..!! now i have an idea.