how rubbish is my pc? !!

# 1 25-09-2005 , 01:44 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2005

Posts: 4

I'm just getting into Maya and thought it would be a good idea to buy a graphics card ... until today!

I went into a computer shop on Tottenham Court Rd, london and was told that my Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo P with Pentium 4 and 2.93 GHz ( with integrated graphics ) was worse than useless. His actual words were -
'Putting a good graphics card in it would be like towing a Ferrari behind a tractor' !!
Now I'm not planning on re-creating scenes from Toy Story or the like. I just want to learn to model fairly complex static objects for architectural purposes.
I'm sure it's not the greatest computer ever made ( it cost £300 ! ) but is it really so dreadful that I can't buy a reasonable graphics card and improve matters enough to suit my needs?
Does anyone have any thoughts on this matter or does anyone out there successfully run Maya on an average pc like mine?
Recommendations on cards that might help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any help.

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# 2 25-09-2005 , 02:27 PM

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Join Date: Jun 2004

Location: London, England

Posts: 301

I'm not too great with PC specs, and what is and isn't a great PC - personally I really don't care about that stuff, as long as I can get the job done. However, I've got a pentium 4 2.6ghz, with 512mb RAM and a GeForce MX 440 (I think thats it) graphics card, which is all over 3 years old and it runs Maya absolutely fine, no problems. I don't see whats wrong with your PC, but I would have thought you could buy a new graphics card and it should be fine for your needs. I hate the shops on Tottenham Cout road. The guy was probably just trying to get you to buy a whole new PC from him or something!

LisaG user added image

When in doubt......smile!

https://www.x-menthelaststand.com/

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# 3 26-09-2005 , 01:19 PM

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Join Date: Sep 2005

Location: Utah, USA

Posts: 5

Sounds like the salesperson was trying to get you to buy a new computer - did he work on commission?

Your system is fine.

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# 4 27-09-2005 , 06:13 PM

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Join Date: Sep 2004

Location: Waianae, HI

Posts: 1,275

hah, I'm running a amd athalon (not the 64 bit) 1.2ghz w/512 mb RAM and modeling works ok. render is slow, but that's more the CPU than graphics adapter.

AIM: mhcannonDMC

"If you love your job, you'll never work another day in your life."

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# 5 05-10-2005 , 04:19 PM

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Join Date: May 2005

Location: Manchester Uk

Posts: 6,300

Im on a 1.8ghz Athalon with 1GB RAM, and an intergrated graphics card at the mo, it runs Maya Ok, some of the manipulator handles dont work on all of the screens (eg if I'm using rotate it only shows on the persp window) But i'm gonna upgrade the graphics card with a 128MB one.

Takes a bit to render and animations run really slow when you play them back but other than that it works fine, (oh hardware texturing is slows it down too as well as not looking that good)

I think yours should be fine just look for a graphics card that meets the spec of hte motherboard (AGP 8 etc) and go the www.saverstore.com as they have good deals

Seems like the guy was on commission or something, like when I got my PC the guy was so so desperate to sell me insurance on it, after the 10th time I said i can build a PC/repair/ upgrade he went off in a right strop and left me with the boxes on the floor!!

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# 6 06-10-2005 , 07:23 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2004

Posts: 408

Athlon XP (32 bit, but ahead of the T-Bird) 2800+
512 MB DDR
FX 5700 Ultra (softmod QuadroFX 1100)

For Maya that's all I really need. Now -- if you are going to run games... don't bother buying a new graphics card -- UE3 is going to toast all but the cream of the computer crop. (3.2 GHz is considered a "low end system" according to Tim Sweenie)

Did you mention you're NOT running games on it, and its for 3d Modelling? Games must keep at least 24 FPS (although some people seem to think 60FPS is bare minimum, others 30, etc.) -- so if you are pulling 3 FPS it just won't work. Maya on the other hand -- 1 minute/frame... 4 minutes? 10? 2 seconds? Who cares -- its all what you're willing to sit and waste.

If you want to do yourself a favour and don't plan on playing games past 2004 -- pick up a FX or a GeForce 4 CHEAP (say -- 20$ cheap) and then softmod it Quadro... it'll do you better than a 6800 in GeForce mode and will cost a HELL of a lot less...

If you want to play new games... yer screwed then :p

Last edited by Phopojijo; 06-10-2005 at 07:27 AM.

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how rubbish is my pc? !!

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