New Computer??

# 1 23-09-2002 , 02:03 AM

Subscriber
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Vancouver, BC

Posts: 223

Hi all, I'm looking to get a full out new computer workstation. And because I practically no nothing about hardware, I just have some questions about computers for Maya. So this where your 2 cents of advice is needed.

1. Does a Dual Processor actually make sure a difference?

2. Does anyone know a good company to buy from, I've been checking out such companies as Dell, Alienware, Falcon Northwest. etc.

3. Do you think I'd get more for my money if I just put together my own computer?

Any advice would be helpful, thanx.

Quote

# 2 23-09-2002 , 02:28 AM

Supreme Being
Join Date: May 2002

Location: Athens, Greece

Posts: 1,123

well i can't help you on number 2 cause i live in a different country..
DP deffinitely makes a difference cause you can always render on one.. and work some more on the other.. or use both for faster renderin' times.. but note that they are quite expensive..
about the makin' by yourself part.. are you up to makin' it yourself.. and how much will it cost you.. cause if you don't have any ppl that can supply you with cheaper parts.. well you get my point.. but in the other hand if money is not an issue.. well you can make the exact station of your needs.. :p

Quote

# 3 23-09-2002 , 02:44 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2002

Posts: 441

Dual Proc does make a difference....2x computing power in apps that make full use of dual procs.....MAYA!!!!.....renders will come out quicker. AlienWare and Falcon Northwest are good choices when it comes to building a good box....they look good too user added image

.....don't go Dell....it's a bad word user added image

My honest opinion.....yes you will get more for your money if you build it yourself.....because you will know every piece of hardware inside of the computer......you can hunt around for the best prices....and then spend an evening putting it together and making it work user added image

.

Putting it together yourself also gives ya a form of self satisfaction to know that you created the ultimate machine to your tastes exactly....and not "adopt" a machine from someone else.

If you can afford it....check out koolance cases....water cooled....very cool.... user added image

Quote

# 4 23-09-2002 , 07:20 AM

Kevin

Guest

Posts: n/a

duals rule..and at least 1 gig of ram

Quote

# 5 27-09-2002 , 10:34 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Lincoln, UK

Posts: 79

Dual processors only make a difference if the software is designed to use two processors - Maya can. I've not used Maya with twin processors so don't know how much faster it is than using one processor. On the engineering software we use at work, going from 1 to 2 processors usually gives a 50% speed increase in computational analyses, i.e it doesn't double the speed! Not sure what the speed increases with Maya are. Some of the engineering software can require over 4GB memory to run which means that a lot of the memory is swapped out to disk, i.e. the processors are idling along a lot of the time waiting for things off the hard disk - this is not based on experience with Maya. Does anyone have any comments about this type of thing happening with Maya? I expect that similar things will happen with long renders requiring lots of memory.

Dell have some very good spec computers available, and an excellent web site where you can customise the machine and see the price on-screen .Dell Precision 530 - UK site, Dell Precision 530 - Canadian site. We recently bought a couple of Dell Precision 530 twin Xeon 2.2GHz PC's with 2GB memory each user added image

I am very happy with them. My only concerns are:

1) the cases look very cool in black, but are a bit flimsy. Unless you're planning on hauling the thing around on LAN parties it's not an issue.
2) they use sub-contractor tech support people. For example one on-site support guy came and asked me for the key to the case because "it's locked". I said ??????????? (my exact words user added image

) and popped open the case which wasn't locked. I also had to suggest a few troubleshooting steps to the guy after he'd given up. Apart from this, their support has been very timely and acceptable quality. This is UK experience, so may be different in Canada.

We also looked at machines from HP, but they couldn't supply the same spec machines as Dell in anywhere near the same timescales - at least 2 weeks later. This may have been a one-off and may be different in Canada.

Also, if you are buying a very high spec machine, running into 10000+ dollars, you may be able to get on to a business account and may be able to get a significant discount. We got a significant discount on ours which enabled us to get the 2.2GHz processors instead of 2.0GHz. Worth asking !

Oh, about getting more for your money putting it together yourself. That depends how "high end" you are going. To be honest when I worked it out, I couldn't beat the Dell price building it myself, because some of the parts were difficult to buy at retail (read *very* expensive).

Nowadays I don't think you really get that much more for your money when you DIY a whole computer from scratch (i.e. not upgrading parts of an existing ok system), the only benefits are the satisfaction of doing it, and being able to choose the exact bits you want. If you are interested in building a computer from scratch have a look around at any "overclocking" web site stores in Canada (I don't know any over there!!) which often give you bundle discounts on CPU, motherboard and memory, plus a wider choice of hardware and earlier availability than some of the mainstream retailers offer.

Pete

P.S. Has anyone compared Xeons to regular P4's at same clock? I'd be interested to see if the different size cache memory makes any difference.
P.P.S. Does anyone know if Maya is limited to using 2GB of memory on PC's ? Some software I have seen has been limited to 2GB of RAM, and on digging around for info, it may be that the 32bit PC architecture only allows a process to access 2GB of RAM. Although I would have thought that 32bit would mean 2^32 = 4GB memory ? Any computer scientists around to help explain this ?

Last edited by badbunny; 28-09-2002 at 12:42 AM.

Quote

# 6 27-09-2002 , 11:37 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: CCS, Venezuela

Posts: 3,363

Whoa ... now that was a great reply ..
Thanks!

<-- scribbling some notes on upgrading ...

adldesigner
Caracas, Venezuela
Hell .. not gone perse, but with a certainly lower post count per day.

Quote

# 7 29-09-2002 , 01:27 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2002

Location: Georgia, U.S.A

Posts: 67

Here is a site that compared the xeon to the amd. https://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/02q1/0203131/index.html

You Can't Kill Me And Eat Me To!!!
Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.

Quote

# 8 29-09-2002 , 12:50 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Lincoln, UK

Posts: 79

Nice link Nut ! Some useful 3D rendering comparisons between Xeons and Athlon MP's: 3D Rendering benchmarks

These benchmarks (not with Maya) show that dual processors increase speed, but certainly don't double it. From these I would only buy a dual procesor system if I was already buying the fastest single processor system available but needed more speed still. Otherwise I'd save the money and go for a single processor system, then use the saved cash to upgrade more frequently.

Pete.

Quote

# 9 29-09-2002 , 12:52 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Beyond Oblivion

Posts: 471

Also consider a good graphics card !!! if you have the Money - Wildcat card !

The Important Thing is NOT to Stop Questioning.
--- Albert Einstein ---
www.ProtheusWorld.tk

Quote

# 10 29-09-2002 , 02:32 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2002

Location: Georgia, U.S.A

Posts: 67

This is from one of my many mags. Maximum PC is for the hardware backroom geek user added image

https://www.maximumpc.com/ranking/rankings2.html
3DNut

You Can't Kill Me And Eat Me To!!!
Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.

Quote

# 11 29-09-2002 , 05:07 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Lincoln, UK

Posts: 79

Protheus, man.. you're obsessed with them Wildcats !!! Seriously you need to seek help user added image

Quote

# 12 29-09-2002 , 05:08 PM

Supreme Being
Join Date: May 2002

Location: Athens, Greece

Posts: 1,123

lol bunny.. i could use some too.. cause they rock.. :p

Quote

# 13 29-09-2002 , 06:30 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Uk

Posts: 75

i gotta agree that building a pc yourself is the best way to go, especially if you dont know much about hardware at the moment.

Quote

# 14 29-09-2002 , 07:14 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Beyond Oblivion

Posts: 471

yeah... I know.. I am also a WildCAT dude !! user added image

The Important Thing is NOT to Stop Questioning.
--- Albert Einstein ---
www.ProtheusWorld.tk

Quote

# 15 29-09-2002 , 11:18 PM

SM Alumni
Join Date: May 2002

Location: Exeter, UK

Posts: 407

As bad bunny said - 2 cpu's unfortunatly do NOT give you twice the speed as having 1. Currently the only part of maya that is multithreaded (ie will make use of more than one cpu) is the renderer(including ipr and most of paintfx). Feedback inside viewports is actually marginally slower than a single cpu system, though not to any noticable degree user added image

Having said that, SMP systems are just so damn smooth that if you can afford one then you wont regret it!
One possibilty that may be worth looking at are the new 3.06 ghz Pentium 4's which have hyperthreading (gay name i know) which in simple terms makes one cpu appear as 2, though its still not as fast as having 2 physical cpu's, under the right apps it'll still provide a healthy speed boost.
Dont really know much about the different branded PC's, but a friend of mine bought a BOXX dual athlon machine and he's very happy with it user added image

Quote

New Computer??

Posting Rules Forum Rules

Similar Threads

Topics

Free Courses

Full Courses

VFX News