Config. for workstation+Gaming(AND A nice wallpaper 4 u all)

[capri435]

Hi,all.Am planning to buy a pc(only cpu) mainly for 3d applications Max and Maya and occasional gaming.The budget is 40k.

PROCESSOR
Am very confused specially regarding the processor.Pentium D series is considered very good for 3D rendering while AMD 64bit is the current hot selling.So please advice.Specially i wanna know the price and performance of the Pentium D920,930,940 vs AMD64 3500+ and higher.And also heard that AMD X2 3800+ is also getting cheaper.Can wait for another 2months max.

MOTHERBOARD
Dont need any fancy features but PCI slot is must.Suggest any mid range boards

GRAPHICS CARD
X800 GT or 6600GT or should wait for the 7600GT to arrive(can do away with my present 5700 for some time).

OTHERS
Need min 2GB ram,a DVD writer,min 120GB sata Drive,Cabinet,Power supply(which one)

So suggest the config specially CPU,Motherboard and Graphic Card that fits into my budget.

Thanx for all the help Guys heres a nice gift for u all.One of my 3D works.

*img55.imageshack.us/img55/1382/robo2copy3bb.jpg

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Do things dat u fear coz den u'll hav an attitude in life like "Seen it all Done it all".Whats d big deal.Huh!!!

 

[ranjan2001]

I am also doing my homework on this, so will look forward for the suggestions.

 

[gxsaurav]

Since it's going to be 40K for only the CPU, & the main purpose is Workstation apps & desigining, here is something i Would suggest

AMD Athlon64 3800+ X2, dual core with ASUS A8N-E motherboard.

Intel Pentium d 930 with Intel 945GNT Motherboard

Your FX 5700 is enough for 3D Max 8 or Maya 7.01, but it's AGP & won't work with this motherboard, so U better buy a 6600GT (OpenGL 2.0 support) in PCIe form, which will work with both the plateforms above

2 GB RAM, looks for the brands available, Kingston ValueRAM is good, but costly. If u can get Hynix RAM chips based RAM, or Dynet which are in high quantity these days go for them, with 3 years warrenty. Go for Kingston ValueRAM if U can squeaze in the Budget

 

[MysticHalo]

Well, if graphics r so important, i think X850 pLatinum edition would be better, it has better core and RAMDAC speeds........and RAM should be either Kingston or Corsair(400 Mhz)
Plus, get a HDD with 16MB data buffer, which will support faster data transfer( WesternDigital)

 

[capri435]

Thanx for the config.Any idea of the prices.

 

[kaustav_geek]

To capri435:

Firstly for a good graphics worksystem, a good & fast GFx card is more important than a blazing fast processor.

As my friend gxsaurav has rightly suggested, you should go for X2 3800+.Costs-Rs 16.5k.If you can't wait, go for 3500+.It offers a good performance and wont bottleneck your system either.Costs-Rs 10.5k


Doesn't matter which RAM you purchase but make sure they are genuine and carry a minimum of 3 yrs. warranty.Go for two 1GB Hynix 400 mhz modules and fire them up in dual-channel!Costs-Rs 9.2k


As i pointed out your GFx card must be fast and good quality.Go for an XFX 6800 GS.It is a mid range card and is more than enough for moderate gaming .It is future proof and you should be able to run all upcoming versions of MAX or MAYA.Costs-Rs 13.75k You should contact Rashi peripherals, if you want it cheap.


As for mobo,go for a nForce-4 based chipset like ASUS A8N-E.It offers unmatched value for money.Costs Rs 5.6k.

Total costs ~Rs 45k.
-Kaustav

 

[capri435]

Thanx kaustav_geek for the config but thats over my budget.40k is the limit and you havent included PSU,hard drive,cabinet,DVD writer etc.So that will take the system to over 55k.

Any idea of the prices of P4 D 920,930 and 940
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Do things dat u fear coz den u'll hav an attitude in life like "Seen it all Done it all".Whats d big deal.Huh!!!

 

[gxsaurav]

gfx subsystem is essential, but quite frankly, even a Geforce 6200 with 128 MB RAM or FX 5700 with 128 MB RAM or more is able to handle the viewport properly, stay away from X800 series, they don't support OpenGL 2.0 (confirm this from ATI site though)

 

[kaustav_geek]

To capri435:
I thought you just need the CPU,MOBO,GFx and RAM.

When working with processor intensive tasks like 3D rendering, always opt for AMD!!

Ok,here is your workstation(Every thing inside the cabinet!!!!)

AMD Athlon64 3000+ Rs 5.8k
ASUS A8N-E Rs 5.6k
1GBx2 Hynix 400 RAM Rs 9.2k
Hitachi Deskstar 120 GB SATA II Rs 3.5k
Liteon Super AllWrite SHM-165P65 DVD writer Rs 3.1k
450W Elife PSU: Rs 600
ANY Cabinet you want!!
And at last XFX 6600 GT -Rs 7.5k
Count it!! And get it fast.

To gxsaurav:
Yeah a X800 series card is an insane ask but a 6200 based card isn't worth an upgrade if cari435 wants to game on it too. 6200 cards are clocked very low,have a 64 bit wide memory bus and cannot handle lot of stress when subjected to heavy 3D rendering(not viewport rendering as you say!!)There is difference between viewport rendering and rendering animation.A 6200 card wont be able to cope up with it!!

-Kaustav

 

[capri435]

So my config. stands at this by now.Hope for some more suggestions specially regarding intel system if anyone knows.

AMD Athlon64 3500+ Rs 10.5k what core is this??
ASUS A8N-E Rs 5.6k
1GBx2 Hynix 400 RAM Rs 9.2k
Hitachi Deskstar 120 GB SATA II Rs 3.5k Whats the price for Samsung 160GB SATA II Drives??
Liteon Super AllWrite SHM-165P65 DVD writer Rs 3.1k
Colorsit 450W SMPS 1.6k
XFX 6600 GT -Rs 7.5k Is this 128 or 256MB version??
cabinet 1k

That makes a total of 42k.And even this 2k extra ,i hope will go within a month.
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Do things dat u fear coz den u'll hav an attitude in life like "Seen it all Done it all".Whats d big deal.Huh!!!

 

[gxsaurav]

GFX Card does nothing while rendering, it is used only in Viewport, when making & compiling shaders, 6200 won't be able to take a lot of stress, i know, but it's still the cheapest bet

Since it's going to be a PCIe, an XFX 6600 non ultra with 256 MB DDR2 is a lot better choice then 6600GT with 128 MB RAM, cos it's overclocked to 6600GT speeds. This will be heap then 6600GT

& who told U always for for AMD while Making 3D, i think then all the Xeon workstations are crap then. Since Dual core are available (3800_ X2, Pentium d 930) it's better to go for that, even a Pentium 4 3 GHz, (630) will beat a 3000+ in 3D rendering, with Hyperthreading enabled.

Since u r going for 3500+, search for venice core the part number written on the CPU , which can be seen from box i. ADA3500BWBOX

 

[capri435]

yeah gxsaurav u are right Graphics card dont do much while rendering and is mainly for viewport display,but since am in a learning stage viewport display is as important as rendering as i will be working a lot on texture and lighting.U said XFX 6600 256 will be better than 6600 GT could u explain why??
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Do things dat u fear coz den u'll hav an attitude in life like "Seen it all Done it all".Whats d big deal.Huh!!!

 

[kaustav_geek]

To gxsaurav:
Yes, you are right.Since 3D MAX 8 is highly multithreaded , a dual core CPU or even a hyperthreaded CPU can outperform AMD's normal Athlon64 processors .

As for the suggestion of AMD, AMD have shorter and more pipelines than INTEL processors,which translates in to better utilisation of CPU clock cycle. Due to shorter pipeline,they can't achieve clock speeds like INTEL but due more no. of pipelines,they can carry out many instructions simultaneosly.This is very suitable for single threaded, real time processing tasks and apps.(GAMING and veiw port rendering included )

You have wrongly suggested to go for 6600 non Utra 256 MB,because, GT versions use GDDR3 memory as against DDR2 used by Ultra.nonGTs' memories are also clocked much lower than GT cards'.Even the core is clocked 200Mhz lower!.By the way, 6600 cards don't have the bandwidth and clock speed to utilise the extra 128 MB memory and there won't be any significant difference.Also GT cards O/c like dream!!.
An XFX 6600 GT 128 MB is the safest bet!

By the way nVidia hasn't shipped any 6600 Ultra chipset yet.Its only Gainward which has used the Ultra tag for its cards! Its just a golden-sample nonGT 6600 128!!

Opteron processors are utlimate for graphics workstations.They can even be used for an Ultra High -end GAMING MACHINE!!!

I suggest capri435 to go for X2 3800+.In a few months ,its price will become abt 12k. Moreover optical devices are becoming cheaper thanks to the budget.

Seen it all Done it all!!!

P.S: Are you sure that rendering is not done by GPU?? Because in rendering too,all the particle effects,lightings,Textures have to be rendered .

 

[capri435]

kaustav_geek r u sure AMD64 X2 3800+ will come down to about 12 in a month or so.
And regarding role of a Graphic card during rendering,its true they dont have much to do.Infact in most of the effects like particles,raytracing etc. they dont play a role at all.These are complex calculations that is the work of the processor alone.Though GFX cards do play a role in viewports,specially in shaders.Some shaders wont be even visible without Graphics card support.
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Do things dat u fear coz den u'll hav an attitude in life like "Seen it all Done it all".Whats d big deal.Huh!!!

 

[capri435]

I heard that the 7600 will be debuting at a price of about $200.What do u think will be the price in India.
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Do things dat u fear coz den u'll hav an attitude in life like "Seen it all Done it all".Whats d big deal.Huh!!!