Purchasing a computer for 3D animation

[remoteman]

G'day fella's.

 

 

 

I am in the market to buy a new computer. I won't pretend to know everything about computers either, although i have done a bit of research. I am planning on building it myself, i never have before, but my dad has, it shouldn't be a problem anyway, i've replaced stuff in the family computer numerous times, and i fix ipods blah blah. The computer will be for me to complete my HSC in industrial tech, that's the end of school exams for those non-aussies. We have to create a major project, i'll be using Cinema 4D to create a program that basically does what the car customising parts of the need for speed games do. Shall be fun. So the main focus of this computer is 3D modelling and rendering, hence the quad core. Being able to play unreal tournament 3 at an acceptable framerate would also be nice :)

 

 

 

Anyways, i'll definitely be getting a quad-core processor, i've been looking at the Q9550, i was originally going to go for the Q6600 because of the price, but i think the extra hundred bucks is worth the difference in speed. I am aware of how everyone is saying that people should wait for the new i7's, but tbh it's not an option, i need the computer for the beginning of December, as i plan to finish the project over the christmas break. I'll be getting two 500gb harddrives in RAID. Keyboard and mouse i already own, as well as a networking adapter and dvd burner. I have a two grand budget to work with, but i really want to get the best cpu, ram, mobo and graphics card that i can, i have a case that i will use til i can afford a decent one. Things like sound cards i can live without for the moment. Oh and i'll be buying two Acer 24" screens, the 1920x1200 ones.

 

 

 

So yes, opinions on my predicament, a suitable cpu, graphics card and ram, i would like at least 4gig, should i be looking at a 64bit operating system?

 

Thanks for all the help :D

 

RM

[Nadril]

Is this going to be a heavy workstation? What I mean is are you going to be doing any big animation, or even real advanced rendering.

 

 

 

If not you can easily get away with a gaming video card, because a workstation card (quadro) would perform very poorly in games.

[OldJoe]

I've checked Newegg and Tigerdirect, and noticed you can't buy the i7! I checked two (very well known swedish internet stores) and they will start shipping the orders tomorrow (17th november). Really, since you do things that will use the power of i7... I can't really suggest you to buy a current c2. Call Tigerdirect or Newegg and ask them when they'll be able to ship one of the i7's to you, i honestly can't recommend you a core 2 for you work (yes core2 is very fast and good, but in his areas the i7 blows them away).

 

 

 

Memory manufacturers will release 3-sticks pack for the i7 (such as 3x2gb or 3x4gb), since i7 gets a performance boost from 3/6-way. Those will work and within the specs (some current ddr3 memories are over 1.65v, which is over Intels recommended voltage setting). Of course you can buy some current ddr3 memories with 1.65 (or lower) for it, but hear with the store first.

 

 

 

As for a graphics card i'd recommend (if you like gaming, otherwise you can something like 9800gtx or 4850) HD 4870, GTX 260 or HD 4870x2 (read reviews for performances).

 

 

 

And yes, get Vista 64 bit!!!

 

 

 

Of course you can get a 9550, but the i7 really kicks [wagon] in rendering.

 

For Q9550 (or Q9450 (don't know how they are price-set in other countries)) get 4gb of ddr2 (ddr3 isn't much of a jump in speed) in pc6400 or pc8500 and with one of the above gpu's.

 

 

 

I base this on that you'll use this pc for continued rendering and modelling.

 

 

 

@Nadril: Oo right, i forgot about those workstation cards from Nvidia and ATI. Those, i do not know much about.

 

 

 

Edit: Oops, didn't see you were from Australia, sorry 'bout that!

[remoteman]

Is this going to be a heavy workstation? What I mean is are you going to be doing any big animation, or even real advanced rendering.

 

 

 

If not you can easily get away with a gaming video card, because a workstation card (quadro) would perform very poorly in games.

 

 

 

I will be rendering a realistic looking car in a hi def resolution (i am aiming to replicate the results that dangeruss obtains, if you know him from DevArt), with a full 360o revolution, and about 100 versions of it for the various parts. If a workstation card is going to perform very badly with games then i don't want to get one. It basically has to be a mid to high range pc that will be capable of rendering in a reasonable time. If i'm correct, rendering times have a lot more to do with the cpu than the gpu?

 

 

 

OldJoe i shall look into it.

[Nadril]

The GPU helps a lot for rendering high end stuff. Either way I think you could probably get away with a gaming card of some sort.

[remoteman]

Any particular suggestions? for the other equipment too?

[Nadril]

Well, with your budget you could probably afford a GTX280, or maybe even an HD4870x2 (which would help with the rendering more so, and be great for games).

[remoteman]

My father got a quote in town for the following parts:

 

 

 

Intel Q9550

 

Asus P5Q mobo

 

Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 x2

 

Seagate 500GB 32mb SATA II x2

 

Nvidia GF9600GT 512 mb DDR3

 

Thermaltake M9 case, with a 430W psu

 

And a noontec and ritmo card/usb reader

 

 

 

Comes to $1536, that's without a keyboard or Monitor. I would love to get an i7 processor but they're are ridiculously expensive, the cheapest that i've seen the 920 is $650 AU, where as the 9550 is $500. Not to mention that the mobo's are way more expensive, as is DDR3. I think most of the stuff is overpriced, i can definitely get it cheaper over the net. The graphics card... bad choice? I didn't have a say in what was quoted, wasn't there. The HD4870 catches my eye. Oh and is the psu too low?

[Nadril]

The PSU sounds like a pretty low quality, and 430W is low.

 

 

 

I would get a case w/o a built in PSU, and replace the 9600GT with an HD4870x2. Then I would get a 750W PSU or so, probably thermaltank or another wellknown brand.

[OldJoe]

Say you add 4870x2, a psu of a well known brand (such as; corsair, seasonic, ocz, fsp) a 550w one would do the trick. But you don't got much room to upgrade and it will create quite a noise. 650-750 is what i'd recommend, but it depends if you plan on adding more hardware in the future.

 

If you don't want an 4870x2, 4870 or 260 (i wouldn't recommend 9600gt for your setup).

 

Make sure the case can fit the graphics card!

 

 

 

I'd also get a q9450 instead, cheaper (at least in my country) and you could overclock it to the speed (or more) as an q9550. Altho i'd recommend a custom fan for that.

[Nadril]

Frezzer Pro 7 is a really nice CPU Heatsink for the price (like $20).

[remoteman]

Say you add 4870x2, a psu of a well known brand (such as; corsair, seasonic, ocz, fsp) a 550w one would do the trick. But you don't got much room to upgrade and it will create quite a noise. 650-750 is what i'd recommend, but it depends if you plan on adding more hardware in the future.

 

If you don't want an 4870x2, 4870 or 260 (i wouldn't recommend 9600gt for your setup).

 

Make sure the case can fit the graphics card!

 

 

 

I'd also get a q9450 instead, cheaper (at least in my country) and you could overclock it to the speed (or more) as an q9550. Altho i'd recommend a custom fan for that.

 

 

 

I'll get a 750W psu then, thanks. Also, wouldn't i be able to overclock the q9550 further than the 9450 if i'm willing to pay the extra money? It also looks like i'll be getting 4870x2. Thanks for the continuing help guys.

 

 

 

EDIT: I'll look into, thanks Nad, sounds good.

[OldJoe]

Say you add 4870x2, a psu of a well known brand (such as; corsair, seasonic, ocz, fsp) a 550w one would do the trick. But you don't got much room to upgrade and it will create quite a noise. 650-750 is what i'd recommend, but it depends if you plan on adding more hardware in the future.

 

If you don't want an 4870x2, 4870 or 260 (i wouldn't recommend 9600gt for your setup).

 

Make sure the case can fit the graphics card!

 

 

 

I'd also get a q9450 instead, cheaper (at least in my country) and you could overclock it to the speed (or more) as an q9550. Altho i'd recommend a custom fan for that.

 

 

 

I'll get a 750W psu then, thanks. Also, wouldn't i be able to overclock the q9550 further than the 9450 if i'm willing to pay the extra money? It also looks like i'll be getting 4870x2. Thanks for the continuing help guys.

 

 

 

EDIT: I'll look into, thanks Nad, sounds good.

 

 

 

Yep, a 750 one (i think almost all ones are 80+ certified in this area) with one of the brands above will do nicely. I don't know how the 9450 and 9550 clocks compared to eachother (check some forum or a review for that), but generally speaking, since the 95 is higher clocked from the beginning it should clock higher, yes. But then you also have to count in the memories, motherboard and cooler to what speeds you can achive. But both will be good.