Super Computer Hardware?

Question

I work with 3ds Max, Maya, Adobe Software and would like to upgrade from this old machine I'm using. What hardware would make a good computer for me? Please, don't be too general, if you could give me a few names and perhaps briefly explain how that would help me that would be twice as great. Thank You,

Sincerely,

The Man Who Sold The World :)

Answer 1

first & last > you need a quad core processor !
no dual cores, so amd is ruled out

rest you figure out
graphics & ram should be decent, no more no less

check out the benchmarks below,
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html

now do you plan to build self or buy system > that's the question
budget indication would also help

Answer 2

Start by choosing a CPU, Intel or AMD.

Intel for the moment has the best processor in the high end with their Core2 Duo line, however for the price, a less than top of the line AMD athlon64 X2 will preform very comparably. To get the most out of an intel you Will need a top end motherboard ($150-$300) on the other hand AMD processors will preform nearly identically regardless of the motherboard(a decent Motherboard for an AMD would be about $70-$130) this is due to the integrated memory controller built into the CPU.

To put it bluntly, a $120 64 X2 with a $70 Motherboard will preform the same as a $120 Core2 Duo with a $200 Motherboard for $130 less.

Also the current Intel CPU socket will probably be obsolete in about two years whereas the current AMD socket (AM2) will be replaced in a year but the new processors will work on the old boards, so if you want to upgrade your CPU in two or three years with Intel you will need a new board and probably new ram but with AMD you will only need a new CPU.

As far as Motherboards go I would strongly recommend ASUS they make the vast majority of all Motherboards right now and they are of good quality. Choose the one with the right options for you. If you are only planing on using it for the applications you said you can probably just get a board with good integrated graphics and save the money from buying a separate card.

Next you need to chose memory. Pick what works on your board. The current standard is DDR2 800 aka PC6400 and you can easily find 2GBs (a matched pair of 1GB sticks) for around $100. Pay attention to what voltage your motherboard uses as well as cas latency on the sticks (lower is better).

As for your hard drive, right now the best deals are on 250GB to 320GB drives. If you are buying a new drive get one with a SATA 3.0 interface instead of ATA. Also you should get a Seagate or Western Digital.

You should also make sure to get a good Power Supply, one with dual 12v rails. If you are getting a new case look out for cheap bundled power supplies.

I would recommend looking on www.newegg.com for the best prices.

Personal Recommendation
CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ $65.99
MOBO: ASUS M2A-VM HDMI $74.99
RAM: G.SKILL F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK $104.99
HDD: Seagate Barricuda 320GB $79.99
DVDRW: Samsung SH-S183L $36.99
Case: Antec NSK4480B $89.99
Total $452.94

All prices from newegg.com except for the case which is from zipzoomfly.com the case includes a very good 380watt power supply and free shipping in the 48 Continental states.

Answer 3

The programs you use are about the only ones on the market that currently take full advantage of multi-core CPU's, and lucky for you, Intel just dropped the price on it's Q6600 quad-core from about $500 to $266!

I haven't used the 3d programs you use, but I'm sure they benefit from a fast hard drive setup as do video editing rigs. You also want plenty of memory(RAM), but 32-bit XP and Vista can only really use about 3gb, even though most decent motherboards will hold 4-8gb+. You need a 64-bit operating system like XP64 to use lots of RAM. If all your programs are 64-bit capable, look into 64-bit operating systems as I'm not sure which is the best (Vista 64-bit, XP64, etc).

Another thing, you won't get good results using a gaming video card for professional work, and pro cards are spendy for even low-end models!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+106790759&name=Quadro+series

Build a new PC through newegg.com

$275-350 - Intel Q6600 quad-core (price is flucuating do to surge in sales, just wait a week or two)
$100 - P35 Gigabyte motherboard
$100 - 2 x 1gb and 2 x 512mb sticks of DDR2-800 RAM = 3gb; get 4gb+ if you go 64-bit
$100+ - Lian Li (or other) brushed aluminum case, classy and keeps temps cool (heat is the enemy of all electronics)
$135 - 10,000rpm Western Digital Raptor for Windows
$180 - 2 x 320gb Sata 7200rpm Seagates in RAID 0 for work drives
$120 - 500gb Sata 7200rpm Samsung for storage of your projects (I would add another for backup if a drive failure will cost you $$$ in lost time)
$100 - 500watt+ SeaSonic, FSP, Silverstone or other top tier power supply
$32 - Sony/NEC Optiarc DVD burner

If you're not a pro or make money from this work, you can definitely spend less money, namely on the hard disks- you could cut the price down to about $220 for 3 (one for windows, one for work, and one for storage).

Answer 4

Well if you are after the best this would be able to do everything you want and more:
-nvidia geforce 8800GTX
-Intel core 2 duo 8800 extreme
-4 gigabyte RAM
-320 gigabyte hard drive 7200 rpms
Plus a 22" LCD screen , a good motherboard, and you would have the best multimedia computer out.

Answer 5

Man Only go for Appel Macbook Pro 17"
you can not use 3D max but maya and adobe work their best

Answer 6

any upto date computer system would do the trick.. a dual core system,

Stay off windows Vista most software packages will not run, so before you do anything check out if the software you have will run under Vista

Answer 7

Alienware's computer usually has very good hardware specifications.