I posted this on the laptop thread as well to see which one is better. I was contemplating whether to get a laptop or make a mATX desktop, small enough to carry around when i am not in the studio.
I am in school for architecture and if some don't know, we use rhino 4.0, maxwell, illustrator, probably Autodesk 3DS and when we want to render our project, it can take for hours if we have a slow pc. Some even take the whole night. It's insane. I impatient and I don't have that kind of time to do it.
So what do you think? a mATX or a laptop? I know, maybe it's based on preference, but I am really looking for power that can do it. If a mATX can provide the solutions that I am looking for, then a mATX to go.
If so, what kind of components should I get to increase productivity?
I was thinking of making a mATX build around this mobo-
GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H
Depending on what kind of architecture you end up practicing, you will more than likely end up primarily relying on AutoDesk products like "Revit Architecture" (formerly "Architectural Desktop" ) and straight up regular old AutoCAD.
Assuming that you will need a dedicated workstation rather than a laptop, I will address the former.
The most important thing to consider when building a system is to get a video card that is compliant with the recommendations and specifications of the application you're using. This is generally going to be a card with hardware support for OpenGL spec 1.3.
Almost as important - LOTS of memory. I run 3 GB in my XP Pro CAD station (w/ Athlon 6000) and that seems to be fine running Architectural Desktop 2007.
However, I just purchased "Revit..." and right on the outside of the box it recommends 4 gigs minimum.
I don't think you could go wrong with a Q6600, but since you specified an mATX platform, you may limit yourself somewhat on certain performance parameters.
I would also go with a dual HDD RAID 0 and a backup drive for speed and redundancy.
You're lucky to be doing this now instead of 3 or 4 years ago, heh heh. You can build a MUCH better machine for about a third the cost these days!
Good Luck!
PS: I graduated from Architecture School in 1987, practiced until 1998. It took me YEARS to become proficient with A-CAD...
also being an architect, i don't recommend a laptop if you plan on working in studio all night. you are way better off purchasing desktop with a quadcore processor. it will render a lot faster than dual core. there are no quad cores laptops yet so the only option is a desktop. and the rest what BrianJLG said, a lot of ram and several hard drives.
Well, sir, the answer to that is extremely complicated and will probably bore you to sleep. Suffice it to say, the firm I started with as an intern in 1989, and was made partner in 1994, got sued for something I had nothing to do with. Because of who my father was, the plaintiffs assumed I'd have deep pockets and sued me too. Seperately, if you get my meaning. The firm broke up after a long and protracted civil case.
Long story short, I was able to get out of it all by simply buying a piece of property one of our managing partners owned, the proceeds of which were immediately awarded to the plaintiffs.
I own that "cottage" in the Turks and Caicos to this day, heh heh...
Anyway, after that complete butt-reaming, I took some time off. Again, a long story. Eventually, I hooked up with one of the senior partners in the firm I was in before and we opened up a "boutique" firm (under his license - I let mine expire in 1998) in Kirkland, WA in 1999.
We had a good run. We took on some of the more difficult residential development and small commercial projects larger outfits wouldn't touch. I became materially involved in the "R-Panel" construction process, and as a result, was the architect of record of what I believe was the largest R-Panel SFR in the United States (unless someone's built one bigger than 8,200 SF since).
We were written up in the Seattle Times on numerous occasions, had 16 employees in our heyday, and were doing the kind of work that we felt really good about.
Then in June 2002, just as things were at their best, my partner, 57 years old, drove his Jaguar into the back of a bus when he was drunk and killed himself.
That was it for me.
I got a job offer a couple months later from a design and development firm in Houston. I knew people there, from college (University of Hawaii, Manoa) and from other professional encounters.
So, I moved to Texas in 2003, more to get the hell away from Seattle than anything else. My wife is a media consultant whose corporate HQ in in Chicago, so it actually made sense at that point.
SEE - I TOLD YOU IT WOULD BE BORING, heh heh...
I worked for that firm until 2006, resigned, and retired from architecture forever.
The truth is, I haven't had a license since 1998, and the really beautiful part of the ART left me long ago.
Currently I am restoring am early 19th C. 3-story "wharf house" I bought in new Orleans in 2007. I live in Katy, TX.
I'm 44 years old, have been married to a fantastic woman for 24 years, and really don't need more than I have now.
I'll leave the heavy lifting from here on out to people like you, with one caveat: Never underestimate what your time is worth.
And above all else, as an architect, always trust your gut.
to tell you the truth, i read the whole thing and clearly did not expect that kind of answer.
I find it very interesting that your path became the way it is.
I was expecting more of an answer like, "architecture was just too low pay" which I find most people and sometimes myself, want to quit architecture. I look at myself and the time that I put into my projects versus say a student of pre-med and what is the outcome?
well the doctors wins of course. Same input of hours of maybe more and we get paid less? but that is clearly not your case. I am always in a debacle because of this reason, and I know it's not the right reason to leave. I mean, if they asked me if i'd rather work as an accountant or an architect then definitely I would pick architecture. I use to have a passion for it, but I am loosing as I am moving a long. I just don't put much time into my work and it ends up being a crappy job. If I could do it all over again, I think I would become an engineer first and then get a masters in architecture after.
I don't know. I guess I still have time to decide what I should do. I just can't imagine myself in any other profession.
