System for 3D Rendering of game models

[aldrinstorm]

I'm starting up a small game design studio for the purpose of creating 3d games for both the computer and smartphones.

I'm needing to buy a couple computers for the engineers and I don't want to go with dell because they never seem to show the performance that I need.

I'm a home builder, but have been out of the loop (not built a machine in 2 years) on what parts work well together.

Could some of you help me out to create a couple machines that could handle 3d rendering and game programming well.

Right now im running an outdated system:
Geforce 8800 GTS 512
2gb ram
intel core 2 4300 1.80ghz (i know its old)

Software that will be ran is:

Unity3d 2 (upgrading to Unity3)
Blender 2.53

And must be good at running dual monitors

Price limit on tower alone is $1000 (less expensive would be preferable)

Please let me know of some good builds or if there are some prebuilt systems that are equally good

 

[CefVil]

Hi

Here's a quick build I made at newegg:

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff186/cefthecef/pc.png

$980

You can still cut some bucks by changing the RAM to 4 or 6GB's but I think that while doing some high poly modeling, rendering and animations you'd like to have 8 or even 16GB's to work fluently.

I used a Radeon HD instead of a Quadro or a FirePro for two reasons, one because using one of those would raise the price almost to double, and because I've been doing some 3D using a simple GTS 250 and so far have had no problems while rendering or modeling.

Also that GPU has support for dual-screens.

I'm no guru, so I can't say this is the best build you'll have for the price, but I can surely say it's one I'd like to have to work well on 3d's Max or Zbrush, not to mention it can even be used as a gaming machine if you please.

Cheers

.C.

 

[aldrinstorm]

thanks a bunch for the reply.

I never used ATI before

Alot of people have told me to keep my 8800GTS and software tweek it to a quadro
but i dont know how effective that would be over just buying a new card (a new radeon in this case)

and having that much ram (16gb) doesnt windows not use it all?

I have xp right now, but im thinking about upgrading to windows 7...


any thoughts?

 

[aldrinstorm]

i currently have a corsair 650w PSU right now that i bought about a year ago

think that would be enough to run your setup? or maybe with 16gb?

 

[aldrinstorm]

just realized the PSU question was a dumb one lol

this is what i have

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

probably wont work with a AMD board huh?

(sorry im REALLY out of the loop on this parts stuff)

 

[CefVil]

Well, AMD is slightly cheaper than Intel, I always end up with a difference of about 100 or 200 less dollars whenever I build AMD based rigs, that's why I thought it could be a good option since you established a budget. This one packs a 6 core CPU that will surely help while working in 3D environments.

Certainly, you can sotfmod your GeForce into a Quadro and save some bucks, here I found a site that shows the step by step process:

http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=539

You'll end up with a Quadro FX4400 or FX 4600 which will boost the performance for about 15% in 3D aplications.

You may try that and check if it works, since you can always buy a new GPU later if you are not pleased with the results.

As far as I know most PSU's will work with any system, Intel or AMD, you put them in, the fact it says to be compatible with a core i7 means it will work well on an i7 based system but not that it hampers it's compatibility.

It also seems your PSU is quite good and may stay for the new build, and if you keep the 8800 GTS I think it may suffice to run even 16 GB's of RAM. I really don't know if more RAM implies the use of a more powerful PSU, maybe it will increase heat but since these G. Skill have heatsinks I doubt there will be a problem with that.

The thing about RAM is that Windows itself will almost never use it all, in fact a 32bit OS, like XP, will not even use more than 3 or 4 GB's on any application because 32 bit OS's only support 3.12 GB's. If you migrate to a 64 bit platform like Windows 7, you'll be able to use more than 4 GB's of RAM, and eventually while working on a complex model or heavy rendering, you will need at least 6 or 8 GB's of RAM to work fluently and prevent system sluggishness or lock-up's.

It's all a matter of performance, though, if you will use a render farm with Backburner or Loki Render, and you have 3 machines with 8GB's of RAM you might never need 16 GB's on a single machine.

Without the ATI GPU and keeping your actual PSU the build would cost $895, if you include another 8 GB's of RAM that is:

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff186/cefthecef/pc2.png

If you keep only 8 GB's it would go for $715, which is a really nice price for a near high-end machine.

The hardware underworld is one quite tricky and ever changing vortex of consumerism, if you ask me, but since we need bestial computers to work and have fun, it's worth paying the price and playing the game of having non-obsolete parts.

Don't worry mate, you'll get in the loop if you keep on researching and stay in the forums.

Cheers and sorry for the long post

.C.

 

[aldrinstorm]

is there a huge difference between the black box version of this processor and the regular version?

i know that it is a little bit faster, but know of any other differences that i should know about?

thanks

 

[aldrinstorm]

and do you know how much better or worse keeping my 8800gts and converting it to a quatro is instead of buying the card you suggested?

if a new card is a good deal better...ill just buy a new one

 

[aldrinstorm]

also these mobos support the ddr3 2000 ram...is that worth getting?

or what ram should i get

I decided im just going to keep my other stuff

so these are the parts that i need

amd x6
mobo
8gb of ram (dont know what type)
HDD

and i think i might just keep my vid card

anyone help with what parts to go with?

 

[CefVil]

The diffrence between Black Edition and "normal" editions of AMD processors is often the flexibility of the chip itself, mostly Black Edition CPU's are easier to overclock due to the unlocked multipliers, which in this case allow the 1090t to hit 4GHz easily.

Other than that I've seen no difference between my old Phenom II X3 and this new X3 Black Edition, the later is a little faster and a little more stable since it lacks that annoying bug that caused only one core to work sometimes after restarting.

Again, you can cut some bucks on the CPU if you please.

As for the video card try converting it first and checking it's performance before buying the rig, if it works you'll have yourself a pretty little Quadro for free and won't be needing a better card in the near future.

Some say that DDR3 2000 RAM is better, some say there's no real difference between it and DDR3 1600. They are more expensive for sure.

Personally I'd stick to the GSkill RAM, but the decision is yours.

.C.

 

[aldrinstorm]

thanks mate!

 

[CefVil]

No problem mate, I hope I helped you a little, and I wish you have success in your 3D studio.

Cheers

.C.