A friend of mine has entrusted me to building him a system for 3D modeling/rendering and graphic design. He's looking at spending about $600-$800 (without monitor). This is what I have come up so far:
Athlon XP 1900+ Retail - $138
MSI K7N415 PRO nForce 415 w/ LAN, Audio - $100
KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/256 256MB x 2 - $150
PNY Quadro4 NVS 200 Graphics Card - $160
Seagate Barracuda IV ST340016A 40GB 7200rpm - $70
ANTEC Performance PLUS Model PLUS1060 w/ 330 watt PSU - $110
SONY 52X MAX EIDE INTERNAL CD-ROM - $24
SONY 1.44MB 3.5 INCH INTERNAL FDD - $8
Windows 2000 (already has)
Total - $661 (no shipping/tax)
Now, I have a few questions. I don't really know much about professional workstation graphics cards, so can anyone point me to a good review of the Quadro4 card (it's the budget version), or tell me if it is really worth it. Would it be better to spend $150 on a GeForce4 Ti-4200? How would the two compare performance wise while making 3D models in Maya or 3D Stuido Max?
Other than that, does anyone have any suggestions on what I could change to save money or make a better system? Do you think 1 GB or RAM would be better, or is 512 MB enough? Thanks for any input.
"Trying is the first step towards failure."
Athlon XP 1900+ Retail - $138
MSI K7N415 PRO nForce 415 w/ LAN, Audio - $100
KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/256 256MB x 2 - $150
PNY Quadro4 NVS 200 Graphics Card - $160
Seagate Barracuda IV ST340016A 40GB 7200rpm - $70
ANTEC Performance PLUS Model PLUS1060 w/ 330 watt PSU - $110
SONY 52X MAX EIDE INTERNAL CD-ROM - $24
SONY 1.44MB 3.5 INCH INTERNAL FDD - $8
Windows 2000 (already has)
Total - $661 (no shipping/tax)
Now, I have a few questions. I don't really know much about professional workstation graphics cards, so can anyone point me to a good review of the Quadro4 card (it's the budget version), or tell me if it is really worth it. Would it be better to spend $150 on a GeForce4 Ti-4200? How would the two compare performance wise while making 3D models in Maya or 3D Stuido Max?
Other than that, does anyone have any suggestions on what I could change to save money or make a better system? Do you think 1 GB or RAM would be better, or is 512 MB enough? Thanks for any input.
"Trying is the first step towards failure."