Best processor for Maya work?

[mace2]

Hi there!
This thread is actually for my girlfriend!
She is out to get a new computer, as she will be attending Vancouver Film School in the fall and her father is willing to get her a new computer for all her work!

She told me she will be using Maya, and she uses Photoshop like nuts as it is now!

Anyone, price is not an issue, so I need your guys' advice!

What processor setup would give her the most power?
I really don't know anything when it comes to graphics, so your help would be appreciated!

I dunno if Maya uses dual-processors or what...!

Thanks!


*Matt

 

[WillD]

Well since she is doing Maya and Photoshop, I would suggest a Dual Processor of course. Maya does utilize 2 processors. I would go for a Dual Athlon MP 2100+ setup. With a Motherboard that uses the AMD 762 Chipset (such as Asus AMD 762 Chipset ATX Motherboard Model A7M266D). Also get her as much Registered PC2100 DDR memory as you can. 2GB would be very nice, with 1GB being sufficent. For graphics, if you want to go all out, get http://www.3dlabs.com/product/oxygen_gvx420_index.htm that. The best. It is 999 dollars though, but you said price is of no concern. http://www.crucial.com/store/PartSpecs.asp?imodule=CT6472Y265 for RAM. Get 2 or 4 of those, depending on how much you want to spend. For any other info, email me at willd@carolina.rr.com or IM me at Smartboy603. Good luck.

 

[poorboy]

WillD's post looks like a nice peice of kit, but don't skimp on the Monitors either! She will need huge gobs of storage space too, and U160 SCSI drives would be the way to get it (use a decent 64bit/66MHz card too).

BTW, I think you could do worse than getting a Macintosh Dual 1GHz G4. It'll probably cost more, but they're good for things she'll be doing, and you won't have to spend all your time fixing it for her afterwards... And they look sweet. Take her to a Mac shop and then just try to stop her buying one


<i>Do I look like I care?</i>

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

well ... if you want dual processor, keep in mind the computer will be very loud with 2 5000rpm fans in the case plus whatever fans are out there.

Now problem with dual cpu from amd is that i don't know anyone that sells complete systems with amd mp dual processor. If you can find one all the more power to ya.

So chances are you may have to build it yourself.

Go with two Athlon MP 2100+
U160 SCSI drive, probably a couple 73GB drives.
sound card doesn't matter

Either external USB 2.0/firewire hard drive, maybe 30GB for backup or a DVD-RW for backups! trust me! backup is important! Anything to do some kind of backup.

good luck!

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=9933" target="_new"> My Rig </A>

 

[Oracle]

Yeah, back up is MUY IMPORTANTE!
If you can, double backup!
My girlfriend just messed up my hard drive AND my backup disk this morning at home! I'm f... screwed!!!


<font color=red>Floppy disk?!? What the heck's a floppy disk?!?</font color=red>

 

[mace2]

A Dual 1Ghz-G4 system could be very good!

I very much appreciate the simplicity of Macintosh computers, and my girlfriend would too!

So, do you guys think a PowerMac would be a very viable option?

Or is it a little skimpy on power & such?

Thanks!


*Matt

 

[ritesh_laud]

So, do you guys think a PowerMac would be a very viable option?

Or is it a little skimpy on power & such?

<A HREF="http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/2002/07_jul/features/cw_macvspc2.htm" target="_new">Modern PCs whip dual G4s in Photoshop.</A>

Ritesh

 

[AndrewT]

Dual MAC all the way, editing and FX pro's use them because of the speed and quality. A large good quality monitor, forget LCD and stay with the old if you want quality and less trouble.

But it wouldn't hurt to see what kind of machines she will have at school, nothing beats having the same type of machine (MAC or Wintel) at home with a nice large removable drive (in tray) for transporting "homework" (unless at school they don't support removable trays). Ask the school about everything, unless you like to buy and then replace.

<font color=red>Got a silent setup, now I can hear myself thinking.... great silence</font color=red>

 

[Cruiser]

AndrewT is right all the way!!!

Stay away from the Pentium 4, if you´re going to use Maya or other heavy rendering application!!! Many people in here have tried building rendering workstations with P4, and they have all regretted it, as the performance is far below expectations.

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

ouch dude that really sucks! Is she now your exgf or? lol!

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=9933" target="_new"> My Rig </A>

 

[ritesh_laud]

Many people in here have tried building rendering workstations with P4, and they have all regretted it, as the performance is far below expectations.

This may have been true a year ago, but when SSE2 is used P4s blow Macs out of the water. The latest versions of most rendering packages make heavy use of SSE2 and hence run faster on the P4.

Ritesh

 

[Cruiser]

You are wrong, search the boards, many professionals have been very disappointed going with the P4! Dual Mac´s are the best deal, and in Maya the high-end AMD CPU´s can clearly beat the P4 in rendering!

 

[eden]

Hmm I thought After Effects would have blown the Athlons out as well, since Anandtech's tests show a 1.6A beating the XP2000. Now in some tests the 1.66GHZ XP beats the 2.53GHZ quite well. I guess intensive rendering still cannot be hindered by SSE2 on P4, and the best and most effective way would be to simply add an FPU, develop it like the K7's.

Technically, Maya and Photoshop are K7's best friend, and there is no doubt a Dual MP setup would be much more effective than a Xeon 2.53GHZ, which would be a huge waste of money. It is just that AMD MP setups are indeed harder.

EDIT: OK I just noticed the tests you provided were a Dual MP vs the P4. My bad then, a Dual Xeon 2.53GHZ would've been powerful in After Effects and such. I also gave bad credit to the P4 in AE when in fact it was fighting a 2*1.66GHZ AXP. It is debatable however, whether that Dell was also cheap, since Dells are often not put with the best brands. It is also debatable whether the AXP would've been much better had it been a XP2200 with DDR333/333MHZ bus. Also more RAM would've been a good idea, 512MB is not enough to make these hungry monsters happy in these areas of editing. Again sorry for sounding AMD-biased in this post, it was my bad.


--
An AMD employee's diary: Today I kicked an Intel worker in the "Willy"! :lol: <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Eden on 07/23/02 02:19 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[ritesh_laud]

Dual Mac´s are the best deal, and in Maya the high-end AMD CPU´s can clearly beat the P4 in rendering!

<A HREF="http://www.xbitlabs.com/cpu/pentium4-2530/" target="_new">The P4B's 533 FSB bitch slaps your statement...</A> Scroll down to the Maya 4 test.

Ritesh

 

[ritesh_laud]

OK I just noticed the tests you provided were a Dual MP vs the P4. My bad then, a Dual Xeon 2.53GHZ would've been powerful in After Effects and such.

Yes I was also surprised by a single P4B keeping up with a dual Athlon rig. But that 533 FSB makes a world of difference. Also, it wasn't using PC1066 memory. Scores could have been 5-10% faster with PC1066.

It is debatable however, whether that Dell was also cheap, since Dells are often not put with the best brands.

From the article: "Finally, the Dell Precision Workstation 340 as tested currently retails for $2875, the Mac dual G4 for $3000, and the BOXX dual Athlon 2000+MP for $4000..."

Ritesh

 

[eden]

Oh no I meant cheap as in parts, not price.
Ya know what with the chipset they use, the PCI brands, and such. I would never trust OEMs' performance over clones, they rarely edge over.

--
An AMD employee's diary: Today I kicked an Intel worker in the "Willy"! :lol:

 

[papasmurf]

LOL! I am afraid everyone is just building their dream machines for you, the truth is you realy dont need that uber a machine for maya and photo shop, a single cpu should work out fine though I would suggest an xp 2200, you dont need 2gb of ram, instead get 512mb of pc2700ddr with an epox 8k3a+ motherboard. or you could wait a few weeks for the 8k5a. the truth is that is all she will need you dont need to waste another 5 grand for a trivial amount of speed gain.

Introducing Tapeworms! The new big thing for weight loss!

 

[hartski]

I agree...go visit www.aliaswavefront.com and check there, I am sure I went on a page of theirs and found hardware compatibility for both CPU and videocard...I do suggest getting a "true" 3D card that meets the specifications of Maya...some cards might not take full advantage of Maya's interface, so I've read at their web site.

I will try Maya myself with only an AXP 1800+, 768MB PC2100 DDR RAM, IBM 80GB 120GXP 7200RPM HDD, Radeon 8500 64M.
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by hartski on 07/23/02 04:51 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[wolverinero79]

Just one issue. Maya really demands 512 mb of RAM. Even though the website says it's basically the bare bones needed for the system, i think the program demands at least that for itself. So, in other words, if you have 512 MB of RAM only, you better have a OS that uses less than 0 MB of RAM . Go with 768 (at least) 2700 DDR. Not too expensive in the form of a 512 and 256.

Althons and Pentiums are just melted rock. Who’s rock is better? Who cares, let’s play some games

 

[poorboy]

If you're concerned about the relative lack of mac grunt, but want something painless, you could consider a turnkey system. It might be overkill for student use, but if money is no big a problem...

This <A HREF="http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/2002/06_jun/reviews/cw_boxx_vegasws.htm" target="_new">BOXX</A> looks pretty sweet.

<i>Do I look like I care?</i><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by poorboy on 07/24/02 01:04 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[peter21]

Macintosh Dual G4 if the price is no issue. Apples are great for what she is doing plus they look cool

The only thing i know...

is that i know nothing.

 

[WillD]

I am not building a dream machine for anyone. He asked "What processor setup would give her the most power?
I really don't know anything when it comes to graphics, so your help would be appreciated!" A Dual AMD system would give her the most power. http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/2002/06_jun/reviews/cw_boxx_vegasws3.htm just check that out. And PapaSmurf...how much have you worked with Maya. The more renders you do, the more you realize having an Uber Box would be very beneficial. http://www.boxxtech.com/ is a good example. The more RAM the better. We arent talking Quake3 here, these are professional applications. But i guess you should ask her how much Maya and Photoshop will she be doing.

And I somewhat agree about the Mac G4 suggestion. They do look cool (as the above poster said) and the support they have for Maya, Photoshop, and DV is very good. But id suggest waiting just 1-2 more months, cause the new ones may be coming out. If not, go for the Dual 1Ghz, mucho ram, and one of those sweet ass displays.

 

[imgod2u]

According to the benchmarks at digitalvideoediting, the dual G4 simply cannot compete with a dual Athlon setup (at 1.6 GHz or beyond). I mean, this "Mac is better for this kinda stuff" was true back in the days of the 500MHz G4 vs the 733MHz P3, but not anymore.
I agree the overall design is simpler (as in you don't have to add firewire yourself, etc.) but with a little work, you could have a much cheaper version and it would perform better with a dual Athlon setup. That or a 2.53 GHz P4 would be pretty good. Sure it'd be a single processor but <A HREF="http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/2002/07_jul/features/cw_macvspc2.htm" target="_new">the benchmarks at digitalvideoediting</A> seems to love the P4. I think it's the fact that professional apps such as Photoshop take heavy use of SSE2. I'm not sure about Maya though. Although I think 4.5 does have some pretty hefty SSE2 optimizations. Plus it'd make a great all-purpose PC as well. Either solution, the dual Athlon or 2.53 P4 would provide great performance and be cheaper than a PowerMac dual G4 1 GHz. I would seriously do some digging.

 

[Dinski]

Why don't you buy Sillicon Graphics or Alfa Station then?

 

[WillD]

Cause that is probably way out of their league. just get a dual athlon box with enough ram, and a true profressional graphics card, from 3dlabs or the such.