mac guy wants to build a render box

[michaeldelrossi]

I work on a 867 G4 for After Effects I need to have a few renderboxes that I can offload the project to so I can keep working. Mac boxes are too expensive, so I was thinking of a xp1600+ in a bare bones system for $400 or so.
which mobo and vid card would ya'll suggest?
thanks

 

[mbetea]

personally for a render box i would look at an intergrated solution. eg. mobos with the nforce chipset. the geforce 2 MX intergrated video will be more than adequate for your needs. unless of course you're looking at using one of em for gaming or something too. if that's the case i would maybe look at a kt266a mobo and a geforce2 ultra or pro video card. there are a few kt266a that are nice. i've heard good thing's about epox's 8kha+. from my own experience i haven't had any problem's with gigabyte's ga7vtx-p mobo. but again, if you're looking at em strictly for rendering (maybe a bit of internet browsing too) you'll find the nforce will be good. onboard video, great onboard sound, onboard lan, not 100% sure, but they might even have onboard ieee too.

[insert philosophical statement here]

 

[jihiggs]

the onboard video on the nforce is adequate for gaming, it wont produce the 80 fps that looks so pretty, but it will work just fine for most games. granted it wont hold its own in a couple years.

i went to the tomshardware forums and all i got was this lousy signature.

 

[HonestJhon]

this isnt for games tho..so the processor speed, memory bandwidth, and hard drive speed are the MAJOR factors involved.

you will want to go for something that can do scsi, use a lot of ddr, and put an xp *****+ (as fast as you can afford to go).
a decent video card will be nice to have..but i dont think that has anything to do with rendering...just rendering games and other unrendered 3d graphics..
a movie projector doesnt need a geforce* to show shrek...even tho that is a pretty intense 3d movie.
but it is my understanding that processor speed, memory bandwidth, and hard drive speed are what counts in rendering.
also, stability.
so you are going to want to go for windows 2000 at least if you are going to be using it to render...
windows xp has the 2000 kernel, and is stable...
but an xp1600+ is pretty fast...and if you get like a gig of ddr, and a fast raid setup, you should be in business...

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[HonestJhon]

oh...dont really skimp on the mobo tho...because you are going to want speed, and stability...

dont know how good the nforce is gonna be for this..since putting in more than two sticks of ddr kills the memory bandwidth...which sucks.

i think the IWILL xp333 would be a pretty good choice...
(IF IT DOES RAID...not sure tho)

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[HonestJhon]

oh...dont really skimp on the mobo tho...because you are going to want speed, and stability...

dont know how good the nforce is gonna be for this..since putting in more than two sticks of ddr kills the memory bandwidth...which sucks.

i think the IWILL xp333 would be a pretty good choice...
(IF IT DOES RAID...not sure tho)
that, two maxtor d740x drives in raid, and an xp1600+, with any video card basically (AS LONG AS THE VIDEO CARD IS STABLE!) you should be in business...

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[michaeldelrossi]

Thanks' for all of your help. This will be a first for me since I've been on the mac side since the mac plus, Is there any thing I should be aware of ?

 

[HonestJhon]

well..get a good powersupply...that is another thing not to really skimp on.
also...since you will be rendering on this machine..which is going to be pretty intense on the cpu...you might want to look into some good cooling..
OH YEAH...
another thing i thought of...since you are rendering..
a dual board might be a good idea.
but unfortunately, the xp wont do dual processor, so you might want to look into the athlonMP, which is pretty much the same thing...but can do dual.
so if you go for a little lower clock speed, and get dual MP's, you should end up with a faster rendering setup.

building a pc isnt too hard...
oh...be careful installing the cpu's heatsink...an athlon is kinda easy to crush...but if you read instructions on how to install a heatsink, you should be fine..
here is a link to how to install a heatsink...which is pretty good since it has pictures. <A HREF="http://www.thermaltake.com/supportv2.htm" target="_new">http://www.thermaltake.com/supportv2.htm</A>
it might not be the heatsink you get, but that is pretty much what you do...
so yeah....if you need help, you know what site to come to...
and other than that...it should be a walk in the park...
aspecially if you know any people who can help you in person.


-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[michaeldelrossi]

thanks again I'm pretty handy, just wanted a heads up.
thanks
michael

 

[HonestJhon]

coo coo
i hope that it all goes well..
and welcome to the wonderful world of pcs...
hehe
what mac are you running?
because when you get the pc up and running, do some benchmarks and let me know which one is faster...hehe
everyone always says how much faster macs are..but i have never experienced the "mystical speed boost" that they have...
i have used a dual 733(i think that was the mhz on it) g4 system to edit viddeo...but i think that a dual 733 pc could keep up with it.
i think the only plus to a mac was the better ram usage..but pcs are getting pretty good at it.
sorry if i am ragging on macs..but i have a few friends who are mac addicts, and are always saying how much better their macs are..but when it comes to real life performance, mine blows theirs away....even on some "benchmarks" but what is a good cross platform benchmark..i mean..i cant just take sisoft sandra and put it on their computer..or 3dmark 2k1...
lol
now i am turning into the question man in here..hehe

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-