Finally got a few extra bucks, what should I upgrade on my computer primarily to improve 3d graphic, texturing and rendering q

[Dan Murphy]

Hey guys,

I finally got a few extra bucks and am getting back into 3d modeling, texturing and rendering pretty hardcore at the moment. I was wondering what you guys would recommend that I upgrade. I don't know very much about hardware, so help is appreciated.

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
Memory: 16384MB RAM
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
Display Memory: 4037 MB

I just got a new monitor as well. One of those ultra wide monitors... so far, I like it quite a bit.

Other than that, I don't know what else is important to upgrade. I want to run programs like Maya, ZBrush, Substance Designer and Painter. I want to be able to run these programs at the same time and listen to music or whatever else.

Anyway, all help is appreciated! If you need any more information about my computer let me know (and possibly how to get it?) and I'll post it!

Thanks!

 

[Karsten75]

You don't specify a budget. That processor is about 7 years old and it's my opinion that you can't get it to go much further. I know, because I replaced one like that for a guy last year. He's happy with what he got then (cost about $2.4K IIRC) and it's much faster and quieter. You can probably get a very decent new build for $1.8K.

However, if someone comes on here and says "I don't know much about hardware", then I hesitate to recommend upgrades and self-builds. I'd rather you pay a little higher price and get either a bespoke system from a boutique builder like Puget Systems Or Digital Storm or buy off the shelf from Lenovo, Dell or HP.