brg

Anybody?

Thought I would post the specs of a new system I am considering and would love any feedback. I currently use 3d apps such as Rhino and AliasStudio and do no gaming. Intel P4 3ghz 800fsb Asus P4P800 Deluxe Intel 865 800fsb 2GB Kingston DDR PC3200 RAM WD 250GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive JB w/ 8MB cache Pioneer 106s slot load dvd 16x/40x Plextor 48x burner (2) questions - Is 2GB of RAM going to make a difference in rendering speed/system performance vs 1GB? Which video card makes sense from a price/performance standpoint? Quadro 750/ 900/ 980 FX 1000/ 2000 Fire GL X2/ X1 256mb/ X1 Wildcat VP990 Pro/ VP 870 Thanks for any input. Brian

Looking to buy a dvd burner and was wondering if anybody had any recommendations? The last time I was looking was almost a year ago and was told about the Sony DRU500A. Any thoughts? Thanks, Brian

My system is set up as follows - Primary master - Western Digital hard drive Primary slave - Iomega Zip Drive Secondary Master - Pioneer 106s DVDROM Secondary Slave - Plextor 40x CDR Is this the ideal setup? Would my system benefit otherwise (ie. reading or burning cds faster?) Also, just enabled DMA on primary and secondary IDE channels and the DVDROM now is only able to read audio cds - application files won't initialize and a data cd's contents will list out but any particular file won't open and ends w/ an error message. If I switch back to PI0 mode then all is well again. Any reason why I should not be able to go DMA? Thanks, Brian [ July 04, 2002, 03:15 PM: Message edited by: brg ]

I got the system back and it runs fine. Still need to run the RAM test. However, I went to check for a part # to confirm that I indeed did receive PC2100 ram that was Crucial/Micron, but was told by Crucial when reading them the part # that they were not Crucial modules that they were only Crucial components on a module another manufacturer had put together. Does this matter? Should I return these? There is no way for me to tell whether I indeed received PC2100 RAM independent of the reseller and whoever manufactured/supplied them w/ the RAM is there? Thnx, Brian

To answer Greg's question, I am having a local shop put it together. Still waiting on the new 512MB RAM module to arrive to replace the defunct one - they now tell me that the reason it went bad was because it overheated. That I should buy these cheap $9 heatsinks for the RAM - I have heard of RAM heatsinks but not of this problem occuring w/ other folks. I think I will tell them no on the RAM heatsinks. However, I am making the decision to go w/ the AX-7's w/ Enermax Adjustables. Will mount them w/ Artic Silver III. Will have to eat the cost on the Volcano 7+'s (they claim they cannot return it as it was a special order from wherever they ordered it from). Will run the ram test when I get it home over the weekend. Thanks for all the info thusfar, Brian

Just got in the system - Dual Athlon MP 2000 (2) Thermaltake Volcano 7+ Coolers Asus A7M266-D Western Digital Caviar WD1200JB 1.5GB Crucial DDRAM ECC REG CDRW - Plextor 40x12x40 DVDROM – Pioneer 106s 16x/40x slot load Floppy, Zip, IntelliMouse, Keyboard, Network Card, Firewire Card LianLi PC62 Enermax Whisper 430W (EG465P-VEFC) Nvidia/ PNY Quadro4 750XGL The system ran fine for a day and then crashed and was unable to be rebooted. Upon bringing the system in, they initially told me that AMD’s are just not stable and difficult to deal with, that this is why they always push Intel and that the cpu’s seemed to be too hot. With Asus Probe the cpu temps were idling after a few minutes at 51 and 54 and the mobo was at 38. They ran some tests and discovered that a memory module was bad (crucial ecc reg gone bad?) (is there a way to confirm whether they gave me crucial/ I only saw ecc reg on the sticks?) – they then decided to try the standard heatsink and fan that came w/ the cpu’s. With both of these changes, they say the system is running fine. I have yet to pick up the system again. I have done all my research online and have read repeatedly that a high end processor (whether AMD or Intel but especially AMD) these days require special cpu coolers – that the standard cpu heatsink/fan combos supplied by AMD for instance are not satisfactory. My questions are as follows – 1. Is this true? Why would AMD and Intel supply a heatsink/fan to their processors that are not sufficient for cooling their respective processors? 2. Should I reattach the Volcano 7+’s? Keep the standard heatsink/fans? 3. The Volcano 7+’s are intolerably loud on High or Medium. I asked Thermaltake techs and they said Low would provide sufficient cooling – on low at 28 CFM/3000rpm do you think this is correct? Thanks for any input, Brian PS> Thinking I should have gone with the AX-7 and 80mm fan combo for better cooling and noise performance. However, I did not want to deal with the modifications to the capacitor/ cpu socket.

Just to answer my own question for others - talked to plycon.com and they confirmed that I would have to bend back one of the cpu capicitors to get the AX-7 to fit. So I am going w/ the Thermaltake Volcano 7 Plus for the cpu coolers on low speed to keep noise to a min. However, provided the fit, they did mention the Papst fans at 19.5 CFU's when used in combination w/ the AX-7 heatsink to be sufficient in cooling such a system. Brian

Wondering what programs are out there that currently do radiosity? Moreover, which ones do it well? Lightscape 3d studio max and viz? form-z? renderman? etc. I use Alias StudioTools which is a surface modeler. Which programs could I import (a dxf I would imagine) into for radiosity? Which do you recommend? Thanks, Brian [ May 19, 2002, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: brg ]

One other question - the price of the Nvidia/Elsa Quadro4 750XGL is almost 3 times that of the GeForce4 Ti4400. What is the performance jump for 3d modeling? Thnx again, Brian

Thanks for the response on the video card, cdburner, and dvdrom - all duly noted. But let me get the cooling situation understood. The way I understand it, standard fans that come w/ the processors do not cut it in terms of performance and noise? Thermalrights AX-7's will fit, but it will be a bit tight? The Papst 8412N/2GL's at 19.5 CFM's will not cut it - at plycon.com, it looks like they can be replaced by Papst 8412N/2GML's at 26.5 CFM's, Enermax Adjustable's at 39.8 CFM's, or Panaflo FBA08A12H's at 39.6 CFM's. Is this right? If so, the Pabst fans seem the quietest and I would like to go w/ them. Last, if the Thermalrights are too tight a fit, will the Thermaltake Volcano 7+ at low speed be enough CFM's and a better fit? Any other cpu cooling layouts to consider? Last, will noise be significantly reduced if I replaced the 80mm fans that come w/ the Lian Li or the CoolerMaster cases w/ Papst 8412N/2GL's or Enermax Adjustables? Thnx, Brian

Just found this website (nice!)and thought I would post the specs for a dual athlon system I am considering - it is similar to one noted in another thread. I use Alias StudioTools - any other users out there btw? Dual Athlon MP 2000 Asus A7M266-D Western Digital Caviar WD1200JB 1.5GB Crucial DDRAM ECC REG CDRW - Lite-on 40x12x48 DVDROM – Lite-on LTD 163 16x/48x Floppy, Zip, IntelliMouse, Keyboard, Network Card, Firewire Card Case – LianLi PC60 or Cooler Master ATC-201 Power Supply – Enermax Whisper 430W CPU Cooling - (2) Thermalright AX-7’s w/ Papbst 80mm 8412-N/2 GL Fans Video Card - ATI FireGL 8800 (128MB) or Nvidia/Elsa Quadro4 750XGL Any comments would be appreciated. Not sure which case of the two to get yet. Unsure which video card. And unsure if the stock cpu cooler fans will merit upgrading to the above setup for performance and quietude. Thanks, Brian [ May 18, 2002, 08:18 PM: Message edited by: brg ]

Any Alias Studio users out there? Thnx, Brian

Does anybody know how to program an intellimouse to be able to zoom by rolling the middle button and to pan by pressing it down and moving the mouse? Thanks, Brian