Workstation Advice

[Arnold Grove]

Well AJ ,

 

when I say cut down, I guess I mean from around 5k to around 2 or 3k. I'm waiting on 2k of freelance money, which will give me a total of 7k but I don't think Ill get that in the next few weeks and time is ticking.

 

So from actually 7k to 5 k..I still need other items like a tablet and software upgrades (the Adobes) so I had the 5k just for computer. I am also interested in being able to upgrade, as Geoff says.

 

I am loving the Mac idea though...I'm just worried about running the Adobe's. Even the guy at the Mac store said to wait on that.

[Arnold Grove]

Thanks guys, lots of time involved in your posts, greatly appreciated

[FOG Lite]

Well I just got the base Mac Pro and I'm pleased as can be. It was a little tricky getting the windows side set up but not too bad. I'm actually surprised at how well it is performing with just that 1gig of ram in there. It tore through some of my old renderings like a champ. The graphics card really isn't that bad either, at least it's a whole hell of a lot better than the laptop I was working on. I've read reports of people putting second cards in to use on the PC side so I'm thinking some time in the far off future I might try and slap a mid-range quadro in there. But right now I am very, very happy with it.

 

I've been using Photoshop on the PC for quite awhile and I'm continuing to do so on the MacPro probably until they come out with the native version for OSX.

 

One annoyance though is the HD that comes in the standard config seems to be a little loud. I've already slapped another 250g HD with the 16mg cache and it seems to be a little quieter. Replacing the original drive might be another upgrade further down the road.

 

Plus if you get the academic discount they through in a free ipod nano, but you have to order before the 16th!

[AJLynn]

I have the Macbook Pro and I'm very happy with it. Windows support is still a bit spotty but getting better, they released a new version of Bootcamp that deals with some of the issues (webcam support, keyboard mapping) but my DVD drive still won't go into DMA mode. It's fast - fast enough to run Adobe CS2 for MacOS under rosetta without complaints, and it can run Modo and Cinema4D in MacOS as Universal Binaries (very fast). Still no UB of Maya though, but I've bitched about Autodesk enough this week.

 

If you need to keep the budget lower than that, the Core2 Duo is no slouch at all. You need overclocking to get the full potential - these things overclock like nothing I've seen before. Taking an E6400 to 2.8GHz+ is incredibly easy with good RAM.

[pixelbill]

If you have the time and and knowledge of hardwares then for get about Dell, Boxx, HP or any other OEM products. Why not build your own workstation, really there's no different between a custom buit and OEM system! all it is a logo and a case.

 

Try this config:

M/B = Tyan Tempest series

CPUs = Xeons 5140 x2

RAM = 2gig of FBDIMM 667MHZ

HDD = 2X 300gig SATA II (Raid 0)

GFX = Quadro/Geforce ( its your choice)

Case = Lian Li V2000+

PSU = 600watt => 700watts

 

Total = approx $3,500 -> $4,200

 

why paid extra for a logo?

if time is a factor and you're not confident with your hardware, then Alienware or Boxx are pretty good plus support.

 

for me! I can wait coz @ XMas the Kentsfield ( quad core ) should be out and thats when I'll buy, coz no matter what, the options is endless. eg..

2X Quads, 2ways, 4ways, 8ways or even 16ways. ways=cores,

DX 10, Vista list goes on...

[pixelbill]

dup!