Needing an UPGRADE!! PLEASE HELP!!

[tasi55]

Hey people,

 

I am in need of some serious guidance. I have been reading through all of the posts and feel like I have been making some wrong decisions with my purchases.

 

A few months ago I purchased two nVidia Quadro FX 1400's thinking that they would do me fine. They are in SLI configuration. I am rather new to all this so I thought that having these cards would increase overall speed, etc. It was until I had to design an airport (in revit, Im an architectural student) that I noticed that they werent as hot as I thought.

 

I always thought that a workstation card would always be better than a gaming card. Guess I was wrong. I am wanting to seriously upgrade my pc. I work in Max9/Viz 2008, Revit, AutoCAD, etc.

 

Here is a rundown of my specs:

 

CPU - Intel Pentium 4 Dual core 3GHz

 

MEMORY - 3 GB DDR RAM

 

M/BOARD - Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe

 

GRAPHICS - nVidia QuadroFX 1400 x 2 (SLI)

 

I know..I know.. please dont laugh.

 

I am not wanting to spend a fortune on a computer, but now that I am doing a little freelance work while I study I am in need of something that is gonna be up with the play. I do not want to sound too vague, but Im really LOST and would prefer to build my own PC as I have done in the past than fork out lots on a pre-built like Dell or HP.

 

Would anyone recommend going to Vista 64-bit or would staying with XP 64-bit be a better choice?

 

I am quite interested in the what has been said about the GeForce 8800 GTS, but is there a huge diff. between the GTS and GTX, is it worth the extra cash?

 

 

So many questions.... :confused:

 

Could someone please help.

 

Cheers

 

J

[chiquito]

I would stay with XP, I believe I consumes less resources than Vista.

As for the Asus, I have one myself, I use an AMD processor, so mine is a 939 socket, buy it works fine. check on line to see some comparisons on full capabilities calculation for each of the graphic cards, Cant recall the page, but there is one that even has graphs on the performances and comparisons, they calculate this for gamers.

I think you are ok with your equipment, check to see what the differences would be if you upgrade.

I use the same software package as you do. check for differences between one and another, and see if the differences are worth the spending, how are you planning to pay for that enhancement and how long are you going to be paying it (in job hours).

[visual3d]

From what i can see, the card is ok but max does not utilize sli.

Your problem is your processor.

I think a single upgrade of your processor will do the trick, if you can get a quad processor. And try using xp 64 bit. upgrade to 4gb ram if you can.

[tasi55]

Thank you Chiquito and Visual3D for your responses. Much appreciated. I have spent countless hours looking through websites and forums and with just a simple few replies I understand so much more, thank you.

 

I did not know that MAX did not use SLI, could this be the case for other software. I always thought that Revit worked a lil faster with SLI enabled.

 

Does anyone know if the 8800 GTS or GTX would perform faster than my QuadroFX 1400 or should I stick with the Quadro Range. I ask this because I am sorta unimpressed with the fx1400. I had to create a model of an airport and man was the viewport slow, I had to hide and unhide objects, real time frustrating.

 

Think Im gonna look into a Quad core and some extra ram, only prob is that I think my ASUS P5N32-SLI Deluxe doesnt support Quads, so gonna upgrade, just dunno what? Ne ideas?

[AFK_Matrix]

Hi mate,

 

Yeah not sure on the GFX issue tbh but a Processor upgrade and 4gb ram (obviously would need XP 64bit or Vista 64bit for this) would help things.

 

According to a website I use alot for High end computer shop that motherboard is Quad compatible: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-222-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=

 

But if u do want a new Motherboard the new P35's would be a good bet. I would recommend joining the forums from that Overclockers site mate. Here is the link: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/

 

You need a non free email to register (ie a business email) but they have some really knowledgeable people on there and you should get your questions answered there.

 

Hope that helps