Vista vs. XP with 3ds Max

[Mkay]

I am trying to buy the XPS 720 from Dell but they will not sell it with XP Professional . The only XP operating system they will sell it with is XP Media which is only 32bit.

 

Anyone have experience using 3ds Max in Vista? any problems?

 

Also, which Vista is 64bit (Home Premium, Business, Ultimate)?

 

Thanks

[AJLynn]

All those Vistas are available in both 32 and 64. You used to have to apply to Microsoft to get the 64 disc but maybe they fixed that. (They make this far too confusing.)

 

Just get XP Media Center. It will run a lot faster and make your life easier. (XP already runs faster using less RAM and word on the street is the next round of service packs will make XP run even faster and Vista run even slower.)

[lambros]

vista 32 and 64 works fine. I have 2 PCs with Vista 32, two with Vista 64 and just 2 with XP pro. Vista 64 is the way to go, the Home edition is fine, you wouldn't need Ultimate and of course you just have to ask Dell to get you the 64bit edition, nothing more than that.

I am not a Microsoft fan and it is obvious that Vista is not a technological breakthrough, but it is solid rock, the 64 bit edition delivers as promised (obviously the 64 XP pro is that good too), I have had no problems at all in any of the 4 Vista PCs (one is a laptop). I have also played many games and with a quad processor and much ram you wouldn't notice any speed difference with XP as stated in many surveys (5-10% as said)

[Mkay]

Thanks Andrew.

I am not exactly sure how these 'service pack' business works. If I buy now do I automatically get the latest service pack?

Also, do the regular XP updates get any new service pack?

[Mkay]

vista 32 and 64 works fine. I have 2 PCs with Vista 32, two with Vista 64 and just 2 with XP pro. ...I have also played many games and with a quad processor and much ram you wouldn't notice any speed difference with XP as stated in many surveys (5-10% as said)

Do you use 3ds Max?

[AJLynn]

The testing I've seen has consistently said that the interface runs slower, it uses more RAM in overhead and CPU intensive tasks run a bit slower. There's less device support (and even less on 64 than on 32) and you run the risk of Microsoft deauthorizing your video card in a "push" update which would make it so you can't play back your own high def animations. Or Microsoft trying to break OpenGL again.

 

There are good reasons why nobody's using Vista.

[Mkay]

The testing I've seen has consistently said that the interface runs slower, it uses more RAM in overhead and CPU intensive tasks run a bit slower...

 

There are good reasons why nobody's using Vista.

 

 

Dell is offering me the following specs with XP Pro (on a precision work station) but it is much more expensive than the xps. I can't understand why there is such a significant price difference when (Dell claims that) most of the components are so similar if not the same:confused:

 

What is your opinion? Thanks a lot for you input.

 

XP PRO

Item Number Quantity Item Description

 

 

222-7754

1 Dell Precision 390 ConvertibleMiniTower, PC Processor Q6600 2.40GHz, 1066,2X4MB L2/Quad-Core/VT

311-6070

1 Mini-Tower Chassis Configuration, Dell Precision 390

311-5138

1 4GB, 667MHz, DDR2 ECC SDRAM Memory, 4X1GB, Dell Precision 380/390

310-7949

1 Entry Level, USB, No Hot Keys keyboards, Dell PrecisionWorkstations

466-8446

1 Dell E198FP,Wide,19 Inch Flat Panel 19.0 Inch Viewable ImageSize,OptiPlex,Precision and Latitude

320-5388

1 nVidia,Quadro FX 4600,768MB dual VGA or DVI, Graphics CardDell Precision 690/490/390

341-3682

1 160GB Serial ATA, 10K RPM HardDrive with 16MB DataBurst Cache, Precision 380

341-3628

1 C1- All SATA Hard Drives Non- RAID for 1 Hard Drive Dell Precision 390

341-3625

1 No Floppy Drive, Dell Precision 390, Factory Install

310-8617

1 Thank you for choosing Dell

420-7017

1 WINDOWS XP PRO x64 SP2, With Media, Dell Precision, EnglishFactory Install

310-8224

1 Dell USB 5-Button Premium Optical Mouse for Dell Precision

313-4287

1 16X DVD+/-RW w/Cyberlink PowerDVD,Roxio Digital Creator DellEdition,Dell Precision X90

313-2663

1 No Speaker option

310-8136

1 Resource CD contains Diagnostics and Drivers for Dell Precision 390 (64bit) Factory Tied

984-8427

1 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus Onsite Service, Initial Year

980-1200

1 Type 3 Contract - Next Business Day Parts and Labor On-Site Response, Initial Year

984-8428

1 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus Onsite Service, Extended Year

970-4892

1 Type 3 Contract - Next Business Day Parts and Labor On-Site Response, 2YR Extended

900-9987

1 Standard On-Site Installation Declined

466-2909 1 WINDOWS XP STICKER, OPTI/PWS/LAT/INSP/DIM

462-4506 1 Purchase is NOT intended for resell

310-8977 1 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forBSD Systems Boxes

*

-DISCOUNT/COUPON APPLIED

 

Subtotal: $3,511.00

Total Price w/Discounts: $3,511.00

The salesman told me he will try to get me some discount and will get back to me but how much can a discount be?!

 

 

XPS System

XP MEDIA

 

Item Number Quantity Item Description

222-9437 1 XPS 720, Intel Core2 processorQ6600 (2.40Ghz,1066FSB) w/QuadCore Technology and 8MB cache

311-7249 1 4GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz 310-7963 1 Dell USB Keyboard

320-5716 1 19 in (19 in viewable) SE198WFPV Widescreen Flat Panel Display

320-5185 1 768MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

341-4828 1 WD, Raptor 160GB NCQ 10K SATA Hard Drive w/16MB DataBurst Cache

341-3764 1 No Floppy Drive

420-5586 1 Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005,English

310-8617 1 Thank you for choosing Dell

420-4927 1 Windows Media Player 10

420-5769 1 Internet Search and Portal

412-0688 1 Image Restore 420-7142 1

Resource DVD, XPS 720 420-7622 1 DELL SUPPORT CENTER 2.0

310-7966 1 Dell Optical USB Mouse 313-3607 1 No modem requested for Dell Dimension

420-7468 1 ADOBE ACROBAT READER 8.1 DIM/INSP

313-4339 1 No Optical Drive 3

13-5447 1 16X DVD+R/RW CD-RW Combination Drive

420-7205 1 Power DVD 7.0 420-7206 1 6 Channel,Dolby,PDVD,7.0

420-7207 1 Roxio Creator Basic

313-5449 1 X-Fi PCI Sound Card

313-4514 1 No Speaker Requested

412-0959 1 Norton Internet Security 2007 15 Month

461-8388 1 No Digital Music Software requested

461-3064 1 No Digital Imaging Software requested

412-0148 1 No Internet Service Provider Requested

412-0912 1 MS WORKS 8.5 950-9797 1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3

412-0359 1 Soft Contracts - Qualxserve

960-8700 1 Warranty Support,Initial Year

982-9370 1 Type 3 - Next Business Day Parts and Labor On-Site Response, Initial Year

987-0797 1 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Initial Year

986-4227 1 Thank you for choosing a Limited Warranty and Service Contract

310-8591 1 You have chosen a Windows XP System

310-8977 1 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forBSD Systems Boxes

Subtotal: $2,469.00

Total: $2,469.00

Thanks a lot for you input.

[AJLynn]

The Precision price is flat out ridiculous. The Quadro card is very expensive, and they're charging a premium for it being a Precision. There's not much need for a Quadro when you're running apps - Quadros are good for apps that use high end OpenGL functions, and Max uses Direct3D instead of OpenGL now. And the Precision brand doesn't make it special - it's just something Dell came up with so they could charge more.

 

And they say Apple is bad. A Mac Pro with dual-quad 2.8's and an 8800GT costs $500 less than that precision. Make it a single quad 2.8 and it's $40 more than the XPS, upgradeable to dual-quad and a far better computer with OSX standard.

 

Also, unless you're in an office where you need to be running XP Pro, Media Center is going to be fine - just turn off the media apps you don't use and it's pretty much the same.

 

The people on this forum are paying way too much for computers and it's just encouraging the people who are charging those prices. I'd go with the XPS. If the Raptor hard drive is costing significantly more I'd drop it, and if there's an 8800GT option instead of the GTX I'd go with that also.

[Mkay]

There's not much need for a Quadro when you're running apps - Quadros are good for apps that use high end OpenGL functions, and Max uses Direct3D instead of OpenGL now. ...Make it a single quad 2.8 and it's $40 more than the XPS, upgradeable to dual-quad and a far better computer with OSX standard.

 

...If the Raptor hard drive is costing significantly more I'd drop it, and if there's an 8800GT option instead of the GTX I'd go with that also.

Thanks so much for the info.

Sorry I didn't make it clear that I will be using this machine for rendering stills and animation with a 27" screen. Would you still drop the Quadro and GTX? I will drop the Raptor and take 360G instead. Thanks:)

[AJLynn]

I'd still drop the Quadro and the GTX. The Quadro's not going to help you in Max (the 8800 cards will probably outperform the Quadro anyway) and the GTX isn't that much faster than the GT - you wouldn't notice the difference. I'm using an 8800GTS myself and that's damn fast, and it's the slowest 8800.

[lambros]

The 8800 GT is superb, I have one and it runs really smooth. It has the best speed/price ratio and would probably cover all your needs.

Raptors are really good for promary HDs, install windows on them along with programs and keep swap files and data on other disks. I have used all different raptor sizes, 36 ,74 and 150 GBs and never had a problem. On the contrary I have had several HD breakdowns with regular Western Digitals and Maxtors during the last 5 years or so.

As for the Vista thing, my 64bit Vista machines did not have a single problem with drivers or network or 3dsmax or vray or whatever. 10 months ago there were driver problems reported on the net, but now all companies release vista drivers. It seems that there is a certain driver related phobia but there is no real problem. People do not use Vista because they are afraid something is not going to work, drivers or software, but all new releases support them. Also, I haven't seen any BSODs or vista crashes at all.

[isagreg]

The main disadvantage of Vista is POOR OpenGL (for Rhino or SketchUP for example).