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3DS Max Workstation Depression :( Help Needed. What spec do I go for?


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Hi Guys.

 

I am currently an architectural retoucher. however I have decided to train up on Arch Viz and so started the process of learning 3ds Max, Vray etc. I have just come to the realisation the 3DS Max just does not run properly on Mac. Bootcamp or Parallels. The recommended Nitrous driver crashes and the legacy driver doesn't work so well with menu options sticking and random things not working.

 

So after 15 years of owning and being solely MAC literate I have to buy a PC. Thing is...... I have absolutely no idea what I am doing. I need some help.

 

What spec machine do I need to go for running 3ds Max 2017. What would you guys get? What do you guys use? I need to keep costs to a minimum without scrimping on what is needed. Primarily this machine will be used for training on 3ds studio Max Vray and will need to run photoshop lightning fast?

 

Any advice you guys could give me would be very appreciated. Im of to cry into my iPhone now.

 

Nick

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Ok so

 

-do you want to be mobile with your pc, you need a laptop or a desktop

 

 

No I want a desktop workstation.

 

-amount of money you want to spend

 

I have a budget of 2.5K to include a good display 27 inches upward.

 

-what you have lying around. like monitor, mouse, keyboard, maybe graphics card

 

I currently have an I mac with built in screen and apple keyboard an mouse. So I will need everything new.

 

-form factor pc, like big of very small

 

Small as possible without hindering performance.

 

-do you want to buy second hand

 

Prefer new as if something goes wrong I have options however I would consider a bargain. (if I knew what one looked like)

 

-if not, which shop to buy from

 

Do not mind however I am UK Based

 

which Mac do you have now?

 

I currently have the most powerful iMac Available.

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)

4 GHz Intel Core i7

AMD Radeon R9 M395X 4096 MB

 

Are you planning to use GPU rendering? I am completely at the beginning of this 3D journey. Im not sure what I need. However I intend to use the software for archviz. Thats modeling and rendering.

 

A little more info:

 

I am currently an architectural retoucher. I worked within photoshop everyday. An opportunity has arisen for my company to move into CGI in the future and so they/I have decided that I would like to give it a go and train in arch viz. My plan is to learn as much as I can as soon as I can so as to get up and running creating CGI images of interior and exterior architecture. Taking 1 year studying as much as possible going on courses and home learning and then hopefully learning as I go.

 

The PC i get therefore needs to be very capable of running 3dsMax Vray allowing me to learn the software and then able to cope with me moving into a professional capacity later on. Possibly upgrading when needed.

 

I hope that helps. Thank you so much for replying and lending me your knowledge.

 

Nick

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Nowadays mac and pc use the same hardware.

 

1st of all, 3ds max viewport and overall performance always sucks no matter what hardware you have. It's the worst optimized software I have on my pc, by far. It takes ages to start even on a ssd. It's faster to start photoshop and unreal engine at the same time than it is to start 3ds max. Any decent 3ds max scene will fill your ram really fast. Get as much as possible.

 

Look for a good intel i7 cpu, 32+ gb of ram, 64 is a good spot I think. A decent gpu. It's a very nice time to build a pc, lots of power for cheap. Check out a nvidia gtx 1060 for a budget build or gtx 1070, 1080 if you want to spend a bit more on a gpu (1060 is more than enough for the 3ds max viewport). Be sure to install windows on a SSD instead of a HDD. Gonna speed things up alot.

 

Of couse a xeon mobo with 2 cpu is always a nice choice, if you have the budget.

 

My build.

 

i7 4790k 4.0-4.4 ghz, not overclocked right now.

16 gb of ram (that's the bottleneck of my pc for sure) also limited to 2 slots. I suggest to have a motherboard with 4 memory slots.

240 gb SSD + cloud account for media storage

gtx 980 sc 4GB gpu

small form factor, micro atx.

windows 10

Edited by philippelamoureux
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Hi Nicholas,

 

you are using photoshop a lot. You are not using the apple mouse and keyboard for photoshop are you? If you do so, I would highly recommend you to get a wacom tablet, preferably the bigger one.

 

People already have given you advise. But because you are not into that pc hardware stuff, things must be unfamiliar.

 

I personally think since it will be a pc for learning and the pc should have solid performance, you should not spend too much cash. I would suggest to spend about 1000 pounds on the pc. This will give you a pc which will have plenty of power.

 

The next big investment would be your screen/ monitor. I would go for a 4k 40 inch monitor. This may sound odd, but it will boost productivity.

 

Have you decided if you want to go for a 4 core processor with hyperthreading, like the i7 6700k or would you rather have a six core processor with hyperthreading, like the i7 6800k?

 

And when will you be buying the pc, like right now or can you wait for six months?

 

And something that would be of geat help: could you pick out a case that is to your liking? Picking a case is a very personal thing. Would you like to color match the components and if so, do you have a color in mind?

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@Nicholas

The late 2015 iMac i7 already has a Skylake i7 6700K, so there is not much room for improvement regarding the single core performance. The same applies to Photoshop since most of the operations will not run much faster with more than 4 cores, maybe up to 6 cores for some tasks

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Photoshop-CC-Multi-Core-Performance-625/

 

The fastest option (without overclocking) for PS should be the upcoming Kaby Lake i7 7700K (December-January) - but not much faster than your current 6700K.

A 6700K sys with 32GB, GTX1060 6GB and 500GB M.2 NVMe SSD will be around £1200 https://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=WL-734178 and the 7700K should be in the same region. (depending on your needs you could save another £100 replacing the 500GB SSD with a 250GB model.)

 

The other option with higher render performance (multi core) would be a Haswell-E system with 6, 8 or 10 cores, as Nikolaos suggested.

 

If you don't need it now I would suggest to wait at least until mid january when AMD will release their Zen CPUs. There are rumours that they will feature Intel 8-core-performance for ~500€ - I don't think so, but maybe we'll get a surprise like the Athlon XP or Athlon 64 (X2).

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  • 4 years later...

Of course, this is a serious problem and choosing the right equipment is an important step necessary for successful operation. But recently I became convinced that this is not the most important thing. I have experienced burnout and even mental exhaustion. I realized that health is the most important thing that we have and that this is the key to successful activities. On this website I found a way out for myself. Text therapy has proven to be an effective way to combat this condition.

Edited by Michael Scott
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