3D Animation Workstation Research

[IanE]

Hello everyone!

I'm about to head out to college for 3D Animation and Media Arts, and I was thinking about getting a workstation pc ready for my internship final year. As you can imagine, I'm looking for a budget-efficient machine, since I'll be in college but also since I'll be paying for everything myself.

Currently my system is as follows and I was wondering if there was a dire need to upgrade to a full-blown dual CPU workstation, or if this will work at excellent conditions doing high-end 3D in Maya and 3ds Max 7, also Photoshop CS and of course the usual gaming.

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ @ 2.0ghz w/ stock HSF
MOBO: MSI K8N Neo Platinum
MEMORY: 512mb Geil PC3200 CAS 2.5
VIDEO: BFG GeForce 6800GT 256MB
HDD: Seagate Baracuda 120GB @ 7,200 RPM
PSU: Antec True 480w
CASE: Thermaltake Tsunami Dream
onboard sound and you know the rest...

If I would need an upgrade to really get the most out of Maya/3ds Max (which I think I do) I'd like to use dual Xeons, but I was wondering if I could carry over the graphics card, get 2gb Corsair memory cus my current pc crashes maybe once a week and I can't figure it out (whle I'm on that subject, I've got a bunch of minidumps if somebody knows how to read them maybe tell me what's screwin up?), new motherboard for the duals, and maybe a Raptor as the main HDD?

Any suggestions or your own personal workstation setups are greatly appreciated! I'll add more as I research this more. Thanks in advance.

Ian

 

[imported_Kensai]

That's pretty okay, the Raptor will give you better loading speeds, 1GB of ram will help alot for 3D animation.

 

[ribbon13]

Wow...

Fast CPU and 1GB+ ram are dire needs for said applications. 6800GT is totally out of place.

Overclocking and real workstations do not mix.

You'd really be better of with a dual Opteron for such usage.

 

[IanE]

Would the 6800GT be bad for what I'd like to do? I wanted to avoid having to purchase a Quaddro or any other card, but what needs to be done needs to be done!

Any explanation on how the 6800GT would be bad, though? Or how a different card would work better? I know the pro cards are set up to handle data differently and have more stability when it comes to 3D Animation, but the GT won't get me by?

 

[ribbon13]

It would. What I meant is the money spent on it would be much better spent elsewhere with that config. Anything less than a gig of ram would be a bad idea.

edit: I see that its the system you already have. But still you should upgrade to a gig at the very least.

If you really want a serious machine, get a Tyan Thunder K8WE motherboard. Start out with a single Opteron 244, and a single stick of Corsair CM72SD512RLP-3200. Then get another stick of that ram. Then another Opteron 244 (1 stick each now), then two more sticks of ram.

 

[IanE]

I was under the impression that Intels are better than AMD when it comes to high end production? But I guess it's personal preference when it comes to Xeon vs Opteron, unless I'm completely mistaken somebody please correct me if so!

Yea, the 512 Geil is cus I'm broke saving for college... When the workstation comes along I'm aiming for 2-4gb of Corsair.

Would it be possible (and practical) to sell the current PC and use that money towards the workstation when the time comes?

 

[ribbon13]

I prefer Opteron because I pay my own powerbill, because I like quiet machines (I sleep in the same room), and because it performs better than Xeons a lot of the time. Also Xeons don't something Opterons do. Drop-in dual-core upgrade path.

 

[IanE]

Ah, so the Xeons are power hungry are they? That's not a huge issue, but it's always nice to save. You said you like quiet machines, are you refering to the HSF that comes with the Opterons, or do dual CPU procs make noise?

No idea what a Drop-in dual-core upgrade path is or what it does, but I assume it's AMD's coutner to hyperthreading?

 

[ribbon13]

Dual-core is a single CPU die with two processors basically. Intel's version will take a new motherboard, the Opterons won't.

 

[IanE]

So that's virtually having 4 processors with the dual CPUs, that's impressive.

About to read about the Corsair memory you recommended.

The Tyan Thunder K8WE is a pretty expensive board, but it's got 2 PCI-e 16x slots... so I'd be better off selling the current rig for what I can get for it, and then getting 2 pci-e cards?

EDIT: That memory seems very stable, and at a good speed. Haven't had any experience with ECC, very interesting. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[ribbon13]

You don't have to use both slots, but you could. I run a X850 XT PE and a Wildcat Realizm 800 myself. One for modeling, one for in-gameengine testing. That sort of workstation is an investment. Once completed though, it would be formidable. If you don't need SCSI its about $430 for the K8WE. You'd need an EPS12V PSU and EATX case too though. It might not be an option for you for the time being.

Another option would be to get a nF4 based PCIe 939 board. You'd have to replace your vid card, but dual-core will come to 939 too.

 

[wakawaka]

ribbon13 is made of money....

This is official..

 

[IanE]

So one slot could run a 6800GT equivalent and then later on, if desired, I could add another of the same card, or even a different one as you did, to the board?

You don't need both procs and both pci-e slots filled, and can operate on 1 of each while waiting for the other proc and maybe later on the other card?

The price isn't really a problem, it might just take a while to get the rig going with bills and school and such, but it is indeed an investment especially since I'll be working on it frequently.

SCSI is a type of HDD connection right, like RAID or SATA?

 

[ribbon13]

You don't have to have both PCIe slots filled, but you do have to have CPU2 to use the second PCIe slot.

SCSI is a type of connection/drive. Generally used for servers/workstations.

 

[IanE]

I see, the slots can't work without their counterparts, makes sense!

I don't know what type of connections or drives I should use, but I would definitely like server quality stability on the workstation. Is SCSI the way to go, or is there a huge difference between other connections and drives?

Thanks for all your help so far by the way, i really appreciate it!

 

[ribbon13]

SCSI rules, but is prohibitively expensive.

 

[IanE]

Would there be more practical and budgetwise connection types, I was thinking of maybe just a 4 drive RAID, master as a raptor and the rest as 7,200, but I quickly realized I don't know why anyone would need 4 drives and not just 1 large drive. Partition issues with software? Can anyone explain that?

 

[ribbon13]

with RAID its best to have matching drives. Maybe a Raptor and a larger storage drive.

 

[Sentinel]

I do animation with my setup, just a 1700 OC@2GHz/1G Ram/9600XT it's fine for me

note: for college classes (not incredibly intensive work)

 

[IanE]

I'll prolly just stick with a raid then with the Raptor and a slave?

As for Sentinels comment about college classes.... 2nd and 3rd year work will be intense, especially since I plan to do outside work on my own.

More research!

 

[ribbon13]

RAID would be unnecessary. A raptor and a slave wouldn't be matching drives now would they?

How much it would take to get started


I'd reccomend getting the S2895UA2NRF or S2895A2NRF from AxentMicro. The 'U' version has dual U320 SCSI onboard. Wether you want to invest in SCSI or not is up to you.

The 'sweet spot' for Opterons right now is the 244.
$232 AMD OSA244BOX

I'd reccomend two 512mb sticks per cpu for the time being. You have a variety of options here.
512mb $81 Corsair CM72SD512RLP-3200
1024mb $168 Corsair CM72SD1024RLP-3200

For a chassis, you'll need EATX. I'd suggest a ($227) Lian-Li PC-V2000B or a ($130) Enlight EN-8950B00. I've also heard good things about the Coolermaster Stacker.

The only PSU I would reccomend is the PCP&C Turbo-cool 510 AG.

 

[Boy Hits Car]

My job requires work in 3D Max and let me tell you that it is absolutely essential to get at least 1GB of memory. Our comp would bog down and crash constantly after a few minutes of work until we upgraded to 1Gig of memory. Save on the video card and get a cheaper card.

 

[Duvie]

Get a 6800 and softmod it into a quadro like me.....6800NU at 250 is all you need....


I am going to go dual core dual opterons but not all need to drop that kind of cash....


I like ribbons suggestions for me.....

 

[IanE]

Duvie

Thanks so much for posting, read a lot of your posts on this subject earlier today, really value your insight!

When you say softmod a 6800 to the quadro... do you mean the 128mb 6800, or the current GT? Also, can you explain softmodding, it's advantages and disadvantages compared to just getting a quadro?

Really like to hear more on this subject from you.

Thanks guys.

 

[Sentinel]

Originally posted by: IanE
I'll prolly just stick with a raid then with the Raptor and a slave?

As for Sentinels comment about college classes.... 2nd and 3rd year work will be intense, especially since I plan to do outside work on my own.

More research!

What college do you attend?