- Oct 28, 2004
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I?m planning to build a new computer for the 3D rendering and animation I do with 3D Studio Max 6 (soon to upgrade to ver.7). I?m still use the default scan line renderer and avoid raytraced materials & lighting to keep my render time down. With my new workstation I would like to begin using the Mental Ray renderer (packaged with Max) and more raytraced materials & lighting.
My current system is:
- AMD Athlon XP3000+400FSB
- Abit AN7 266/333/400MHz FSB; AGP 8X/4X
- 1 GB Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2PRO
- ATI Fire GL X1 128 MB AGP
- Western Digital WD200JBRTL 200 GB
- Windows XP Professional
Shortly after buying this system I realized it wasn?t as stable and powerful as I would of liked, and now I would like to move to a Dual Intel Xeon system. As you see I have a new and pricey video card that is AGP, I missed seeing PCI Express becoming the standard in high end video cards, and can not afford to upgrade this card yet. As I look at dual Xeon motherboards they are now mostly PCI Express and few have AGP.
So, what are some recommendations you have for 3D Workstation with the above criteria? I?ve done some research, and below is what I?ve found on my own. Price is somewhat important in so far as I get the best performance for the dollar. Any suggestions on these choices? Is an Intel motherboard more stable than Tyan? Do I need to match the chips FSB to the motherboards FSB?
Intel #SE7505VB2 Motherboard; Dual Intel Xeon processors with 512KB L2 cache
using Intel E7505 chipset; 533/400 MHz FSB; 1.5V AGP 8X Pro 80 slot; Onboard SATA Silicon Image - 3112A; 4X ECC DDR 266 SDRAM Max 8GB ($329)
Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz with EMT 64, 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache, Hyper Threading Technology ($214 x 2 = $428)
Corsair 184-Pin 512MB ECC Reg DDR PC-2100, Model CM72SD512RLP-2100 ($108 x 2 = $216)
ATI Fire GL X1 128 MB AGP (already own)
Western Digital 74 GB SATA Raptor 10,000 RPM (WD740GD) (Main system drive: $179)
Western Digital 120 GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD1200JBRTL (Swap & storage: already own)
Enermax #EG425P-VE 420 watt power supply (already own)
Windows XP Professional (already own)
Total: $1152 (prices from Newegg.com)
My current system is:
- AMD Athlon XP3000+400FSB
- Abit AN7 266/333/400MHz FSB; AGP 8X/4X
- 1 GB Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2PRO
- ATI Fire GL X1 128 MB AGP
- Western Digital WD200JBRTL 200 GB
- Windows XP Professional
Shortly after buying this system I realized it wasn?t as stable and powerful as I would of liked, and now I would like to move to a Dual Intel Xeon system. As you see I have a new and pricey video card that is AGP, I missed seeing PCI Express becoming the standard in high end video cards, and can not afford to upgrade this card yet. As I look at dual Xeon motherboards they are now mostly PCI Express and few have AGP.
So, what are some recommendations you have for 3D Workstation with the above criteria? I?ve done some research, and below is what I?ve found on my own. Price is somewhat important in so far as I get the best performance for the dollar. Any suggestions on these choices? Is an Intel motherboard more stable than Tyan? Do I need to match the chips FSB to the motherboards FSB?
Intel #SE7505VB2 Motherboard; Dual Intel Xeon processors with 512KB L2 cache
using Intel E7505 chipset; 533/400 MHz FSB; 1.5V AGP 8X Pro 80 slot; Onboard SATA Silicon Image - 3112A; 4X ECC DDR 266 SDRAM Max 8GB ($329)
Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz with EMT 64, 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache, Hyper Threading Technology ($214 x 2 = $428)
Corsair 184-Pin 512MB ECC Reg DDR PC-2100, Model CM72SD512RLP-2100 ($108 x 2 = $216)
ATI Fire GL X1 128 MB AGP (already own)
Western Digital 74 GB SATA Raptor 10,000 RPM (WD740GD) (Main system drive: $179)
Western Digital 120 GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD1200JBRTL (Swap & storage: already own)
Enermax #EG425P-VE 420 watt power supply (already own)
Windows XP Professional (already own)
Total: $1152 (prices from Newegg.com)