Building a Graphics workstation for a friend - need some advice/opinions

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bisket

Member
Jun 13, 2004
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I've built a few machines in the past - but all geared towards gaming.

1. Processor - I def want to go dual core and I'm leaning towards the x2 4800+ (that is if I stay with the socket 939). Would their be any advantages with going to an Intel based dual core chip for non-gaming apps? (Just FYI I'm looking at this Intel Dual Core chip as an alternative to an AMD dual core Intel Pentium D 840 Smithfield 800MHz FSB 2 x 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual Core, EM64T Processor - Retail)

2. Ram - At least 2 gigs of dual channel ram (probably the corsair xms series - pc3200 or above)

3. Video - The plan is to go with a higher end quadro series card - I haven't done alot of research, in this area, to find out what's the best.

4. PSU - 500+ watt

5. Motherboard - I haven't done any research here yet because of my processor dilemma.

6. Hardrives - I would like the main drive to be a raptor 150gig - I know raptors for gaming are awesome, but what about longevity in everyday work? The one drive will more then likely be enough because almost all the files he'll be working on is on a network. Would you recoomend 2 and setup in raid to mirror - or would this sig decrease everyday perfomance?

8. Case - plain jane

I believe that's about it. Any opinions or advice would be appreciated. Thanks anandtech ;)
 
H

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
81
As far as I can tell, the Pentium D 840 renders/encodes almost as fast as the 4800+ but at a much lower price point. You can also keep the memory for future upgrades since both Intel and AMD will be using DDR2 in the future, while if you buy AMD now you'll be getting DDR.

How important is quietness?
 
B

bisket

Member
Jun 13, 2004
33
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quietness will not be a huge issue.

as far as using ddr2 in the future - i know ddr2 is faster then ddr - but whatever is put in this machine - it is a type of machine that he will not upgrade for 3 years or so - not a pc enthusiast - just wants a kick butt machine that's up to date now.
 
H

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
81
Originally posted by: bisket
quietness will not be a huge issue.

as far as using ddr2 in the future - i know ddr2 is faster then ddr - but whatever is put in this machine - it is a type of machine that he will not upgrade for 3 years or so - not a pc enthusiast - just wants a kick butt machine that's up to date now.
Click to expand...
Actually, it's not faster per se: if you want Intel, you have to go with DDR2 - and with AMD, there's no performance difference.

In 3 years, he'll be able to upgrade to a newer processor, whether it'll be Core 2 Duo or something even faster; who knows? But when he does, it might be that he'll just have to replace the CPU (and possibly the motherboard) and reuse the memory.

What's the budget?
 
B

bisket

Member
Jun 13, 2004
33
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0
aweomse - thx for all the info. and i'll prob def go am2 if i go amd.

budget it probably around 2200 - not in stone yet. and yea this is a zero tinkering computer - the case will probably never be opened again, except for the occasional can-o'air clean out, for the next 3-4 years. all the parts will just have to last.
 
H

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
81
Originally posted by: bamacre
You do NOT want a pentium 840, you'll want a 940...

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80852

Or, even a 950...

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80853

Faster, cooler, and cheaper.


As far as memory and motherboard...

Memory...
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85016-47

Motherboard...
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=247065
Click to expand...
I'm having a bit of trouble finding decent comparisons of the 9xx processors vs the X2 lineup. How do they stack up?

Wouldn't it be better to go for DDR2-800 memory?
 
bamacre

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
21,029
2
61
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: bamacre
You do NOT want a pentium 840, you'll want a 940...

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80852

Or, even a 950...

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80853

Faster, cooler, and cheaper.


As far as memory and motherboard...

Memory...
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85016-47

Motherboard...
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=247065
Click to expand...
I'm having a bit of trouble finding decent comparisons of the 9xx processors vs the X2 lineup. How do they stack up?

Wouldn't it be better to go for DDR2-800 memory?
Click to expand...

Tell me about it. It's as if sites have refused to compare the 900's to X2's. I see toms hardware benchies, but they seem goofy. Even AT has not shown hardly any benches. For example, in the Oblivion CPU scores, they bench every dam AMD on the market, but only the Intel 631, 820, 840, and 930. As far as pricing goes, why even bother benching the 631 and 820? And why not the 940 and 950? I searched on google yesterday for about an hour and found nothing.

As far as memory, not sure how much a performance increase one would get with DDR2 800mhz over 667mhz with an 800mhz FSB Pentium.
 
H

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
81
Originally posted by: bamacre
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: bamacre
You do NOT want a pentium 840, you'll want a 940...

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80852

Or, even a 950...

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80853

Faster, cooler, and cheaper.


As far as memory and motherboard...

Memory...
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85016-47

Motherboard...
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=247065
Click to expand...
I'm having a bit of trouble finding decent comparisons of the 9xx processors vs the X2 lineup. How do they stack up?

Wouldn't it be better to go for DDR2-800 memory?
Click to expand...

Tell me about it. It's as if sites have refused to compare the 900's to X2's. I see toms hardware benchies, but they seem goofy. Even AT has not shown hardly any benches. For example, in the Oblivion CPU scores, they bench every dam AMD on the market, but only the Intel 631, 820, 840, and 930. As far as pricing goes, why even bother benching the 631 and 820? And why not the 940 and 950? I searched on google yesterday for about an hour and found nothing.

As far as memory, not sure how much a performance increase one would get with DDR2 800mhz over 667mhz with an 800mhz FSB Pentium.
Click to expand...
It's not much of a MHz increase when going from DDR2-667 to DDR2-800, right? The Corsair VS DDR2-667 should be able to make it to DDR2-800 if that's the case, saving $40.
 
H

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
81
Originally posted by: bamacre
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: bamacre
You do NOT want a pentium 840, you'll want a 940...

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80852

Or, even a 950...

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80853

Faster, cooler, and cheaper.


As far as memory and motherboard...

Memory...
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85016-47

Motherboard...
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=247065
Click to expand...
I'm having a bit of trouble finding decent comparisons of the 9xx processors vs the X2 lineup. How do they stack up?

Wouldn't it be better to go for DDR2-800 memory?
Click to expand...

Tell me about it. It's as if sites have refused to compare the 900's to X2's. I see toms hardware benchies, but they seem goofy. Even AT has not shown hardly any benches. For example, in the Oblivion CPU scores, they bench every dam AMD on the market, but only the Intel 631, 820, 840, and 930. As far as pricing goes, why even bother benching the 631 and 820? And why not the 940 and 950? I searched on google yesterday for about an hour and found nothing.
Click to expand...
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/pentium-d-920-930_10.html
 
bamacre

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
21,029
2
61
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: bamacre
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: bamacre
You do NOT want a pentium 840, you'll want a 940...

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80852

Or, even a 950...

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80853

Faster, cooler, and cheaper.


As far as memory and motherboard...

Memory...
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85016-47

Motherboard...
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=247065
Click to expand...
I'm having a bit of trouble finding decent comparisons of the 9xx processors vs the X2 lineup. How do they stack up?

Wouldn't it be better to go for DDR2-800 memory?
Click to expand...

Tell me about it. It's as if sites have refused to compare the 900's to X2's. I see toms hardware benchies, but they seem goofy. Even AT has not shown hardly any benches. For example, in the Oblivion CPU scores, they bench every dam AMD on the market, but only the Intel 631, 820, 840, and 930. As far as pricing goes, why even bother benching the 631 and 820? And why not the 940 and 950? I searched on google yesterday for about an hour and found nothing.
Click to expand...
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/pentium-d-920-930_10.html
Click to expand...

Very interesting, still love to see how the 940 @ $255 competes with the x2 3800.

The 920 and 930 seemed to OC pretty well. In fact the 930 at less than $200 still seems like a bargain to me, I like it much more so than the 805, but then again, I'm not an OC'er. I think those that were looking for a budget X2 should really look into the P 930.

Intel certainly wasn't able to beat AMD's X2's in performance with their 900 series, but with the price cuts a few weeks ago, things are certainly more competitive, except for those looking for the higher-end cpu's. Intel just has nothing to compete performance-wise with an X2 4200 and everything above, well, at least for 2 more months.
 
silverpig

silverpig

Lifer
Jul 29, 2001
27,703
12
81
Why the high end quadro? Photoshop won't benefit from it at all. Just how much is "some" 3d? Will it be heavy usage? How many triangles per scene?
 
H

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
81
Originally posted by: silverpig
Why the high end quadro? Photoshop won't benefit from it at all. Just how much is "some" 3d? Will it be heavy usage? How many triangles per scene?
Click to expand...
and some video and 3d.
Click to expand...
You're right, though, we don't know how intensive his 3D work is.
 
Fullmetal Chocobo

Fullmetal Chocobo

Moderator<br>Distributed Computing
Moderator
May 13, 2003
13,704
7
81
Consider my wife's "gaming" machine just pwned my machine in Photoshop today (we were racing), go with a normal video card if your primary goal is going to be PS. However, having a Quadro will greatly increase your performance in setting up scenes in programs like 3D Studio Max and Maya. So if you are going to be doing that, atleast get a Quadro 4. You don't need a high end Quadro to get into it. Not to mention that you can always upgrade later.

Wife's machine = Opty 148 (single core), 2GB RAM, Raptor 74gb
My machine = dual Xeon w/ HT 2.66GHz, 2GB RAM, 1.75TB hd space
 
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