Upgrade to improve 3ds Max performance + 3ds Max display problem

[Telinar]

Hi, I have two questions about the same computer. The specs of this computer are:

Athlon XP 1700+
Asus A7V266-C KT266A Motherboard
512 Mb DDR Ram in two 256 MB modules (PC3200&PC2400)
MSI G4Ti 4400-TD 128 MB DDR

The person using this machine is currently working on a very large 3d file for modeling buildings. I'm not sure if the program being used is 3ds Max or 3d Studio Vis. I know both of these programs are used, but i'm not sure which one is being used for the large 3d drawing. Either way, these two programs are similar. The user of this machine has no problem working on smaller files, however this file is big because it is modeling an entire housing complex. It is when modeling these large designs that slowdowns begin to occur. So, my first question is: Aside from a professional graphics cards, what is the best upgrade for this computer that will speed things up? I've been thinking the RAM is causing the slowdowns, but I'm not sure. If you guys think the only thing that will speed the computer up now is a professional graphics cards, please tell me that also. Thanks!

Now here's my second question. When they actively editing their files using either 3dsmax or 3dvis, there appears to be graphics glitches in the form of lines in the image that shift as the view. Anyone have any idea what could be causing these? They appear on other computers as well.

Anyway, thanks in advance for all your help

 

[oLLie]

bump

 

[SickBeast]

There should be a way for you to "mod" the geforce card into a professional card. As far as I know, you basically just need to install the quadro driver and perform some sort of software tweak.

If this doesn't work I would reccomend a Radeon 9700 as it can definately be turned into a FireGL card.

Make sure you have AT LEAST 512mb of ram. For files that are so large, 1024mb might be needed. Check the task manager in windows to see how much memory is being used.

Athlon CPUs are the best for 3d max. The 1700+ is on the low end of things, but I don't think it's worth upgrading it just yet. Wait until you can get a 3ghz chip for under $100. Good luck, I hope this helps,

 

[Telinar]

Thanks a lot. That post really helped. I might look into modding my card. Also, I just ordered a stick of 512 DDR ram from newegg.

 

[jbond04]

More RAM! I don't know how large is "large" with this housing complex, but I can tell you that 512MB is not very much for working on large files. 1GB may not even be enough (but I bet it will do). Maybe if you could give us more information on the model (how many polygons?), it would be easier to help you.

 

[Telinar]

Ok thanks. Hopefully, the new ram will do the trick. I just hope that it doesn't actually slow it down because I'm getting a PC 2100 stick. The two old sticks already in the computer are PC 2400 and 3200. My chipset is KT266A. Maybe since the chipset is a KT266A, it wasn't able to take advantage of the faster memory sticks before anyway?

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Telinar
Ok thanks. Hopefully, the new ram will do the trick. I just hope that it doesn't actually slow it down because I'm getting a PC 2100 stick. The two old sticks already in the computer are PC 2400 and 3200. My chipset is KT266A. Maybe since the chipset is a KT266A, it wasn't able to take advantage of the faster memory sticks before anyway?

Unless you were overclocking your old sticks, adding the new one won't slow anything down (at least it shouldn't, in theory).