What to spec.-up a 3d workstation with?

[cws101]

There is a thread with this topic going on in the cpu/o'c forum, i really ment to post it here.

So if you have any ideas, id appreciate your comments.

Http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=28&threadid=242251

cheers.

 

[Eli]

Athlon Thunderbird 800+
256mb PC133
MSI K7T Pro
IBM 75GXP

 

[xtreme2k]

if 'tight budget' then go
Tbird 800+

if want SMP and stability go
Dual 700E on a BX mobo

if crazy go
Quad Xeon 700E 2MB Cache

 

[Eli]

How could you even recomend a P3 for a 3d workstation? The Athlon has a far superior FPU.. It would spank a P3 raw, even at lower clockspeeds ...

 

[cws101]

Sure, but how does that spankin' FPU translate its performance in realworld application ussage? It appears to help with rendering, which can be benchmarked, but how does it perform with other application tasks?

Anyone got boxes at work that run side by side on the two different platforms, and can comment how they perform? (3d apps: Maya/soft/max..)

 

[xtreme2k]

i suppose you want excellent stablity as a 'workstation'

 

[Viper GTS]

A dualie P3 933 BX based system is going to whip ass on ANY Athlon/Duron/TBird system, save for possibly prototype dualie TBird/DDR.

If I was building a workstation I woudl demand the proven compatibility, stability, and performance of the BX chipset/Pentium III processor.

Sorry for all you AMD zealots, but AMD doesn't belong in the workstation market quite yet. They're close, & once dualie TBird & DDR motherboards arrive they may be there. But for right now, the P3 is pretty much the only realistic option for a high-end workstation.

Viper GTS

 

[alnoor]

And to add to Viper's point, that's if the DDR TBird doesn't crash on even touching the mouse. Damn even the current SDRAM TBird aint there yet.

 

[alnoor]

Eli, you tryin to be a real joker by putting an IDE HD into a workstation?

AMD zealot extraordinaire?

 

[xtreme2k]

IDE is fine as a 3d workstation where Disk access are minimal

most time are spent rendering

if it is a 'video editing workstation' then a IDE drive simple wont do it

 

[HigherGround]

If you decide to go SMP you might consider the or840 motherboard (which unlike its lesser brother the i820 is actually pretty damn good). 4x128MB PC800 sticks cost about $1000, 2xPIII 866Mhz will set you back $700 and the OR840 mobo another $350...not the cheapest solution, but certainly the fastest and the most stable.

 

[cws101]

bumper.

Again, this thread is also running in the cpu/o'c forum, with other good comments there.
Http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=28&threadid=242251

HigherGround -my boss aint buying me the box, so 'fraid Rambus and all of co. wont make it on my list (its a money thing, mostly).

Viper -im digging your points.

3d workstation, yeah so IDE fine (only do little clip editing, and dont plan on hugemungarse scene files or textures), nothing i cant wait for, and whose saved money can be put into vid/ram to make things go faster in areas where i dont want to wait for.

Cheers,
-C.

 

[Eli]

Huh. Alnoor, back off, Dick.

Anand uses Thunderbird 1GHz processors and MSI K7T Pro motherboards to run these very forums. I'd say the platform is plenty stable for a Workstation. Anand seems to agree.

cws101- Huh? I understand what you're saying, but there are some Content Creation benchmarks where an Athlon 600 beats a P3/900. Why? Because of the Athlon's rockin' FPU. It's not disputed that the Athlon has a much more powerful FPU than the P3. Please do a little research before you post.

And, with an AMD rig, you could upgrade later, without buying completely new equipment, in some cases .. You'll even be able to use mixed frequency CPUs with any upcomming AMD SMP system.

I am not an AMD zealot, but it's hard to recomend Intel.. It's a dead end, offers no advantage over the Athlon, is cheaper, and is certainly just as stable. The money you would save could be well spent on more memory, bigger HDD, or a better graphics card.

 

[Remedy]

Eli has a point there and i think anand has it in his High end system update so...you might wanna check this out

 

[cws101]

Eli. I am fairly well read on HW basics, i do more than a 'little research before you post'. I do sup up those benchmarks and commentaries, but i ware them realising that they only partially describe how a system will perform in a given environment. I have very little hardware experience within the 3d 'workstation' realm, hence my posts asking advice from those who have real-world experience working on and/or building machines for this purpose. I have picked up on the things you have mentioned (probably read the same sites), and have them in mind, but i feel user assessment by those in the industry helps to substantiate the abstracticals (like the sound comments from benskywalker,viper,xtreme2k.)

Much appreciated.

 

[Eli]

I understand, I wasn't trying to shamelessly flame ... I also did not realize that you were the original poster of the thread..



Go check out Anand's review of the MSI K7T Master... Now we're talking Server/Workstation, baby!

 

[xtreme2k]

when anand choose AMD as his webserver there were reasons behind it

he needs 768MB RAM
NON-Overclocked AGP/Components
perferably high fsb (133MHz - intel or 200DDR - AMD)

therefore
BX doesnt suit this 'requirements' - Overclocked AGP at 133MHz
i815 doesnt suit since it doesnt support more than 512MB RAM
i820/840 doesnt suit as they are too $
and AMD seems to be his only choice

Tbird 1000 has more than enough horsepower as a webserver
And has decent stability (although i must say it is not EXCEPTIONALLY WELL STABLE)