56 replies to this topic

[jephree]

Here is the Asus page:

http://www.asus.com/...YermRswb7n46yAX

Many complain of RAM compatibility.

Asus page here for QVL:

http://www.asus.com/...YermRswb7n46yAX

[somescarygirl]

Over all the board has good reviews but it was a little concerning that the 29 most recent reviews all got ratings of 1 or 2 stars/eggs. Maybe newegg just got a bad batch? It just seems weird that it hadn't gotten under a 3star rating until last November and all the ones since then have gotten a rating of 1 or 2. What are your thoughts on that?

I also found this card thats a little bit less I was wondering what you thought about this one compared to the one you suggested the other day. Its only $15 less so I could really go either way but someone sent me this the other day.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814133208

[jephree]

I think the FX1400 is much more suited towards Maya if you cannot afford an FX1500.

The card you linked to has many negative 3D notes.

Maya does note driver specifics and does say which drivers to use for their particular best performance.

http://download.auto...tion_Chart.html

Back on motherboards I am still looking at these three and leaning towards the Gigabyte as it allows for DDR2 1066 RAM whereas the Intel boards here are DDR2 800.

http://www.newegg.co...a...364&bop=And

As to the user reviews it is hard to say. You will find motherboards the most mixed reviewed as so many other options affect performance. If you pick a board and don't get the right RAM or CPU or what have you... There are just so many options that in the long run you are hard pressed to evaluate the motherboard as a single entity.

Here are some professional reviews on that Asus board:

http://www.google.co...amp;btnG=Search

[somescarygirl]

Thanks for being so helpful. I've been out a lot this weekend as it was my birthday on Thursday. I read some of the reviews of the asus board and the gigabyte. I think I'm leaning more towards the gigabyte one as well, but I did recently find this one on newegg thats on sale.
http://www.newegg.co...;Tpk=13-131-299

I've also heard some bad things about the rosewell power supply. Could you recommend another one in that $60 or so price range?

[somescarygirl]

I was looking at the 2nd combo discount http://promotions.ne.....09/478x88.jpg

For the mobo and processor it comes to 360 with the discount and mail in rebate while the gigabyte mobo + the intel q8300 come to 310. It is an extra $50 but do you think it would be worth is over all? I would be willing to spend a little more if it makes the system better and allows for more upgrades later down the line.

[somescarygirl]

Though maybe going with the asus pq5 (http://www.newegg.co...&Tpk=13-131-299) and the intel 8300 would be the cheapest. I can't make up my mind gah!

[somescarygirl]

There is also a deal going on with the asus pq5 (which I kind of am starting to lean towards because it is crossfire ready) to get OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 ram. So after mail in rebates the ram would only be $32, but I don't know how the ocz compares to the kingston hyper x. I've been happy with the kingston ram I bought for my laptop a couple months ago so i don't know if I'm weary just because of my loyalty to kingston.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820227289

[jephree]

Hope you had a great day and weekend!

I wrote most of this prior to seeing your later posts. That combo looks good although as noted later I am a bit skeptical about the DDR 1200 RAM. Perhaps I just need to look at that further.



I went through motherboards again and came up with this list which includes both the Gigabyte and Asus referred to earlier:

http://www.newegg.co...a...e=5&bop=And

I see some RAM issues with the Asus you pointed to and note it is DDR2 1200 whereas a more standard spec is DDR2 1066.

Otherwise the boards in this list are very similar. You will find perhaps the major difference in PCI_E slots. All of these are PCI_E 2.0 with the exception of the original I pointed to which is PCI_E 1.0.

The FX1400 is PCI_E 1.0 but the FX1500 is PCI_E 2.0. Although 2.0 is backwards compatible to 1.0 the card will not run at its full potential.

The other difference is in the number of PCI_E x16 slots but this is only an issue if you were to run multiple graphics cards. Otherwise there is no need for multiple slots but again there is nothing wrong with having empty slots.

Just something that might make a board a bit more expensive.

Otherwise the chipsets and FSB on all these boards are identical.

Sorry to throw in more options but...

------------------------

As to the PSU I found these:

http://www.newegg.co...a...e=2&bop=And

You need to scroll right to see my preferred choice. I have used a few of these myself and find them very good. The others here appear good as well and a bit cheaper.


...

Edited by jephree, 29 March 2009 - 07:06 PM.

[jephree]

Just a quick add:

I go back to your title "Building a 3D rendering machine" and the Maya software.

I previously noted my preference for NVIDIA graphics and Maya shows their minimum NVIDIA card as the FX1500 although people claim good Maya results with the much cheaper FX1400.

I have now looked at the minimum (sans Maya) ATI and get this: GL3600:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814195048

Again the Maya preferred link:

http://download.auto...tion_Chart.html

As to Crossfire in ATI or SLi in NVIDIA this only affects running multiple graphics cards.

These "workstation" cards do not fit into this category.

I run NVIDIA SLi systems for gaming and realtime highend graphics but this is not what the Maya software is about and not what they recommend.

Again this is just based off of creating a machine geared to particular software.

[somescarygirl]

So after thinking everything over I want to run this by you:

Case:
COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-SKN2-GP Black / Silver Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Pasted from http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119104

Power supply:
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
Pasted from http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139004

Motherboard:
One of these 3 http://www.newegg.co...a...e=5&bop=And
Though I'm leaning towards the GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550- found a deal on it for $233
Pasted from http://accessories.u...f0fp19485c0s558

Ram:
OCZ Platinum Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory with Exclusive Bundle of OCZ XTC Fan - Retail
Pasted from http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820227409

Unless you have a better suggestion. I'm unsure with the ram and what brands are better than others.

Video Card:
PNY VCQFX1400-PCIE-PB Quadro FX1400 128MB 256-bit DDR PCI Express x16 Workstation Video Card - Retail $190
Pasted from http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814133142
or
ATI 100-505507 FireGL V3600 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Workstation Video Card - Retail $150
Pasted from http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814195048


Hard Drive:
Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3750330NS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Pasted from http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822148295

DVD:
ASUS Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD Burner with LightScribe - Retail
Pasted from http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827135192


Totals range from $798-$838
What do you think?

[jephree]

Case: yes

Power supply: yes and very nice

Motherboard: yes: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813128359

Processor: yes: nice price

Ram: yes: OCZ is very well recognized: If that rebate holds that is an awesome deal

Video Card: as much as I hate to admit it that ATI card is not only cheaper but has better specs

Hard Drive: yes

DVD: yes


...

Edited by jephree, 30 March 2009 - 12:39 AM.

[somescarygirl]

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231219
someone recommended this ram instead saying that DDR2-800 is fine because the core2 cant go any faster and $5 more than the real cheapies, cl4, reasonable brand now. I don't really know though. The only differences I really saw were the 800 vs 1066 and the latency

Another explained why he thought of the video card and ram choice:
basically because the ati drivers blow (espescially wrt openGL), and you are far more likely to get glitches using them, ie bits of interface not turning up, the 'selection bug' (google it) etc.
Ram-
1) you dont need 1066
2) that RAM is specced for "Voltage 2.2V" which is a MAJOR hassle and generates more heat, JDEC standard is 1.8-1.9v (what the 1 i recommended is)

What do you think?

[jephree]

Thanks for the Google idea:

http://forums.whirlp...fm/1169460.html

I think it is nice for everyone to be involved in the conversation.

[somescarygirl]

Heh I don't know why I didn't just send you that link before.

[somescarygirl]

Heres a couple of sites I've been looking at trying to decide on a video card. This one has a bunch of benchmarks for the PNY Quadro FX 570 but I don't really know what half of them really mean. http://www.tomshardw...e,117.html?prod[2007]=on&prod[310]=on&prod[2008]=on

And I also found this: http://forums.anandt...hreadid=2165187

Originally posted by: Aenslead
Quadro 1700 is about 15-20% faster than the past generation 1500. Quadro FX 1500-like performance is now availbale with the FX 570.
Can you elaborate on that? There's an enormous difference between the 1500 and 570 in price so I'm skeptical but very interested in your statement.

Denithor: Just look for a FireGL V7700 (pro line 3870) on eBay. Sgrinavi has pointed out several of them to me selling in the $200 (auction) to $350 (BIN) range.
That'll handle your needs easily.

Any thoughts? I'm just trying to understand why one is better than the other.