alikashan

hi guys
i want to buy a new workstation for my max work.
can you help me with it.
specially about the V.J card and processor mother board and ram.
well these are the main parts of c.p.u
i am in a hurry,
regards
ali kashan

__________________
Ali Kashan
Stranger than LIfe......... but Still Learning

AJLynn

What's your budget and what do you work with? Are you looking for a machine to do your modeling and then use distributed rendering to share the rendering workload, or one machine to do all the work?

For a value system, an AthlonX2 is great, along with a midrange video card (Quadro 1400, FireGL V5000 or 5100) or a higher end consumer-level card (Geforce 6800 or 7800 series) - depends on the complexity of your modeling - and 2GB of RAM is pretty standard these days. For higher-end, if you want a lot of rendering power in one box, dual-dual Opterons is the way to go. I use a P4-2.8 with 2GB and a FireGL V5100, and more boxes for distributed rendering when I need it, and it handles anything I throw at it.

alikashan

hi
ajlynn i dont have a free budget but quite a good one and i am not an athlon user so of you say that what is the best intel processor i think it will do for me and my modelling isnt very complex actually.
regards

__________________
Ali Kashan
Stranger than LIfe......... but Still Learning

STRAT

i dunno why peeps rave about video cards. the bog standard that comes with a pc today is more than adequate for 3d.

__________________

AJLynn

Currently, the AMD options outperform the Intel options, which is why I mentioned AMD chips. I've seen Intel Xeon dual-dual (two dual-core CPUs, 4 CPU cores total, and Hyperthreading is not the same as dual-core) 2.8GHz systems (Dell has one) but the dual-dual Opterons are faster and less expensive. Either is good but the Opterons will cut your render times. Unless you have a good reason for using Intel only.

Either way, with a large budget go dual-dual with at least 2 gigs of RAM, RAID hard drives, Quadro FX 1400+ or FireGL V5100+, and don't skimp on the monitor. Boxx is one of the better vendors.

AJLynn

I dunno, I tried doing my modeling on a Radeon last semester and as soon as it got complicated it started wheezing. Granted they're a lot better than a few years ago (Max on my old laptop with a 16MB Mobility card was just painful) but if you've got a large budget and you're paying these outrageous workstation prices, and you can get some productivity boost from a better card, I think it makes sense.

BTW, Ali, maybe I misread your line about your budget - if you want to save some money, forget Boxx but go with a normal PC vendor with a good warranty, get a consumer dual-core system (I still recommend AthlonX2 over Pentium D) and a higher-end Geforce card, and set your software for DirectX display mode. Manually run Windows Update to make sure you have the newest DirectX release, which works well with the newest Geforce cards.

maxhouse

Hello,
I have been reading many threads here addressing the purchase of a 3d mobile workstation and have found all of your discussions very helpful.

In course, I am very close to deciding on an Alienware MJ-12® m7700a, regardless of the heat fan and battery issues because they seem to provide almost all of the recommended components that you tech savvy guys have been discussing at a lower price than boxx or even dell (I think).

Budget 3k to 4k us

laptop uses:
- autocad ADT 2006 and 3d studio max 7 for modeling and rendering
- adobe and macromedia products for graphic design, web design etc.
- some video editing

I am in need of this machine because I move around a lot to clients offices, home and office and need to consolidate all of my work requirements to be more efficient.

the laptop would be used as a mobile work station more than a dvd viewer on planes and such BUT I would still like to be able to enjoy some mobile benefits at times such as mp3 and video and occasional games.

Most importantly, I would like to have great render times but would also like to be able to handle large photoshop files efficiently while multi-tasking.

I have read some threads that indicate dual core processors may be great for rendering but not so great for single processor capable programs such as photoshop. I don’t know how true that is so it is a concern.

Also not sure if raid is preferable for my needs or overkill. I'm not sure what Extreme Performance (RAID 0) is but it sounds good

So, my question is with particular componet selection...I can’t seem to decide on a few issues and would really appreciate anyone’s opinions regarding the manufacturer choice as well as componet selections.


specs choices for Alienware MJ-12® m7700a
********************

processor choices:

AMD Athlon™ 64 FX
AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-60 with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology [+$252]
AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-57 with HyperTransport Technology
AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 [-$655]
4800+ with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology [+$363 or $11/mo.]
4600+ with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology [+$256 or $8/mo.]
4400+ with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology [+$122 or $4/mo.]
4200+ with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology
AMD Athlon™ 64 [-$902]
4000+ with HyperTransport Technology
3800+ with HyperTransport Technology
3500+ with HyperTransport Technology
3200+ with HyperTransport Technology
AMD Opteron™ [-$860]
175 2.2 GHz 64-Bit w/ Dual Core [+$435]
170 2.0 GHz 64-Bit w/ Dual Core [+$294]
154 2.8 GHz 64-Bit [+$959]
152 2.6 GHz 64-Bit [+$688]
148 2.2 GHz 64-Bit [+$110]
144 1.8 GHz 64-Bit
********************

Graphics card choices:

256MB NVidia® Quadro™ FX Go 1400
256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7800 GTX [+$161 or $5/mo.]
256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 6800 Ultra [-$226]
256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 6800 [-$312]
********************

hard drive choices:

Single Drive Configuration
40GB 5400 RPM SATA [-$145]
60GB 5400 RPM SATA [-$100]
80GB 5400 RPM SATA [-$64]
80GB 7200 RPM SATA
100GB 7200 RPM SATA [+$207 or $7/mo.]
120GB 5400 RPM SATA [+$85 or $3/mo.]
Dual Drive Configuration (Non RAID) [-$60]
80GB (40GB x 2) 5400 RPM SATA
120GB (60GB x 2) 5400 RPM SATA
160GB (80GB x 2) 5400 RPM SATA
160GB (80GB x 2) 7200 RPM SATA
200GB (100GB x 2) 7200 RPM SATA
240GB (120GB x 2) 5400 RPM SATA
Extreme Performance (RAID 0) [-$60]
80GB (40GB x 2) 5400 RPM SATA
120GB (60GB x 2) 5400 RPM SATA
160GB (80GB x 2) 5400 RPM SATA
160GB (80GB x 2) 7200 RPM SATA
240GB (120GB x 2) 5400 RPM SATA
200GB (100GB x 2) 7200 RPM SATA
High Performance with Data Security (RAID 1) [-$60]
********************
So, i would love to hear any ideas concerning these choices listed above or any other suggestions.

I am trying very hard to get up to speed on all of these current tech issues but lean heavily on you guys who are obviously talented and motivated followers of current hardware/software developments.

Thanks in advance!
Bob

AJLynn

Well, there are three main drawbacks to these Alienwares: expense, travel weight and battery life. You're paying a lot for a computer that's not so much a mobile as something you can carry from one place with a desk and AC power to another, risking a shoulder sprain If you don't mind this, it's a great computer. The AthlonX2 is probably the right choice - the main advantage of the Opterons is that you can use more than one of them, which doesn't seem to apply here. (I may be wrong - do they actually make these beasts with dual socket motherboards??) Again, QuadroFX 1400 vs. Geforce 6800 - paying more for the 7800 than the 1400 is ridiculous - is up to you. Do you do complex enough modeling to make it worth $300? Compare the speed of these cards to whatever you use now and decide for yourself.

RAID 0 (striped) is a technology that uses two hard drives with a controller that makes them appear to Windows as one hard drive (e.g. 2x80GB with RAID is a 160GB drive). The speed advantage comes from the controller's ability to split the work between the drives - when you write a 20MB file, 10MB goes to each drive simultaneously, making the RAID almost twice as fast as a single drive. I use this on my studio desktop and it's definitely worthwhile, but in a laptop, it means you're using twice as much power on hard drives, so less battery time and more heat.

Speaking of heat, if you have these you're going to need one of these laptop coolers they sell at CompUSA - I think it's made by Antec, and it's basically a box that goes between your desk and your laptop with some fans in it to provide extra cooling. Also, these laptops should never be placed on top of your lap. They are hot enough to impair your ability to reproduce. (Really.)

maxhouse

AJLynn,
Holy Heat, Batman!

ya, im starting to get the feeling that alienware, boxx etc. are a bit too expensive and not worth the obvious drawbacks.

i also take your point about real portability...i guess i will need more of an overall high preformance laptop to do normal business functions as well as rendering and graphics.

now i may be looking into a dell...it looks like M70 is the way, not the xps.

as long as i have a decent "M" processor and graphics card (NVIDIA Quadro FX Go1400 256MB OpenGL graphics) it seems like i should still be able to render my architectural work with good results, use photoshop, etc. and actually use the thing like a genuine laptop when out of the office.

do you think the:

Pentium M Processor 770 (2.13GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533FSB)15.4WSXGA+ LCD

will render fairly complex architectural model stills and animations well enough to use while working outside the office? thats my real concern...i still want to have a decent render time using the laptop and just dont know what to think about the "M" that comes in the M70's.

thanks again,
bob

maxhouse

well, after reading some more posts, it looks like the only question i have is about the processor in the following machine.

here it is:

Dell Precision Mobile Workstation M70:

price: $3,226

Processor:
Pentium® M Processor 770 (2.13GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533FSB)15.4 WUXGA LCD

Operating Systems:
Genuine Windows® XP Professional, SP2, No Media

File System:
NTFS File System

Hardware Support Services:
3 Year On-site Mobility Plan

Memory:
2GB, 533MHz, DDR2 SDRAM (2 DIMMS)

Battery:
9-Cell Primary Battery

Additional Battery:
9-Cell Spare primary battery

Boot Hard Drives:
80GB Hard Drive (7200 RPM)

Modular Bay Devices:
24X max/10X min CD-ROM Drive

Floppy Drive Options:
No Floppy Drive Option

Carrying Cases:
Deluxe Leather Carrying Case

Resource CD:
Resource CD - contains Diagnostics and Drivers

Systems Management:
Dell OpenManage Client Instrumentation

Quick Reference Guide:
Quick Reference Guide

Wireless Local Area Networking Options:
Intel® PRO/Wireless 2915 WLAN (802.11a/b/g, 54Mbps) miniPCI Card

Modem:
Internal 56K Modem

Wireless Personal Area Networking:
Dell Wireless®350 Bluetooth Module

Graphics Cards:
NVIDIA® Quadro® FX Go1400 256MB OpenGL graphics

1394a Notebook Card:
Adaptec® 1394a CardBus Notebook Adapter

any obvious gaffes in your opinion?

bob