On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:43:27 -0700 (PDT), Liam
<news@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>On Jul 21, 5:11 pm, Conor <conor_tur...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> In article <22ee99e2-da83-4474-a31d-d41b7398cbc2
>> @[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>, Liam says...
>>
>> > > What about CPU? Intel or AMD better than the other for animation
and
>> > > rendering? Do number of cores and MHz matter more or less than the
>> > > amount of RAM?
>>
>> > > Thanks for any advice!
>> > > Liam
>>
>> > PS: This machine won't be used for gaming, just applications like
>> > Lightwave, After Effects, etc.
>>
>> nVidia Quadro FX. Intel CPUs beat AMD hands down.
>
>Wow, Quadros tend to start at $400. That's half my budget.
>It amazes me how different the video tech can be that you can spend
>$500 on a video card that's supposed to be amazing for CAD and
>rendering, but can't run games. Crazy.
>Well, again, gaming isn't a big deal for this machine, but $400+ is
>kinda steep.
>Any recommendations for more around the $15 to $250 range?
You could get something like a 8800GT, or something else you
soft-mod if your applications sup****t that acceleration.
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=539&pgno=0
As for CPU, budget out the rest of the system then see how
much you have left for a (preferribly quad core) intel CPU.
Number of cores and MHz matter more than amount of memory so
long as you have enough memory though I can't say what
amount that might be. Given memory is fairly inexpensive it
could be best to overshoot the mark a bit, if the system is
to use 32bit OS, go ahead and get 4GB of memory. If 64bit,
see how far the budget will go towards more though I doubt
you'll make good use of 8GB so 4GB is probably the best
starting point as 2 x 2GB modules... plus you'd have to see
what the motherboard you choose, sup****ts.
Most decent video cards sup****t dual monitors, pick one with
the outputs your preferred monitors need. You can decide
later to add a 2nd video card if it seems necessary,
providing you choose a motherboard with the 2nd slot for it.
At that budget I would think 1 video card is the right
answer.
While the system won't be meant for gaming, there won't be a
lot of difference in spec'ing it out except you may benefit
more from multiple CPU cores, and since video isn't as
likely to be a bottleneck you may find more benefit to
faster memory - as fast as your preferred motherboard can
sup****t while still retaining the right price-point to stay
in budget. DDR2-800 is the default budget choice but given
some hunting for deals you may find the budget allows
higher.
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