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    • david_hD Offline
      david_h
      last edited by

      USA. .. yes.

      Price Range? Anywhere from say, Oh. . I dunno. . .$15 to . .. What's reasonable for awesomeness?

      Danny, my son-in-law has access to all the cool stuff, he just needs to know what I want.

      If I make it look easy...It is probably easy

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      • ToboboT Offline
        Tobobo
        last edited by

        You want a 64bit machine, lots of RAM and a graphics card that is so powerful that it could out play skynet at chess.

        Toby

        Philippians 4:13

        I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

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        • soloS Offline
          solo
          last edited by

          I'd suggest:

          CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-990X Extreme Edition 3.46 GHz 12M Intel Smart Cache LGA1366

          HDD1: * 128 GB ADATA S501 V2 SATA III 6.0G/s Gaming MLC Solid State Disk
          HDD2: 2Tb Fujitsu 720rpm

          RAM: 24GB (4GBx6) DDR3/1600MHz Triple Channel Memory Module (Corsair)

          MOBO: Asus Rampage III Formula Intel X58 SLI/CrossFireX Triple-Channel DDR3 ATX w/ 7.1 SupremeFX X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity/THX TruStudio Pro Audio, Intel GbLAN, IEEE 1394a, eSATA, USB 3.0, 2x SATA3, 3 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1 & 1 PCI

          GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 2GB 16X PCIe Video Card

          Windows 7 64 bit.

          This will be a top end machine, capable of doing everything.

          http://www.solos-art.com

          If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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          • soloS Offline
            solo
            last edited by

            Do NOT be tempted to get a Quadro GPU, most render engines are moving to GPU and Quadro is not suitable, stick to Geforce.

            http://www.solos-art.com

            If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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            • david_hD Offline
              david_h
              last edited by

              @unknownuser said:

              You want a 64bit machine, lots of RAM and a graphics card that is so powerful that it could out play skynet at chess?
              Oh yeah baby! Cuz I suck at chess.

              @unknownuser said:

              Do NOT be tempted to get a Quadro GPU, most render engines are moving to GPU and Quadro is not suitable, stick to Geforce.
              I wouldn't dream of it. 😒 (i have no idea what that is)

              Thanks for the list Pete. In your mind. . .how much is this Rocket going to run me?

              If I make it look easy...It is probably easy

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              • soloS Offline
                solo
                last edited by

                About $2500

                That's with power suplly, case, etc.

                http://www.solos-art.com

                If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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                • david_hD Offline
                  david_h
                  last edited by

                  okay. . .thanks Pete!

                  Anybody else got their ideas? feel free to chime in.

                  If I make it look easy...It is probably easy

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                  • jeff hammondJ Offline
                    jeff hammond
                    last edited by

                    @unknownuser said:

                    Anybody else got their ideas? feel free to chime in.

                    Link Preview Image
                    iMac

                    The world’s best all-in-one desktop. Supercharged by M4 chip. Built for Apple Intelligence. With a 24-inch 4.5K display. Advanced camera and audio.

                    favicon

                    Apple (www.apple.com)

                    27" with the quad i7 3.4
                    $2200

                    dotdotdot

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                    • Mike LuceyM Offline
                      Mike Lucey
                      last edited by

                      Be sure to post pics as the beast is coming together 👍

                      Support us so we can support you! Upgrade to Premium Membership!

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                      • soloS Offline
                        solo
                        last edited by

                        @unknownuser said:

                        27" with the quad i7 3.4
                        $2200

                        AMD Radeon HD 6970M 👎

                        And then you get the Apple ram issue, they charge an arm and leg for 'Apple' approved ram, and this Mac cannot support 24G ram anyway.

                        http://www.solos-art.com

                        If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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                        • L Offline
                          ledisnomad
                          last edited by

                          I second everything Solo listed. Those are THE best components right now.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • jeff hammondJ Offline
                            jeff hammond
                            last edited by

                            @solo said:

                            @unknownuser said:

                            27" with the quad i7 3.4
                            $2200

                            AMD Radeon HD 6970M 👎

                            And then you get the Apple ram issue, they charge an arm and leg for 'Apple' approved ram, and this Mac cannot support 24G ram anyway.

                            yeah, not sure why they put an M card in there.. probably way more powerful than most people need but still..

                            and i figure suggesting a maxed out 12core macpro w/64GB ram would be a bit of a turnoff pricewise 😄

                            [fwiw, you don't have to buy ram via apple in order to obtain 'apple approved ram']

                            but hey, this isn't my money i'm spending here and i highly doubt david would consider switching OS's anyway..

                            dotdotdot

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                            • soloS Offline
                              solo
                              last edited by

                              http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1141424

                              Maybe I need to be on a Mac. 💚

                              http://www.solos-art.com

                              If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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                              • david_hD Offline
                                david_h
                                last edited by

                                I was just about to say . ..

                                Sorry.. . I think MAC is cool, but I would have to admire its aesthetically pleasing strong points from afar. .. that would be a bit like changing religions at this point.

                                Seriously tho' As far as the $$$ goes. .. sure budget is an issue, but only insofar as it is me over-spending on a machine that is way beyond my abilities. .. but I don't want it to be obsolete next month either.

                                Its like. . .remember that scene in American Graffitti?

                                KID: Toad! is that you behind the wheel of that beautiful car?
                                TOAD: yeah. ..
                                KID: What a waste of machinery. . .

                                If I make it look easy...It is probably easy

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                                • jeff hammondJ Offline
                                  jeff hammond
                                  last edited by

                                  @solo said:

                                  http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1141424

                                  Maybe I need to be on a Mac. 💚

                                  lol
                                  26 pages long.
                                  that forum is nuts - especially when 'it feels like the right time' for a new product to be released.
                                  i have the site bookmarked but generally only read the front page.

                                  dotdotdot

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                                  • david_hD Offline
                                    david_h
                                    last edited by

                                    I knew I was throwing a firebomb by using the religion analogy. . .I don't think all Atheists are exclusively on macs. although that has a certain cache' . . .but I am sure there are folks like myself who just happen to be on a different OS platform . .. . Maybe there's a whole website dedicated to "Mormons on Macs" or whatever. . I dunno.

                                    But back to the issue at hand. can we keep this about ME please. .. .??? 💚

                                    If I make it look easy...It is probably easy

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                                    • jeff hammondJ Offline
                                      jeff hammond
                                      last edited by

                                      @unknownuser said:

                                      But back to the issue at hand. can we keep this about ME please. .. .??? 💚

                                      i thought pete already solved it?

                                      http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=331557#p331557

                                      anything else is just going to lead to confusion/indecision
                                      buy!now!buy!
                                      💚

                                      dotdotdot

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                                      • L Offline
                                        lapx
                                        last edited by

                                        See this from Fletch....
                                        I too am in the market for a new machine.
                                        Hope this enlightens.

                                        This is what I meant to link to...
                                        EDIT:

                                        Hi Lap!
                                        A dual core is the equivalent of today's netbook... not a render machine.

                                        Short answer: buy this! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227325&cm_re=core_i7-2600k--83-227-325--ProductA laptop is not a render beast - it's ok, but not a render machine. Still, corei7 laptop, while half the speed of a corei7 desktop, will still kick the stuffing out of your current machine.

                                        Long answer...
                                        You want as many cores and threads as possible and they need to be as fast and running as COOL as possible. So you need to start with a good motherboard and good processor.

                                        The "best value" - that is - a great render machine for under $1000USD would include the 2600k Currently i7-2600k retails at around $314USD (at NewEgg as of end of May 2011) and runs at 3.4Ghz out of the box.

                                        The i7 has 4 cores, but each core runs 2 threads (this is called hyperthreading) - so you are running now 8 threads on your rendering at 3.4Ghz out of the box - no clock tweaking required for under $300!

                                        This is approx. twice as fast as the laptop version of the currently available i7 CPU.
                                        This is also approximately 1.27x faster than the i7 920 stock speed of 2.66Ghz from 2-3 years ago. (which sold for about the same price at the time it was released)
                                        This is also faster than the Core i7-980X Extreme 3.33GHz which is still retailing for over $1000.

                                        Next - make sure it stays cool, and it will last years. So invest in a good - not cheap - cooling system. The NoctuaD14 is the best air cooler on the market at least it was 10 mths ago... and it's nice and quiet. Liquid cooling is not necessary, but is silent.

                                        The 2600k can be overclocked very easily, and can be rendering at something like 4.2Ghz without much effort.

                                        Make sure you get Good and Fast RAM - at least 6Gb in sticks of 2Gb each. (this will be ddr3 and 1600 min.)

                                        A good and silent power supply like the Corsair 650w will be plenty for most any computer, and is over the required power so that it will run cool and quiet.

                                        After that, everything else is gravy. A nice graphics card will be important - get a good one!

                                        If budget is not a concern, and you're a mac person I saw this setup recently:
                                        Quote:
                                        Mac Pro. The spec is dual 6 core 2.93 Westmere Intel Xeon, 32 Gig RAM , 2 x 2Tbyte HD, 1 ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB GPU + 1 NVIDIA Quadro 4000.
                                        I did not go for any SSD HD as they are way too expensive at moment. For rendering I will have 24 threads @ 2.93<Hz . It should be fast. Also CS5 will be accelerated with CUDA and any other software like Octane could use NVIDIA. Oh forgot to say I will have dual boot.

                                        My computer is 2 years old, and is a corei7920. I paid $980 fully assembled with operating system, everything. (no monitor). I overclocked it easily to 3.62Ghz. So my computer is less than $1000, over 2 years old, and is still equal to half the speed of the Mac the guy lists above. It's also still faster than the out-of-the-box Sandy Bridge - so yes, I'd say it's a good value machine for the price.

                                        My advice is NOT to go for the most expensive machine - because in 2-3 years you could buy a better machine that your "expensive" beast for less than half the price. For $1000 or $1500(top end) you can get a great value render machine that will keep up with most of the "pack" for the next 2 years. expecially if you overclock)

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                                        • david_hD Offline
                                          david_h
                                          last edited by

                                          hey. . .I am all about confusion and indecision. ..

                                          But I like to hear other viewpoints. .. .not about Macs, per se. . .but on most things. 😛

                                          If I make it look easy...It is probably easy

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                                          • david_hD Offline
                                            david_h
                                            last edited by

                                            LAPX . . .wow! didn't see your post. Thanks for that input. I will have to wrok hard to understand it, but My son in law speaks that language.

                                            D

                                            If I make it look easy...It is probably easy

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