i would say make an extrusion (follow me or curviloft) of a triangle shape along the spline path (bezier spline and maybe Curvizard) and then scale it a bit along the z-axis - eventually using the FFD plugin since it seems to be more distorted on the upper part.

If you plan to use this laptop for the next 5-6 years i think the $200 more will be not very much... ~$30 per year?

The points for me would be:

• do you really think you're still able to do serious 3D work on this laptop in 6 years? For office work etc. it could be ok. but for rendering?
• i don't think it is a good idea to buy a laptop as render machine and let it render for days (continuous load, heat). If you need the portability then it's ok, but otherwise almost every desktop quadcore will be faster and cheaper.
• why did you choose the 3630QM not the 3740QM ( http://ark.intel.com/products/70847 ). Not available? I don't think the additional 2 MB Cache will give you anything for 3D and rendering and the clockrate is the same (2,7/3,7 GHz) for ~$200 less
  ( http://www.notebookcheck.com/Mobile-Prozessoren-Benchmarkliste.1809.0.html )

@formalyknownasmartin said:

Gibt es hier jemand, der die Ränder-Suite gekauft hat und hat die einen Mehrwert?

Ich hab es gekauft, als das Ding sich noch nicht "Suite" geschimpft hat und noch in der Beta-Version verfügbar war - damals allerdings noch mit deutlich geringerem Funktionsumfang.
(und mittlerweile auch diverse Updates auf V2 erworben)

Also die bedeutendsten Unterschiede sind m.E. der Materialeditor, das Netzwerk-Rendering, die Unterstützung von Render-Channels und das schon erwähnte Multilight. Und natürlich die Möglichkeit, Maxwell in Kombination mit diversen anderen Programmen zu nutzen, inkl. MXI-Unterstützung für Photoshop, After Effects und Nuke.

Es kommt natürlich darauf an, wie Du arbeitest und was Du damit machen willst, aber ich könnte Maxwell ohne keines der genannten Features sinnvoll einsetzen. Vor allem die Materialeinstellmöglichkeiten in Sketchup sind ja doch sehr dürftig. Ich arbeite fasst ausschließlich mit externen/verlinkten Materialien.

Hinzu kommt noch das Studio, ohne das z.B. eine Kombination von verschieden MXS bisher nicht möglich war - hat sich jetzt etwas geändert durch die MXS-Referenzen, aber ganz ohne würde ich auch jetzt nicht auskommen, da ich zusätzlich zu Sketchup mit 3DSmax arbeite und öfter mal Szenen im Studio zusammenfüge. Außerdem kann es durchaus nützlich sein für Materialtests, da der normale Materialeditor leider immer noch keine Möglichkeit bietet, die Vorschau zu vergrößern.

Außerdem ist Maxwell für Sketchup nur 32bit, die Vollversion kann in der 64bit-Ausführung mehr Speicher verwalten. Und sie unterstützt keine 32bit Output-Formate (wie es mit 16bit PNG aussieht weiß ich nicht)

@formalyknownasmartin said:

Die Begriffe sind zwar erklärt (da sie sich schon von anderen Renderern unterscheiden) aber die Wechselwirkung zwischen den verschiedenen Einstellmöglichkeiten kommen ziemlich dürftig rüber. Gibt es ein gutes Forum mit Tutorials dafür? Die Abhängigkeit von SL und Threads hat sich mir noch nicht richtig erschlossen. Bezieht sich Threads auf die Berechnung der Lichtspiegelungen und SL auf die "Feinheit" des Bildes?

Die "Dürftigkeit" der Ausführungen liegt wahrscheinlich darin begründet, dass es keine "Wechselwirkungen" gibt. Das sind zwei unterschiedliche Dinge... Die Threads beziehen sich rein auf die CPU-Threads die Maxwell nutzen darf. Das hat nichts mit Qualität zu tun. In der Einstellung "0" werden alle verfügbaren Threads genutzt (Normaleinstellung).
Wenn wir mal die Preview-Engine außen vor lassen, so gibt es prinzipiell keine Qualitätseinstellungen in Maxwell, da dies dem Prinzip des "unbiased renderings" widersprechen würde. Die einzige Möglichkeit, die Qualität zu verbessern, besteht darin, ein Rendering länger laufen zu lassen, durch die Wahl eines höheren Sampling Levels (SL), bzw. einer längeren Renderzeit.
Es gibt außerdem noch die Möglichkeit, direkte und indirekte Caustics auszuschalten, allerdings konnte ich dadurch bisher noch keine wirklichen Geschwindigkeitsvorteile feststellen, es kann aber im Einzelfall evtl. helfen (auch, wenn's dann eigentlich auch nicht mehr unbiased ist - aber die Dispersion ist ja auch standardmäßig abgeschaltet.

Die Preview-Engine bietet noch die Möglichkeit, verschiedene Qualitätsstufen auszuwählen, was sich wohl auf das Antialiasing und ich vermute auch auf die Anzahl der Bounces auswirkt (Was dann aber nicht mehr "unbiased" wäre).

since sketchup is only single threaded you should definitely go for an i7. Much better single core performance... even better when overclocked.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/cpu-charts-2012/-01-Cinebench-11.5,3142.html

@rich o brien said:

If a Xoogler/Trimbler/SketchUpper is reading this please give Pro users quads and sub-d.....before some else does

Yes, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!

no cooler anymore?

@dod3r said:

5 - Ribbon ... And autodesk jumped on the bandwagon.

Unfortunately, yes... But thankfully there is a way to switch it of...

So please!!!! Not this ribbon-s*** for sketchup!

...btw, i'm still using office 2003 because of this "new feature"

Wow, 19,62€ for a CNPS12X? Really? If this is true, i think it's clear why they are out of stock...
The CNPS12X seems to be really great - but normally a bit expensive
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/zalman-cnps12x_5.html

If you don't get one, i think the cheapest good cooler is still the Thermalright HR-02 Macho Rev. A

One more thing about the Seasonic... if you would like to have removable cables there is also a M12 II 620W for a few bucks more (i've just ordered one today for my new rendernode )

WOW!!! This is really helpful! Great! Thank you very much!!!
And Merry Christmas to you too!

The Seasonic that i posted should be enough for one video card - even if you plug in a GTX580/680. No need for 80plus GOLD - Gold is not stronger, only a few percent more efficient (~5%) than Bronze - but much more expensive...
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus )

I really don't know what to say about the video card... If the 560 or 560TI is too expensive for you, then buy a cheaper one!?
But as most of the time if you buy components - you get what you pay for! A GTX 550 or 550TI could be ok. But i would not go below a GTX 550. I think a GT440 is not worth the money - then you can better use the embedded chip...
The 550TI should be ~30-40% slower than a 560TI but for maybe 50% less money - i'm not sure about the 550.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2012-vga-gpgpu/19-Tom-s-Hardware-Index-B-Performance,2976.html

I think 949 SEK = 110€ is still cheap or normal for Win7 Pro x64 OEM.
If you want it cheaper you could buy a "labled" version. These are reselled OEM Reinstallation DVDs, normally from Dell. I have already bought two of these and registered successfully - but no guaranty from my side! (But i would not buy it on ebay!)
I don't know if there are swedish versions...
http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B005KJ9P2U/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=330045087&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B004BMPJZO&pf_rd_m=A3JWKAKR8XB7XF&pf_rd_r=1CKAY6RQ79JE7GBA9H80

Is THIS guy serious...?!?

@unknownuser said:

I wish to God she had had an M-4 in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out and she didn’t have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands and takes him out and takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids

.

To get a rough overview of the available cards you should maybe take a look at the linked comparison chart on tomshardware...

nvidia names the faster cards of a line "GTX" and the slower ones "GT". I think everything under "50" (GTX550 or GTX650) is named GT now.
Like i said before, i would look for a GTX 560 or GTX 560 TI. They are available with 1GB and 2GB RAM and different coolers from different brands.
Everything above is too energy consuming for daily sketchup work - in my opinion (and is too expensive and runs too hot).
The newer 6xx series seems to be not so good for professional 3D work.

I would say this looks good now...

But i think you misunderstood my hint for the video card?!? I didn't mean that a GTX 430/440 would be better than the intel graphics, but that the HD4000 is almost at the same level like the worst available video cards on the market and that something like a GTX 560 (TI) would be much better...

But if you buy an active cooled card you should watch out for noisy fans... better read some reviews.

How about a CPU cooler?

I don't know if you are actually reading what i am typing here... but i will try it again.

1. wattage is not everything - you need enough ampere
2. efficiency is normally best at 50-60% load
3. noise

And i think you should get a video card if you want to use that machine for modeling and graphic stuff...
You can compare the performance of the HD4000 embeded graphics only with the lowest end video cards on the market, and even then it is slower:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i7_3770K_Ivy_Bridge_GPU/23.html

and now look how the GT430, GT440 or HD6670 perform compared to a good midrange card like the GTX560TI:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2012-vga-gpgpu/19-Tom-s-Hardware-Index-B-Performance,2976.html
not really comparable...

But you can try it and plug in a card later.

The CX500 has a single rail design with 38A combined. It is possible, that 500W and 38A will be enough, but i can't guarantee. This depends on the video card i would say.
Like i wrote before i would take one with at least ~50A combined on the +12V rail.
Something like this:
http://www.dustinhome.se/product/5010586850/corsair-tx-650w-v2-natdel-atx12v-2-3-eps12v/#intcmp=searchProvider_dacsa (52A combined)
http://www.corsair.com/en/media/cms/manual/TX-V2_manual.pdf
The 650HX and the 500CX seem to be build by Channel Well. http://www.tomshardware.de/Netzteil-OEM-Hersteller,testberichte-240604-5.html
I don't know this manufacturer, but from the critics on the net it should be a good one.

or this one

http://www.dustinhome.se/product/5010628023/seasonic-s12-ii-620w-psu/#intcmp=searchProvider_dacsa (48A combined)
http://www.seasonic.com/pdf/datasheet/NEW/Retail/S12II%20Bronze.pdf

I don't know how silent the corsair fan is, i have only saesonic PSUs. But i think it should be ok.
But the fan is one more point for me to take a slightly bigger PSU. Since they are usually controlled by the workload a 600W PSU "could" (!) be more quiet at the same power level than a 500W PSU.

But this is MY opinion and i might be wrong! I'm no PSU expert!

I would buy 1600MHz RAM with CL10 - i don't know why they are so much more expensive in this shop. Here the difference between 1333 CL9 and 1600 CL10 is only ~5€.
But like i wrote above...

@numerobis said:

• 1600MHz RAM would be only slightly better (but only maybe 2%) but should be almost in the same price range.

@vigge50 said:

I have change the processor to intel core i7 3770K(can't find the i7 3930)

Dustin

Dustin, Dustinhome

(www.dustinhome.se)

quite expensive...

@vigge50 said:

Will this computer be good to rendering in sketchup with vray?

I would say it is the question how you define "good"...

In my opinion this is the best you can get FOR THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY.
It will be a good machine but compared to more expensive workstations it will be a midrange system.
You get what you pay for...
But it will be faster than the two HP systems from the beginning.

You didn't reply to my question, if overclocking is an option for you. This would be a solution to get ~20-30% (4,2-4,7GHz depending on the chip and the cooling) more power for almost the same money - but you would need to buy a 3770K and change some settings in the BIOS (UEFI). But you should know what you're doing...

The next higher step would be an i7 3930K, a 6-core and roughly 30% faster than the 3770K.
But it could be overclocked to almost the same speed like the 3770K. This would be ~300€ more expensive.

Above this there are Dual CPU systems with 6 or 8 cores = 12 or 16 cores... but these are in a different price range.

Concerning your selected components...

• the OCZ PSU should be fine, but it has two separated 12v rails with 25A each and 504W=42A combined. I'm not sure how the connectors are divided to the two rails and if you could get problems with a video card that needs ~30A. I can't answer this.
  I would buy a single rail PSU with combined amperage of ~50A. But maybe this is no problem at all.

• I wouldn't buy Windows HOME PREMIUM but Professional because it comes with better networking functions (Remote Desktop Host), but maybe you don't need this and Home is enough for you.

• Where do you plan to store your data? Server? External HDD? Your last configs have no HDD.

• The other components should be ok. I posted my opinions above... (cooler, SSD, etc.)

@hellnbak said:

What did you expect him to say? "We're gonna screw the DIY enthusiast to ensure we have enuf profits to buy the Universe"?

He an Intel spokesman, he didn't get that job by swearing to tell the truth no matter what, he got it because he's good at saying whatever it takes to put Intel in the best possible light.

@numerobis said:

But i don't think that this new "concept" will be realized in the high end and server market... no way! Two $2000 Xeons bundled with a $400 mainboard?
For the mainstream PC market... yes, i think we will see it.

@unknownuser said:

“Intel remains committed to the growing desktop enthusiast and channel markets, and will continue to offer socketed parts in the LGA package for the foreseeable future for our customers and the Enthusiast DIY market,” Intel spokesman Daniel Snyder told Maximum PC.

Redirecting...

(www.maximumpc.com)

@patrickd said:

I do normally convert to png or jpeg but the image quality is always reduced and makes tracing harder.

Have you set the texture quality in the OpenGL preferences to "Use maximum texture size"?

sorry, i don't know what you want to say concerning the cpu... the 3770K runs 100MHz faster but the real advantage is that it has an unlocked multiplier so you can easily overclock it. If you don't need this, you can go with the non-K-version. That was all i wanted to say.

I don't know the MSI board, but i don't think it is bad. When you for reviews on google there is one that says it has a bed performance, but i don't know nore about it.
Like i said above, ASRock normally makes very good and cheap boards, so i would buy the ASRock Z77 Pro3. You can find some reviews:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1998/15/
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4852/asrock_z77_pro3_intel_z77_motherboard_review/index12.html