the cheapest workstation ever....

[colintheys]

Do you really mean cheapest ever? Or do you mean mid-range... I'm on a pretty tight budget as a student and I'm using

Athlon XP 2000+
motherboard: asus a7n8x-x (my second asus board. like them a lot. Should have gotten dual channel ram tho. oversight on my part. :/)
1gb ddr2700
a 4x dvd writer from sony
winfast gforcefx5700ultra
1 diamondmax 10 ATA133 200gb + 2 diamondmax 9 120gb drives

price: about 600 bucks.

I use a dual opteron w/ 3gb ram and quadrofx 1100 at work and it's faster, but for normal editing my system really isn't that much slower. It's only a lot slower when dealing with complex rendering and/or REALLY REALLY high poly models with high subdivision. (XSI)

I guess I'm not objecting to the system. it sounds really nice. However, I would hardly call it the cheapest workstation ever since it's nearly 3 times the cost of my computer and I get by just fine doing professional work in video editing and animation for money on the side. I just make sure to take really good care of my system and make sure not to let it get loaded down with junk.

As for the winfast card. I have a winfast 5700 ultra and I like it a lot. The drivers were a bit annoying cause they showed ads for a painfully long time every time yuo update the drivers.... but can't complain about the performance at all. I even just played through Halflife 2 on max settings. :)

[Jarod]

ok so I was exaggerating slightly :)

that price is in australian dollars so it's not as much as it sounds. where do you think it would be best to cut costs?

have you modded the winfast 5700 ultra at all?

[ktamiola]

I think You should not cut the costs...

Config looks ok... and I were You I would invest in it...

GT6600 can be transforemd into Quadro FX equivalent with high success rate...

Good luck!

[Rabid pitbull]

Do not buy generic ram biggest mistake you could make.

[Dexter | DTG]

I would steer clear of generic stuff, corsiar C2 can be had for under $300 for a 1GB set. (www.pluscorp.com.au (http://www.pluscorp.com.au/))

Also I would change to a motherboard with a NF3 chipset. And finally steer clear of thermaltake products. Well just thier PSU and HSF.

[azloha]

which chipset for 939 is better? nforce 3 and VIA K8T800Pro.

actually i mean how much is the differencs? thanks.

[lots]

Why not get the Nforce4?

No sense in locking your self into AGP.

EDIT:
Performance wise, there's very little difference between the two chipsets. The Nforce based boards do perform somewhat better, but its not anything to go all crazy about. The main reason there is no difference, or hardly one is because of the onboard memory controller of the CPU. In the past, the memory controller was found on the chipset, this meant the chipset maker had alot to do with performance. They could tweak thier controller, or just make it better than the competition and it would set them apart. Hence, why NF2 was such a good board compared to the rest. But now that the controller is on the CPU its self, this major performance component is no longer there for the diff chipsets to differentiate them selves. So what do they do? Go overboard on features.

The Nforce3/4 provides much more in terms of features than the VIA chipset does. It also has a reputation for being more stable and reliable. If you ask me, the feature set alone is worth the few extra dollars (seriously, its like 5 dollars difference in price).

[DevilHacker]

It sounds like your just building the Computer…
So just wondering, what type of input does your monitor use?
And what are your speakers? (5.1, 6.1, 7.1)…


-Ill see what I can do, DevilHacker

[DevilHacker]

Ok here is what I found...
http://images.snapfish.com/342%3C237523232%7Ffp4%3Enu%3D3246%3E9%3C%3A%3E837%3EWSNRCG%3D3232865498%3C%3B3nu0mrj

PS: I didn’t know what type of speakers you had, so I just put in a 7.1 compatible soundcard, if you don’t need that, you could always toss it and save a few bucks...

[azozel]

I'd go with a commodore 64. but that's just me

nah go with DevilHacker's. It looks solid.

[Dexter | DTG]

Isn't that system price in $USD? He is in Australia by the sounds of the orginal quote $1500AU.

[xiao_x]

wanna cheap buy a cheap price???maybe u can buy a second hand PC,as the spec i see ur wishlist.....that is not a top line of the product.....maybe u can try second hand if u brave.......... :eek:

[Jarod]

ok, thanks for all your suggestions. I done some more research and here is take two:

cpu: Amd Athlon 64 3000+ (939)
motherboard: Asus A8N - SLI
graphics card: Winfast 6600GT
memory: Corsair 512Mb PC3200 DDR Ram x 2 (not cl2)
hard disks seagate 160 gig sata 8mb x2
optical drive: LG GSA-4160B DVD Re-Writer (16x/Dual Layer)
floppydrive: 1.44mb
cpu fan: Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu
powersupply: Antec Neo power 480W PSU
case: Antec SLK3000B BLACK Super MidTower ATX case

total price $1743AU (Aussie dollar) - a bit too much...

any suggestions on where to trim costs?

I'm still tempted by the generic ram 1 gb will only $188AU vs $250 for the corsair, has anyone else had a bad experience with generic ram? Will I definitely be dissapointed? (I'm a gambling kinda guy! :) )


Devil Hacker:
cheers for the suggestion,
Was that system quote in US dolars?
I don't use any form of surround sound system. I don't have the space to set up the speakers. I use some decent stereo speakers, and a pair of grado sr60's (fantastic quality & value for money btw) when I edit sounds... Also I use two dodgy vga monitors.

ktamiola:
thanks,
Is the 6600gt modded with rivatuner??

[thomaspecht]

"dodgy VGA monitors"?

dude, you're talking workstation here. instead of stuffing all kinds of overdrive gear into it,
you should invest into a good display. that's one of the most important peripherals of a computer and your eyes will say "thank you!" every day if they don't have to stare on some "dodgy" stuff.

generic RAM can definitely be a problem, depends a lot on your configuration, chipset, etc.

looking through your specs it seems like some kind of gaming machine, tuned to run the latest half-life xyz. make sure the system runs stable - shop around for components that "like" eachother, don't buy low-end graphics - you'll miss one feature or another sooner or later. get a cpu and drives that do not run hot.
after all you're a student. why not try to get a hold of a used workstation or parts? any halfway decent machine from 2001 and onward can run maya easily for any but the most heavy scenery (and then it's more a question of how much you optimize and use the features of the package wisely). i'm sure there are a lot systems available off-lease in your area, too. and i do know for sure that a decent 2nd hand professional gfx-card makes the whole 3d experience much better than some gaming card from the latest generation. yes,
that one is faster for the most part - but what about driver compatibility, quality of output and so on?

if i was in your shoes, i'd try to put my focus on stability and reliability, not performance. that is, if you mainly want to do 3D, not sitting in front of the opened case, armed with a screwdriver...

[azloha]

cheap~!? how about mine....

my celeron 2.4G, on board display, ddr333 256m and 40G ide harddisk mini pc is a gift from applying broadband services.

however, the rendering result is not that bad. it is not that slow. maybe it is my illusion. some of the calculation will be cancelled coz of the low capability of the CPU. and the speed is not that slow.

allow mine....:bounce:

[Sieb]

Dell refurbished GX270s or 280s. Best little machines I have ever used. You can find them in the Dell Outlet (Dell - Small Business - Desktop - Desktop Outlet).

Between 2.6 - 3.0GHz Celes/P4s, and betwee $500-$800 w/o monitor. I personally think they are a better value than a Mac Mini, and I own a mac...

[azloha]

besides u guys' education background, wht is ur profession? u guys seems no limit on upgrading.....

[wrench000]

Well I rather have a 6200 card then soft moded to a 6600GT for fraction of the price if your ona tight budget.

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