Looking for a super machine

[olson]

Dual socket with quad cores and 16 GB of memory is a sweet spot right now. The reason being is most workstation dual socket boards have 8 memory slots, and the 2 GB memory modules are very reasonable in price. I built a AMD based system for the difference in memory (Registered ECC vs FB-DIMM, less heat/wattage and less expensive). Most commercially available systems are going to be Intel based. If you decide to build an AMD system be sure to not ge the first generation Barcelona processors with the TLB bug.

Aside from that you're looking at HPC and server solutions with 4 or more sockets which get very expensive very quickly and usually don't have expansion slots for graphics cards (with the exception of Boxx systems). The cheapest solution is going to be to build a system from the ground up, the quickest is probably a system from Dell or HP. Cheers!

[Yeminius]

Thank you bro.

We were thinking in maybe a Boxx machine or kind of... as you said, Dell or HP. Maybe a Mac Pro running windows.

[olson]

Thank you bro.

We were thinking in maybe a Boxx machine or kind of... as you said, Dell or HP. Maybe a Mac Pro running windows.

Boxx and Apple are going to have the greatest markup for equivalent hardware between most manufacturers. If you don't need OS X then don't go for Apple, and if you don't need four CPU sockets (or more) then don't go with Boxx either. Most OEM like Dell and HP are fully capable of delivering a reliable dual socket workstation at a fair price. Cheers!

[Yeminius]

Thank you

I think four CPU sockets should do the job (sorry for my ignorance... but with 4 CPU sockets means you can have 16 cores?).

We want the machine to run Maya.

I've seen in the Boxx and Dell website but I don't really know which exact specifications should make better. We are kind of ignorant in that hardware matter. I just don't think that the most expensive hardware would make Maya run better. I've also seen Autodesk's website, but all I've found are tickets saying which video card should work best.

Could you be more specific about a machine that should do the job? I mean... settings, brands

thanks again!

[Srek]

Simulations often enough don't make as optimal use of multicore systems as general rendering does. You might like to check how effcient your intended simulations run on for example a quad or eight core system compared to a dual core before investing in one of those pricy 4 socket systems.
Cheers
Björn

[BOXXlabs]

Hi All,

I always hate to put on my "marketing hat" (as I do not for that department) but i have a automatic reaction when somebody poopoo's my company's products without understanding the facts.

I'd like to simply remind folks here that *cost* should never be the most important factor when evaluating professional tools such as a workstation.

The poster has indicated that he needs a really powerful system for doing both 3D work as well as particle/fluid solving.

BOXX offers several workstations that absolutely BLOW AWAY the fastest DELL, HP, MAC pro or any other commercially available systems when it comes to raytrace rendering and solving simuluations in packages such as Realflow. There are benchmark numbers to back this up.

Beyond pure speed, the rest of the value in a BOXX comes down to the following concepts:

-world-class reliability and quiet operation

-pre-sales consultation with salespeople who understand your needs as an artist and will help you select the most cost-effective configuration for the type of work you do

-tech support by expert techs (who speak perfect English) who are trained in helping to troubleshoot issues such as viewport glitches, droped frames, screwy renders, etc that may have nothing to do with our hardware or the OS...

You might want to look at this (http://www.boxxtech.com/Products/3DBOXX/SE_Overview.asp) and then look for anything similliar from DELL or HP or Apple.

Cheers,

Adam
BOXXlabs

[olson]

Hi All,

I always hate to put on my "marketing hat" (as I do not for that department) but i have a automatic reaction when somebody poopoo's my company's products without understanding the facts.

I'd like to simply remind folks here that *cost* should never be the most important factor when evaluating professional tools such as a workstation.

The poster has indicated that he needs a really powerful system for doing both 3D work as well as particle/fluid solving.

BOXX offers several workstations that absolutely BLOW AWAY the fastest DELL, HP, MAC pro or any other commercially available systems when it comes to raytrace rendering and solving simuluations in packages such as Realflow. There are benchmark numbers to back this up.

Beyond pure speed, the rest of the value in a BOXX comes down to the following concepts:

-world-class reliability and quiet operation

-pre-sales consultation with salespeople who understand your needs as an artist and will help you select the most cost-effective configuration for the type of work you do

-tech support by expert techs (who speak perfect English) who are trained in helping to troubleshoot issues such as viewport glitches, droped frames, screwy renders, etc that may have nothing to do with our hardware or the OS...

You might want to look at this (http://www.boxxtech.com/Products/3DBOXX/SE_Overview.asp) and then look for anything similliar from DELL or HP or Apple.

Cheers,

Adam
BOXXlabs

Before jumping to conclusions about my suggestions to another user consider that there was no "poopoo" going on, I mean no disrespect, and I do understand the facts. Not everyone can drop $25,000+ for a workstation even if the quality is pretty much second to none. In a lot of shops a few of those workstations means someone else is out of a job to make up the cost of hardware. By all means some shops probably use all Boxx systems if they can budget it to avoid shortcomings of other systems. I don't know the finicial status of other users so recommending an expensive option maybe not the best in their interest. Look at it from my point of view and you'll see that there were no foul intentions.

Nothing was said about Boxx systems not being reliable or quiet or anything else negative, I just said they are more expensive than the competition. No doubt they are expensive for good reasons like you mentioned. Cheers!

[BOXXlabs]

it's all good...not trying start anything here...

please keep in mind, the system i gave a link to above is about $7K, not $25K...

[olson]

it's all good...not trying start anything here...

please keep in mind, the system i gave a link to above is about $7K, not $25K...

Ahhh, you're right. I thought you were referring to the Apexx 4 since the discussion was on four socket systems. Cheers!

[Yeminius]

Thank you for your replies guys.

So, Boxxlabs... what are the tech details for that 7k machine? sounds promising. I went to the configure tab and it was 10.5k, not 7.

Anyway, all that info you got on that link is very interesting, a lot of stuff to take in consideration

thx

[BOXXlabs]

8 cores @ 4Ghz

[Yeminius]

What about video card, ram and so on?

[BOXXlabs]

Yemenius,

Please call Omega Systems for more specific information and a price -

Omega Systems
Las Violetas #2099 Providencia, Santiago Chile
Website: http://www.omsys.cl (http://www.omsys.cl/)
Contact Person: Sales
Phone: (56 2) 374 9550
Email: contacto@omegasystems.cl

Thanks!

Adam

[leif3d]

Is building your own out of the question?

I built an excelent workstation with quality products for about $3200, for $1000 more you can get the fastest Xeon processors (look at my signature).

We have a couple of Boxx machines at work though, I can honestly say they are second to none when it comes to reliability and speed, but if cost is a concern then I would definitely look into building your own.

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