Trying to Build my PC

#1

I know there are articles on this already I can read, but I find that computers just are a thing that constantly grows, so I am looking for new information. I am going back to school this September, my system is about 6 years old, and I need something that will last me the next 2 years with a $2000 budget max. I need to be able to run and render work in Maya, ZBrush, and the Photoshop Suite. I’ve been doing research but I’ve been finding it hard to know what cards are specifically good for rending and modelling (or is it the same card that can do both or do I need two? That’s my system info below.

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600)
Processor: Intel® Core™2 CPU 6320 @ 1.86GHz (2 CPUs), ~1.9GHz
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 2755MB used, 1338MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 11

Card name: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series (Microsoft Corporation WDDM 1.1)
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type:
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9440&SUBSYS_03061043&REV_00
Display Memory: 1787 MB
Dedicated Memory: 1020 MB
Shared Memory: 767 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (59Hz)

D3D9 Overlay: Not Supported
DXVA-HD: Not Supported
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled

USB Devices

±+ Razer DeathAdder
Razer DeathAdder Keyboard
Location: Razer Keyboard

Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives

  Drive: C:

Free Space: 914.4 GB
Total Space: 953.8 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0 ATA Device

  Drive: E:

Free Space: 192.8 GB
Total Space: 305.2 GB
File System: FAT32
Model: WD 3200BEV External USB Device

  Drive: D:
  Model: ASUS DRW-24B1ST ATA Device
 Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.01.7600.16385 (English), , 0 bytes
#2

If you’re not buying a computer until September you’d be better of waiting until then to make this thread, current technology and pricing will be dramatically different.

You’re better off relegating that 6 year old rig to word processing and using your 2K to start from the ground up. I’d suggest using this website to put a configuration together, http://pcpartpicker.com/

You can post a link and we’ll critique for you. As far as graphics cards go, its heavily app dependent but with Mayas viewport 2.0 advancements I’m becoming more and more convinced that consumer-graphics cards really are the way to go. I can’t justify $2k on a quadro card. I’m sure others, depending on their application use, might disagree.

#3

Rendering and ZBrush, unless you use one of the rare viable GPU accelerated engines, are 100% CPU and memory (ZB not even memory since it’s still 32bit and limited to just short of 4GB).
Maya, depending on use, will usually be fine with a gaming nVIDIA card to be honest.

I agree you should wait for as long as possible, Intel isn’t too far from releasing their next gen, which will heavily depreciate the current one and create an influx of excellent 2nd hand on eBay.

Wait until Sept, maybe even stretch to Oct and keep an eye on Intel’s news before you decide on anything. Timing couldn’t be worse right now if you want good bang for buck for a couple years.

#4

I will wait then. I think that’s a great idea if the video card market will change dramatically. I don’t know anything about this kind of stuff, I just want to get better at Maya and CS6+, but I find that someone will say something like GDDR5 and I don’t know exactly what that means nor do I know where to find out without them just trying to sell something to me. I haven’t found a site that says this video card is great for rendering and why. i think its because the majority of the market is after the “gaming cards” which I don’t know is the way to shop. I don’t have a ton of money from what I understand so I’m trying my best to shop smart. I will check out that site.

#5

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