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I'm getting new computer - how is it?


AlienBZ

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I just bought a new computer,

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271357689446?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

which I think sounds like a very powerful laptop for these 3d modelling jobs I'll have to do in order to create my movies (via 3D models of scenery, characters, etc) and animate them via the 3D modeling programs I have on my PC.

 

I think this is a very good choice for me b/c of what I think are 2 of the most important pieces of hardware it has:

 

http://www.amd.com/us/PRODUCTS/DESKTOP/PROCESSORS/PHENOM-II/Pages/phenom-ii.aspx

 

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-4000/ati-radeon-hd-4200/pages/ati-radeon-hd-4200-specificatications.aspx

 

and I think it will handle the most demanding jobs I throw at it, it'll tackle anything I throw at it.

 

What do you guys think?

 

thanks in advance.

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With all due respect and with complete regard to not sounding in any way condescending - this was not a good purchase. You just bought a 4-5 year old laptop. It may handle everything you throw at it, but it will not perform anywhere close to the performance of a currently spec'ed machine in today's laptop market.

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That is basically what I have in my laptop except the cpu, mine is the normal Athlon II not the Phenom version. I have the same gpu which is not stellar. You did ok for the price and if that was all you had then you do what you have to.

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I agree with tzframpton in that I don't think it is a "very powerful" laptop. Although in saying that, it is not much worse than the laptop I am using (which works fine).

 

For the price it seems not too bad.

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I think it will handle the most demanding jobs I throw at it, it'll tackle anything I throw at it.

 

What operating system are you going to install? The description on ebay says that the hard drive has been wiped clean and there is no OS is installed.

 

If you're going to install a 64 bit operating system, Autodesk recommends a minimum of 8GB RAM. That laptop has only 4GB RAM. That's going to be a problem if you are planning on putting together large scenes for your movie.

 

And the HD 4250 is a low end integrated graphics processor, so that's going to add to the problems you will face while trying to perform any sort of large scale modeling or scene creation. If you stick to small projects you might be ok, but I wouldn't attempt any big rendering jobs or animation.

 

If I were you I would start saving my money for a better laptop. I think you will probably outgrow this one pretty quick.

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  • 3 weeks later...

If you're going to install a 64 bit operating system, Autodesk recommends a minimum of 8GB RAM. That laptop has only 4GB RAM.

 

 

I put a 32 bit os on it. windows 8.

 

That's going to be a problem if you are planning on putting together large scenes for your movie. .

 

such as?

 

ok, if I do run into this problem, can't I work around it by breaking my movie project into small scenes, render/animate each scene individually, then export as a mp4 or a mpeg2 video clip, import them into adobe premiere, arrange the clips into said movie, then after its all finished/audio added, export/import it into encore to deploy it as a dvd movie?

 

 

 

And the HD 4250 is a low end integrated graphics processor, so that's going to add to the problems you will face while trying to perform any sort of large scale modeling or scene creation. If you stick to small projects you might be ok, but I wouldn't attempt any big rendering jobs or animation. .

 

such as?

 

Ok, the other night I was trying to open that model I d/l of a hotel/college lobby (w/ stairwell incl) its one of these free models from one of these sites that have been linked to from this site in one of the stickies, well the problem I ran into was an out of memory problem, can't I just increase the memory paging file, and then add more physical RAM at a later date?

 

and if this isn't a good GPU, why did the seller say it was built for heavy graphics processing/had dedicated graphics card?

 

If I were you I would start saving my money for a better laptop. I think you will probably outgrow this one pretty quick. .

 

Actually, I am quite happy with this laptop, my max opened several other of these free 3d models that I d/l such as a bookcase, and a bus stop collection, also from one of the free model sites linked to from the sticky. and my blender (sculpting software to use with that tablet I bought this past aug) works ok in my new windows 8.

 

also I believe windows 8 is even less demanding as an os than say, vista or windows 7, I read this somewhere online on one of these adventure gaming forums that I belong to - if not, could you please correct me on all this?

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edit - just installed my copy of Bryce 5.5 and my xnview screenshot taker onto this new computer.

 

both programs work perfectly.

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such as?

 

I think you are answering your own question below:

 

the other night I was trying to open that model I d/l of a hotel/college lobby (w/ stairwell incl) its one of these free models from one of these sites that have been linked to from this site in one of the stickies, well the problem I ran into was an out of memory problem, can't I just increase the memory paging file, and then add more physical RAM at a later date?

 

and if this isn't a good GPU, why did the seller say it was built for heavy graphics processing/had dedicated graphics card?

 

No, you cannot add more RAM at a later date. You are running a 32 bit operating system which is limited to a maximum of 4GB RAM.

 

In regards to the GPU, do you believe everything you read? The seller is trying to make a sale, so he's going to tell you whatever he thinks you want to hear. Buyer beware.

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I agree with CAD64, it's up to the buyer to know their needs. Sure this GPU was good, several years ago so in fact they were being honest but as compared to today's standards it is only slightly better than very basic on-board intel units.

 

Now the good news is that it appears from the manual that this model will hold 8gb of ram (link) so if you install a 64 bit OS you will be in better shape than you are now. For this old unit I would NOT go with Win8 64-bit as drivers might be an issue. Looks like Win7 64-bit is fully supported.

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