buying a new desktop for 3D works

[ahmed209]

hi. im a civil engineering student currently studyng in malaysia.and im gona start learning 3ds max from the begining. i know autocad 2D quite well.

my qstn is what is the best desktop system to use 3ds max and do 3D works? and specific specifications i need to have? and where can i get the latest version of AutoCad and 3Ds max?

thanks and pls help!

[ReMark]

System requirements for 3ds Max as per AutoDesk. More (as in RAM) is always better. Think about the future when buying a computer now. Plan on using the same computer for 3 years.

 

 

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=5659453

 

 

Contact your local authorized AutoDesk reseller for pricing information.

[Cad64]

If you plan on doing a lot of rendering, make sure you get a quad core processor. And as ReMark said, get as much RAM as you can afford. That means you will need to go with a 64 bit operating system so you can use more than 4GB. And don't cheap out when it comes to the graphics card either. Make sure you get a decent card, otherwise you will have nothing but problems.

 

 

Autocad: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=2704278

3DS Max: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=5659302

[erikur200]

I would use a quadro card from nvidia, 3ds and autocad are compatible with that one. nvidia have cards like that.

[Cad64]

Quadro cards are not necessary. They're nice, if you can afford them, but I've been using GeForce cards for years with no problems.

[erikur200]

well no they are not necessary, but on my computer at work that card is increasing the speed of graphic rendering. I don't know the prices in US or GB but here in Norway they are sold to about 365.- USD

But i will agree that increasing the amount of memory to at least 8-12 GB

would also be a good investment. Just keep in mind that you of course need a 64Bit system for that.

 

Erik

[Cad64]

well no they are not necessary, but on my computer at work that card is increasing the speed of graphic rendering.

 

The video card has nothing to do with rendering. The render process is all Processor and RAM. The video card is only for on-screen display. A good card will help with faster regens and eliminate lag when panning and zooming and give you a crisper, cleaner video display. But it won't speed up render times.

[erikur200]

The video card has nothing to do with rendering. The render process is all Processor and RAM. The video card is only for on-screen display. A good card will help with faster regens and eliminate lag when panning and zooming and give you a crisper, cleaner video display. But it won't speed up render times.

 

A normal videocard will do notting for the rendering as you say, but as I have been told the quadro card are compatible with several Autodesk products, and are suppose to let the application use the GPU in that card instead of the CPU at the mainboard. But of course I could have missunderstood this. I will check that up. Thank you again for corrcting me.

 

Erik

[Cad64]

I admit that I'm not an expert on quadro cards, so if they can help speed up render times somehow, please be sure to post this information and let us know.

[ReMark]

nVidia and AutoDesk work together to optimize the performance of Quadro cards via unique drivers. Now for 2010...

 

"The AutoCAD Performance Driver is a new performance driver for Autodesk's AutoCAD 2010 software. Developed in close collaboration with Autodesk, the AutoCAD Performance Driver is a free, downloadable software driver capable of delivering dramatic performance improvements of up to 5X on some tests, when coupled with NVIDIA Quadro® FX professional graphics solutions. The AutoCAD Performance Driver delivers accelerated performance on both OPENGL and DIRECT3D."

[erikur200]

Well I have seen article like this:

 

http://digitalcontentproducer.com/mil/hotware/video_nvidia_quadro_family/

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/gelato.html

 

if I am understanding this correctly you need the gelato software together with the quadro card to acomplish this.

 

Erik

[Cad64]

Thanks ReMark, but I believe that's just for Autocad, and it's only a performance enhancement. It doesn't say anything about helping to speed up render times.

[Cad64]

Erikur, after reading those articles, it looks like coupling Gelato with quadro cards may help speed up render times when doing animations or very large, complex render jobs, but unless you're using Gelato, the card alone will not help. And you probably wouldn't see much of a speed increase on small to average sized jobs. But without actually trying it out for myself, I can't really say for sure.

[ReMark]

I was hoping nVidia would provide greater insight as to why their Quadro cards were superior to non-Quadro cards but I haven't seen anything really definitive. I think a trip over to Tom Hardware to check on possible reviews of a Quadro series card would be the next step.

 

Does ATI market their FireGL cards as being better in terms of rendering?

[erikur200]

yes I think the combination gelato software and quadro card could give you more rendering speed. I friend of mine said that they have Quadro card at work, but it is not speeding up the graphical workflow

even if Autodesk say that Revit is compatible with Quadro from Nvidia. so I am agree that this probably would be a vaste of money.

 

Erik

[erikur200]

I was hoping nVidia would provide greater insight as to why their Quadro cards were superior to non-Quadro cards but I haven't seen anything really definitive. I think a trip over to Tom Hardware to check on possible reviews of a Quadro series card would be the next step.

 

Does ATI market their FireGL cards as being better in terms of rendering?

 

It is probably the same with the cards from ATI