So why does 3Dsmax run like crap on this machine?

its basically the main rig ...different HDD configs thats all...3ds max just is so ungodly slow if particles are in any way related to what im working on. simple animations it flys through...other wise its horrible...im guessing its my garbage video card...but heres the odd thing, both CPU's will be at 100%, but the computer doesnt lag in the least bit...it will show up as not responding in task manager, but then give it a good 3 minutes and it mite render 1 frame.

D3D causes my entire comp to lock, openGL jsut freezes max completely. software rendering gives me some useage, but eventually it freezes. even if i hide particles, it pulls this lousy BS.

is it my graphics card? or are there any alternative fixes for this?

im using direct X 9.0c, sp1 (always hated sp2)...any ideas guys? its taken me 3 days to do a simple intro animation that shoulda taken me atleast an hour.

512MB ram? that's probably it. have you seen how fast the ram usage shoots up when things get heavy in max?
also, even tho it's a dualie, 1.2ghz...

yea, but the single 1.8ghz 256mb RAM with an old 32mb nvidia smokes the dually..so im assuming its vid card....and what i dont understand is, how theres absoloutely NO LAG AT ALL on the rest of the applications i am running..

ive tried maya, loads the splash, then it crashes..i have no way of switching video mode or anything..im tryiing to see if theres any alternatives

EDIT: i just ran the file i was workiing on on the p4...using D3d...surprisingly it runs better, but not by a whole lot..apparently im noticing it has to do with the particle system. isnt there an alternative one i can use? it cripples a machine just using un texturized geometric shapes...took me an hour to render a 2 second thing..

if its an animation with NO particles at all, render is above realtime (no BS)

sorry i was quick to dismiss my gfx card as the prob, ive rebooted SEVERAL TIMES today, and each time xp greets me with "Xabre has caused system instability with program 3dsmax7.exe"

oh, hmm...ditch that SiS then.

3Dsmax is memory hungry

problem solved!

3dsmax particle system = GARBAGE when it comes to complicated scenes. we tried 3dsmax on my friends 3.06ht with 1.5gb ram, nvidia 5700, (thread suggested to me a 5900) and his new ATI 9800....still runs LIKE CRAP in D3D, openGL, software...

Spent ALL NITE learning realflow..damnnice program...works fast, even allows me to have more threads per CPU than i should

then i spentanother couple hours learning how to import/export to and from max...all these people at the forum whine therse no max 7 plugin....well, u dont need one. the max 6 plugin works JUST FINE.

if anyones is interested in knowing how to do this feel free to PM me ill save us ome time. the realflow renders do take some time, in wireframe mode, but u can see a progress bar...rarely does it crash. once done, and imported into max, i get my above realtime renders back

but i AM DITCHING TEH SIS...after i DIY WC lol

thanks guys