Maya-friendly PC for $1200? What would you build?

Fixie.Ninja · Nov 26, 2004

I'm pricing out a new system to build with Maya in mind, and I have about $1200 to spend on it, not including any software, the display, or a DVD burner - I DO need an internal CD burner, though. I also don't need a lot of internal storage - I have a 500GB external drive. What would you guys build? Should I cut back a *little* on the processor for the sake of buying more memory? AMD or Pentium? I will be dual-booting the system and using Linux for Maya.

Please note: This is a mission-critical build, so "wait and save more money" is NOT an option! Also, there is a limited number of video cards "tested & qualified" by Alias for use under Linux - they can be seen listed here: http://www.alias.com/eng/support/maya/qualified_hardware/QUAL/maya_60_linux.html#cards

Obviously, for this budget this won't be a rendering powerhouse, but it needs to be comfortable. I won't be needing to render anything longer than a 30-second clip at a time, although that clip may be pretty intense - but it'd be nice if that didn't take all day!

Thanks!

Aslan · Nov 26, 2004

I don't have any experience with Maya at all, and only a moderate level of experience with Linux, but after reading the Alias requirements page, I'll try to help somewhat.

First of all, make sure to avoid ATi video cards with Linux. ATi drivers, although improving, are garbage when compared to nVidia's in Linux. To put it into perspective, a ti4200 often beats a X800 with Linux drivers. I'm not sure about other brands, such as 3dlabs, but I know that nVidia has good Linux drivers.

As for memory, Alias recommends 512 MB, but I would go beyond that and get at least 1 GB, as it will definitely help you. Also, when reading the requirements, Alias seems to put much more of a requirement on memory than processsor speed, so I think that's some indication of what is necessary.

I'm not really sure to say for CPU choice, and my suggestion would be to search around and see which performs better with Maya, AMD or Intel. My searching indicates that Intel is faster, but not by much. If you can fit it into your budget, a Dual CPU system will help a great deal in cutting rendering time.

Fixie.Ninja · Nov 26, 2004

Thanks for the reply.

The compatibility chart on graphic cards under Linux indicates fewer issues with ATI cards, and I can get a qualified ATI card for much much less than any of the qualified Nvidia cards, unless I'm looking at something incorrectly. I won't be gaming under Linux - Maya is my chief concern.

I don't think I can fit a qualified Nvidia card in my budget.

What specifically can you suggest for dual processors, as opposed to a single Athlon 64 or something?

Aphex_Tom_9 · Nov 26, 2004

dual xeons or opterons id say, the more processing power the better when rendering

Fixie.Ninja · Nov 26, 2004

Looking around briefly at Newegg, it looks like I'd have to spend a lot more for a dual processor motherboard + 2 processors as opposed to a single processor system, and with the single I could afford a much faster processor.

How would the performance be affected when comparing 2 slower processors against 1 faster processor?

Knivez · Nov 26, 2004

Code:

Xeon 2.8 Ghz x2 = 478
TYAN "Tiger i7505(S2668AN)" E7505 = 210
Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 = 152
ATI FGL 9600 Video Card = 225
Fortron 400W Power Supply = 58
ANTEC Performance Plus Metallic Gray SOHO File Server Case = 66
Maxtor 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive = 45
Lite-On 52X32X52 Internal EIDE CD-RW Drive Black = 19
							                           
                                                                                      = 1253 USD

slightly overbudget, but well worth it.

Fixie.Ninja · Nov 26, 2004

I'm looking at about $350 difference between a P4 3.0c with Abit AI7 and the dual Xeon & Tyan listed above...

Can someone more knowledgeable than me explain the kind of performance differences I'll see between those two configurations, assuming everything else is equal? I'm trying to decide if there's a significant enough performance increase to justify missing a car payment...

Thanks alot guys!

Aphex_Tom_9 · Nov 26, 2004

Knivez said:

Code:

Xeon 2.8 Ghz x2 = 478
TYAN "Tiger i7505(S2668AN)" E7505 = 210
Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 = 152
ATI FGL 9600 Video Card = 225
Fortron 400W Power Supply = 58
ANTEC Performance Plus Metallic Gray SOHO File Server Case = 66
Maxtor 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive = 45
Lite-On 52X32X52 Internal EIDE CD-RW Drive Black = 19
							                           
                                                                                      = 1253 USD

slightly overbudget, but well worth it.

id take that in a second over a 3.0c for rendering.

Supra6 · Nov 26, 2004

my 2 cents if i may, dont miss a car payment, these are peoples hobbies, not there LIFE. and it should be your "hobby" to. anyone wil tell you its not worth it, if you dont have the money you dont have the money, dont go missing bills becuase of this..... hate to rag but i dont want to see somone fall behind in payment thats all, i know how that is,, thats all. but yeah a dual xeon will kill a pentium 4 for rendering time

peace

Npetune3000 · Nov 27, 2004

hmmm, I think you should get lots of ram!! I'm a maya user myself and I find that RAM is very important so get a gig or 2 of RAM. Some may recommend a P4 for rendering, however, from experience my AMD athlon 64 OC'd to 2.4ghz does VERY well w/ maya. Compared to my old athlon 1800+ tis a DREAM!! So u have my stance i'm sure others have opinions. Just remmeber the RAM!!

Fixie.Ninja · Nov 27, 2004

I'm looking at the description for that Tyan motherboard, and it reads:

"Supports up to two Intel Xeon processors in 603/604-pin package
Max FSB. 533MHz"

Does that mean that I can use the motherboard with only a single Xeon for now, and add another one later? That might be a bit more cost-effective for the time being - a solid system today, without closing the door on the possibility of a dual-processor setup. How would that single Xeon compare to the P4 3.0?

Aphex_Tom_9 · Nov 27, 2004

Fixie.Ninja said:
How would that single Xeon compare to the P4 3.0?

not too far behind

Fixie.Ninja · Nov 27, 2004

Would adding a second processor later require me to reinstall operating systems or applications?

Aphex_Tom_9 · Nov 27, 2004

Fixie.Ninja said:
Would adding a second processor later require me to reinstall operating systems or applications?

dont think so, just the multi-processor drivers

Fixie.Ninja · Nov 27, 2004

Would I be wanting to buy the Xeon processors with Hyper Threading, or EMT 64? I don't really know the difference...

Knivez · Nov 28, 2004

Fixie.Ninja said:
Would I be wanting to buy the Xeon processors with Hyper Threading, or EMT 64? I don't really know the difference...

Do you plan on running any 64 bit applications?
By the way, those parts are from newegg.

Fixie.Ninja · Nov 29, 2004

I don't believe so... does that mean the Hyper Threading is what I want?

Aphex_Tom_9 · Nov 29, 2004

if maya has multithreading abilities (im not sure) then with HT is what you want

Knivez · Nov 29, 2004

Aphex_Tom_9 said:
if maya has multithreading abilities (im not sure) then with HT is what you want

I'd imagine it would, however running 2 CPUs you wouldn't notice much of a difference, however go with Hyper Threading.

Fixie.Ninja · Nov 30, 2004

Just wanted to say "thanks" for all the help, guys. Parts shipped today, should be here by Friday.

After reading threads for hours upon hours (seriously), I went with a P4 system.

I'm confident in my decision. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play around on a Maya setup the other day, and it was a comfortable environment for this type of work, even with a measley P4 1.8

The dual-processor setup was extremely tempting, but in the end my budget reigned supreme in the decision-making process. I'll save all the system details for a more appropriate thread once I have it assembled. Once this Maya job is over (and it's not critical to have a stable, working PC), I think I'll tinker a bit - try some overclocking and water cooling. I actually have an Eheim pump and a heater core lying around, so I could rig something up on the cheap. It won't be pretty, but should be educational and (hopefully) rewarding - and a good chance to put some mileage on my Dremel.

Maya-friendly PC for $1200? What would you build?

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