Looking for advices on a decent3D rendering config

[kozaki]

I'm building a hopefully <b>decent 3D rendering</b> (Maya 6) <b>/ 2D apps</b> (photoshop, illustrator) <b>config</b> for a friend of mine.
He's got a max. of 800 EUR to spend on Case/mobo/CPU/RAM/GPU (allready have a SATA HDD, monitor and I/O accessories).

Since he's going to be doing alot of 3D rendering under Windows, I've chosen to build his big upgrade on an Intel P4 C (2.8-to-3.4 Northwood) with 1Go high brand DDR-400 RAM. That's an exercise 4me, as i'm a nOOb about Intel chips/RAM/etc...

That lets quite a few points to be checked before going to my favorite retail store 😉

- He'll needs a <b>board with :</b> SATA-1 RAID, +/- 4 USB ports, LAN, firewire and decent onboard sound. I'm lurking toward one of those mobos : ASUS/Intel 875 (P4P800E-Deluxe) or Gygabite/SiS 655TX (8S655TX Ultra) or SOLTEK/VIA PT880 or that DFI LANPARTY 865PE.

- As for the <b>GPU</b>, i'm still wondering wether it's worth going for a PCI-e (in fact i don't ever know if there's socket 478 PCI-e MB ~#-), but i'll have a nVidia to make his live easier when he goes Linux...

- We'd like to have <b>some overclocking possibilities</b> sooner or later, so <b>PSU & RAM</b> have to be reliable ones for sure. See below wether the OCZ pc3200 is worth it or not ? Please is there any PSu with power enough for a more reasonable price than an Antec 550 PSU (108 @ ewiz.com) ? (like OCZ, Thermaltake, etc.) 450w or so should be fine ; 420w is probably OK too ? Shall we take a Zalman (model CNPS7000B, $40) right from the begining ?

- I know that onboard <b>sound</b> is good quality, but I'm not sure wether it will be recognized on Linux (Mandrake 10.x or FC3)

Here's a possible configuration (prices are in EUROS) :

- Liteon DVD 16x/48x ................... 23 €
- Gigabyte GA-8S655FX-L ........... 76 €
- OCZ Platinum EL 1Go DDR PC3200 CAS2 Dual Channel ... 305 € (makes 40% of the total, woow!)
- Intel Pentium 4 - 3,0C GHz ....... 190 €
- GeForce 6600 GT 128Mo ........ 170 €
- Medium case 400 / 450 Watts .... 43 € (pretty sure it's far from enough if O/C...)
- 2 x 120mm case fan .................... 20 €
---------------
TOTAL = 830 EUR

Any advices would be appreciated indeed !

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[tweebel]

I doubt you can get a case with good ventilation and a 400+watt psu for that price.

The Zalman CPU cooler is o.k.

 

[Rugger]

Possible PSUs:
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-934&depa=0" target="_new">Fortron Blue Storm 500W</A> 68.58 Euros
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-459&depa=0" target="_new">Enermax Noisetaker 420W</A> 57.79 Euros
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-460&depa=0" target="_new">Enermax Whisper II 535W</A> 84.00 Euros

All are good PSUs that are ATX12V v2.0 (dual 12V rails). I'm not sure of availability/pricing where you are. Get a mid-level case with that PSU.

Here are some different choices for memory:
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-220-033&depa=1" target="_new">Patriot Dual Channel PC3200 w/XBL</A> 144.82 Euros
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-231-006&depa=1" target="_new">G.Skill Dual Channel PC4400</A> 202.66 Euros. This RAM has the Samsung TCCDs.
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-144-332&depa=1" target="_new">Geil Ultra X Series</A> 231.17 Euros

Again, I don't know what the prices for these parts would be in your area...you can look up the model number you're looking at and get a feel for how the prices compare or just call up the store you shop at for price/availability.

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[kozaki]

Thank you,

I checked some of the articles Rugger mentionned.
Unfortunately those PSU are way more expensive in France. 80€ for an Enermax Noisetaker 420W as an exemple.

Does the Double Layer RAM give some more to the P4 Northwood ?

I'd like to get the G.Skill DL pc 4400 with Samsung TCCDs, but 400€ for 2 x 512Mo --> half of the total money my friend has to spend...
I guess I'll have to take some good-but-not-the-best DDR RAM, still O/C but for less than 300€ (2 x 512Mo).
I still have to look if i can find those Patriot DL arround here.

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[Rugger]

You guys are getting GOUGED on RAM...as well as some of the other components. You're paying 50-75% more on some components!

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[Crashman]

I wouldn't use any of those boards:
Asus-low quality power regulation
Gigabyte: cheap chipset an unknown quantity
Soltek: JUNK chipset (VIA only makes junk for chipsets, that's all they've ever made)

I'd go with an Abit IS7. They only cost around $90 and have all the features you seek.

I'd go with Crucial Ballistix RAM. Their PC3200 is low latency and can be overclocked very high by relaxing the timings. Their PC4000 is mid latency and can be used at low latency at PC3200 speed. I prefer my SPD values to be conservative, so I'd prefer the PC4000.

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[kozaki]

Crashman > I checked Abit IS7 prices which starts @ 80€ (70# for a Abit IS7-E2)
BTW, aren't you rude on VIA chipsets ? I'm on the Linux market and found them doing a nice job, recognized right from the installation... which was not the case for nVidia NF3 so far.
Now having checked <A HREF="http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030707/i875p-47.html" target="_new">THG Mobo Tsunami! on 865/875P Chipsets</A> guide, I'm willing to go for a MSI 865PE Neo 2-FIS2R (MS-6728)

As for the memory, I got some hopefully interesting deals from China, i may want to wait for :

(type) ............... (brand) ...... (model) .................. (price)

PC4000 CL2.5 ... ADATA ... prestige 512M/DDR500 2.5V ...... ￥820/900
PC3200 CL2.5 ... <A HREF="http://www.sanhaostreet.com/onlinedeale/trader_middle_new.asp?traderid=5027" target="_new">ADATA ... prestige 512M/DDR400 2.5V ...... ￥600</A>
... ... ... ... ... ... KingMax ... 512M/DDR400 ........................... ￥590元
... ... ... ... ... ... Jin Shidu(Kingston) ... 512M/DDR400 2.6V .... ￥620元
... ... ... ... ... ... Jin Shidu(Geil) ... silver 512M/DDR400 2.5V .. ￥595
pc3200 CL2.5 ... <A HREF="http://www.sanhaostreet.com/onlinedeale/trader_middle_new.asp?traderid=7173" target="_new">Jin Shidu(Geil) ... platinium 512M/DDR400 2.6V .. ￥655/680</A>


Let says I'm also interested in buying a decent DDR-400 512Mo for my next upgrade (A64 3400+ socket 754), that i may use on my present Athlon XP1800+ pc2100 ECS board that I run Linux on.

🙂 have you seen the new "<A HREF="http://news.sanhaostreet.com/Newsdata/2005/2/20052684433581.shtml" target="_new">Chocolate DDR SDRAM</A>" available for 9000 Japanese Yen on the Japanese market ? lol


NB :
<b>1 EUR =</b> 1.297 USD = 136.2 JPY = 10.73 CNY
<b>1 USD =</b> 0.77 EUR = 105 JPY = 8.28 CNY

Internet <=> Share all we can.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by kozaki on 02/15/05 04:44 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[kozaki]

Obviously I need some more advice about which RAM to choose plizz ~#-O

For what he will use his PC for, i guess <b>High FSB with moderate timings RAM</b> will do the job better than putting the stress on very high timing, am i right ?
Please help me to find it out beetween models. For exemple I don"t get what (Corsair) <b>C2, LL, C2Pro, XL</b> means !
Unfortunetely i couldn't find any trace of Ballistix or <i>G.Skill PC3200/PC4400LE</i> arround here so far.
Do the Kingston or Geil from China look OK for that use ?


Here's the config so far :

CPU : P4 3.0C or 3,2C ............. : 200€
MB : MSI 865PE Neo 2-FIS2R (MS-6728) or ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe (i875P).... : 80 or 150€ (<A HREF="http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030707/i875p-31.html" target="_new">THG mobo guide</A>)
RAM 512 DDR-400 x2 :
- Corsair 512 Mo X 2 DDR PC3200 CL2 TWINX1024-3200C2 / ~ LL TWINX1024-3200LL / ~ TWINX1024-3200C2Pro : 220€ / 250€ / 290€
- or OCZ Gold EL 512Mo DDR PC4000 CAS2,5 DL ... 320€
- or Jin Shidu(Kingston) ... 512M/DDR400 2.6V .... 125€ (from China)
- or Jin Shidu (Geil) pc3200 CL2.5 platinium 512M/DDR400 2.6V .. 140€ (from China)
GPU : Nvidia 6600GT .......... : 170€
Case + PSU : there's some Antec @ my retail shop ...... : ~120€

which makes from ~700 to ~850€, depending which mobo/RAM we buy. Note that my friend has no more than 800€ to spend

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