Hows my spec? Need new rig for Design Work

nwthompson · 13 Feb 2007 at 14:09

Alright guys,

I am building my first rig since an athlon xp!!! I have completly lost touch with what is good.

Right, im running a design consultancy and need to use...

Flash - PHP XML (all easy for a pc i guess)
CS2 - Loads of high res layouts and image stuff (is so slow at the moment)
3DS max renders and high poly product design
A little film editing

Here is what I was thinking and around the budget.

I was hoping you guys could cast some light on my thinking, and basicly tear it apart!

Should I get that processor?
Is the ram fast enough for the processor?
Is the board good? (will i want to link my GPU in future?)
Raid 0 for maindrive?
GPU??? (could get a crazy one - is this what will make 3DS max run better?)
Overclock? (differnet heatsink?)
Is the psu big enough?

Another thing is that I have always saved money with AMD - should I still do that.

Thanks for the help guys

Will_3rd · 13 Feb 2007 at 14:18

nwthompson said:
Should I get that processor?
Is the ram fast enough for the processor?
Is the board good? (will i want to link my GPU in future?)
Raid 0 for maindrive?
GPU??? (could get a crazy one - is this what will make 3DS max run better?)
Overclock? (different heatsink?)
Is the psu big enough?

CPU is good, RAM's good, the board's good, not sure what your on about, you'd be a needing a dual pci-e 8x/16x board if you want to use Xfire.
The HDD's you selected are fine
GPU's have little bearing on the performance of programs such as 3DS, it is more CPU dependent.
GPU is overkill if your not going to play games, I'd suggest something like a 7300gt if your not gaming.
If you want a different heat sink Tuniq Tower would be a good option.
That PSU should be fine.

nwthompson said:
Another thing is that I have always saved money with AMD - should I still do that.

No! AMD are outclassed at the moment, if your a building a new system and you've got enough cash always get a C2D based system! it be very foolish not to.

nwthompson · 13 Feb 2007 at 14:37

I do want to run a 30 inch at the end of this year, and probably still use my second 21 with it. What GPU and board should I get

Uhtred · 13 Feb 2007 at 14:42

having a better graphics card won't make 3d max render faster. Cpu/ram is what's important for that

masslac · 13 Feb 2007 at 14:44

Raptor is a waste of money TBH, as would be the 1950 pro if you're not going to be playing games. I would look at the 7600GT.

The rest looks very nice.

nwthompson · 13 Feb 2007 at 16:43

Thanks guys, you are probably right on GPU, will get the cheeper one.

Is the ram I have got in my list capable of running the 1066FSB of the e6600?

Will it all clock to 3gb - do I want to do that?

Sould I get a better processor / more ram, where is the point where each extra pound spent on these bits becomes a waist (where id the best £/performance ration)

melbourne720 · 13 Feb 2007 at 17:01

The quoted CPU FSB is quad pumped, so in reality that is 1066 = 266FSB x 4. RAM is quoted in DDR (Double Data Rate) so for 266 you need 533 MHz RAM, also known as PC4200 (still with me?

).

Generally you can run the RAM faster than the FSB, so most go with PC6400 / 800MHz RAM 2 x 1GB dual channel modules.

As when is too much RAM, 2GB is a good multitasking standard. 4GB may be excessive, but VISTA looks like it may soak up plenty so maybe not!

Also Quad core at the moment is both (a) way too expensive (IMHO) and (b) difficult to fully utilise 4 cores unless you have 4 programs that max out your CPU (FF, Thunderbird, Calc and Solitaire don't count!).

nwthompson · 13 Feb 2007 at 17:13

I was gonna use a corprate xp pro 64bit windows on this rig, do you guys recon that vista is the way forward or leave it for a year. I dont want any stress with it as time is money and all that.

Will XP 64 perform as well?