[B0b]

E6600 arrives tomorrow with 2GB DDR2 533 and Motherboard

have to wait a couple of days for my GF7600GT to arrive tho' then its overclock city 2.4 OC'd to 3GHz

pretty excited, all sources point to RAW Picture Processing being 73% faster than my current dual system

[Francis]

Dang, you're a hardcore propellerhead for sure!

Anyway congrats!
_________________
Francis Tsai
TeamGT Studios

[iandredd]

Hope you don't mind me hijacking this thread bob, hoping you will have some advice regarding my post actually

I'm thinking about getting a new pc for christmas. I need my PC primarily for 3d work, compositing in after effects and graphics work in photoshop.

My current spec is AMD 64 3200, 1.5 gig ram, geforce 6800 plus 2 ide Hds one i use as a scratch disc.

I was thinking of getting a core2 duoe6600, 4 gig high performace ram, mirrored 200> gig SATA HDs + a small HD for scratch disc and a i guess a mid range nvidia graphics card (id love some behemoth of a card for gaming but i need to save money somewhere and an expensive card wont help any with Photoshop or rendering.)

Now I was aware there were issues with large amounts of RAM but i thought up to 4 gig was ok, would i see any performance gain with 4 gig using 3d software and photoshop?

I wasnt intending to use vista till it had been out for a fair while because i dont know when 64 bit versions of phototshop, cinema 3d, after effects etc will be released plus i am concerned about the DRM stuff ive heard vista has.

Anyway I really just want to know is it worth spending approx a grand on a new rig? The reason I want it for christmas or just after is because I'm gonna need all the power i can get as i will be working on a short animated film.

Sorry for the long post. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[B0b]

u in the states or US?

i just specced up a 6400 with Leadtek Nvidia 7600GT 500MB Seagate SATA etc etc for under 850 that was with a 19" TFT..

i'm just waiting on my new motherboard before i push my 6600 from 3.12 to 3.4GHz

CS3 will use 3D video acceleration to enhance the speed of filters

i'm pretty sure aftereffects is 64bit right now..

Cinebench is 64bit -so i'm guessing that Cinema3D should be as well?

Photoshop CS3 we'll have to wait until spring 07 - but CS2 does take advantage of XP64 an if you have 3GB or over will see 3.5GB and use any left over as Scratch..

i doubt you'll see any enhancement with render times with 2GB vs 4GB, but throwing large amounts of polly's around you'll find it easier with 4GB and running a 64bit OS


ok in the UK you can get for �999.53

AOpen H500B Midi Tower inc 300W P4 PSU

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 , Socket 775, 2.4 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache, Retail

Sony AW-G170AB2 Black 18x DVD�RW x12 Ram Dual Layer DVD-Writer OEM

256MB Leadtek 7600GT PCI-E (x16), Mem 1400 MHz, GPU 560 MHz, 12 Pipes, Dual Link DVI-I/DVI-I/HDTV

2x 2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2 , DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-12

ASUS P5W DH Deluxe i975X , S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

2x 250 Gb Seagate ST3250620AS Barracuda 7200.10, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.5 ms, NCQ

[iandredd]

Cheers B0b! I'm in the UK, seems i deleted the location field in my profile field for some reason, maybe in one of those fits of paranoia. Do you think it will be safe to go for it with 64 bit vista then? I'm still concerned about the DRM stuff, initial bugs and how about drivers? As long as after effects, cinema and PS work i can get my work done but I guess various other non-essential software i regularly use may be a problem eg winamp, vlc, winrar. Also will the network functionality work ok with xp machine? I don't see any reason why it wouldn't but you never know.

The only reason im tempted to go for vista is the 64 bit capabilities and ability to effectively use 4 gigs RAM. But will it be worth it?

Sorry for so many questions :s

[B0b]

atm i wouldn't touch VISTA with a 10' pole

i know a few 3D guys on XP Pro 64 using 3DMax and XSI - XSI is a beast under 64.. but anyway most 32bit apps will still run under XP64 there are a few older apps that won't cut the mustard

Nivdia have stable 64 drivers

Asus are kind enough to supply 64bit drivers on their drivers CD

if you have an Epson printer you'll be fine as they say that they fully support XP64 (had a nice e-mail from them about that)

i haven't looked at winrar as far as 64bit goes but it does fly on this machine (under XP Pro 32)

ok little google search took me to winamp's forums where they say there's no need to produce a 64bit verson as it will have no impact and it runs under 64bit XP (which is good as i don't know what i'd do without my tunes and theres a snowballs chance in hell of me sticking that bloatware - iTunes on this machine)

and WINRAR 3.61 = Windows x64 shell integration

also here is a list of all that is ready for 64bit OS
http://hwspirit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=85

and Tweek UI for 64
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/TweakUI-64-Bit-Edition.shtml

hopefully in a couple of days time my new mobo will be here and i'm upgrading to XP64

[iandredd]

Thanks for all that b0b you are a legend. I'm very tempted by XP 64 if the benefits in cinema are half of what xsi 64 can do it will be worth it. I'm still not sure about the ram as I'm hearing from others that you can't get high performance 2 gig sticks and that its a bad idea to get 4 x 1 gig sticks as the ram price is high at the moment. Whats your opinion?

BTW glad to know your a fellow Winamp user, I've never had any luck getting mates to ditch Itunes though, the fools!

Let us know how you find XP 64 when you get your machine all sorted!

[B0b]

yeah i'd love to have 4x2GB sticks - but where i shop i can't get them for love nor money.. i've asked them to start stocking, but we shall see..

the only reason i'd go 2GB sticks is if i wanted 8GB of RAM - i can't see how you'd get memory degradation with 4x1GB vs 4x2GB..

if an Opteron can pull 12GB/sec with 16GB RAM, then there shouldn't be any trouble with 4x1GB. in my old PIII sys i had 4x512MB and did't see any adverse effects..

and you can always upgrade your system with 2GB sticks at a later date

RAM is always high over Dec-Feb - factories shutdown (well thats what they say - i'm sure its because its xmas )

still 189 for 2GB is pretty decent price

easy way to get them to ditch iTunes - tell them its a virus!! - bring up task manager and look at the CPU / RAM usage and then bring up Winamp and laugh at them

[iandredd]

I'll have to try that itunes trick...

One last (maybe) question. Can I get the OEM version of xp pro 64? The reason I ask is I recall a retailer telling me they couldn't sell me an OEM version of XP for some reason. -edit- Ah, I read that OEMs are supposed to only be sold with hardware, i wonder what overclocker policy is on this, hmmmm....

-edit 2-
SORRY! I just thought of another question, should I go for MB that supports SLI, cause i though maybe if i get a 7600gt i could slap another one in there in the future should i feel like it.


Oh and where do you shop? Ive used mainly Ebuyer and overclockers in the past and occasionally dabs for stuff i cant find elsewhere :s

Also this might be of interest:-

http://go64now.com/list/

[B0b]

i'm sending you a PM about XP64

if you really want to buy into that SLI hype..
Asus P5N32 SLI Premium/WiFi-AP NF590 SLI, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX - will take you �3 over your budget of �1,000 tho'

i shop @ www.SCAN.co.uk