hello everybody. i am student and i started with the 3d like 5 moths ago and finally i am building new computer and just need advice for it.
i never use windows xp 64 so should i go for 64 bit processor or 32 will be fine?
also should i go for 2 quad or core 2 duo ?
INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600
or
Core 2 Duo E7400 (2.8GHz,1066MHz,3MB)
i am also getting :
SAPPHIRE HD4850 1GB GDDR3 BULK
but for the video card i am not sure …
any recommendations? would there be a better card for this price (200 $)
thanks everybody
I’d suggest you go for 44 bit edition of windows as I recall I created a model at home on Windows Vista 64 Business Edition then move it to work and then we didn’t use 64 bit (Windows XP service pack 2 only) and at work the com spec was higher but could bnot open highly detailed model due to memory. So I’d go for 64 bit.
Um… If I were to suggest a good card that I’ve have all the machines at work installed is Nvidia Quadro series… I’d go for NVidia Quadro FX 1700 as it’s not “too” expensive and is quite good for 3D.
On CPU, I’ve been using INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 for qutie sometime now and it’s real steady,.
Let me know if you need anythign else.
thanks a lot.
i see almost everybody here is going for the 64 so i will give it a try!
the differense betwen the CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 and the Core 2 Duo E7400 is just 100$ and i dont mind spending them for this i just wonder would it be much of a differense in the performance?
about the video card i checked the price at nvidia web site and it is about 400-500 $ and the card that i have stopped on is SAPPHIRE HD4850 1GB GDDR3 BULK and it cost only 200$ and also has 1 GB gddr3 which is only 512 MB ddr2 with the card that you recommend! is it so much more expensive just because is Nvidia? i dont think i can aford it any way!thak you for the reply!
You don’t really need a Quadro, the only difference with other Graphics card, is their drivers… who works a lot better with 3D softwares.
As a student, I suggest you keep your computer multitask and not only aimed at 3D creation. So don’t go for a “professional graphic card” yet…
Yes go for a quad-core, as they’re really useful when it comes to render stuff.
Invest as well in a nice quantity of ram,
if you go for 4Gb or more, then you’ll need a 64-bit OS, else it’s not very useful. Considering the curreent price of ram i’ll go directly for 4Gb. DDR2 or DDR3 doesn’t really matter yet, depends only if your motherboard support it.
A 64-bit version of a 3D software will allow more precision in complex calculations sometimes made in 3D.
thanks man
so i will spend extra 100$ for the processor then and i will get the
INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600
an yes i was gonna get 4 GB ddr2 ram it is the cheapest part of the computer 
and i will put xp 64 bit on it! i hope it make a big difference from what i have now :).if it does not i will be very sad
thanks again and good day
Some adivce, one this thread needs to be in the Questions and Troubleshooting section, but as long as we’re here;
Use Vista 64, turn off Aero, turn off Superfetch. Get a 16 or 8 gig flash drive and format it to NTFS, use it as Readyboost.
The hardware parameters you have chosen are good, but the main tweaking comes from setting up Vista and ZBrush correctly.
Another thing I can suggest is getting a nice case like the Antec 900.
get the NVidia 9800GT! thats the number one rated beast out there. The 9600 GT is great too!