I would like advice on what computer to buy to run Zbrush and Maya with. Do I purchase a Mac or PC? Laptop or Desktop? How much RAM? I’m a beauty makeup artist, and a sculptor, and I want to redirect my career to CG artistry! I played around with Zbrush and absolutely loved what it does! Thank you in advanced for your advice!!
Songya8
Hello.
Check out the Benchmarking in Zbrush thread in this section of forum (few posts below this). May be helpful.
Hi, I can share my opinions on this but please take them with a grain of salt. Mac or PC? Up to you but Zbrush gets Windows updates much sooner than Mac. Laptop or Desktop? Depends what your going to do with it? Will you be Traveling and working, if so get a Laptop; but with a desktop you will get more performance for your money. Ram? as much as you can afford, 8gb is good if you get a 64 bit system.
Can only speak for myself.
Have a few computers running, most recent is a HP Pavilion with 8gbs ram.
Maya (2008) and Zbrush ( as well as a host of others) are installed there.
Had to take Vista to get the 8gbs( with xp you are limited to about 4)
In any case, the resulting 8gb offset greatly the inconvenience of vista.
To date have had no memory problems with Zbrush. Some of the polygon
counts are truly amazing.
( considering past occupation, would suggest the addition of Photoshop
if your budget permits)
Best of luck, whatever your choice.
Does Zbrush benefit from so much ram? I have understood that Zbrush can use only 4gb. So what’s the point of having 8gb?
You’re right. But if you have windows 64 bit, it will give all of the 4 gig to Zbrush, instead of what’s left when it’s used a chunk of it. Plus you’ll be able to have Photoshop open if your using Zappling etc…
I can vouch for an i7 processor. Their getting great scores in benchmarking.
Yes. A little extra is needed. That’s why I have 5gb. But 8gb is maybe a bit too much if you don’t use other apps along with Zbrush. And I tend not to.
Maxmate: to my knowledge Vista itself uses 1Gb, Zbrush can utilize 4Gb, That leaves 3Gb for other apps to use. If you use other true 64bit apps like XSI or Maya 16Gb or more would even be better as these apps can use it all. Songya8 said that he/she wants to run Zbrush and maya.
And who knows, maybe 3.5 will bring a higher limit than 4 gig for zbrush 
Wow tough question. I bought this http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668210.php#techspecs throw another 3 gigs of ram in this, and this baby will rock zbrush 1250$ us