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Which AMD processor is best for Zbrush?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hey guys,
A few months ago my old AMD phenom II processor went out and despite my desire to go Intel i stuck with AMD in hopes i wouldnt have to reformat. I ended up having to anyways.

I am a 3D Artist working on next generation games and models so i use alot of Zbrush and 3DS Max with million polygon models and multiple programs open at once.

The current setup i have runs like absolute crap and im thinking it might be my processor. Can anyone verify this? If so, i was wondering which AMD Processor might help me solve the problem.

Here are my specs.

3D Card: Radeon HD 6850
CPU: AMD FX-6100
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
Ram: Corsair 8 gig DDR3 (brand new) 2000+ MHZ speed

My computer runs very slow. The newer games out cannot be maxed out and overall performance is very poor. What could be the culprit here? I just dropped 500$ into upgrading my system 4 months ago!

Is an AMD/ATI setup really that bad compared to Intel? Can someone tell me how much factor a processor has in 3D apps such as Zbrush and 3DS Max?

Feedback appreciated, thanks!

#2

I build my own computers and I will always go with an Intel CPU. Much better performance, especially for gaming. You didn’t mention which operating system you are using, but I will presume it is 64 bit as you have 8 Gb RAM.

The FX-6100 is on the lower end of the performance scale (benchmarks), but it’s not a very expensive CPU either, and you get what you pay for. A better choice of CPU for your mobo might have been an FX-8350 which would give you almost double the performance at about a 40% price increase over the FX-6100.

Your video card is getting to be over 2 years old now so it’s no surprise that you can’t max the settings in the games that are coming out now. BTW, the video card doesn’t matter when it comes to ZBrush as it doesn’t use it anyway.

If you have lots of apps open at the same time, I would suggest you increase your RAM (again, assuming you have a 64 bit OS). Your mobo can handle up to 32 GB so another 8 Gb probably wouldn’t hurt. Hopefully, you didn’t fill all your DIMM sockets with four 2 Gb sticks and got two 4 Gb sticks instead.

HTH

#3

It depends. You get the wrong chip and the wrong serie.
If you can wait few months, AMD Steamroller serie should save this rig.