ZBrushCentral

what processor? buying a computer advice

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

hello all, im investing in a new computer. just asking for any help and advice, before i plunge into the purchase. basically zbrush and 3d software is my main priority.
on my 3 year old mac book pro, zbrush is struggling to offer me the freedom i would like. its slow and i cant get enough polys

so what processor would run zbrush the best (i have a £1000 limit on my whole computer). Intel i7? are they worth it, they appear to be all about multiple functions, does zbrush take advantage of that? or is a Intel Core 2 Duo the safe bet? or AMD?

whats better ATI or nVidia ?
also is ram a big issue with zbrush?

While im here i might as well say the machines im looking at.
http://www.arbico.co.uk/Arbico-i7-920A-Custom-Built-Base-Unit-Computer-p-18315.html

http://www.arbico.co.uk/Arbico-AMD-Phenom-Quad-945-XL-Phenom-PC-Package-p-18357.html

http://www.arbico.co.uk/Arbico-7469-XL-Custom-Built-Gaming-PC-p-18330.html

http://www.arbico.co.uk/Arbico-OC-8400-XL-Overclocked-Custom-Built-Computer-p-18338.html

thanks for any help.

#2

i just bought a new system and am using the i7 arcitecture and I love it. I’m not sure if Z uses it to it’s fullest (chances are 4 will though). RAM is the most important thing when working in Zbrush.

we can argue all day about which is better, ATI or Nvidia, so I’m not going to bother there. If 3d outside of Zbrush is another main area for you I recommend a quadro…but that will break your budget.

Hope this helps to some degree.

#3

thank you, that was very helpful. puts me at ease about getting a i7

although i still have a few follow up questions;

1- how much ram is best for zbrush? is 4gb enough? ofcourse more is always better, but its 4gbs enough to allow you true freedom with zbrush?

2- the ATI HD4670 1GB, do you know if this is a good graphics card for zbrush.

3- currently on my macbook i can push 8 subdivisions on a stanard sphere. i stress the word “push”. how many can your computer push? and what are you specs?

#4

dual quad 2.4ghz i7s
quadro 4800
8gb of ram

As to the subD levels. I can hit about 16million on a single subtool before I start to see any slowdown in my workflow…waiting for undo’s to catch up, stepping up and down levels.

The graphics card isn’t really that important with Zbrush. Actually not very important at all. Just make sure it supports openGL.

4GB is fine. My laptop has 4gb and is running windows 7 and it can hit a cap of around 10mill per subtool.

Zbrush will only ever use 4gb of ram (right now). So 6gb or ram will work great as you give zbrush the full 4gb and your OS and other apps can have the remaining 2gb.

my 2cents.