Building a 3d maya machine: Inputs needed.

[Slidox]

Hi, I'm planning on building a computer for extreme 3d modeling. I'm sick and tired of my laptop slow speeds, small screen not so good for maya.
Anyways I've builted a pc about 3 years ago for a friend and now i need one for my own my budget is $1100 max for both desktop and monitor (lcd 19"+), so i been looking around and found myself overwhelmed as to how much options there are nowadays heres what i'm looking at:


Tower: RAIDMAX SMILODON EXTREME(didn't put this before but comes with 500w psu)
MOTHER BOARD: ASUS P5K PRO INTEL
CPU: INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600
RAM: OCZ REAPER HPC ED. 4GB(2X2GB) DDR2 800(PC2 6400)
HDD: WESTERN DIGITAL RAPTOR 74GB 10K RPM SATA
GRAPHIC CARD: SAPPHIRE RADEON HD 3870 512MB 256BIT CROSSFIRE READY(will get another one once i build up some cash for crossfire effect)

I'm just starting to get back into the game so I welcome suggestions or changes and opinions, I do want to OverClock is this setup good for overclocking?
All help would be much appreciated.

 

[btarunr]

I suggest:

Case: Your choice (!sans power supply!)
PSU (Power supply): Corsair VX450W
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
RAM: G.Skill F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 320GB x 2 (Use two drives in a RAID 0 array, it will outperform a single Raptor, they cost roughly the same/little more).
Graphics card: ATI Radeon HD4850 (By Sapphire / HIS / VisionTek / GeCube / MSI)
Motherboard: ASUS P5K Pro


Append:
As to your overclocking query, it's rumoured (and some find true) that the latest batches of Q6600 don't overclock well. In this case, buy a Q6700 that's priced about US $60 more or Core 2 Duo E8400 (Dual-Core) for $20 less.

 

[ShadowFold]

Yes, get a good psu with it cause 90% of case PSU's come from terrible OEM's. The 4850 should be good with maya cause it does 1GigaFlop.

 

[Kursah]

I would say on HDD also consider the WD SE16 640GB (irrc), I have one, speedy, quiet, cool-running, modern technology, and pretty damn affordable now-a-days. But RAID would net faster results depending upon setup, I don't mess with RAID on personal rigs, I'm more of a one large HDD fan, and the WD does that and is pretty damn fast too.

 

[Slidox]

I don't like raid setup either, why? cuz i don't really know how to set it up heheh.
Is the WD SE16 640gb really faster than the WD raptor? It has 10k rpm!! Cuz i don't really care about space, i have a 500gb external hard drive for storage.
So far I'm changing the radeon 3870hd to the 4850hd its about $60 more and is thinking about the q6700 but that is also $60 more which will put me $100 over my budget, gotta find some other things to skimp on now.
oh and for power supply i'm getting the Rosewill Stallion 600w active pfc sli ready instead of the corsair 450vx as its about the same price as the corsair but has a little extra power?

 

[btarunr]

My logic is that with 2x 320GB RAID you get 640 GB of storage for roughly the same price, and slightly higher performance than a 74GB slightly slower drive. As for "I don't know how to do it" part, refer to the motherboard manual.

 

[ShadowFold]

Nooo get the corsair. Rosewills are a hit or miss.. I got lucky but my friend didnt..

 

[Slidox]

So you think I'm not as lucky as you?!!?!?!?!?
How much power does crossfiring require?

btarunr is this what you are talking about? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148316
I thought all 7200.11 comes with 32mb cache??

 

[ShadowFold]

No im just saying dont take a chance. I got a good one but I've used 3 rosewill's in 3 different builds with the same one and I got the only good one. The other two died and took stuff with it.

 

[btarunr]

So you think I'm not as lucky as you?!!?!?!?!?
How much power does crossfire require?

Don't go by the wonderful wattage numbers these punks (cheap PSU makers) float on the internet. Always inspect the power-distribution diagram of the PSU (a table printed on a sticker on the PSU). Count the total number of Amps that come under the +12 V column(s). Also look for efficiency ratings, it pays to choose PSU's with 80+ efficiency ratings, trust me.

For a Crossfire setup, it really depends on which cards you choose. For 2x HD3850, all you need is that Corsair VX450W in other terms, 36A should suffice for the entire system (with two HD3850).

 

[ShadowFold]

Don't go by the wonderful wattage numbers these punks (cheap PSU makers) float on the internet. Always inspect the power-distribution diagram of the PSU (a table printed on a sticker on the PSU). Count the total number of Amps that come under the +12 V column(s). Also look for efficiency ratings, it pays to choose PSU's with 80+ efficiency ratings, trust me.

For a Crossfire setup, it really depends on which cards you choose. For 2x HD3850, all you need is that Corsair VX450W in other terms, 36A should suffice for the entire system (with two HD3850).

Well the rosewill's I used had 80% eff, Active PFC, +12v 17a + 20a so the specs are good they are just crap.

 

[btarunr]

Well the rosewill's I used had 80% eff, Active PFC, +12v 17a + 20a so the specs are good they are just crap.

That's when reading reviews helps. Here's the TPU review for VX450W for example: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Corsair/VX_450W

 

[Kursah]

Cache isn't everything, I was just throwing the WD SE16 640 out there, it is a great HDD, and pretty affordable for speed. Gives me a 5.9 in Vista, scores in the mid 90's for MB/s in HDTach, just overall it's been the best HDD I've ever owned, I've never had a Raptor, especially with newer Seagates and WD drives keeping up with them for considerably less at times and usually with more space for cheaper too, I'd rather have less speed and more space for now...but I'm not doing a Maya machine either!

 

[Rurouni Strife]

For a Maya machine, here are my basic guidelines.
1) If you are using 64 bit, go at LEAST 4 gb ram.
2) If it's not really going to be a big gaming rig, a 3850/3870 will do just fine. They are plenty powerful enough (I know, I have one and use Maya all the time).
3) Quad Core
4) If you can scrape enough cash togheter, go for dual monitors. They are indespensable for 3D work. And they rock in general too.

If your gaming, I'd nab a 4850 and spend extra on a faster Quad while skipping out on the dual monitor.

 

[Slidox]

For a Maya machine, here are my basic guidelines.
1) If you are using 64 bit, go at LEAST 4 gb ram.
2) If it's not really going to be a big gaming rig, a 3850/3870 will do just fine. They are plenty powerful enough (I know, I have one and use Maya all the time).
3) Quad Core
4) If you can scrape enough cash togheter, go for dual monitors. They are indespensable for 3D work. And they rock in general too.

If your gaming, I'd nab a 4850 and spend extra on a faster Quad while skipping out on the dual monitor.

How is the render time on your machine?