Hi Guys.
I’m thinking of getting a new machine, and I was thinking of a dual quad core similar to the Mac-pro Dual Xeons.
Should I just get a Mac-pro? Or put one together myself?
Also, I do industrial design and so spend a lot of time on CAD, Pro-E Solidworks, is it worth sticking to Quadro display cards or are some of the other less expensive cards better value?
10X =)
build it yourself
and get 8800gtx or x2900xt for plenty of view port performance.
+1
If you build it yourself, you will save cash, but you have only yourself to sort out any issues along the line: warranty replacements/repairs/driver errors/compatability errors etc
We used to build all our systems, but for the last few years we have used a dedicated company to build them for us. Yes, it costs more, but it takes certain responsibilities away.
(we went for ATI 7350 cards in our machines rather than quadro - apparently (at the time) they give far more bang for the buck)
Rght…Thanks for the feedback guys.
I’ll take it around to the computer shops around and get them to put it together for me…i can’t tell my jumpers from power connectors, and also, they’ll give the workmanship a 1 year warranty… 
So here’s my prelim parts.
2 x Xeon X5355 2.66 ghz
Tyan Tempest i5000XL
8GB RAM.
XP x64…
Display card i’ll have to check up on more.
I’m planning to also get a Wacom Cintiq to run Photoshop…
Is that the fancy touch screen wacom?
Always wanted one of those. Bought an intous 3 or whatever they are called for my GF last year.
Note: dont ever buy straight thru wacom.. their prices are almost double what you can get from online stores.
Lately I’ve been finding that with lower end systems you save only about $100 in building a system directly (operating system not included.)
With a higher end machine such as the dual quads, you seem to be saving around the $1,000 mark. You’ll also be putting in time, performing installations, and troubleshooting components.
I’ve always been a fan of building my own systems but the price difference seems to be dropping - possibly making it not worth my while.
he lives :shock:
2 x Xeon X5355 2.66 ghz
Tyan Tempest i5000XL
8GB RAM
$1,600 = 2 x Xeon X5355 2.66 ghz
$355 = Tyan Tempest i5000XL (4 gigs ram)
OR
$394 = Tyan Tempest i5000XT (5 gigs ram)
$576 ($72x8) = 8GB RAM
$2,531 = Base Price
Let’s break down the other components:
$160 = 2 Hard Drives (RAID 0, 0+1, or 1 assuming) Personally, I’d get 4 drives so that would be $320.
$40 = DVD RW drive
***DISREGARD - See Updated Post Below***$130.00 = Computer case (not sure if this even fits a server board)
***DISREGARD - See Updated Post Below***$175.00 = PSU I’m not sure about the specifics here. All I know is you need EPS12V / SSI (24 + 8 pin) power connectors
$75 = Keyboard and Mouse.
$500 = Good gaming video card.
$0 - $200 = Operating system.
$1,081 = Other Components Price
GRAND TOTAL = $3,611 (OS and Shipping/handling not included)
Of course, this is one great system - albeit expensive. You could also recycle keyboard, mice, graphics cards, DVD Drives, hard drives, etc. I’d still have to spend at least $300 on a new case and PSU for a savings of only $700.
Compared to a Dell Precision or a Boxx dual quad, they run about $5,000-$5,500. So you would be saving in the ballpark of $1,000-$2,000. without any technical support. Could be worth it - if you fry your processors/mobo however you will not be a happy person.
im thinking of getting one of those new 4U render boxx machines for 6300$USD you guys think you can rebuild one of those for cheaper?
For those looking for new systems, you may also want to consider a company like mwave.com. For people experienced in building machines, you can spec out all of your own parts, exactly as you’d like, and mwave will build it all for you for something pretty cheap. I think it was $75 dollars on my last order.
It’s kind of like building your own system but you don’t have to do all the tedious work yourself and if you want copies of XP, etc. you’ll get the bundled price instead of the retail price. PLus mwave has great prices on all the components.
I was able to do something similar with a laptop by going through ibuypower.com. It was the only way for me to get a laptop with the exact resolution, OS, and RAM, Videocard combo I wanted.
Another resource, resellerratings.com is a great way to get user feedback on various companies like mwave before you purchase from them.
Yeah we have mwave.com here as well (obviously with .au at the end) and althought I have only bought one thing of them they seemed rather good. With cheap prices and speedy service.
I dont know what its like in hong kong, but in the UK theres a website called pcspecialist which build custom pc’s - cheaper than pre-built by a big company - they charge a very small premium for building it but you dont deal with any of that, just pick your parts and wait a week for it to arrive.
edit: didnt read Bathyscaph’s post, but I’m getting at the same thing. There should be someone you can find to sort you out, and if youve never done it before/dont have the time, its probably well worth it.
daforce: yup, that is the fancy touch screen tablet. have to get those manuall sketching happening again
da elf…good question!
cubiclegangster: yeah, the computer shops here is like that. you just hand them your specs with your choice of parts, they build and deliver for you for a small price.
another thing too is that these parts aren’t exactly mainstream here and there’ll be a wait of a few weeks usually for them. i waited for a month for the tyan board i’m using now. 
…another way i’m contemplating is just to spend that money on a couple of render nodes.
so, what would be a good spec for a rendernode?
@Daforce - yeah I’m alive lol. Just haven’t visited the forum much this part of the year.
@Bathyscaph - Cool! I’ll have to check it out.
@SonOfNimrod - I have almost 10 render nodes. To be honest, I don’t like them that much due to the fact you’re always troubleshooting the network, installing patches, power in the house cuts out, and they take up space.
I think money is well-placed putting it into your main machine as 8 cores would process one lightcache or irradiance map in a fraction of the amount of time you’re probably currently doing it in. It’ll also help drastically with overall performance on your main machine and also allow you to create higher quality renders.
I would have built one sooner if I had only known AMD was going to take forever for a quad release this year. Supposedly, a preliminary release will happen around September 10th now.
jujubee: right. thanks for sharing your thoughts.
yeah, i’m really dying to tryout some rendering ideas i have, but even on my current dual opteron it’s taking forever to setup and execute the render. a new machine of this config, although pricey, would not only allow the work to get done faster, but also let me tryout different FX.
some of the stuff on this forum is just outstanding…
oh…i might wait until amd makes an announcement then…
You can negotiate with both Dell and Boxx if you ask. Both will give a better deal than what you see on line. And don’t forget the warranty. If you build your own you have to handle it with the part manufacturer yourself. If you get a Boxx the warranty is three years which is longer than what the individual part manufactures give you.
I have to make a correction above. The case I listed will NOT fit an Extended ATX (EATX) motherboard. I have found one that also comes with 1100 Watt power supply units:
$399 - Antec P190
There’s currently one issue with this case and that has to do with fitting a Geforce 8800 GTX in there with the case side fan. I was instructed by an Antec rep to either bend the cable (LOL) or remove the side fan.
arobert: the shop that will build it for me covers it with a warranty.
jujubee: great! thanks for heads up.