Do I need to upgrade my PC for Maya?
 

This is my PC..

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1196470439043

It has a 64 bit dual core proxcessor.. does that help a lot?

Is there a big difference between 32bit and 64bit?


The bad thing about this PC is that the graphics card is relatively weak.. will that be a problem running the 64 bit Maya?

Does having a weak graphics card hurt you while working in the work view? Or can you have the processor handle that - take that load?

Are there ways to optimize your PC if you have a weak graphics card?

Taken from Autodesk's site:
You can find a list of qualified hardware here.

I don't have a 64-bit system so I can't help you any more than that. Good luck!

Thanks! I almost didn't see that hardware link.. that is great!

You'll need a 64 bit OS too.

gster, are you saying my windows vista isn't 64bit?

Why would they make a PC with the 64bit processor but not 64bit OS?

Or is it just for potential future upgrades? Seems like a waste...

Could be the case, the spec sheet you put up didnt specify if it was or not.

Just make sure its a 64 bit version of vista, I dont know much about vista and its varients, so just make sure that its what you need.

Theres a lot of the AMD's that are 64 bit that were sold with 32 bit OS's (XP), as it's an option untill the technology matures completly, that was a while ago, but like I said just make sure.

I am trying to see if it is.. but it doesn't say it when checking what version I have in the windows control panel.. I am sure oif it was 64 bit it would say it was..

Pretty confusing though..

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...ons/64bit.mspx

See what I mean. Have you gone to the link about getting a 64 bit copy at the bottom of that page??

Yeah.. I saw that.. I think you are right.. I think if I had 64 bit windows it would say it everywhere on my PC.. but it doesn't say what it is...

which is kind of weird too.. you would think it would say 32 bit so you know you need and want 64 bit..

what is all that business about gigbytes of memory at the bottom of that page too?

I don't know about the OS but the hardware is definitely sufficient. I run Maya 8.5 with barely half as much and it goes fine as long as I don't dig in the really complex stuff.

The gig's are how much RAM the PC can use , 32 bit maxes out at 4gig (although programmes can only use 3.25-3.5 gig depending on how much windows allocates to itself)

Did you get your vista disk and instructions with your PC, it might say in ther, maybe give microsoft a bell, there pretty good.

Thanks Benny.. for modeling simple stuff it's ok so far.. but I haven't gotten into cloth simulations or complex scenes so I am kind of worried about that..

What kind of graphics card do you have, Benny? That's the big weak link in my system.. and I think that might be the most important thing for Maya..

gster, I found where it says 32 bit system.. it was right in front of my face.. that's probably why I missed it.

:headbang:

That's a bummer about the RAM.. I thought I could max at 8 GB.. because that's what my specifications said.. but that must be after a upgrade to 64 bit.. :( sneaky...

I've got Radeon 9550 now... I don't know how it compares to yours but it's definitely worse.
Just so you know, I managed to run Maya with Nvidia FX 5200 (which is MUCH, MUCH worse then yours) earlier with reasonable preformanse.
I also have 2.6 GHz on one core so I wouldn't worry about the CPU, and I've got 1 GB RAM DDR(1) so I'd say 3 GB DDR2 will do for a few years at least...
wellcome to SM :attn:
Benny

Wow, BennyK, you were hardcoring it.I haven't even seen those words "Nvidia FX 5200" in such a long time it made me have a flashback.:eek:

ExtrudedDingus, that system is fine but when things start getting heavy in your scene view it'll no doubt bring that graphic card to its knees. You can overclock it but you better have adequate cooling. Also it says Vista Home Premium preinstalled and I know the Autodesk site says Vista Business, dunno how that'll work out. Its a waste to have a 64bit system and not have a 64bit OS, and for anyone who doesnt know how to check, go to control panel>system. And get the 64bit verison of Maya. Getting more than 4GB RAM if you're not upgrading to 64bit OS is pretty much pointless.(I suggest you download the drivers and burn em') I don't even know what kinda mobo this thing has :/ this is why I build my systems myself so that I get exactly what I want/need. Only thing I can tell you is to get a 64bit OS and 64bit Maya, everything else is ok.:blush:

Thanks GecT. Good info.

I was looking at these graphics card.. seems like they could solve my problem..

http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/...ootout/?page=1

It's really weird though.. on the Maya site it says the ATI cards don't work well with the software but here in these tests it says ATI is better and Nvidia doesn't work well..

If I do get the 64bit Maya and Windows then will that help my graphics card's performance?




Thanks for the welcome Benny! :beer:

What version of Maya are you running, Benny? When you were animating scenes with cloth movement or anything complex did it slow your system down a lot or crash?

I haven't really started experimenting with cloth yet. Only some minor experiments...
I have gone through 2D fluids and i guess it's about as heavy.
the result was slower running of course but it was more then bearable. Plus, I remind you your PC is much better in almost, if not every aspect.

I advise you to go through the basics and only when you start going through all the heavier options you will see whether you need to spend more money on it.

I really doubt it, its hardware at the end of the day.

thats funny that article, I always find that ATI's have problems, little niggling graphics ones with Maya, were as Nvidias run fine. Suppose it all depends on the model really. (that is with gamer cards not pro ones like in that test)

That sounds like a good plan. My luck I will get a new card then the new Maya will come out and that card will be incompatible with the new version..

One other thing.. I have an older PC.. it's a poor brand and lower resources and power.. but I am wondering if I could use it in network to aid in rendering? do people do that at all? Or at the very least I may just use it in tandem with me newer computer for browsing and stuff to free up my Maya machine.

I doubt it will be incompatable, ive got a Gforce 4000 on my old desktop that still runs the latest maya fine.

Your second question, yes I would do that with it, thats what I do with my old desktop.

Yeah.. that page on the Maya site that said which cards were compatible seemed to support what you are saying about the little problems..

I wonder how workstation cards and game cards differ? More to research! :zzz: It never ends. :D

Think its mainly in the firmware and the support for them

Workstation cards optimise for OpenGL performance instead of DirectX, unlike gamer cards. They also have really neat features like anti-aliased lines and better 3D/2D performance, and they should have more reliable components.

I think NVIDIA has a huge 50+ page white paper detailing the differences and the pros and cons on their website. You might want to look at the Quadro product pages, there might still be a link to it.

Wow.. great info TheArchitect.. that antialiased lines bit sounds interesting.. that could make a big difference on your working environment.. very cool!

Would a workstation graphics card be compatible with my system?

????

Probably but have a proper look into it, motherboard etc etc etc

you never know haha.. just want to make sure. Thought you might needa PC built specifically for them or something..

I'm reading about them on the Nvidia site.

Dont waste money on a Hardware (Workstation ) Card.

Todays Game cards are not that much different for running Maya, the only real time you see a difference is at render, but its seconds and minutes or hours.

Stick with a good "Games" card and a nice chuck of RAM and Maya will whistle dixie forever.

On the x86 v x64 question. I have ran both on my PC, with a x64 OS and theres not much diference, it loads faster, but beyond that theres no real difference that you will notice. I was on Vista x64 for a while, but was fedup with Vista taking 1/2 my RAM just cause it wanted to (I run with 4Gb). I prefer x86 OS and x86 Maya, thats personal, as XP still runs faster on my x64 than Vista x64 does, but thats just Vista... :)

Its all swings and roundabouts tbh, just make sure u have a good porcessor and a good chuck of RAM and Maya will work away nicely.

Thanks, R@nSiD. You can't beat real world experience!

Just found this.. this article talks about how you can turn a cheaper graphics card inot a high performance card just by modifying the software.

You cna turn a GeForce into a Quadro just by modifying the software..

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.../05/10/0521223