urgent need for a pc that can run maya
 

I havent got a big budget I just need something that can run it at a decent level...

im alright in finding most of the components but in terms of graphics card i really dont know what im looking for,

can anyone reccomend me a cheap graphics card that works well with maya?

also does the operating system matter much at all? because I'd preferably want xp i cant stand vista or 7...

Quadros and FireGLs are designed to work well with Maya. Check Nvidia's site for your options for the quadros. Seeing as they're more expensive on average, you could try a Geforce. What's your budget?

And Maya works fine with XP, but I like 7 personally.

Re: urgent need for a pc that can run maya
 

First, define cheap?

Also, if your running XP 32 bit then you'll be limited to 3GB RAM, XP 64bit was a bit of an abortion, some people worked with it fine but I ran into some serious OpenGL redraw issues that brought everything to a screeching halt. Vista was O.K. but Windows 7 is much better and I'm not having any issues.

Not sure about the latest versions of Maya, but I've run Maya 4 up to Maya 2008 on XP with an old AGP-slot MSI Geforce TI4200 card, soft-quadroed (with Riva tuner) up to a Quadro4 700XGL. Soft-quadro is an old mod that patches or unlocks the quadro drivers that were included on older cards. It can be a pain to set up but works once it is. I use it with max 2009 as well.

Like Gect mentioned...what's the budget? What type of card slot? You could pick up a Quadro FX 1700 if you have PCI express slots...not the cheapest but not uber-expensive either.

My budget is around 350 pounds for an entire PC, ;)

i just need it to be able to run maya for my uni work i can do renders and stuff on the school computers its not far i live on campus,

i found a asus ee box with these specs, the system will be dedicated to just maya as i already have a decent laptop (Maya didnt like my intergrated graphics though)

Processor: Intel Atom Dual Core 330 1.6GHz
Memory: 2GB
HD Capacity: 250GB
Display: None
Graphics Card: NVIDIA ION

Would this be able to run maya?

Yikes! I don't know about that machine, that's like web browsing and typing specs and doesn't leave much in the way of upgrading. I'd say it could run it...but not very well, and then you threw in integrated graphics, even though its Nvidia, it's still integrated. If you're going dual core then aim for 2.8GHz+ and 4GB RAM min and get more later. Also, you should make out ok with a decent gaming card.

If I were you, I'd hunker down in the uni labs and save til I could get a worthwhile machine.

You won't be able to run a professional 3d application like Maya on a machine like that. To get a decent machine that can run Maya, you usually need to spend upwards of around $1500 CND (£935)

An atom just doesn't have enough power.

Some recommended specs:
Dual or Quad core 2.4 Ghz + (Quad recommended)
4+ gb of ram
Graphics card: FirePro or Quadro

One the one hand, I'm sure you'll be able to run maya with that system. My previous computer was a single core 1.8 GHz Athlon with 1.5GB RAM and a Radeon x1600 card (I think). I could do plenty with Maya. Yes it ran, but there was significant lag in the viewport with too many polys, and it rendered out nice and slow.

So I would say, yes, if you really need a new computer, it will run maya, but since you already have a decent laptop, I'll agree with the above comments and advise you to wait a bit until you can get something a bit higher on the scale. Hope that helps.

edit: thanks for all the advice very much appreciated but i do need it soon for a deadline i need to meet ^_^

yea i know i have a small budget but im still in my first year at university and my friend managed the first term on his netbook...


I was on ebuyer and am looking at building my own pc i found these, whats everyones thoughts on them?

AMD Athlon 630 Bundle Deal Including Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz AM3 Retail Box Processor Asus M4A785TD-M EVO 785G Motherboard and Generic 2GB DDR3 1333 Memory

Asus HD 4350 512MB DDR2 DVI VGA HDMI Out PCI-E Low Profile Graphics Card

with everything else it comes to around 350ish

I can always upgrade the parts when i get more money but as a foundation system would those be alright?

Not sure about that Radeon video card, more than likely there will be display issues in Maya, you can get the Nvidia equivalent which is the GeForce 8400 GS. But everything else seems in good shape.

thanks everyone again, you guys were a big help, like ive said its mainly for modelling and playblasting, i got the uni labs for rendering and whatnot... :D

xx