Introduction to Maya - Rendering in Arnold
This course will look at the fundamentals of rendering in Arnold. We'll go through the different light types available, cameras, shaders, Arnold's render settings and finally how to split an image into render passes (AOV's), before we then reassemble it i
# 1 18-06-2011 , 09:15 AM
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What are good PC specs for PC and Next-gen game development?

I would like to build a PC for the soul purpose of game development. Right now I am currently focused on PC games but I would like to create a rig that could handle the creation of games on say a PS3 quality level. So I am kind of wondering what kind of specs for this PC I should be aiming for and what kind of a price range I am looking at.

~MG~

note: If this isn't enough info forgive me and just ask for more detail.

# 2 18-06-2011 , 11:46 AM
Acid44
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It's really hard to say without a basic budget laid out. Asking what kind of a price range you're looking at could easily have you put in the $20,000 range.

That aside, price being not too much of a worry, and assuming you'd be playing the games on the system as well as creating, I'd have this:

Case: Cooler Master HAF-X ($200ish)/ Thermaltake Level 10 ($800-$1000)

HAF: https://www.coolermaster-usa.com/prod...roduct_id=2988

L10: https://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Produc...S=1341&ID=1897

PSU: Thermaltake TPG1200M ($310)

https://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Produc...C=1245&ID=2043

Motherboard: EVGA SR-2 ($600)

https://www.evga.com/products/moreInf...%20Family&sw=5

CPU: Dual Xeon 5690's (I think they're compatible) ($1600+)

https://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id...ec-codes=SLBVX

RAM: 12x 4GB something @ 1333MHZ ($A lot)

Graphics: EVGA GTX 590 Classified Quad SLI ($1430)

https://www.evga.com/products/moreInf...s%20Family&sw=

HDD: Whatever you want, with tons of memory ($Varies)

CD/DVD: Generic DVD-R/W ($~20)
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^My dream machine user added image


That's looking at a price tag of around $5700+ USD, not including the variables (RAM, HDD, Etc.). Swap out the graphics cards with workstation cards and you could easily add a few thousand more to the price tag, let alone the monitor/peripherals/etc. Plus I'm probably forgetting something user added image

# 3 20-06-2011 , 06:30 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 8
Here's my suggestion, at a very decent price, also happens to be the setup for my next computer user added image

Cabinet: NZXT Phantom White/Red (~$210)
- Any cabinet that supports the ATX Form Factor is suitable, though i picked this one for my own setup becuase of it's design and comfort with the USB Slots and extra fan space at the top. Also gives plenty of room for expanding due to the size of it.

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme4 (~$235)
- This mobo have had great reviews, and it's a powerful monstrum that makes it possible to run Quad-SLI GFX.

Processor: Core i7 I7-2600K 8 MB L3 Cache 3,4 GHz (Intel Boxed) (~$370)
- Best pick for the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 mobo, and comes with a heatsink and usually Intels boxed processors comes with a fan aswell, although it is adviced to purchase a replacement fan as these boxed fans are only built to JUST keep it on the edge of the temperature limit.

Processor Replacement Fan: Noctua NH-C14 (~$120)
- To cool down the processor i'd suggest this Noctua NH-C14 dual-fan with a heatsink in between<33

Graphics Cards: 2-3xASUS ENGTX590/3DIS/3GD5 (3 GB) (~$900 each)
- Personally i'm gonna throw in 2 of these to run in SLI, but the mobo has room for 3 so it's possible to run Quad-SLI user added image

RAM: 4x8 GB Kingston PC3-10600, 1333 MHz, DDR3 SDRAM (~$975 total, for all 4 RAM blocks)
- Here i've chosen to take full advantage of the mobo, and throw in 32 GB of RAM which is the limit of the mobo, it's expensive but worth it, but 8-16GB should do the job just fine aswell user added image

Power Supply: CoolerMaster Silent Pro M1000 (~$205)
- This one can handle up to 1000 Watt, but a 750-850 Watt could probably do aswell (Haven't actually calculated on it to be honest user added image)

HDD: 2xWD Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2 TB (~$185 each)
- HDD is really up to you, depends on how much space you need, but i will though, advice you to pick one with atleast 7200rpm and 32 MB Buffer.

The rest is up to you, such as CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Drive or whatever you wan't.

Total price: ~$4100 (~$5000 with Quad-SLI GFX)
- And it's probably alot cheaper where you live, as i'm from Denmark, so we have alot of taxes, toll and stuff.

Feel free to PM me if you need any help user added image


Last edited by GlaeX; 20-06-2011 at 06:39 PM.
# 4 20-06-2011 , 11:47 PM
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Posts: 3,522
GlaeX that setup is just ramped up to the ridiculous, you must be tripping over money when you walk around your house lol user added image

Graphics Cards: 2-3xASUS ENGTX590/3DIS/3GD5 (3 GB) (~$900 each)
- Personally i'm gonna throw in 2 of these to run in SLI, but the mobo has room for 3 so it's possible to run Quad-SLI user added image

For game development, that is overkill. He needs a graphic card setup that is as powerful as needed for testing, unless he's making games only for super mega extreme PC gamers. Devs try to be as efficient as possible with resources so their program can run on a wider range of hardware configurations. Also that cpu isn't really up to par with that graphic card setup, he's not going to get the best performance out of it. Plus he'll unecesserily have to deal with heat issues and a component runs slower when its hot. Also those prices are kinda scary, you can find better deals on the online.
_____________

If your game needs that much power to run its "high" visual settings, then you can get a dual sli setup but one is enough really. You can get a worthwile machine for like $1500, not counting monitor. And 8GB RAM should do fine.


- Genny
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# 5 24-06-2011 , 12:50 AM
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It all mainly depends on what your budget is, though what GecT said below is spot on...

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