Im buying today..HELP

[cplusplus]

im hooking up a dual amd.. anybody got quick advice as to which the best configuration is for maya3.0 (i have video card etc, just need mobo specs and proc family and speed) thanks and sorry, i know yall heard this question about a million times. speaking of millions, thanks millions:)

[jandrew]

and just where would you be getting a dual AMD mobo TODAY?

Sean

[cplusplus]

that would be my question. i suppose i could go with pentium?

[jandrew]

I've been scratching my skin off waiting for the dual AMD systems to hit the streets.

Find an AXIA stepping Athlon 1GHz and overclock it to 1.5 with a good heatsink and fan. Supposedly close to 100% success rate from everyone trying these. That'll be much better than two 1GHZ PIII's and a lot less expensive, so you can buy that FireGL2 video card that you've been dreaming of Then, wait for a few months after the dual boards come out and find another matched CPU and some DDR (Which should be a lot cheaper by then, at this rate) for it. I'm betting that it's being held back until DDR is effective with it.

The current top-end IDE Quantum and Fujitsu drives are taking the lead away from IBM, who has been getting some bad press on some of their drives lately.

[blk]

yeah the dual amd chipset is still a few months away (were we saying that back in like december UGH)
personally i want to go with a dual system too and im trying patiently to wait for the palomino (finally does something about the heat issue YAAAHHH) and the 760 chipset

[cplusplus]

man, see, i didnt even know there was NO support for a dual amd. hmmm, well, i guess i dont know where to go with this.. I mean, i have a render farm for finals, but i want some speed for the IPR tests and stuff, and two 1.2 gig amds sounded good. everybody here raves about the thunderbird so i was looking forward to pushing them... well, hows about a dual Pentium iii coppermine? i dunno, i dont really have much more time to wait.. how long did they say it would take to come out with the dual amd's. i heard they're already out in japan?

im just mac/sgi guy so i dont know much about this.

[cplusplus]

sorry bout that, i see you said they were just a coupe of months away...

[jandrew]

So, go hunting for an AXIA stepping 1GHz AMD chip, grab a good Alpha (etc) heatsink and good CFM-rated fan, and do the 1.5GHz overclock everyone is raving about. In fact, buy two chips and then upgrade to a dual motherboard when they come out!

If you're rendering in a farm anyways, you don't NEED MP. Heck, IPR doesn't use two CPU's either, I believe.

Sean

[tito212]

The limiting factor will be the amount of money you can spend.

For an interactive workstation with the possibility of expansion I recommend:

ASUS CUV4X-D - Dual capabile MB.
Fastest PIII you can afford - a 1 GHz is going for about 260.00
A Leadtek Geforce Ultra 2 if you are funds limited, a Fire GL2 if you have some cash to spend.

I wouldn't spend any money on duals for a workstation. Until Maya 4 come out, we don't get any benefits from duals except for rndering. But you have the option with this MB to expand it, if you want to cruch frames overnight.

I have built a dual 1G system with the above board, 512MB RAM, 15G HD and a Geforce Ultra 2 with all needed extra pieces, minus monitor for about 1500.00.

If you have any questions feel free to email.

adam...
adamhill@pobox.com

[jandrew]

The problem with buying a dual board with a single processor - if you decide to upgrade to a second chip, you must find one of the same stepping - not just any chip will do.

Why spend more for 1GHz with "potential" 1GHz more later, when you can just get 1.33 now, with a faster FPU that will do a better job of your rendering.. look at the test center for comparisons.

Sean