orencons Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 we just need the brain and graphics card, not a monitor. suggestions? thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRAWZILLA Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Alienware (Dell's top end gaming machines)Google it, you can build it any way you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orencons Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 thanks, we only need this desktop computer for chief architect. Is that how you use your computer? Where do you buy it? online from one source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRAWZILLA Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 online http://www.alienware.com/Landings/laptops.aspx?ST=alienware&dgc=ST&cid=246707&lid=4263762&acd=123098073120560&ven1=sSghgmBAc&ven2=e&ven3=276302937172838348 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orencons Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 where do you get a service plan in case you need repairs on the computer you bought online? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRAWZILLA Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Go to the site, it's all there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korel_Design Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 As much as I and Dr. Sheldon Cooper would agree regarding Alienware, it is a bit over priced. I recently purchase an actual Dell from Costco that's as fast as an Alienware: http://www.costco.com/Dell-XPS-8900-Desktop-%7c-Intel-Core-i7-%7c-2GB-Graphics-%7c-Blu-ray-Player-%7c-Office-365-Personal.product.100245309.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 I've never used Alienware but have only heard good things. What I HAVE used is ASUS and MSI machines (all built as "gaming" rigs with NVIDEA video cards) and I've been very happy with both brands. What I have not been happy with is any of the Dell computers we've ever owned. They all seem to work great at first but seem to develop problems after just a couple years. And I'm not talking the cheapo Dell stuff either. We've had several of their higher end workstation type laptops and we've seemed to develop notable problems with all of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbuttery Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 I've been satisfied with HP Lew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orencons Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 unfortunately Dell has given us trouble in the past. we've bought our last desktop from best buy, hp and added a graphics card. probably invested under $1000. i'm researching some of these manufacturers of gaming computers Puget and Falcon Northwest, that some members here use, but they seem double the price, $2600. I wonder for the purpose of just rendering in chief, not playing games, are those overkill? what is recommended middle of the road sizes for ram, processor, graphics card for good speed when running chief architect? anyone researched a set up in 2015 that they recommend?( it is challenging for me to find current models to compare to good older models.) thanks! if there is an old thread on this topic, please advise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRAWZILLA Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 unfortunately Dell has given us trouble in the past. we've bought our last desktop from best buy, hp and added a graphics card. probably invested under $1000. i'm researching some of these manufacturers of gaming computers Puget and Falcon Northwest, that some members here use, but they seem double the price, $2600. I wonder for the purpose of just rendering in chief, not playing games, are those overkill? what is recommended middle of the road sizes for ram, processor, graphics card for good speed when running chief architect? anyone researched a set up in 2015 that they recommend?( it is challenging for me to find current models to compare to good older models.) thanks! if there is an old thread on this topic, please advi Even though Dell owns Aleinware now, it's completely different. I have a 6 year old machine, never had any problems ever. But then again I know how to stay away from problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidJPotter Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 There are at least two ways to go,1. as has been suggested, learn what specifications mean and then compare those one machine to the next and then decide or 2. learn how to build a PC and then select the components you want and put them together.For the last several years number two is what I have chosen to do. I have saved thousands of dollars and if something goes wrong, I know what to do and save the money of hiring someone else or depending upon Tech Support or Warranties. It is your choice to make. My current system is beginning to get long in the tooth but still serves me reliably well. My next upgrades will mainly be in a new video card and faster RAM which is way less than an entire new computer.DJPPS: Whatever you do, you should get specification words defined so you understand what you are reading. The best judgment one can have is their own based upon thorough understanding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Here's a couple of alternatives if you're not building yourself. Alienware is probably a bit over priced but if you've had any good experience with a company then it's easy to recommend and stick with them. Me personally, I've built most of my own (not the current one in my sig) and am waiting for the single processors to be faster than my current dual CPU's, and I'll build a new one. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the companies below and the same rules always apply - buy as fast a CPU and Video card as you can afford, you can always add memory or storage later if your budget gets stretched. http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-area51-r2/pd?ref=PD_OC http://www.digitalstorm.com/desktops.asp http://www.digitalstorm.com/ https://www.pugetsystems.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 unfortunately Dell has given us trouble in the past. we've bought our last desktop from best buy, hp and added a graphics card. probably invested under $1000. i'm researching some of these manufacturers of gaming computers Puget and Falcon Northwest, that some members here use, but they seem double the price, $2600. I wonder for the purpose of just rendering in chief, not playing games, are those overkill? what is recommended middle of the road sizes for ram, processor, graphics card for good speed when running chief architect? anyone researched a set up in 2015 that they recommend?( it is challenging for me to find current models to compare to good older models.) thanks! if there is an old thread on this topic, please advise! You get what you pay with computers, usually. What are you going to do with Chief? Raytrace? You need a fast CPU. Render big models - you need a fast video card. You can certainly get by with lesser of each processor/video card but you have to know what you'll be coming up against in your business. How complex will your models be? I've got a very fast system now and one model I'm working on that's big enough to bring it to its knees. Small models just fly through. I began building much bigger models and my older i7 (the original don't know the spec's) started to bog down like crazy and was costing me a lot of time and aggravation. Again buy as much CPU and Video card (GPU) you can afford, with a power supply to match. Memory can be minimal to start (8 gigs is plenty) and storage too - heck they're giving away 1 tb hard drives. Then as your budget allows, buy an SSD and more memory. You can also upgrade a budget video card later as well. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridge_Runner Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 I have been running a Digital Storm gaming system (in my signature) for almost 6-years; never had any trouble with it and it still performs well. They run special systems with special pricing all of the time, but will build you anything you want - and can afford; excellent quality with quality parts. However, my models, like Larry, are getting bigger with more materials (rock, etc.), and fills than ever before which is beginning to slow mine down. My video card was great 6-years ago. Harder to keep up today as I am doing more renders than I ever did a few years ago. I will probably buy another Digital Storm gaming system this year and keep my old one for a spare and for my helper - if I ever get one! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbuttery Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 one tip: it can get crazy with all the models and specs and the brain starts to swim pick a fairly decent PC for about $2K, study the spec list use that as a reference list as you evaluate others if you find something better - make it your reference PC when you have had enough brain melt - buy that one Lew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDesign Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 I'm trying to get ahead of what may be a potential bottleneck in my desktop. Just upgraded to V7 from 10, not even installed yet. Running an I5/2320 w/8gb ram and a Nvidia GTX 5500ti card. I looked at another thread which listed video cards, and my 5500ti only does around 1600 cycles? whatever, compared to a few recs such as a gtx770 which does something like 6950. What exactly does this mean in the real world? I can buy a GTX770 used for about $180, but would memory be a better kick? Don't expect to do much rendering, although I'm sure I will do more now that I'm with a newer version? I do use dual monitors! Suggestions please, and I am capable of switching out computer parts and building desktops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief16Designer Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Consider getting GTX 980 or better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Thought I responded earlier oh well.. JD, the video card handles 'rendering' the CPU handles 'Ray Tracing' and the terms are not interchangable. You need to understand the terms and what it is you want to do before upgrading your system. If you can afford it and your system's PCI buses are compatible by all means get a GTX 980 but it won't help you if you want to 'Ray Trace' which requires CPU muscle. There's a ton of computer threads here and a search may help clarify your needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief16Designer Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 GTX 980 only if you ever consider getting a 4k monitor in the future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Personally Chief in itself is not a particularily demanding program unless Raytracing or using live camera views or walkthroughs with shadows and lots of line smoothing are required or your models are huge. I have run Chief on 10 year old systems with integrated video without any real issues per say. However, for most users, including myself, Chief is not the only program that is being run on their system and as such you have to take into account the cumulative effect of all of these programs and their demand on your system resources. Keep in mind that they all have to share to some degree the CPU, GPU, RAM and Disk Storage. Most real problems occur when two or more programs need to utilize the same resource at the same time. For example, a Raytrace is running in the background and a pic is being edited in Photoshop, both of these programs are highly CPU dependent and as such there will be a slowing down in their completion time and quite likely a noticeable lag as you execute commands or movement. In order to anticipate potential system bottlenecks requires one to take a hard look at the software being run and your workflow setup. From this you can then establish a prioritized list of where system resource sharing conflicts are most likely to occur and therefore where your dollars will deliver the greatest return on investment. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Agreed Graham - unless you get a big, perhaps unanticipated, job and your computer grinds to a halt. Had that happen to me and I had to (or at least I thought I had to) upgrade just to complete the model. The best advice I got was, and I think still is, to buy the best video card and CPU you can afford to insure your not under-gunned when that big job shows up on your door step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyGump Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 I build all my systems and I have settled on an AMD quad or 8 core CPU with a nice mother board and Nvidia GTX 980 GPU. I know that the i7 CPUs from Intel are consistently better than AMD on all the bench-top comparisons except for this one category, rendering (raytracing). AMD does better in only that one category. It is outclassed in all the other categories but it is the one that I am most interested in. I really like the one I am using now in my main machine, the 8 core 8320 but might go to the 8350 in the next build. Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Andy, not sure what CPUs' or benchmark test(s) you are using to base your rendering speed conclusions on. I primarily focus on the Cinebench comparisons as strong indicator of Raytrace rendering performance. Currently Intel I7 4th, 5th and the newest 6th generation series easily outperform the AMD FX8350. The AMD is less expensive but if one considers the performance gain of say an Intel I7 Skylake 6700k provides I think the extra dollars are well worth it. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 There's no real bench mark for Chief Architect 'Ray Tracing' speed. The only way to really know the speed differences between processors is to try and duplicate a Chief model on computers with different processors. Chief likes more cores for 'RayTracing' according to the Chief guys but how could one know the speed differences between processors in Chief without a true head to head test? I don't doubt that an AMD could be good for RayTracing but how can that speed be truly compared to an i7 without a head to head test? I personally would use something like Passmark or CineBench to judge such things but if someone is happy with their AMD's then I'm good with that. At the same time I would not ignore Graham's sound advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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