So im going to order a new computer, "costumizable" and I'm mainly getting it for animation work.. but i was wondering what kind of stuff do i need to make animation master run nice and smoothly.. no matter how high detaild my models are xD

If you purchase a intel based pc running on Vista and you want to have 4 or more gigs of ram you will need to run the VISTA 64 OS otherwise the max VISTA 32 bit will see is 3 gigs of ram.

I've heard that A:M responds best to AMD processors.

Actually, that is 3GB of RAM for apps, and 1GB for the OS if you use the /3GB switch for XP/2K/etc and "On Windows Vista and later versions of Windows, use the IncreaseUserVA element in BCDEdit." Otherwise your apps get 2GB and Windows gets 2GB.

But, what is your computer knowledge? Are you wanting to get a prebuilt (but customized) Dell, or something similar? Or are you willing to go with a generic no name brand and have it built from the ground up? Or, are you willing to build it yourself?

Mostly, these choices only change one facter, and that is the overall cost of the machine.

Also, will it be used primarily for 3D, or mostly for other stuff?

Where do you put the /3GB switch for XP? Just upgraded my laptop to 4GB and would like to be able to use as much of it as possible.

Thanks...
Al

Microsoft's page for what to do.
Google is your friend, lets stay on the subject target.

I've also read that Hash runs better on AMDs but Intel's usually do better on benchmarks so I'm not sure which actually is better. Some hard numbers would be interesting. Also some opinions of whether quad core is worth it with Hash might be helpful. Multi core is only utilized when rendering and the results I've read here seem mixed.

No mention has been giving of graphics cards, which are very important when actually working (as opposed to final rendering) since they mostly determine real time render quality. I personally can't suggest anything outside of going for more then the on motherboard video, but I've seen some threads where some people seem to have better luck then others with their cards but that could also be because of a poor computer setup. I'm not sure if SLI would benefit Hash really, anyone running Hash with it?

Also go for at least 2 hard drives, one for the OS, one for the swap and temp files.

What about the video card? what should that require most?

As wrote I can't really suggest anything specific but for a simple suggestion I guess the more video memory the better but there are a lot of other factors so its best to do some research. Also the NVIDIA Quadro line are marketed for professional 3D graphics so that maybe something to consider.

Also something to consider would be a dual monitor setup if you don't already have one, and depending on the monitors you have if they're older models make sure they can connect to the card. Older monitors only connect though a d-sub/svga port but a lot of video cards now just support DVI.

The Arstechnic System guide might give you some idea of what in general might be good parts wise.

One thing I really liked about Animation Master was it isn't too demanding spec wise, A truly great machine helps but its possible to do great work without that. Just check some of the older gallery images and animation, even todays low end boxes would have been a dream 5 years back. I bet even then best computer you could get could be made to run slow if you had a complicated enough scene and every real time render option set on and at its highest. Part of the skill to 3D animating is knowing the software and which options to set when. So I doubt even a midrange priced off the shelf computer couldn't handle what you need it to do.

If you really want to pick and chose parts though it is best to just first look around online for general information, there are a lot of resources out there and a good machine is a good machine and will simply just run Animation Master better then a so so one.

These system prices are with NO operating system! XP Home is $100, XP Pro is $150, Vista is $100 - $210 depending on the version

Well, $400 will get you a generic built AMD X2 4200+, 2GB RAM, 160GB HD, and NVidea GeForce 7200GS (128MB). Not a monster machine, but you can't beat the price. But, if you don't care about the cost, or have more to spend, for a little under $800 you can get a generic built AMD Phenom Quad Core 9600, 4GB RAM, 250GB HD, and Nvidea GeForce 7300GT (256MB).

That's just to give you an idea of the price range and hardware you can get for the money.

You may want to check the forums here for problems with the OpenGL nVidia drivers and A:M. I seem to recall there being some problems. On my laptop which has an nVidia graphics card, control points sometimes all show up as black and the screen does not always refresh properly.

Al

The place im getting this from sugested nVidia Quadro FX1500 256MB, however it apears to be ONLY for computer animation stuff... cant work with games.. and i do enjoy playing a game every now and then.. does the Nvidea GeForce 7300GT work with both?

You wont need a Quadro FX... that kind of graphiccard is very well if you use a poly-programm with drivers made for exactly that suppose, but in most other cases, it wont help much. There are no drivers for A:M.
So a mid-range-graphiccard should do... if you like to spend more money and get a bit more performence get a fast gaming-card (Geforce 8800 GTX or ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT) or a bit slover.

AMD will soon bring out the Phenom-Processor-line so you could wait a little for that, or you could just buy an AMD or Intel from today.
AM performed better with the AMDs in the past, but till phenom the intels are a bit faster... even so AMD Athlon64 6000+-machines are less expensive and quite near to the speed of the intel-machines.

Phenom will be at an equal speed to current quad-cores of Intel till they bring out the new pengyrm(? dont think it is written like that)-processors which will be very likley a bit faster than AMDs phenoms.
The first Phenoms are now available, but there are not too many cpu-chips out there till now.

The faster Phenom FX-series will be out in the first quatal of 2008.

*Fuchur*

In my experience, prepackaged computers cost nearly twice as much as their components are worth. A:M doesn't support the whole video card thing like Fuchur said, so just get something that's cheaper (the FX1500 will run you about $450 plus tax and shipping). If you want to use your machine for both gaming and as an A:M workstation, I would recommend the 8800GT; it's half the price of a GTX, and only slightly lags behind in performance. Check over newegg.com and see the price differences. The thing I like about making my own computer as well is that it comes with a real copy of the operating system (the one I buy), not some modified Dell version. Plus, you're not getting the useless bundles that inevitably lag performance.

Oh, and don't worry about the DVI connectors on the monitors. There are svga to DVI adapters that come with video cards.

This thread is good info for me as I'll be getting a new puter sometime in late Feb. or March of 08. Right now, I'm still using my old Dell 4550 I bought in early 2003 which has a single core 2.4ghz processor and 1 gig of Ram, an ATI 128 meg video card and only an 80 gig HD.. I'm using AM v12 and this sytem has no probs handling it.

But my update is going to be a Dell 1720 (Laptop with 17inch High Def display) and I'm planning on 2.4 duo core, 4 gig of RAM, 256 video card, soundblaster card, 7200rpm- 160gig HD, bluetooth keyboard and mouse, BlueRay player/DVD RW drive.. etc.. But the reason for the laptop is definitely for the occasional portability factor. But I'm still a hash newbie for the most part..


Mark