3D modeling Graphics card

[Krynn72]

Ok, right now my PC is really quite good, but it is sorta getting old. AMD Athlon 2500+, ATI Radeon 9600+ 256VRam, Asus A7n8x-x (methinks thats the right letter/number combo name), 1gb PC2600, 300 gig HDD, dvd rw, cd rw, yada yada.

What brings me to the hadware forums is this... I will be doing some fairly serious modeling (as in Maya/3DSMax). Well at least as serious as a beginner can get. Now I was doing some reading in my $60 book on how to make a complete mod with Unreal, and I came across a paragraph that mentions what hardware that should be used with this sort of 3D stuff. Apparently there are cards made specifically for rendering things and whatnot. Should I get one of these cards, or just maybe one of these fancy-smancy X850s or GF7whatevers. The thing is that I also want to be able to play games with it, and I dont know if the design of one of the 3D modeling cards allows for smooth gaming.

Actually I have thought up a few more questions while writing this. Im thinking my processor will need a facelift also to get things to compile quickly and such. Whats the best bet (bargain ) I can get for a processor for this line of work.

The last question I gots is, what other software will I need to get on top of Maya/3DSMax. I have the SDK for HL2, and a few other games I was thinking of working with. Do I need something like a exporter, converter (or any of those other words that I have come across in my readings) program? XSI maybe?

I just need something to get me from utter newbie > newbie > novice > intermediate. :cheers: Oh, and keep in mind that I am working with a $7.50/hr 20 something hrs/week job, and going to college :x This may take awhile to get the right compy, but any help you guys can give me would be much appreciated right now.

 

[Murray_H]

Whilst I haven't looked into them in the past year, cards dedicated to 3D modelling programs are no use for gaming and they cost shedloads

 

[FictiousWill]

Nvidia Quadro and Ati FireGL cards.

Get a good gaming graphics card. You're modeling for games, and the above cards are usually the same thing with tweaked bios, so ignore those.

 

[Krynn72]

Good to know. What about my processor, I think I should upgrade that too since I dont want to bottleneck the graphics card, and have optimal performance. And how about any additional software?

 

[FictiousWill]

Get an amd64. They're cheap now, especially the old socket 754's. Lots of bang for your buck there.

 

[sinkoman]

Get an amd64. They're cheap now, especially the old socket 754's. Lots of bang for your buck there.

Don't bother with the 754's. It'll be the last processor you use on the mobo you buy, since they don't make 'em anymore.

If you do upgrade your proc, i'd go with a 939. Those are still kicking, and then you get the option to go dual core later on down the road.

Either way, you'll need a new mobo.

 

[Krynn72]

My wallet just pissed itself.

JetWay A210GDMS-Pro Socket 939 ATI RS480 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail --$95.00

SAPPHIRE 100600SR Radeon X800PRO 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail --$265.00

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3200BPBOX - Retail --$190.00

Total with shipping: $575.99

Well, I think im gunna have to look for something a bit cheaper. I think I got this whole computer for ~$700 a year and a half ago when I built it. My paycheck that I got today was $350... and thats for two weeks. This job sucks ass. Why cant I be rich.

 

[FictiousWill]

socket 754 is cheaper, but not upgradable.

 

[Cole]

Im spending $515 just for my Cpu\Motherboard\Ram. I will still probably get some more ram to.

Though...I might be able to get a nice Gfx card to...I have a little more than 520 in my ATM...and about 260 off hand...
Though I will probably be spending 160 of that soon... wait till my next paycheck and probably buy a gfx card.

 

[Sanada]

I've been modelling for about 2-3 years with a Radeon 9700 Pro. I've progressed quite a lot since the early days of trying to figure out how to model something properly. My card has been fine, but if your gonna be doing high poly modelling (20,000-100,000 or something like that) then the fastest card you can get will obviously do. You'll need a fast CPU to to help render scenes quicker. I'm only really doing low poly stuff for HL2 etc so it's ok.

Would seriously be a waste of money to by a card dedicated to it unless you want to go into 3D modelling as a profession. The X800 you choose will be good enough.

 

[Krynn72]

Would seriously be a waste of money to by a card dedicated to it unless you want to go into 3D modelling as a profession. The X800 you choose will be good enough.

Doing it as a profession is my goal. It will be awhile though. I have been messing around with some stuff lately, but I have one major issue, and I cant seem to find many good tutorials on it. Texturing. Not just applying the textures (though thats the major issue... I was trying to texture an ultra low poly guy that I made and I got seriously messed up trying to follow this guy's walkthrough) but like, how I can make textures of my own. For example, how would I create a texture for a face? Its probably way out of my league at the moment, but I would really like to at least see the process. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Sanada]

Well, I can't texture to save my life so I can't help you there. I do know the basics of the process though.

The modeller basically flattens out the 3D mesh so it'll fit on a 2D plane. This is the UV map and it's made into a texture. The texture artist would then draw the texture onto it. Some can do both modelling and texturing while some (like me) can only do one of them.

It'll take time and practice to get the hang off it all. You'll soon develope your own way of doing things.