[Jeffro283]

Hello,

I am a computer graphics student, concentrating mainly with three-dimensional modeling and animation. I have also been a dedicated PC user my entire life. Now that I can get both Operating Systems on one computer, I am looking to upgrade to a Mac. However, I am not exactly sure what would be the best for me. I use programs such as 3-D Studio Max, Primere Pro, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Maya, etc.

I have configured a Mac Pro, and here is what I have thus far:

-Upgraded to 2GB of RAM
-Upgradted to the ATI x1900

That is about all I changed.

First question: Would anyone recommend any other hardware upgrades? This is a computer that I would like to last a while, and I know I can upgrade it, but I want the opinion of others.

Second question: Is there any cheaper display than the Cinema display, that does the same thing? After all is said and done, without a monitor, this computer comes to about $2900. If I can get a cheaper display (i.e. one that is not $500), then that would be great.

I plan on buying one of the CS3 Packages and Vista for Boot Camp from my school, so that they are cheaper.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Drew

P.S. If I broke any rules of the forum, please let me know!

[phantomdragonz]

use ANY normal monitor on the market... you dont have to buy one from apple, I have two 19" flat panels from newegg (rosewill r912e) and I love em... if you want quality look at the dell flat panels, I hear they are goood. or use one from your pc...

Zach

[Jeffro283]

That is definatly good news. I don't fancy paying $500 for a monitor, even though those displays are REAL sexy (used one at school). Any other tips?

[roller]

I also have heard good things about Dell's panels (as much as it hurts to say.. ;-))

[pooka]

Make sure Max works with Bootcamp

[mduell]

I'd go with 1GB RAM from Apple and add 2-4GB from a third party (like Crucial).

I'd also wait for Apple to refresh the Mac Pro; the system you buy today is the same system you could buy last fall for the same price. Meanwhile component prices have fallen quite a bit and the Mac Pro is overdue (in my opinion) for an update.

[OreoCookie]

First of all, you might need more RAM, although I would just set up your system and check how much RAM you actually use before upgrading your system. Then, don't save money on screens! This is probably the most important part of your computer! Get quality screens from your favorite company, but stay away from cheapo-monitors. Personally, I like Samsung, they have 19 and 22" screens at reasonable prices. I'd get a dual monitor setup in any case!

Lastly, all of the apps you've listed (with the exception of 3D Maxx) run on OS X natively, so you might want to try them out on MacOS X as well.

[chris v]

I've also been very happy with my Dell 20" widescreen. I got it refurbished for 289.00, as opposed to 500.00 (at the time -- I think Apple might have dropped the price) for a refurb'd Apple.

Definitely get more RAM. I'd go for 4 gb to start with -- Photoshop alone is a RAM hog, and I'd imagine Maya is, too. Add hard drives -- maybe 2. 1 for a scratch disk & file storage, and another to mirror as a backup.

[SierraDragon]

For those apps add 2x2 GB RAM from OWC or Crucial to Apple's lame 1 GB. Stick to 2-GB sized DIMMs because running those apps you may want another 8 GB RAM before you know it, and you only have 8 slots available, and Apple used 2 of the 8 already.

Buy the OS X versions of apps; only run Windoze when an OS X version of an app is unavailable.

The X1900 XT graphics card is best value today but IMO a tower upgrade will happen this summer and graphics choices are likely to change then. If you can, wait for the upgrade because prices on existing excellent boxes will fall. But don't feel bad if you buy right before the upgrade, because like I said, the existing towers are excellent.

You will want a minimum of two hard drives with apps/OS on the boot drive and Photoshop scratch disk assigned to the second drive.

My suggestions are meant to be reasonable and IMO cost effective today. However do note that the apps you describe push the limits of personal computer power. The highest end Mac Pro, fitted with Quadro graphics, 16 GB RAM and ultrafast hard drives would not be overkill. Personally, for those apps I think you should try hard to wait for the next tower upgrades so you can maximize your power per dollar.

I have always used Apple displays and consider them worth a bit of a premium. However the better third-party displays are fine ways to save a bit of money for performance enhancing. Best layout for graphics is two displays, with a second cheap display used for palettes; pretty important actually.

-Allen Wicks

[ninahagen]

First and most important is RAM. If you use the Adobe CS apps for any files of size, 1 GB of RAM will be a huge bottleneck. 3 GB is best if you use PS alone, more if you multi-task in InDesign and/or Illustrator... with 8GB being your probable maximum usable level. I agree on spending a little extra and getting 2GB Dimms. When the 64 bit CS comes out, you will need all the RAM slots you can get. Monitors? On a budget, I personally would get a used apple, rather than a new else anything because I like the way they look, but the Dells are close, less expensive, and they swivel (at least the one I looked into before buying my 30 inch Apple. I also agree that you shouldn't skimp on the monitor. Its like getting a great stereo with lousy speakers, or buying a great sports car and running it on economy fuel. Better a 2.0 CPU and a great monitor, the the 3.0 CPU and a bargain basement screen.

[Mike.Bowden]

Jeff,

You can see my system specs below, but my system handles everything I throw at it with pretty much no problems at all. I'm currently an undergraduate at UAT for Game Design & Animation, I use my Mac Pro for everything in school and out. While I'm running CS2 and 8.0 of Maya, they still work quite well with only a few slow downs from time to time. I've only gotten 3 gigs of RAM and as it suffices for now, once I start doing more multi-tasking, switching between more pro apps and doing more renders, I'll probable NEED more ram. So I'd go ahead and get the memory.

As far as monitors are concerned, like others have stated already, you can use other monitor manufactures with Macs, they are normal DVI ports so any DVI monitor will work. Even a VGA monitor will work as Apple sends converters. However you can't use DVI and VGA at the same time if you want to run dual monitors, has to be one or the other. I'm running Dual 19" LG's and I love them. I would however love to have a cinema display from Apple, not just because they are great monitors, but because they are so damn sexy and match all my other Apple products.

I can't really comment on the X1900 as I don't have one, I'm running the 7300GT and so far it's worked out pretty well for me. If you're planning on getting into a lot of 3D design and animation, it's likely that you'll have you're renders done on another machine or over the schools render farm, it's easier and much more effective this way. There are also companies out there that will allow you to do a remote render for a certain price and from what I've seen so far, they aren't that bad. Personally, I'm planning on maxing out 4 Mac Mini's or get a nice xServer to handle my renders.

I'm also running a MacBook for my mobile use and I haven't had any problems out of it when it comes to running the same pro apps on it as I do on my Mac Pro. Now of course it can't handle the larger graphics and most of the heavy 3D stuff, but for common every day use and for display purposes, it works great.

[OreoCookie]

If you run 3d Maxx and Maya, you definitely need a fast graphics card and the investment is worthwhile. (My brother is an engineering major and has benefitted greatly from upgrading his graphics card; he mainly uses Solid Edge and CATIA.)

However, I once more stress the need for proper displays in that line of work. Having two displays is pretty much mandatory. Don't waste all your money on RAM and stuff (which you can upgrade later anyway) and leave some money for a decent screen setup. 19"/22" widescreen tfts are quite cheap these days.

[pooka]

I'll repeat since I think I was too subtle...

Last I heard, Max does not work well with Bootcamp or other dual boot options on current Macs. Perhaps this has been resolved. If not, you're up the creek.