The Perfect Computer Setup

Okay, not exactly perfect, but pretty close to it.

I am working with a state disability retraining program. I managed to get the green light *FOR A GRANT* to work in SL fulltime, and already have a small avatar store and club up and running that has generated enough profit to convince them that it is a feasible career path. My husband who is also disabled does most of the building in the form of avatars. *His will be a different grant.

*We have been attempting a little of everything, building, animations, etc. I mostly do graphics, working on non-traditional skins and such.

I need your help with the actual specifications as far as the ideal hardware and software needed for a full time business in SL.

*My general request in the beginning covered

a second monitor,
a graphics tablet.
Photoshop CS3 Extended
A 3-D animation program (Maya or Poser)... I don't know enough for specifics

I am not requesting a new computer as I am currently working on a Lenovo that is less than a year old, running Vista with an AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+, 985 MB RAM, and an (onboard) NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Graphics card.

It's not unusual for me to have three different graphics programs open at the same time while trying to run SL and a few browser windows open just in case. I'm a HUGE multi-tasker... needless to say I push my system to it's limits at times. I probably need to ask for a little more hard drive space and memory to start with.

I've been having problems recently that seem to be tied to SL, I *think* it may be my graphics card going under. I can work around it, but it gets annoying at times. Either way I put a lot of pressure on it, and it wouldn't hurt to get a new one anyhow.

So I guess what I need is for you to help me design the ideal graphics system for this grant.

For those of you with more experience in the field what suggestions do you have?

Did I miss any hardware, software, or misc items that would be of use?

Any specific prgrams or harware you would recommend above other options?

Also, my disability has to do with joint and muscle pain /chronic fatigue... I have nerve blockages in both wrists and elbows as well. Are there any comfort devices you can recommend that would be beneficial? Special work staion layouts etc?

Thank you very much for your time : )

~Bosh

PS. Since I will be doing *mostly* graphics, I need an idea of which direction I should head with my grant request. Asking is not getting but I have a decent budget to work with. (Think small business loan)

Boshemia

Firstly welcome to the forums.

Secondly, it is best advised that you check the forums in general as you have posted this in the texturing forum and quite honestly has nothing to do with texturing. I would suggest checking the Technical Issues forum and posting there where the readers may be able to give you a much more detailed answer to your questions.

I thought texturing was appropriate because most of what I do is graphics, textures, and skins... and I wanted to ask people familiar with the demands of texturing on a computer, since it does have some unique requirements that other people may not be familiar with (graphics tablets, double monitors, etc.) and specific programs to use when creating skins and textures.

I do apologize. I always hate choosing categories in forums, because questions seem to cover so many areas. I've never been one capable of wrapping anything into a neat little box and slapping a label on it. So again I apologize for choosingthe wrong forum... So do I need to repost?

And thank you for welcoming me to the forums, *bows head in shame*... I've been an SL resident far too long to have only discovered the information in the forums last night> I did not realize there was so much help available out there and have been figuring all of this stuff out on my own for the last few months.

Heya

Windows Vista
Intel Core 2 Quad (Q6600)
Single or dual Nvidia 8800GTS 320mb(Overclocked to meet 8800GTX Specs)
four Gigabytes of system ram (try DDR2 8000 ram)
400 gigabyte hard drive I would recommend a second 10,000rpm raptor drive for local content, Photoshop cache and SL Cache)
A must have 700+ watt power supply with at least 3-4 12 volt rails.
Then the case plays a good aspect here.
I use a Antec 9000 air cool case the best air cool case out there But keep in mind dust.. so getting after market filters for the fans helps
Or you could go liquid cooling
I Run 22in dual screens on a single 8800gts which works.
I would suggest a pair of 22in monitors Having 2 monitors works wonders for multi tasking.

Now windows vista is well crap.. But alot of the new hardware is not fully supported with windows XP. Like XP only supports 2 gigabytes of system ram.

This sort of system takes alot of power and puts out alot of heat and could also raise monthly power bills. My system takes approx 350usd a year to run it 16 hours a day (That is without the monitors)

This system above is currently a monster rig that is current. In a year or even 6 months this could be yesterdays junk machine. There is more and more demand for system that can punch holes with high end GPU so AMD is putting out a cheap power horse CPU Mobo GPU combo which at this time looks amazing. So I guess it comes down to wait and see Computers are getting more powerful and cheaper by the month.

OH and to save money do not buy a system prebuilt It is much easier then you would think to put a system together. Look up some free tutorials across the internet.


Good Luck!

Sorry to double post but as far as comfort

I would recommend a mouse that has 1600 or more DPI resolution this will allow you to move across the screen with a small move of a wrist.
Get a low profile keyboard
maybe try and get this: http://www.mypce.com/

I don't think you need a full-on gaming rig for the purposes Boshemia describes.

I think you should consider upgrading your present computer's memory to 2 gigabytes. Graphics programs are memory hungry, especially when working on very large images. Multitasking loves RAM. This should also give you some small improvements in performance across the board. A name brand, 2 gb memory upgrade kit does not cost a lot these days (maybe $50), and generic memory is even cheaper. If it later turns out 2 GB aren't good enough, you can add on 2 more gigabytes (though how useful it will be depends on whether you have the 64-bit version of Vista or not).

The other thing you may find useful is a better graphics card, for the dual screens. Pushing all those pixels can be taxing to a video card. On a budget, you could look at something like that Radeon X1950 Pro, which runs about $120. If you want to get a bit nearer to the bleeding edge, and take advantage of Vista's DX10 graphical abilities (not that they're of any use with SL at present), the Radeon HD 3850 will do very nicely for you and isn't more than $200. It's the card I will probably be upgrading to, with similar usage requirements to yours.

You don't mention what sort of hard drive you have, but consider a second one, or perhaps an external hard drive, for backup purposes. I swear by Seagate's hard drives, which aren't too expensive, and have always been reliable (and have one of the better warranties out there to back it up). If you're going to be creating a lot of content, it's good to make sure it's soundly stored.

I would not suggest any other hardware upgrades beyond that. The system specs you mention, even when modified by the above upgrades, almost certainly will not lead to a need for things like a new power supply or cooling solution. At the least, you can wait and see. If your computer starts crashing or rebooting itself because of power supply unit issues, then you can see about upgrading.

I have an older Wacom graphics tablet and I use it a lot, it's definitely something to get a hold of.

As Somatika suggests, a low-profile keyboard will help with issues like carpal tunnel and fatigue of the wrists, since you won't have to get your hands as high up. There are a lot of options out there.

Thank you very much for the info.

The program I am participating in is a State Sponsored Vocational Rehabilitation program. They have access to discounts that I would not be able to get on my own, so I'm trying to avoid saying money isn't really a concern, but I can afford a little more on their budget than I can on my own.

At the same time I agree with Freyja, I'm afraid to ask for a full on gaming system or they might not take me seriously...

I will include the hardware specs you have mentioned, and work on the software.

Something else you might consider asking for is some funds to afford tutorials and texts related to the graphics software you're planning to use. Something like Maya, in particular, is a very big investment ($2,000 retail for the Complete edition, though doubtless the program your in can get it cheaper) and you'll want to make sure you can get the most out of it. You should look at the Maya Personal Learning Edition (free download, but crippled with watermarking to prevent it from being used commercially) to see if it's something you can use for your purposes. Some of SL's best creators swear by it, but there are others who use other solutions.

I've heard that digitaltutors.com offers good tutorials for using programs like Maya, ZBrush, and so on.

That said, you should definitely look around the forums for discussions of software that content creators use. In many cases there are some very good free options available (Qavimator for animation, Wings 3D/Blender/Sculptypaint for sculpties, Blender can do texture baking, and so on. ) Test them out and see if they work well enough for your purposes before taking the plunge for a really expensive commercial package.

I'm rather amazed that nobody here mentioned the internet connection. Certainly a low speed connection can cripple you just as much as low ram or a crappy video card.

As you didnt mention it though, perhaps it's safe to assume you have a decent broad band connection. Going forward I've found there's really only 2 things that affect Sl when it comes to hardware:
1) Video Card
2) System Memory

I bought a prebuilt pc (because I was in a hurry, I usually build them from scratch) with an onboard video card and I couldn't believe how crappy it was. If my settings weren't turned all the way down it just lagged the heck out of me (and it boasted 256 Mb memory too).

When it comes to video cards, if your system has a PCI Express slot, by all means USE IT! I got a PCI Express Nvidia graphics card and was just blown away by how fast it is (256 mb also, but this was real).

You definately should boost your system memory to 2Gb as well. I can currently run 2 full versions of SL and up to 6 copies of SLeek (lightweight SL client) at once and still have PS and Yahoo msngr running at the same time.

I'm a little confused about the need for Maya. While it's great if you want to create sculpties and/or shaded realistic textures, it's a bit over the top for those purposes. It's seriously professional (and expensive) and the learning curve is rather steep.

My suggestion would be blender (free) for sculpties and perhaps Cinema4D for any texture baking you want to do. If you're going to do all those things well I hope you're not spreading yourself too thin.

Congrats on the RL/SL job!! You've found something alot of us are hoping to do (Including me )

First of all, remember, they are all simply tools. You could make a fine living in SL with a basic laptop that can handle SL's graphics. The tools don't define success, the person running them does.

So go with a system that works best for you and your work style. If you are asking for a blanket recommendation for other users, start with a basic bare bones system and let them add on according to their personal preferences.

Also, don't discount the mac platform--highly used by graphics professionals and the true plug and play features might be just the thing for some people.


For your system, I agree with Freyja about the ram--you should try 2-4 gig... you'll be amazed at how fast your system will fly with the memory jump. Just photoshop alone will run faster.

And I also agree with Slade about Maya. There are many content creators who have never used Maya, including myself. In fact, I've been making a living in SL for two years now and am just now investigating 3d modeling software, mostly for sculpties (i'm using Blender-free), but also now for clothing enhancements (trying out modo). The 3d programs are nice but not a must have and may end up being a personal preference add-on at a later time.

If you wanted a mac option, this would be a basic system with plenty of opportunity for upgrade/adding on...
+ Mac Pro base system w/base hard drive and 4-8 gigs ram
+ 23-24 inch monitor (one big monitor is plenty--let them decide what else they want, if anything)
+ Tablet (i think i'm the only one who doesn't use one of these, though I just ordered a cintiq 12 inch tablet/display!)
+ Photoshop CS3 Extended (really all that you need)
+ Blender