What type/spec would you get?  I ask, as after a long and hard haul; I've finally saved up for a 'good' PC to make my 3d renders with.  So instead of going to a mainstream company with my inquiry; I'm coming to the trenches where my fellow 3d addicts reside.

So how about it?  If you had 5 grand to blow on a PC for the sole purpose of making 3d pictures; what would you get?  I'm used to building my own machines; but I just don't feel like going through that hassle yet again.

Thanks much in advance for the help

I'd spend some of that money on higher end apps...

Buy Maya and Zbrush for your current PC instead. :) -Les

http://www.boxxtech.com/products/3DBOXX/8500_Overview.asp loaded up with RAM

Build your own.
It's really not that hard and you can literally cut cost's by 50%.

2nd the Zbrush suggestion.

5000?

Built a Core i7 with parts from Newegg (see my sig) for just under $1200 and that leaves you $3800. Do the apps thing as suggested. Only get your memory from any else but OCZ Technology. Had to RMA the whole 12GB kit because of 1 faulty 2GB module and I've been down over a month!!! I hope to see something next week....

Using Old Betsy to type and send this.

Yep, I just built a new system with three 21 inch monitors and 2 video cards - quad core, 12 gigs of ram and 2 TB of storage, etc.....  for around 1,000 bucks. Ordered it all from Tiger Direct.

Attached Link: http://www.armari.co.uk/overview.asp?selCat=High+End

If I had $5000 I'd buy a $1500 computer and 3dsMax 2010.

Yep spend about $1800 on a powerful PC and the Rest on a REAL3D app like softimage and Mental Ray .

Cheers

I would never, and I mean ever, buy a system from a store or site that wouldn't show the price until I registered. 

 Autodesk has a promotion: Maya, Mudbox and Motion Builder, $5k.

I'd make a good PC, and use the rest to pay bills...;) Yup, you can have one made to order. See what the recommended specs are on Poser 8 (you got 5 large; why not?...;), and double 'em..;)

What LukeA said-

quad cores are fine- but I'd find a good workstation instead. Something that measures speed in nano seconds instead of mhg.

If you are going to buy a computer, regardless of if it's from the store or built, I would mainly focus on learning more about the ability to upgrade it and on trying to get the most for your money. That includes graphic card, media applications, and definitely the warranty that comes with the computer.  If you had $5000 to spend on a computer I would try to stretch the money as if I only had $1000 to spend.  I would also ask myself how long am I expecting the computer to last and are there any future purposes for the computer other than graphic design. Definitely see and ask around about the new computers and processors that are coming out soon. Knowing when the new computers are coming out will lower the prices of computers that were top of the line in previous months.  You can often bargain for a lower price if you are paying in cash.

Frederick
Poser By Design

I would never ever spend more then $1000-$1500 on any single computer. This is because no matter what you buy today, in 1 year you can expect that there will be something faster, cheaper and more shiny and your current rig will be slow and crappy in comparison. Buying computers to 'last' is a suckers game.

And n-thing the 'get better software' suggestion. The fastest hardware you can buy will still be hamstrung by poser/firefly whereas even moderately powerful hardware on one of the better 3d apps will outperform anything you can do in poser. And i don't even mean super expensive apps like Maya or MAX or whatever. Middle end apps like modo, lightwave, even vue are all reasonably priced and run circles around poser in terms of speed and quality.

Yeah, what dlfurman said...

Escept for the OCZ part. I've been using OCZ RAM for  a few years now and haven't any problems at all - zip, zilch, nada, on my own PCS and PCs I've built for others. I haven't kept count, but that's probably 50 or more OCZ RAM sticks I know of still going strong.

I've been building all my own PCs with parts mostly from Newegg since 2002 now, and I can tell you doing that will save you A LOT of money.
Plus you don't get stuck with all that OEM crap, restore disks, junkware and the like. The downside is you have no warranty, aside from the warranties on the individual parts.

For 5 grand I could build TWO monster systems that are each more powerful than the one you might buy off the rack.

But for anyone who doesn't want to learn how to assemble an optimized PC, you're far better off going to a local custom shop than, say, buying a Dell off the rack.

5K? I would spent 4K on something else.... a computer isn't worth that kind of money and for certain Poser isn't worth a computer that costs that much.

As for Dell..... I don't know about PC's, but their laptops are sure good and here in Europe sharply priced. I bought a laptop from them 3 months ago, compared models and Dell sure packed a lot more power for the same price as other brands do. Then I waited for their sale, spent €780 on it, instead of the regular €1250. Top of their line and the closest laptop from another brand I could find would have cost me over €1400.

Dell does great deals on laptops.

If I had to buy a laptop, I would buy a Dell. I don't even know if it's possible to build your own laptop, and I sure wouldn't want to try.

I'm not going to knock Dell, I just used them as an example. The have great PCs. I could have just as easily said Hewlett Packard.
No matter what though, you pay a HUGE markup buying an off-the-rack PC, which was what my point was. And you often end up with  parts that can't be easily upgradable, such as a motherboard that can't accommodate a standard Intel processor, or a case with proprietary specs that won't accommodate standard motherboard sizes.

Quote - Yeah, what dlfurman said...

Escept for the OCZ part. I've been using OCZ RAM for  a few years now and haven't any problems at all - zip, zilch, nada, on my own PCS and PCs I've built for others. I haven't kept count, but that's probably 50 or more OCZ RAM sticks I know of still going strong.

some text snipped

Hey MikeJ
Can I tell them at OCZ, YOU said to hurry up and send back my RAM?
I've been down since July 7th!

you can buy a damn good system for under $2000 ... then buy the same one for me so I can render too
Thanks much for the gift

and BTW... note how you still have $1000 left for something cool ... or maybe a crapload of Poser content

Quote -
Hey MikeJ
Can I tell them at OCZ, YOU said to hurry up and send back my RAM?
I've been down since July 7th!

Sorry to hear that, but I wouldn't base my whole opinion on a manufacturer around one incident.
You must just have bad luck or something. Newegg is usually pretty quick with the RMAs. Although I have to admit I've only ever had to RMA one thing - they sent me an open box motherboard once by mistake, but it only took a few days to get the replacement.

Sure, you can tell them, but I don't think it's gonna do you much good. ;-)

I use only Kingston or Crucial RAM, and have never had any problems. 

Thanks all for the good advice and input on this subject.  I'd pick a top-end app; but to be honest that would be like giving a monkey a mask and told to do brain surgery (I'm just not that smart).

If there were decent training availiable for Maya or another top-end program (that doesn't involve numberous DVD tutorials) I might just go for it.  But I honestly don't know jack s**t about modelling or the like; simple as that.

As for building my own; I have built all of my own PC's since before 2000; I'm just tired of getting all of the components and putting them together.  Call it old age or just laziness; I just wanted to buy/order a dencent PC and just have it delivered in a box.

You've given me much more to think about than I initially intended; but then, that's why I posted here!

Thanks much and have a great weekend,
Thersidesus

I'm guessing you're in the states but in case not, look at pcspecialist.co.uk - they build to your spec, take slightly longer than they say on the site to build it but I am ecstatically happy with my pc and the service. Can't beat the price, I'm sure even if you built it yourself!

(I think you will have a hard job trying to spend that much on a pc for home use!)

Dunno about you guys, but with $5k, I can get a decent 8-core PowerMac and a copy of Parallels (to run the Windows apps with). I could then use the change to get a decent Wacom tablet and one very bad-assed monitor...

Guys! Guys! I am also interested in getting a PC exclusively for

1.)Poser 8
2.)DAZ Studio 3.0 Advanced
3.) Photoshop
4.) Video editing software
5.) and other graphics software.

I am currently looking at this page in NewEgg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2032280010+1142342065&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&Subcategory=10&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

They look reasonably priced for me. Now I need to choose one. The money that I have is $1500 and it should include

1.) 2 monitors or 1 big monitor
2.) a keyboard.
3.) Other hardware that you advise is necessary

(I would like buy the parts one by one and install it by myself, unfortunately I have zero knowledge in the technical inner workings of a PC. So since I can't, I will need to choose a built one.)

I am hesitant on what to buy since I want this to be optimized primarily for Poser and DAZ Studio. Then PCs are categorized between:

Gaming
Home/Home Office
Media Center/ HTPC

And I dont know which one to choose. Please help me by providing links of what to buy in newegg, I beg you!