It's been a long time since I used Vue as I haven't had a machine to run it on, but I am looking to get a new machine and a new version of Vue.

I have found a pc that in my opinion seems pretty good for the price, but I thought I would ask you guys what you think (sorry for the long link):

http://www.medion.com/gb/electronics/prod/MEDION%C2%AE+AKOYA%C2%AE+P5329+E+%28MD8200%29/310016000?category=pc_25&recId=&wt_mc=gb.intern.m-shop.pro-pla.on-ma&wt_cc1=m-shop_topseller_pc-2.333-mitte&wt_cc2=310016000&wt_cw=30.2.8&utm_source=Internetseite-intern&utm_medium=Kachel&utm_content=pc_2.333-mitte&utm_campaign=Kategoriekachel-Hotspots&utm_term=310016000

Does this look like a decent pc for a casual Vue user?

I would be interested in all your comments on this rig.

Thank you in advance

Rich

The video card is the only thing to worry about.  Check on e-on's site for which cards Vue likes.

There are only two RAM slots. Vue loves RAM. I noticed a pretty significant improvement when I went from 8g to 16g.

The video card is less of a concern. As long as you have a PCIE slot and a power supply to handle a more agressive card, you can always upgrade. I don't see any info on that in the link, which makes me think that this computer is more for a casual user.

Thanks!  I'll email them to see what they say about psu and ram upgrades.

I'll look around elsewhere too.  Any suggestions on what is out there I should consider, or is it best to purpose build a machine?

Vue only cares about your video card and its driver.  Your computer needs to be built around it.  People here have spent thousands on a new computer (fast CPU, lots of cores, lots of RAM, the largest hard drive(s)) and Vue wouldn't run until they installed a video card that it liked.

I've been running Vue 10 Inifinite just fine on my Penitum 4 (single core) 2GB RAM WinXP32 system.  And Vue loves my video card.

That nVidia video card specified for that Medion computer will work quite nicely for Vue.

Thanks forester.  So the main worry with that setup is the amount of ram? and maybe the power supply?

I rarely see companies build computers with weak power supplies in them.  If you want to get technical about RAM, motherboards are very picky about any additional RAM you add later.  It's best to have the company add any additional RAM before you place an order.

Rich, I'm looking at your gallery.  You really have been away.

Haha yeah it's been years and I've had a lot going on in my life, but I looked back at my images recently and remembered how much fun I had making them.  I just wanted to get back to it and enjoy what I used to do.

I'm waiting on a reply from my email about additional ram so hopefully they can add that for me and I'll be back creating again.

If the slots are not enough for more RAM, they can probably just pull out the small RAM it has now and put in bigger RAM in its place.

So after browsing around the rest of the forum I am wondering what version of Vue is worth my while.  What do you all think?

Quote - Vue only cares about your video card and its driver.  Your computer needs to be built around it.  People here have spent thousands on a new computer (fast CPU, lots of cores, lots of RAM, the largest hard drive(s)) and Vue wouldn't run until they installed a video card that it liked.

I've been running Vue 10 Inifinite just fine on my Penitum 4 (single core) 2GB RAM WinXP32 system.  And Vue loves my video card.

Ahhh. That's because you're running 32 bit. The maximum amount any 32 bit application can adress is 2 gigs.  I stopped using 32 bit Vue around 8 or so. I use a crapload of Poser imports in most of my renders and had major problems after the first update. I bought Win7 64 bit, went from 4 to 8 gigs of RAM and everything was hunky dory. 16 gigs and it was smooth as pie (mostly!)

As far as the VGA goes, that mostly affects the GUI, not the actual rendering.

Also:

1. As far as RAM compatibility goes, if you know the brand/ model/ chipset of your MB, you can go to either the chipset/mb manufacturer website and find  a list of acceptible RAM. That being said, I've built 6 computers for myself and 4 computers for my son over the past 13 years or so and only had RAM compatibilty problems once, and that was with a NVidia Nforce 2 chipset waaaay back when dual channel RAM first came out.

2. As far as PSUs go, any PC's I've looked at that were built by generic manufacturers (Dell, HP, etc.) had power supplies that barely met the specs required with the original parts. Upgrade a video card and you've pushed your 12V rail to the max. Personally, I wouldn't go below a 650W for a workstation-type computer. In fact, mine has had a 1000w for the last 8 years or so.

3. If you're using a 64bit system, 2 slots is limiting your upgradability, unless you want to go with 2 giant sticks. Most standard MB's come with 4 slots if it's dual channel, 6 if it's triple channel.

4. Rich, if you have the ability to build your own, I strongly recommend it. You have a lot more control over the quality of the components. If not, try Newegg, or Cyberpower.

Quote - As far as the VGA goes, that mostly affects the GUI, not the actual rendering.

But no GUI means no Vue.

And no, I haven't tried adding more RAM to my system because it is 32bit.  I was talking about 99% of the computers sold now that come with 8GB+ of RAM.  Vue looks at the video card everytime it is run.

I've built over 2,000 custom computers and repaired/upgraded too many others.  It always costs more to build you own system from parts.

I will look to build my own and look in to those other sites, thanks cyberknight.  I have built machines before, but normally get carried away and it costs me double of a pre-built one, I'll do my best to not go crazy and see if I can keep the costs down.

Any idea's on a budget graphics card that Vue would run well with?

Do you think a NVIDIA GeForce GT 520 1GB 16X PCIe Video Card would be ok, or is that too low spec?

Contact an e-eon tech and ask them if Vue supports that video card and driver.  50/50 that it does.

ok will do.  Thanks Shawn