blackbonner posted at 7:15 AM Sun, 1 December 2024 - #4491794

Ah, I see. 14 years of development has done more than just faster GPU's and CPU's, it also changed the interfaces between components.

Get it!

Seems to be reasonable to look for a new Mainboard as well. Following the logic of hardware developing, this could mean that my cable set and power supply is also incompatible with the new parts, like the Mainboard and others, right?

I'll have a closer look at this.

Thanks so far for spending time on answering my questions.

It' was already helpful.

At some point, you have to let old technology go.  On the one hand - the PSU connectors for motherboards haven't changed.  There is a new type of connector for higher end Nvidia GPUs - they are very, very problematic however (they tend to melt, taking the gpu & sometimes the psu with it).

The good news is that you can move to a modern platform pretty cheaply, as long as you stay 1 generation behind.

I would recommend the following.  These prices are pulled off of newegg as of 30 Dec '24, if you are willing to wait & save money, most of this can be picked up off of Aliexpress (cheaper, but it ships from China, it will take a week or two, unless it comes from one of their USA warehouses:

0.  Keep your computer case - the ones today are overpriced & lack features like drive sleds.  Don't get me started on RGB.

1.  CPU - intel i5 12400f - this is the budget king right now - outperforms the AMD equivalent (Ryzen 5 5600x), and is less than $100.

2.  Motherboard - any ATX sized B760 motherboard.  These can be had for under $100.

3.  Ram - 32gb (2x16gb) DDR4 or DDR5 (depending on the MB) kit. $100.

4.  NVMe Drive - a 1tb drive is around $60.  I would recommend staying with a Gen 3.0 drive.  You won't see a performance difference between Gen 3.0 - 4.0 - or 5.0.  They are just more expensive.

5.  GPU.  Here we are kinda hosed.  The Optix render engine Nvidia only on Poser.  This means that you will be paying through the nose for performance.  The good news is that unlike that other 3d program, you can use multiple Nvidia GPUs, if your MB supports it.

What you will be looking for is how much Vram is on your card.  Consider 12gb being the minimum, if your time has any value.  That means your are looking at an RTX 2060 (12gb) - $200 on the used market, an RTX 3060 (12gb) - $280 new, $225 used, an RTX 4060ti (16gb) $500 used, $800 new, or an RTX 4070 (12gb) $510 new.  The price distortions on the 4060ti are based on the card no longer being in production, and it is really good if you are using Stable Diffusion for creating images.

Unfortunately, AMD & Intel cards are not an option.  Whereas there is a open source Cycles plug in for most 3d applications that AMD cards can use, Poser isn't one of the programs that can use it.  It would be real nice if the Poser development team would look into that, since then it wouldn't matter which card we chose.

6.  PSU - get a new PSU - look for an 80+ Bronze in the neighborhood of 750 watts.  There are a LOT of names you won't recognize, but most PSUs are made in the same factories & different companies put their label on them.  I'd recommend the Corsair CX 750.  It does the job, gives you some headroom & it is around $65.

7. I would recommend having a separate SSD for your assets.  This depends on how large your digital asset collection is.  A 1tb SATA drive is about $45. 

Now, if you are a 3d digital data hoarder (like me), there is additional option.........

7a.  Athena Power BP-15287SAC - this is an 8 bay sata enclosure that slips into a 5.25" bay in your computer case.  It will hold 8 SATA drives, and it sells between $65 - $70.  If it isn't $65, give it a week or two, it is constantly going on and off sale.

7b.   An 8 port PCIe SATA card ($50) - this will connect with BP-15287SAC.  They will come with SATA cables, just make sure that none of them are 90 degree angled connectors.

With these 2 items, you can stuff up to 64tb of SATA drives in a single 5.25" bay, and you should be good.  I have eight 2tb SATA drives (16tb total) in mine (DS 1, DS2, Poser 1, Poser 2, Stable Diffusion 1, Stable Diffusion 2, Games 1, Games 2)