I am looking to upgrade my system or even get a whole new one. But the the main idea is to get the perfect PC to do rendering. Not only with Vue but for all types of 3D programs in general. Does anyone have any "REAL Knowladge" on system set-ups for this??? Is a dual proccesor 1GiG caped setup better or a 2.5gig single? Or how about SCSI or IDE hard-drives? I do know you need RAM, and that DDR-Ram is best(planing on 1024). I tried looking for a contact to E-on on their home page but ran into dead-ends, also looked at Discreet and Corel. But no luck for that info. PLEASE help me! I have money to spend and no way that I see to spend it! I am a frugel spender and won't do so unless I am sure.

get the new apple Dual 1.25 Ghz that is being released shortly.

Have you looked at Alienware? They are considered the absolute class of the PC side. There is no better (or possibly more expensive) personal computer on the planet than their MJ-12. http://www.alienware.com/main/system_pages/mj12.asp If you're looking for a kick-ass system a normal human can afford, take a look at their Area 51. http://www.alienware.com/main/system_pages/area51.asp Everyone I've talked with says they are the best of the best. -SMT

A little something to keep in mind: is the software that you run, capable of using 2 processors? Just because there are 2 in the box, does not mean that you will get the power of 2. Most of the time the OS will divide up who is getting processor time and it is totally out of your hands. So in this case a single processor machine would most likely be best. Between IDE and SCSI, it use to be a question of how fast the drive spun at and how fast data was transfered back to the processor. The newer IDE drives at 7200 rpm are as fast as SCSI were a cuple of years ago. Keem in mind that SCSI (in a PC) require a special card that can add expense that you did not plan on. And lastly SCSI setup can be a tricky thing. Sometimes it matters what slot that the SCSI care is inserted into, is the device self terminating (this is a SCSI thing) and SCSI cables can be cost a pretty penny. regards, Philip

Vue 4 uses both processors and the renders scream on my dual 1ghz powermac. Even with volumetrics. The real question is will the dual processors help you in the software you like the most. If the answer is yes - going with duals is a great idea. It was for me : ) Also modern os's like OSX and I think XP/NT take advantage of them for many tasks - making everything run faster. Scott

Oh and also keep in mind that if you go the Windows XP route, you need XP Pro. XP home edition does not use dual processors. :)

Dual processors are quite nice. Vue will take advantage of them and that is the primary reason that I built a dual Athlon system for Windows XP Pro. AMD 1700 XPs are $70 a piece over at NewEgg. [Just a word of warning all MP chips are certified for multiprocessing but XPs are not guaranteed. However, I've heard of almost no problems with the slower AMD XPs (1800s and below) in dual processor setups . . .

I agree that you'll be happy to work with dual proc. I've got a dual Athlon MP 1800 on an Asus A7M266 and it works fine. If this dual proc works right with a Windows 2000 Pro, I suggest you to look at a Windows XP Pro for having less troubles with softwares and hardware. For the RAM question, I agree that DDR is much better than SDRAM. I have 1Go DDR and it's a real pleasure... For the IDE or SCSI question, I agree with spnnrmm for saying that it's harder to setup. I had a CDRom drive and a CD Burner, both SCSI. It was OK for overall stability and speed, but sometimes, my SCSI card was having troubles and then I had no access to both of them until I reboot my system. And for the speed, as far as I know, a good 7200rpm IDE drive is as good as a SCSI one. One of the major thing I suggest you to consider is the graphic card. Not that it will change a lot in rendering time, but it could really helps in the working on your scene. I suggest you an ATI8500 (the one I got) or a GeForce 4. (Warning : as they're famous about that, if you're planning to buy an ATI9000/9700, consider that you'll probably don't have fully fonctionnal drivers until they release new patch. They have great products, but good drivers comes always later...) A last thing : don't forget that a dual 1Go proc don't go twice faster than a single 1Go, as a 2Go proc don't go twice faster than a 1Go one... Woops, a very last thing : for the discussion Intel vs. AMD, I suggest you AMD ! Hope it can helps... Argentium Thri'ile