what's the best computer for maya?

[Cadman]

I have a piece of crap dell and I want to buy a new computer. Does anyone know the best place to get a computer for Maya or where I can find a list of good components to build one?

I would just get a new graphics card and more ram but the graphics card is integrated so I can't upgrade. Go to hell, Dell.
:mad:

[johan_n1]

hi:)

that's wery good computeur for work with maya, for gaming and all what you whant it's depend to your budget

http://www.alienware.com/

[joseph]

It depends on what you plan on using maya for. Animation or Modeling? or Both? The reason why I ask is because systems should be "purpose built" - especially if cost is an issue. There are systems that are designed for both... but depending on your usage ... you can save some big money and use it where it counts.

For maya - you should go to the autodesk website and check out the qualified hardware list. This will give you an idea as to what hardware is "compatible" with maya. In my experience - you want a video card that is on this list that does not have any outstanding issues... especially if you are modeling - you want to be able to interactively place your textures and this is not possible if you cant see them. Open GL is a tricky thing... so make sure your hardware is supported.

[buhby]

First of all, don't get alienware. They are overpriced Dell's (not literally, but they are not what everyone thinks they are).

Secondly, it really depends on what you are going to use Maya for. People can spend way above $10,000 on one machine and still not have it perform the way they want it to.

The best idea is to do what one other person said and look on Autodesk's site and check to see what harware is compatible. I know for a fact that ATI cards don't do very well with Maya, so make sure you get an Nvidia.

Secondly, if you know enough about computers, build one (It'll be cheaper if you plan on getting an expensive comp). Checkout www.newegg.com for the best prices.

[Lost.by.choice]

hum...have you thougt in a mac?

[ironheaded]

Maya (supposedly) is really set up for Macs. However, my school has had a bad time getting things optimized for ATI cards on Mac mainboards. But these are not the Intel Macs, so you may consider a new Mac.

If you wish to stay with PC.. again, watch out for ATI .. it's not the card that's wrong, but the drivers themselves. Just like there drivers don't play well with all game engines.

Mainboard - something with a PCI card slot. It's for your really nice video card you are gonna get yourself. Avoid "on board" video card/processor as this is 1) a low end graphics card and 2) newer technology not ironed out yet. Consider heavily the new AMD X2 or DuoCore Intels. I favor an AMD/Nvidia card mix. But AMD just bought ATI but their composite boards aren't out yet, are they.

RAM - get lots of course. More is best. Don't forget to set up your virtual memory min/max to double your RAM total.

Video Card - I like my NVidia. Paint3D and PaintEffects with OpenGL yippie!! It's nice. My school purpose laptop has ATI and I swear I hear it scream for mercy when I enable "hardware texturing" viewport option.

Avoid Dell, if it's been so bad for you.
Avoid Anything with proprietary softwares wired into BIOS and Windows.
If you can build it yourself, do it .. Get a great board, CPU, graphics card, strong power supply and bunches of cooling fans.

[Gaialau]

Check out http://www.boxxtech.com/ , they really have good machines for animation, modeling and even render nodes , i've been using at school , i have to say they are awsome .

[chop]

Well, I would definitely recommend building a system yourself. It enables you to hand pick the components you want and save money on stuff you don't need. Also, as someone stated above, purpose built systems save money, but it is much nicer to have a machine that can do more than one task. I'm not a maya user myself though, but all 3d apps have the same hardware demands anyway so I think I can give you some directions.

The essential components are: processor, RAM, graphics card.

The processor speed is evident in any field of 3d work, so it's best to buy the fastest you can afford [although it will NEVER be fast enough, trust me :) ]. If you are looking for a single processor system I would reccomend the AMD X2 processors which give outstanding value for money and are fast and reliable, with a huge selection of good motherboards [look no further than ASUS]. Of course, if you buy one of those, be sure to get one for an AM2 socket, for future upgradeability. As for multiprocessor systems there seems to be a lot of different opinions on what is right, but I have not had much experience with those so I can't give you an objective recommendation.

As for RAM memory, buy as much as you can depending on your OS of choice. If you use WinXP, it cannot address more than 3gb anyway so that's it, but on Win64 get 4GB. It speeds up work, especially multi-application stuff, and is used extensively while rendering.

The graphics card you buy must support DirectX9, if not for maya then for most other applications. As far as I have heard nVidia cards do work better with maya so take one of theirs. As always, more expensive is usually better, except with the top of the range model card which is always twice as expensive as the second in line but rarely twice as good.

All other components are a matter of personal needs and preferences so I will not deal with them here, as this post is already too long... ;)

Hope it helps.