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What equipment do the developers recommend
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These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
What equipment do the developers recommend // Archive: Tech Forum
Post by dallastx // Mar 29, 2007, 8:46am
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dallastx
Total Posts: 4
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I am not interested in just running Truespace well. I am interested in a snappy modeling experience plus fast renders. I am a business software developer and I know how many times a day I have to re-compile and test my code.
If I am interested in the best performance for the money when modeling and using sds smoothing do I need to spend the money on a faster processor (extreme) or a faster graphics card.
I currently run intel 2.5 ghz , 1gb mem, ATI Radeon 9700 pro.
After I use sds on a few objects things really start to slow down modeling. Jerky.
I figure the developers gotta have a fast machine. |
Post by dallastx // Apr 15, 2007, 3:38am
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dallastx
Total Posts: 4
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Well I guess that was not a very interesting question - no answers here. |
Post by Bobbins // Apr 15, 2007, 3:57am
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Bobbins
Total Posts: 506
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If it helps any, I run the following as a tester:
Win XP Pro
P4 3.2Ghz HT
2Gb RAM
NVidia 7600GT 256Mb @1600x1200 AGP 8x (PCI-E does absolutely nothing at this level, the system gets CPU bound first and foremost)
3x SATA hard discs (system, scratch and data)
This works really well for 95% of anything I could want in tS7. The video is fast, repsonsive and gives me almost all of the realtime displays I could want unless I really start pushing lots of realtime lights with very high quality shadowing and the highest levels of realtime post processing.
The system was built 40% for 3D work in tS and 60% for video editing. It's nothing that is more up to date than a year old but it does perform very nicely indeed, thank you.
This is not a recommendation, just a rerport of a non-cutting edge workhorse system used in the real world for several purposes. |
Post by RichLevy // Apr 15, 2007, 4:34am
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RichLevy
Total Posts: 1140
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Windows XP Media Edition
AMD 3GHz
2Gb Ram
Nvidia 6100 256 Ram PCI_Express
Nothing fancy, certainly not cutting edge, but it works. Slow at some things, the PE tools in WS are slow, that is supposed to improve in 7.5 :rolleyes:
Next system I get will have duel core at min, and DX10 video card, PCI Express, this way you will not have to upgrade when things start changing with DX10.
Rich |
Post by hemulin // Apr 15, 2007, 4:45am
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hemulin
Total Posts: 1058
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Being a student I don't have all this ^^ fancy stuff. ;)
My rig:
XP Pro
AMD Athlon64 3200 @2ghz
1GB DDR
ATI X1300XT (256mb DDR2)
4 x PATA (IDE): 1 for windows (and linux), one for data storage, and two in raid 0 for more data storage and swap.
Works fine for me with tS7.5, however I do most testing on my laptop which has similar specs, apart from the graphics which is a mere ATI Xpress 1150. |
Post by xmanflash // Apr 15, 2007, 5:12am
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xmanflash
Total Posts: 335
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As a user I highly recommend the following basics if you are into a DIY upgrade - its not expensive for what you get..
Conroe 6600 Core 2 Duo proc
Gigabyte 965P-DS3P Mb
2Gb Gskill Ram (2 x 1Gb)
Tagen Power Supply (450w+)
ATI 1950Pro (Palit = cheap and quiet)
I over clocked this from 2.4Ghz to 3Ghz with nothing other than stock cooling. I upgraded my P4 2.8HT to this rig and am completely blown away..
I also recommend a 22" wide screen from Chimea or V7 at 1650x1080 its almost as good as my Dual 19" and I don't get neck ache any more.. |
Post by TomG // Apr 15, 2007, 5:14am
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TomG
Total Posts: 3397
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I have run tS7.5 on two machines:
P4 3Ghz, 1Gb RAM, NVIDIA 7600GS AGP, XP Pro
Works fine on there, and this machine is over a year old. But memory can become an issue. Of all the issues, I'd say going to 2Gb is the most important upgrade to make for tS7.
The other machine is only a month or two old, and is:
Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz, 2Gb RAM, NVIDIA 8800GTS (PCI-E), Vista Ultimate 32 bit
tS7 works well on both machines, the memory is the biggest jump for the work I've done so far (maybe as I get more poly heavy once into working on objects for more than just testing the graphics card will help).
BTW you never specified which version of tS you are using when things become jerky, and if tS7, whether this was Modeler or Player side SDS (they are different in many ways :) )
HTH!
Tom |
Post by prodigy // Apr 15, 2007, 5:22am
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prodigy
Total Posts: 3029
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"Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz, 2Gb RAM, NVIDIA 8800GTS (PCI-E), Vista Ultimate 32 bit"
Wow.. you must post few DX10 screen shots! hehhehe |
Post by xmanflash // Apr 15, 2007, 5:37am
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xmanflash
Total Posts: 335
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Wow.. you must post few DX10 screen shots! hehhehe
If you can find anything that uses it! (apart from Vista! :-)
I'm waiting for Crysis.. and the new cheaper 8800 series dx10 compat cards due soon.. |
Post by splinters // Apr 15, 2007, 6:14am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Just for the record I am using an AM2 mobo with an AMD X2 3800 (dual core) 2gb of DDR2 533 and a Geforce 7900GT. Everything flies on it and I have yet to bring the workspace to a crawl. If you look at the 'tS7UI' thread and the 'don't mess with my head' thread, you can see that I am pushing high quality textures around on a pretty big mesh although there is not much else in the scene...but I have 4xAA on and supersampling-never slows down.
If you get a system better specced than this, then you will be fine.
For the curious Vista rates my machine as a 4.8 which is based on the slowest part of the system-in my case, the CPU. All other bits got nearly 6. |
Post by weaveribm // Apr 15, 2007, 7:23am
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weaveribm
Total Posts: 592
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The Player window is realtime DX9 and hugely faster than the Model window which presumably uses the older TS graphics engine, so when the Player window replaces the Model window I expect TS renders to speed up immensely
We're getting 120fps currently in D3D games with huge numbers of polygons and render goodness - and that's with a game's many other CPU-intensive tasks to do like AI and so on
Peter |
Post by dallastx // Apr 16, 2007, 3:12am
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dallastx
Total Posts: 4
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Thanks to all who have responded. I will probably build a machine this time.
I have just ordered the 7.5 upgrade.
I am currently trying to figure out if Vista will reduce the performance of Truespace 7.5. I read somewhere in the forum that DX9 is being emulated.
Since Vista is native DX10 if I get say Nvid 8800GTS will it run DX9 as well as say going to WINXP instead - and does NVid 8800GTS perform DX9.
I have always liked ATI cards for their image quality.
Is 4gb worth the money or is 2GB memory enough? Is 256mb of vid memory enough or does doubling it make a difference?
I guess I am mainly asking the developers what they think.
Thanks in advance. |
Post by TomG // Apr 16, 2007, 3:34am
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TomG
Total Posts: 3397
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There are some DX10 demos over on the NVIDIA site, I got one with realtime liquid particle stuff that does smoke in a box, very nice.
Apparently they can pass physics over to the 8800 too, which is fun. I only ran the one demo, not had time to download and try others, might do some screenshots if I get the chance.
Not noticed any performance loss in the new Player / workspace view from DX9 being emulated. All my games also run well (way better than on the 7600 on the last system). Things like 109fps on Half Life 2 Lost Coast demo with everything turned up made me happy with the upgrade.
I do have a driver issue with the OLD Modeler real-time view. It's broken on my machine currently when moving the viewpoint (only updates one you let go of rotating or moving the eye). Not yet installed and tested tS6.6 there to see if the problem is present there, but will be doing that.
Vista does have its problems with compatibility, there are several pieces of software I have that behave strangely or don't work at all, so this is by no means unique to tS of course
8800 cards will be coming down in price all the time (you can get them for around $280 or so with specials now - less onboard memory of course than the more expensive versions). I am also sure we'll see ATI come up with a DX10 card sometime soon too, since Vista is all about DX10.
HTH
Tom
EDIT - PS 2 Gb will work fine, but more memory is always better if you can afford it! More memory does help with Vista - every new version of Windows uses more and more memory to just sit there and do nothing. Mine uses about 600 to 700 Mb with no applications running :O |
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