Hardware Guide for X3

[Larry Kumpost]

The second generation (32nm) "i series" CPU's are now available. I would not spend $1,000, or so, for a i7 980x but would get either a i7 2600 ($300) or the i7 2600k ($360) if you want to overclock. They both run at 3.4 GHz but "K" on the more expensive version indicates the CPU is not locked and has been overclocked to 5 GHz.

These newer processors do require a MB with a LGA1155 socket.

[abchomesolution]

Now that X3 is looming large on the horizon, I thought it would be good to post some guidelines for hardware for X3 so that you can make an informed decision if you plan on buying new hardware.

For the most part our system requirements will remain the same as for X2 with the caveat that X3 is designed for multi-core systems.

This means that for a few operations you may see a slight slowdown on single core and single core hyperthreaded hardware. While we will work to keep performance on these systems as fast as possible, our focus now and for the foreseeable future will be on multi-core machines.

To that end the following are my recommendations for X3.

1) More cores is better.

We have some performance optimizations coming in X3 that will utilize as many cores as you can get for some operations. Much of our development work has been done using i7s and other Quad Core hardware. We are pretty sure that some of the new 6 core machines will be an even better choice, but haven't done benchmarking on them yet.

We started focusing on the i7 hardware about a year ago because we figured that by the time X3 shipped it would slip off the bleeding edge and be more affordable. i7 hardware has now moved into the main stream price range. We are even seeing i7 laptops available.

This should make the older Core 2 Duos drop in price quite a bit. For someone that is looking for really cheap hardware that X3 will do good on a Core 2 Duo would be my recommended cheap machine. However, look around older quad cores are available in desktops in the $500 price range.

2) Memory.

X3 will be easier on memory for 3D operations than X2. In some cases this is very significant. Still, if you are getting new hardware more memory is better.

For a new machine I wouldn't get anything with less than 4 GB.

While memory speed still is important, the speed of memory in the multi-core machines is generally improving over time so it is becoming less of factor when looking at hardware.

3) A 64 bit OS is a must have.

Windows 7 64-bit is the best OS to run X3 on. X3 will ship as a 32 bit application.

The main reason to go 64 bit is that your extra memory will be used by the OS and other applications making your system faster when dealing with large models in Chief.

Hi Doug,
Do all of your recomendations in this post still apply, now that X3 has been out for a bit? Anything else or newer to consider in upgrading equiptment?
Thanks
Mike SMith

[lbuttery]

Mike:

based on CA's postings

consider 8 GB, any more is overkill unless you have other apps running that need lots of ram also

4 GB is still the minimum but not the recommendation

1 GB ram for video card
512 MB used to be the minimum now 1 GB is a better choice to start with

get USB 3.0 ports

as many cores as affordable
64-bit is highly recommended - don't even think about 32-bit

get a good I7, they come in many flavors now

get a hefty power supply

that should help until CA responds also

as X4 may add more to the mix

Lew

[VHampton]

Mike:

based on CA's postings

consider 8 GB, any more is overkill unless you have other apps running that need lots of ram also

4 GB is still the minimum but not the recommendation

1 GB ram for video card
512 MB used to be the minimum now 1 GB is a better choice to start with

get USB 3.0 ports

as many cores as affordable
64-bit is highly recommended - don't even think about 32-bit

get a good I7, they come in many flavors now

get a hefty power supply

that should help until CA responds also

as X4 may add more to the mix

Lew

Hey Lew,

As always, thanks for your posts.

What would you think of this model right off the shelf?

Is is better to look for an Nvidia graphics card?


I like the support which they offer, and for the most part, it's proven to be a very reliable manufacturer. Someone said that a dual drive (mirrored drive) is a really great feature. I might look into that as well.

Really appreciate your 2 cents.

[lbuttery]

Val:

the link is not working ???

CA leans towards Nvidia but ATI's are now considered acceptable by CA

Nvidia has issues with multiple monitor support, there are prior threads about this

I haven't studied latest rounds of video cards but they change "daily"

Lew

[VHampton]

Hi Lew,

That's strange. The link worked in the preview.


Anyway.... I was look at a Dell XPS 9100 which has 8 gigs of RAM and a whole bunch of other features.

I just wasn't sure about the ATI Radeon graphics card.

Thanks again.

[Barton Brown]

Lew,
What you say is correct, and I didn't mean to imply that one should NOT get at least 8 GB of RAM - they should get 8 GB or more.

My point to Val was just that if she was expecting that getting a machine with more RAM would solve her "out of memory" problem when ray tracing, then she will be disappointed, because it will NOT solve that specific problem.

[Doug Park]

If you are running low on memory in render views go for a video card with more memory as it will then use less of the 2GB of memory that Chief can address.

8 GB of memory is a good choice.

[Doug Park]

If you are running low on memory in render views go for a video card with more memory as it will then use less of the 2GB of memory that Chief can address.

8 GB of memory is a good choice.

[GordC]

Hi,

What does everyone think of specs of this puppy for X3?

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...591b14844den02

[lbuttery]

Gord:

seems ok, but I can't speak to the CPU or Video card as I'm not up on the latest

the video ram at 512 MB is adequate but 1 GB would be preferred

verify the size of the power supply and that it is adequate, I think around 700W is recommended ???
I've forgotten what the number is but it needs to be "hefty"

it only has USB 2.0 ports, some 3.0 ports would be desirable

Lew

[GordC]

Ok thanks Lew,

I want better than ok. I am going to have a custom computer built.

[Larry Kumpost]

Gord

For what it is worth, I am waiting for the new motherboards for the latest (second generation) Intel i7 CPU's. I almost went ahead with the build but then heard that there were issues with the chipset for the initial release of Mother Boards.

A friend of mine who builds his own, however, already built his new system. While his MB is one with the chipset "issues" I mentioned, he said it has not been a problem for him and that Asus will replace the MB when the new ones are available. He also said that the computer is very fast... think he said blazing fast. Short version is he is very happy.

The CPU I am getting is the i7-2600K, currently $329.99 at Amazon. The "K" indicates that it is the un-locked version so it can be overclocked. You need a MB that has a LGA1155 socket. One problem is that, unless you build your own, I have not seen any pre-built systems with this CPU yet. I assume they are waiting for the new MB's too.

[CRAIGLMEYER]

Hi all,

Just upgraded my main system this past weekend since Chief X3 was bogging down while I was working on a 4 story 60,000 sq. ft. hotel project I have. (You can see the project here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwjYqsXQrNc ) Started new w/ CA-X3

The new upgrade has fixed the sluggish problem fine. Everything screams drawing wise, but with my rendering settings set to the same as the old system, the old one is twice as fast in doing renderings with shadows. I'm guessing this is video card settings but I have no idea what needs tweaking to make it go fast.

The old system (which I have transfered to another case and is still up and running) is as follows:

Win XP PRO
Intel D575XBX2 mobo
Intel Core2 Quad 2.66 GHz CPU
8 GB RAM (but only says 3.2 recognized)
GeForce 7950GT Video card w/ 512 RAM
600 Watt PS
Chief 9.54, X2 & X3

The new system upgrade is: (everything new except the case)
Win 7 Pro. 64-bit OS
Intel Core i7 cpu 950 @ 3.07 GHz LGA1366 (Bloomfield Quad Core)
MSI BIG BANG XPower mobo
Mushkin 12GB (3x4GB) DDR3 1333 RAM
WD 1TB HD
Seagate 1TB Ext. HD
PNY NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 w/1280 MB GDDR5
Direct x 11
180 watt Cooler Master V8 blower
1000 watt Kingwin LAZER Modular PS
Chief X3

Does anyone have a clue as to what settings I should have for the Video Card?

Thanks
Craig

[Larry Kumpost]

I'm guessing this is video card settings but I have no idea what needs tweaking to make it go fast.

I am not so sure your assumption about the video card is correct. I assume you are talking about Ray trace renderings. If that is the case, as I recall, the CPU should be the controlling factor. Are your render settings, in Chief, identical in both cases? I assume that you did a new Chief install on the new system and, unless you changed from the defaults, you might be using different settings on each system.

Can you see how many cores/threads your CPU is using when you render?