Hardware & Blender, Help yourself build it and maintain it!

[knightsilver]

EDIT: My purpose in this post is to help you build well. I still consider myself a noob, but far from it. To build for Blender (also make a mean Gimp machine too), I've had both Quadro and Geforces GPUs before, and Pentium D, Core 2 Quad and as of now, i7 CPUs, standard sata and Raptor hdds. All on Blender, so I've seen how Blender has behaved throughout several hardware platforms. I try not to be a fanboy or bias to any brand, but I dont have patience for bogus hardware, I like what works and works well, without spending a boatload of cash. "This post is a work in progress"

Build it yourself and keep it lean and mean(that's upkeep).
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This is a rewrite of a post that I wrote last year, explaining the follow up threads. I'm compiling into one group, and trying to help the new dude or gal build their own system and or upgrade a system. The way this economy is, we need to do more things ourselves, and get the best bang for our buck

Thanks,
Shane

With me its three key things when building: "Heat, BIOS settings(mainly memory) and GPU drivers, or the GPU itself"
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TIM(thermal compound) and applying it. I myself add a grain of rice worth of TIM to the CPU and let the heatsink spread the TIM, on a flat HSF(heatsink) base. If ya have a DHP(direct heat pipe) heatsink, see link. After the system is built, do a temp check and then if temps are good, run Prime95 for a few days to stress test. Find out what your idle and load temps are and keep them under thermal spec, each CPU's thermal spec is different.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=3

Watch your CPU temps:
http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

Other temps:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

Stress test:
http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=103

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Know your BIOS:

EDIT: Ill get to this one later:

Know your cpu:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

And your memory settings in your BOIS:

Set your memory settings manually to your memory manufacturer's recommended setting,
Edit: Ill get to this later.

Make a memtest86 ISO CD (Memtest86 is also included with most flavors of Linux):
http://www.memtest86.com/

With:
http://www.magiciso.com/

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GPU and GPU stability

EDIT: Ill get to this later

Trobleshoot your GPU drivers and proper installing(and uninstalls) of that driver.
http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
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This is nowhere near done guys, please be patient.

Thanks,
Shane
(Some editing for spelling and grammar by SPARTAN-001, at Shane's request.)

If ya would provide a screen capture of what your working on, that always helps.........

[SPARTAN-001]

If you've got any questions, I'm also fairly well versed in computers . I'd be happy to assist you with any problems you might have.

[knightsilver]

Proper burn-in!
http://downloads.guru3d.com/IntelBurnTest-v2.3-download-2047.html

Ya, can get Prime95 for AMD.
http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=12155

Memory check:
http://www.memtest86.com/download.html

Watch you temp:
http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/


GPU info and temp:
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

Stress test for GPU:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/FurMark-v1.6.5-download-1965.html

CPU:
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

ScreenCap: (Works with Vista, must have "User Account Control" off)
http://download.cnet.com/Screen-Print-Capture-32/3000-2384_4-10135610.html?tag=mncol

And Im still up in the air about Benchmarking!

Just ask if ya need a hand,
shane

[Dictator-for-life]

Ha, neat! It looks like you have a whole tech blog going in here. Very nice .

While I can't speak the lingo fluently, I'm not completely helpless when it comes to hardware. Looks like you guys know a lot more than me, so I'll give you a ring if I need help.

[knightsilver]

Thanks for the reply.

shane

[brektzar]

And Im still up in the air about Benchmarking!

Just thought id put up a nice benchmarking app here
Unigine has a couple of bencmarks:
Heaven
Tropics
Sanctuary
Unigine Home page

And i would also like to point out that this:

Memory:
This one is eazy, go for the most ya can afford and at the lowest timing.
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/AMD/memory/131

Isnt always the easiest part, its not always go for the most you can afford, you have to consider the mhz of the memory your buying, one with less memory but more mhz can be faster than one with more memory but lower mhz, but for the people with not too much money and those who doesnt need the ultimate, an 800 mhz memory with about 2 gig is not to slow and not too expensive. Take my computer for example, i dont have alot of money to spend on my computer so i have two of those 800 mhz memories at 2 gig each, and my comp is working fine in both games and graphic softwares on a full HD display.

And one more thing, theres different memories aswell, same as with cards like sound, graphics etc, theres different ports. Make sure the port of your comp is the same as the one your buying, for example, you cant buy a DDR2 memory and put it in a DDR3 port, and also make sure your motherboard and other components support the memory your buying, this can be an issue.

ok i think im done now

[3LeggedDog]

Hello!
Wow - yeah, I spent too much on my first comp (about a grand - I believe I burned it; that's another story.)
Anyway, the emachines I'm using now is a bit of a battleaxe!

Celeron single core, 2.6 Ghz, with a single 128 kilo cache
1.288 gigs of PC3200 RAM, with a clock of, I believe, 240 mhz. (333 mhz PC3200)
Not sure of the front side bus (and might be wrong about the memory speed - the machine originally shipped with PC2600)
It has no graphics card slot so I purchased a cheap Sparkle GeForce 8400 GS PCI card. It has 512 MB of Ram.

Incredibly, I can play most new games on this machine, including FarCry II, Borderlands, and Darkest of Days, etc., set at the lowest graphics settings.
The only problems I've had lately is with the sound drivers. (XP MediaCenter 2005 Ed. It uses the Sonic Encoders and Realtek drivers.) Anyway, the front panel jacks are from another machine, and I sometimes hook my digital amp to the back panel output with a homemade jack that allows me to plug my stereo USB speakers in at the same time. Every once in a while, when I use the headphones, it somehow reconfigures something in the sound system that cuts off all sound. LIke it is now. The only fix I've found is to reinstall the OS, which, of course, I am not looking fowrward to. I also use the Basic K-Lite codec pack, but I don't think that was in there the last time it happpened.
Any ideas on how to fix that? (Windows says everything is fine. Device Manager, etc.)

Hmmm. I just checked, and its 533/400 mhz Forward Side bus. And the memory is 333/240 DDR. You know, I think I'll try out some of those benchmarks - never messed with'em before. Which one is best? I want to know if there is a bottleneck - will it tell me that?

[SPARTAN-001]

Your bottleneck is the entire computer. All of the benchmarks that brektzar posted are for high end testing, and your computer will probably not be able to run them on low settings. It's probably about time to upgrade your computer . The biggest bottleneck in your computer relative to itself is probably the CPU and the RAM, because they're both massively behind the curve technology wise, while the graphics card is only a few generations behind (4 generations at this point).

I'd definitely keep upgrading in mind if that's an option for you, as that computer will fall further behind in the coming years. So if you can, drop some money on building yourself a new computer (you should never buy higher end computers from big box companies), and you'll be extremely happy. A good graphics card, a good CPU, lots of RAM, Windows 7...

If you need any help, feel free to ask, as I dare say I'm the most hardware-oriented person around here (at least it seems like it).

[3LeggedDog]

You know, my brother found this machine in the trash. I dropped another power supply in it, and it worked...You know the rest of the story.
Yes, I definately need a new machine! (Budget is too tight right now.)
How about that sound problem - what do u think about that?

[SPARTAN-001]

Hmm... Dunno, the sound goes away when you plug in headphones, and doesn't come back after they're unplugged? I don't think I can help you there, sorry.