CompuServe Messages

Bruce, your basic configuration sounds about right. You could also get away with judicious use of switch boxes for mouse, keyboard, and monitor to share these items between several systems. I use a switchbox to share a monitor between 2 systems. It is nice to be able to actually use the system for other things besides net-rendering though. I like to have one workstation in a paint package sometimes while I'm in 3ds on another, and both systems communicate through the (partially) dedicated server. You should compare prices between Pentium systems and 486/66 systems, though, because it might be cheaper to buy Pentiums to avoid having to buy RAM, hardrives and other peripherals for each system. For example, a Pentium is about twice the speed of a 486/66 in rendering, but might be a lot less money than 2 486/66's when you figure in all the extras you need to buy.