#Rendering speed
19 messages in this thread
WOWZERS, Thanx. BTW I HAVE been toying with the idea of getting a 486-66DX
or two for rendering.
is the upgrade to the PC version of Imagine still $100 for registered
owners of Amiga Imagine??
Could I get Both versions of 3.0 for $200?????
Thanx for the info and I await 3.0 breathlessly.
Peter, I recently saw notice that the Vivid 24 board is shipping; in
addition to being a 24-bit f/buf, it is more importantly a Rendering Engine!
Company (DMI) sez 20 times the rendering speed of a 4000!
A friend of mine mentioned it was able to work with both Lightwave and
Imagine (we're getting close to real-time rendering, if so!). Perhaps some of
the folks here could enlighten us– what is the board, and will it actually
turbocharge Imagine. BTW, I've heard rumored prices that are about the same as
'040 boards were 6 months ago– 2 g's or so, but this is entirely conjecture on
my part. Anyone know the real deal?
Jeff,
for these boards that have super graphics coprocessors to work with your
favorite software, the software has to be rewritten with for those special
chips rather than 680×0 code. No off-the-shelf software such as Imagine or
Lightwave is available to take advantage of the Vivid 24 unless it's released
in a special version, and I know of no such animal.
Blaq!
As far as I know the only 3D prg that takes advantage of the Vivid 24 is
the PD POV prg. The other's are unsubstantiated rumours.
To get the Full use out of the DMI Vivid 24 expect to max it out and Pay
approx $10,000
Hopefully John Gross and Mike Halvorsen can set the record straight for
Lightwave and Imagine respectively.
The 486/66's will astonish you, especially since you, like myself, will be
upgrading from a 25mhz 030 Amiga. The big thing with these machines is that
Quickrenders are just that – quick. So, if you're modeling something, or
setting up complex anim, your feedback is so much faster that you become much
more productive.
PS – make sure you get a PC that has at least a 128k secondary processor cache,
and try to get one that supports 32-bit (72 pin) simms. With these simms you
can upgrade your memory one simm at a time, and you can mix different sizes. I
currently have a single 16 meg simm in my machine. If you buy a machine that
only handles 32 megs RAM max you can be sure that you're not dealing with the
32-bit simms. So what? well, a lot of clone machines come with 8 megs of ram
where all the slots are filled with 1 meg simms, to upgrade you'll have to
throw those away because you have to upgrade memory in banks of 4 simms. Well,
it's late and I think this is running on a bit…
Andrew.
Thanx for the info, I believe the unit the guys at Compustar are selling
have 256k Cache and are Pentium capable. I just ordered the 3.0 upgrade
for Imagine for both Amiga and IBM/Clone. Will probably start assembling
the 486 system this week. Know any good CHEAP local Sources?
Compustar isn't too bad but if I can find a better deal……..
$1479 with 4 megs Ram,486-66DX,120 meg HD, .28 SVGA/Monitor, mini tower
case,Dual Floppy's etc.
Peter:
why are you going for the monitor, VGA card, etc.?
It seems you'd be better off, for now, if you got a mono card & mono
monitor for ~$65.00. Then you could upgrade to a decent local bus or
accelerated VGA card in 6-12 months, when the price has dropped & the
speed has gone up. Also, you could save $50 by not getting the 5.25" drive
– who uses those anyway?
Just a few comments on trying to cheap it out.
P.S. Get _at least_ 8MB if you want to run Windows. :^)
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
Windows and Imagine don't like each other I've heard. I plan to get at
least 8 megs tho probably more like 16 if I can. Reason I said VGA etc was
that was a PACKAGE DEAL. If I end up building the system myself I'll
probably use Mono Monitor since it is just for rendering the still which
will then be ported to the Amiga and compiled into DCTV anims.
And I Wholely agree about not bothering with the 5 1/4" floppy drive being
practically useless.
I have heard Imagine is a DOS product, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't
get Windows for free when you buy the system. :^)
As for the 5.25" floppy: I think it's Gateway that sells systems with a
CD-ROM _instead_ of a 5.25" floppy drive. (Of course, this was 2 months
_after_ my girlfriend got her system from them. Grr.)
Have Fun!
Keep On Toastin'
Erik Flom
I've already got Windows 3.1, I bought it to try on my Emulator(big
mistake) but it requires at least a 286 which my emulator is a lousy 8086
Software emulator called PC-Task.
>I've already got Windows 3.1, I bought it to try on my Emulator(big
>mistake) but it requires at least a 286 which my emulator is a lousy 8086
>Software emulator called PC-Task.
You are a glutton for punishment! Isn't it bad enough on a `real' PC? You
are worse than IBM'ers. :^)
<<< Tony D. Tracer >>>
On my Cousin's 286 Windows 3.1 was no slower than WB on a 500 IMHO.
Now that I put a 486 in her machine it flys along.
Was it less than 90 days between the time they switched? If so, they
should have given you that deal.
Steve
Pete, if your machine supports local bus slots and 72 pin simms, upgrade at
your leisure. If you have to fill a bank of four ram slots in order to upgrade,
buy the machine with the 4 megs, you'll have to chuck it anyway if you move up
to anything over 16 megs of RAM.
I'm not familiar with Compustar, but that is certainly a low price. You could
check some of the advertisers in the Tuesday NYTimes for machines, but I doubt
you'll do any better. Hope it all works out. BTW – I plan on ordering my PC
upgrade this week. I don't even use the Amiga anymore. Oh well.
Compustar is in Brooklyn on Church Ave. They have NO STOCK, they order
M.A.N.(materials as needed) and have it for you within 2 days usually.
This is how they can offer such low prices. I'm also scouring the new
issue of Computer shopper as I may just assemble the system on my own.
I feel confident that it won't be too difficult since I just did a
motherboard swap for my cousin which entails essentially Dismantling the
machine to bare bones.
So far $800 or so is the best I've seen for a Motherboard with 486-66DX
CPU onboard. and if I go a bit slower for a 486-33 it's $600
RAM PRICE WARNING!!!
You might want to get the minimum usable ram now and wait a few months to
upgrade. Due to the destruction of a chemical plant in Japan that produced 60%
of the resin used in ram chips memory prices have skyrocketted. Up from
$30-$35 a meg a mere month ago to as much as $100 a meg today. Gateway will
not even sell a machine with more than 16M right now because of the shortage.
I give it 6 months at most before prices have come back down so it is probably
worth the wait.
Strange, the Folks at Compustar still sell 1 meg Simms for $40 a raise in
price of only $3 per meg. Now I have seen other Psycho's trying to sell 1
meg Simms for $100 each but told them to get Stuffed. Besides I've got a
Load of Simms sitting here already(actually 8 megs)
John,
A couple of corrections regarding your RAM price warning.
Although the Japanese plant did blow up, there is presently 4+ months
supply of both RAM and the epoxy to make more in channel. There is no
present shortage of either material, nor is there likely to be one due to
this disaster.
Presently, all experts are labeling this situation for what it is:
Price gouging.
Now, prices are starting to creep downwards. I was about to buy 10
machines for work, each with 16 megs of memory…and than this thing
struck. So, we are going to wait and see.
I suggest that folks tell their vendors the same thing – we are going to
wait and see. Then, when demand dries up (as it is already starting to
do), prices will come down to something reasonable.
//Jonathan,
\\//via AutoPilot
I know the price problem is not a lack of materials. It is mostly price
gouging, speculation and panic buying (IBM reportedly sought 5 million 4M DRAMS
following the explosion…PC Week this week). For this reason I too expect the
prices to return to normal very quickly (no longer than 6 months). I have
however been given quotes for 8M systems that were $200 or more above the same
quote 2 or 3 weeks ago and reports from others of prices as high as $100 for 1M
(probably for the normally pricier 4M DRAMS). I suggest waiting a month or so
to not just save money but to say no to price gouging.
Limey