computer speed....

[blah-de-blah]

This is mainly for thsoe of you who use 3D applications. How fast are your computers and how much RAM do you have on it??? My computer seems to be pretty good, but when using 3DS Max everything lags a bit :-\

[eyeinfinitude]

The comp I use for 3D work is a AMD Athlon XP 1.4 Ghz, 256 DDR Ram. I only use it for 3D rendering.

If you're rendering and multitasking at the same time then of course your comp is going to lag. I usually go watch TV or work on my other comp while rendering stuff.

[blah-de-blah]

hmm well i have 1.6 and 640 ram but everything doesn't seem to run smoothly. Do you have other programs on it running in the background on it? Its really annoying trying to draw while it lags :-\

[eyeinfinitude]

Well I've never used 3dsmax so I don't know how it performs on my comp. I use c4d and it's smooth.

[c!rYx]

...smooth...




:)

[kei]

what operating system and which ver. of max are u using?

theres a problem with max 5.0 and win xp..
u can get a patch to fix it :)

[thoriphes]

With 3D apps, your memory isn't always as vital as your CPU, especially for rendering. Something like Photoshop needs a lot of RAM in order to keep with its history and layers.

[blah-de-blah]

ooh, well i'm using max 5 and win 2000. It might be because i have quite a lot of programs on my computer. DOes that matter? If i defragment my comp will it speed up!?

[kei]

ohh okay
u should check the discreet site to see if theres any problems with max and 2000 :)

and i think ram does affect rendering time quite significantly? :-\

[mdipi]

kei can you link to that patch? i might want to try that....

[kei]

http://www.discreet.com/support/max/faq/answer.php3?prod=dddstudio&id=1154

make sure u read it first :P

[mdipi]

lol i will. btw blah, mine used to lag, then i got me a new graphics card and it seems to run smoother...

[kei]

hehe i use a ****ty GF4mx440 :/

do graphic cards affect 3d and graphics applications?

[BullDog_Flash]

Whoever has computers with like 1ghz
And like 254ram and yet it still oes sorta slow.

Either you need to clean your COmputer or Get a Bios Update.

The bios will help it alot.

[DDD]

yes I believe it does.......take a look and make sure you dont have a bunch of stuff running in your systray. Also look at start up items. I have a 1.4 gb 512 ram that I sometimes use......when not using the alienware but it does well with 3ds. Not sure what your prob is what actually is it doing? crashing??

[blah-de-blah]

nah basically it is just lagging. I go to my task manager to check the CPU usage, and when i click on something, it goes straight up to 100% from 3%.

I've looked all over google, and all it says is that the main problem is because Norton Anti Virus. But i don't have this :-\ or any other virus protection programs.

[DDD]

I would put in a call to discreet.

[BullDog_Flash]

What type of machine do you have.

Like
IBM
Dell,
Alienware,
Emachines,

[blah-de-blah]

AMD, does it affect it?

[DDD]

I dont think so but I have heard AMD's were better for graphics

[BullDog_Flash]

When was the last time you got a Update for your system.

[blah-de-blah]

update as in......?

the microsoft updates? ages ago cause it screwed it up before...

the actual computer updates (whats it called?): uh havn't really updated since i bought it :-\

[BullDog_Flash]

It always good to update your System.
If not slowing down your computer will happen and some strange errors will occur.

So you should look around for AMD updates and stuff and that might help it.

If not then there is a serious probelm with 3-d Max

[DDD]

When is the last time you updated your video drivers? if you are using a gforce family I think nvidia advised using the detonator drivers......check you nview settings. If all else fails contact discreet

[blah-de-blah]

By system updates do you mean the microsoft updates? or the AMD update? or both? (might as well do both :-\)

And i just realized i am using a radeon 9000 (which i've never heard of). Is that any good? I think i may try and update all of those. I can get AMD updates at their official site right?

[DDD]

how many megs is your video card? ATI radeon is a pretty good brand.....go to ati's site make sure you have the latest drives and hopefully your card is at least 64mb

[blah-de-blah]

i just updated my video card, and max does seem faster. I will also defrag my comp tonite so that shall help too :) thanks for all the help guys ;)

[s-fx]

i have 2.53 P4, 786 DDr Ram, well... 3d max runs like

[blah-de-blah]

runs like....???! Well it seems to run better for me now, but whenever i restart my computer, it resets my resolution back to 640 x 480!!

Its annoying and i have to reset everything back again. Does anyone know why this happens???

[DDD]

it is not saving your setting you may have something serious going on there. I would ghost your drive and nuke the cpu. I had similar probs then one day got the blue screen of death.

[kei]

maybe u got the wrong drivers installed :P

[nobody]

how do you "ghost your drive and nuke the cpu"

[blah-de-blah]

good quesiton....nuke the cpu doesn't sound too good to me :-\

[DDD]

format it = Nuke it....and ghosting is like backing it up....You use a program called norton ghost.......Compresses the hell out of your drive I ghosted my 40gb into like a 2gb backup.

[DDD]

I format my drive like once a year......and back up on a regular basis....Very good practice especially if you do art....Nothing worse than losing a years worht of work

[nobody]

ive tried to reformat like 4 times but xp just hides stuff doesnt delete it.. so im thinkin of switchin to 2000. Is there a way to actualy get rid of EVERYTHING?

[blah-de-blah]

can norton ghost do the opposite of compress? so aftter it compresses, and you format your drive...uncompress everything so everything is back to normal again?

[mlk]

-i've got 3PCS on my network at home (radio network - no cables =) - so every once in a while I upload my files on the other comp and erase everything on the first, reinstall windows and all the updates... feels gooood afterwards...

Look you lag problem probably comes from RAM - cpus now are way too fast for the other computer components so I really advise you to buy more RAM or invest in a good 3d (graphic) card - not a game one. Except if you are a hardcore gamer...

[.soulty]

Running a p4 2.6a , 1 gig ram and A BRILLIANT GEFORCE 2 MX!! lol

All 3d apps work fine till you get really into some crazy modelling with some high polys, Really you could use most "decent" (as in decent i mean not lower than a geforce mx 400) and still have 3d apps working fine, All you have to do is work in wireframe mode, the only thing limiting you is how much floating points your computer can handle, what a new video card gives you is the ability to work in full shaded mode or as known as "pretty" mode.

My video card has been fine for a good 5 plus years, going to upgrade soon, still waiting on my new Geforce FX 5900 Ultra !!! :) as soon as i get that , say bye bye to mx and hello FX. :smirk:

[DDD]

yes it can.....you can pick which files you want to restore.....or restore the whole thing.

[DDD]

28 - you can do a low level format. Actually when you install XP like a new install. And you delete your partition and create a new one. That should totally nuke everything. Or you can do a DOS format. It is always good to do this on some sort of regular schedule....Backup data and format.

[nobody]

See, I've done the new partition thinger and all this other random crap. I've searched online and found tutorials and none of them seem to help. So what is the DOS way? Is it like C:// delete or something?

[DDD]

FORMAT .......what exactly is being left behind?? I would not suggest doing a dos format unless you know how.....or have a good walkthrough in front of you.

[nobody]

Well it hides like half my files in wierd random places. It also keeps all my login name things too. So like after I reformat I'm stilll missing a good 20 gigs of my hard drive.

[DDD]

oh I was not being sarcastic on the "FORMAT" thing. That is the command for it.

wow that is weird! Maybe you need a new HD

[nobody]

I don't want a new hard drive:*(
I want a computer that works and isnt being held hostage by micro$oft.
Grrrr
oh well, thanks for the info 3d I'm gonna go read up on FORMAT.
'preciate it

[mdipi]

3d thats what ghost does? hmm will have to try it! never knew what to use it for.