Desktop pc recommendations for Lightwave
 

I'm buying Lightwave 3d animation software and a new desktop pc to run it. I do need it to run as best as it can as I will be heavily using the computer for this program. I am currently looking into an insperon 580 for this purpose but I'm not tech savy enough to know if it's best.

Lightwave's System requirements:

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

SYSTEM RAM: 512 MB minimum requirement, 1 GB recommended
GRAPHICS CARD: nVidia FX 5200 series (minimum) or ATIFireGL V 5100 (minimum)
GRAPHICS SUPPORT: Full OpenGL (OpenGL 2.0 support, or ARB_shading_language_100 OpenGL extension in earlier versions, required to use GLSL features)
GRAPHICS DRIVER: Latest from chipset manufacturer
DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 64 MB per display minimum requirement, 128 MB recommended
MINIMUM RESOLUTION: 1024x768 minimum requirement, 1280x1024 recommended
HARD DRIVE SPACE: 230 MB for program installation (not including content)

OPERATING SYSTEM
Windows 32-bit:

OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows XP
PROCESSOR: Intel or AMD
Windows 64-bit

OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
PROCESSOR: Intel EM64T or AMD64
SYSTEM RAM: 1 GB

Re: Desktop pc recommendations for Lightwave
 

Whats your price range?
hardware for this program isn't going to be cheap in the least if you want it to run well.

Re: Desktop pc recommendations for Lightwave
 

The most that I am willing to pay is $3,000 and know that will pay for most computers.

Re: Desktop pc recommendations for Lightwave
 

Does it mostly render on the video card, or on the CPU?

Re: Desktop pc recommendations for Lightwave
 

For 3000$ you can get both top-end CPU and GPU.

Re: Desktop pc recommendations for Lightwave
 

How much is a Nvidia Quadro FX 5800? An ATI FirePro V8800 Professional?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.478432

Edit:Lightwave still doesn't seem to benefit from workstation cards. A GTX 285 seems to be most recommended.
http://www.newtek.com/forums/showthr...=110670&page=2

Still recommend a Quad, or Six core processor. Possibly a Xeon like in the NewEgg combo.

Re: Desktop pc recommendations for Lightwave
 

I'd actually say to get a 970 processor if this thing is going to be for rendering on the CPU-mostly.
Xeon's dont really seem to be too much better than the retail counterparts.
CPU- Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-970 Gulftown 3.2GHz 12MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80613I7970
Motherboard- Newegg.com - ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Ram- Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9T-12GBRL
PSU- Newegg.com - CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-950TX 950W ATX12V v2.3/EPS12V v2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
2X HD- Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
SSD- Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Case - Newegg.com - LIAN LI PC-A71F Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
optical- Newegg.com - LG WH10LS30K 10X Blu-ray Burner - LightScribe Support - Bulk - Blu-Ray Burners
gpu- Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-N465UD-1GI GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Should leave you around $500 for a new-shiny monitor that fits your needs/ size restraints.