Building Your Own Graphics Workstation, Part One
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The base of any computer is the motherboard. This is the thing through which all other components go; the thing into which you plug your stuff, the seat for your processor, your memory and so on. Using a good motherboard is key to a stable and happy system. For this I've chosen the Soyo P4S 645DX Dragon Ultra. Two reasons why I chose this board: firstly I already own the predecessor, the Dragon Ultra (pre-645DX), and I'm very happy with its performance, and secondly the features on this motherboard are truly nice to have for such a workstation, including its AGP Pro slot. Now most video cards are AGP 4x and not pro, but I thought if I would ever get the chance to put in an AGP Pro card, I wouldn't want to pass it up (Luckily I did get that chance; more on that later).
The Soyo motherboard does cost a bit more than other boards, but it's well worth it. Its integrated 10/100 fast Ethernet networking, 4.1 digital sound, six USB 1.1 ports (two ports, four headers) and four USB 2.0 ports (via an included PCI card) really sweeten the motherboard's appeal, but the fact that it has four channels of ATA-133 (for up to eight fast-ATA IDE disk drives) really puts it above the competition in my mind. The latter two channels can be used normally or in a RAID 0 or 1 configuration, which comes in handy with extensive video editing and compositing.[an error occurred while processing this directive]The next primary component for our graphics station is the video card. Here is where there is a lot of play in the field. Tempers flare and people get militant about their video cards and which is better and all that garbage. The gist of it all is: What can you afford to be the best card for your system? With video cards costing from below $100 to almost $3,000, there's a wide range from which to choose. But this is far simpler than it sounds.I will immediately disqualify all "gamer" cards for this workstation. Sure, the gaming cards like the GeForce 4s and such are fast and they push pixels with brute force and all, but what I am most interested in is stability and compatibility. For this, I will settle for nothing less than a workstation card, be it a $100 low end Oxygen VX-1 from 3Dlabs (which I used to have), or a high end $2K+ Wildcat 6210.
These workstation-class cards were built with DCC (Digital Content Creation) in mind and support it very well. I've used consumer level cards for serious graphics work before, and there is always a little "nuance" or quirk about them or their drivers that could make DCC-ing unpleasant at times and downright unworkable at others. So they are out in my book. I don't mind spending the few extra bucks for a nice video card (well, I mind it really, but as my dear friend Frank says, we do as we seemingly must).Back in the day, when I walked to school barefoot carrying my tin lunch pale and people rode around on horses, serious workstation cards wound up costing you more than if you said to your girlfriend that she looks fat in those pants she just bought. But recently, there have been a couple of new mid- to high-level introductions into the workstation graphics market. Costing between $350 and $700, these cards provide excellent workstation performance without the cost.
And to prove that, I tested my own eBay-bought Radeon-based FireGL8800 from ATI (now $350 retail, but $500 when I bought it. Oooooo, it makes me mad, mad!) and the Quadro 4-based Nvidia 750XGL and the 900XGL (at $600 and $950 respectively), both graciously provided for my review by Nvidia. Now add to that the impending release of 3Dlabs' Wildcat VP cards and ATI's FireGL X1 and you have a nice number of relatively inexpensive cards from which to choose -- that is, as long as the new cards live up to expectation. They all aim for the workstation market and, as far as the three I've tested, hit their mark with precision.
For this article, though, I'm leaving out specifying exactly which of those three cards (FireGL 8800, 750XGL or 900XGL) to use in this system in favor of presenting them all together as alternates, since personal needs and tastes will take over at this point. But essentially, it's down to the FireGL 8800 and the Nvidia 750XGL for their great price-to-performance ratio.
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I see the video issue in one of two simplified ways: 1) Either textures and effects-oriented animation and dual display performance is more important; or, 2) 3D wireframe pixel pushing power is. So if you're in the market for a system that can tackle high-count models, and using a dual display is not as important, then I recommend the Nvidia 750XGL. If you're interested in having dual displays for an extended desktop (great for compositing) or in having speed with particle-based effects or interactive texture and lighting, then the FireGL 8800 is for you. Basically put, modelers and character animators -- the Nvidia is your toy; and effects animators, texture artists/lighters and compositors the ATI is for you. Once the Wildcat VP and FireGL X1 get out there, things may be different. I also understand there's a something else on the horizon from Nvidia as well.
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