Good afternoon everyone. This is my first post here, mainly out of fustration.

My setup at the office. I’ll include all the software and hardware I’ve troubleshooted on so you get the clear picture.

3DMax 8 32 bit
3DMax 9 32 bit
3DMax 9 64 bit

WinXP 32 Bit
WinXP 64 Bit

We were running Max 8 32 bit for 3 years in Win XP 32 bit.  Speed and operation was never an issue, but we were lacking in the render department since we couldn’t utilize the 64 bit memory gifts you get from the beefier OS. 

We switched over to XP 64 Bit, and we upgraded to Max 9 64 bit.  Suddenly all the machines began having incredibly slow software loading time.  Up to 2-3 minutes to turn 3DMax 9 on.  Once open, loading files took the same amount of time, even very small files such as a Gateway Sign, vs opening a file such as a large office building.  Clicking on the material editor results in a 2-3 minute wait for the material spheres to populate.  Saving a file takes 3’xs longer than we’ve ever experienced.  This also rings true to finally getting to the point of editing a project, and the autosave kicks in (which is something we need in this office) but it takes 2-3 minute chunks out of your productivty time when a save on the files I’m reguarding should be 5-7 second saves.

Many times the software ends in a lockup\freeze.  I then loaded Max 8 32 Bit, and it loads instantly, and will load files instantly, but will still have a dramatic slow down on the material editor and on saving files. 

Has anyone experienced this kinds of drastic change going to a 64 bit OS or moving up to Max 9? 

Our current boxes are all:

Quad Core 2.6 ghz, 8 gigs of ram w\ Quadro 4500fx video cards.

Any help would be appreciated.  We’re getting results that are killing our productivity.  Our IT people are saying it’s not a server issue since Explorer and CS3 are able to navigate the server at normal\perfect speeds.

I’m having the same problem.  I just switched over to Windows XP 64-bit, and Max 2009 64-bit is extremely slow.

I work with a lot of NURBS objects (which has its own issues in Max and is worth a whole other discussion), and it seems that every little thing I do, such as selecting a surface or rebuilding a curve for example, causes 100% CPU utilization for five minutes while the program hangs to the point of not even redrawing its window.  (You know, when you can drag another window over it and it leaves a trail of window images behind until the app redraws.) I also have problems with the autosave.  When the autosave kicks in, it’s time to go get another cup of coffee and watch some TV for a while until it comes back.  No program should perform this badly.  I can’t decide if it’s a systemic problem, or if there’s one magic bullet that will make everything better.  Of course, I have no clue.

I’ll recite my system specs:  AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4800+ (2.41Ghz), 3GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS, DirectX 9.0c (4.09.000.0904), Windows XP 64-bit Edition (5.2, Build 3790)

do you have the latest service packs on everything?

drp281 06 November 2008 03:38 PM

try adding more ram to your machines

You don’t think 8 gigs is enough to load\save a 10 megabyte max file?  Or to load the material editor that loaded instantly in a 32 Bit Max 8 environment?  I’m a little confused on adding more ram.

theres something on your machine that could be slowing it down
i have 8 gigs of ram and vista 64 bit and max 2009 64 bit
i don’t have that problem

drp281 06 November 2008 04:01 PM

theres something on your machine that could be slowing it down
i have 8 gigs of ram and vista 64 bit and max 2009 64 bit
i don’t have that problem

I’ve explored many possibilities.  It’s happening to 3 machines simultaneously.  2 of them machines are fresh installs on the OS and updates.  (wasn’t sure if you were referring to a type of adware\virus\trojan) ?

do you have have the latest service packs?

drp281 06 November 2008 04:25 PM

do you have have the latest service packs?

All the latest service packs for Windows are installed, as well as the AutoDesk service packs for Max 2009.  I’m starting to believe this has to be server-side and it’s effecting Max particularly odd.  I suppose this was my last resort on hopeing it was Max and I could fix the issue.

your running max off a server?

drp281 06 November 2008 04:40 PM

your running max off a server?

Max is running off the local hard-drives on each computer, but the max files and textures are all server based.  For the past 3 years, it’s been speedy and efficient.  Over the past 3 weeks it’s gone south with the upgrade to Max 9 and the 64 bit OS’s.

I’ve got the same issues here as well, and it’s driving me friggen batty. 

Dual quad-core Xeon (8 core total), 8Gb RAM, XP64, Quadro FX video card, and it takes my friggen material editor 30 seconds to open. 

I’ve tried switching my display mode to OpenGL with limited success, and the same with changing Material Editor rendering to “Standard” rather than Mental Ray, but as most of my materials are Mental Ray based, that’s not a real option.

Something is definitely broken.

Grrrrrrrr…

(edit) I should mention that this has been happening with Max2009 since installing it, and continues currently, even with all the latest Windows and Max updates (including “Creativity Extension").