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Hi All I need your on the following PC configuration which I'm planning

to buy for my 3D max Architectural Visualizations & Animations.

 

Configurations:

Configurations.png

 

Software I'm using:

3D Max 2012

Vray 2.0

Adobe CS5 Production Premium

Maya 2012

Lumion 2.5 Pro

 

What do you all thing about this configuration of the PC for the work I'm doing and

for the software I'm using. Your comments are welcome :)

 

 

Thanks,

Angelo.

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Nicely configured desktop. Just in case if you are thinking of going for another VGA in the future (2 VGAs) go for a power supply like 1000W - 1200W. But for the current config 700W totally enough.

 

More than this desktop, then probably you will have to go for a workstation which is the price sky high. (Eg: HP Z800 - Dual Processors)

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I built 2 computers within the last few weeks with nearly the exact same specs. Awesome processor and RAM. I always try to build my comps with room for expansion. For example, that board will take 8 sticks of RAM so make sure you by your 32GB in 4 sticks (quad channel) and not 8 sticks. That leaves you room to expand to 64GB later.

 

Personally, I would go with a GTX 670 over the Quadro 4000. You can get a 670 with 4GB of memory, 1006Mhz core clock, and 1344 CUDA cores. You can pick one up on Newegg for $450US (with rebate).

 

I have not heard of the CPU cooler. If it is a water cooler with the radiator and fan, double check that the fan size will fit on the back of the case. You don't want to install it on the removable side panel. If it is not a water cooler type of cooler, then look at the ZALMAN CNPS20LQ. It is easy to install, works well and it is about $67 after rebate on newegg.

 

Keep in mind that the P9X79 board only has 2 SATA6 connections for your hard drives. If you plan on expanding later you will need to connect to the SATA3. Also, there are only 3 PCI Express 3.0 x16 so installing multiple graphics cards may be difficult especially if the cards are double width such as the GTX 670.

 

Lastly, your RAM will probably post as 1333MHz in the bios so you will have to go into the bios and make adjustments. Currently, I am running the 3930 at 4.2GHz and the RAM at 1600 MHz and runs cool.

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Looks solid.

imho the PSU perfectly fine. Excellent efficiency and more than enough power to feed the CPU and even 2x GPUs.

 

The cooler in the config is beefy and sufficient for low temps - even mild O/Cs, but not that much cheaper than a Silver Arrow SB-E or a ND-14. I would prefer one of these two. If you are really into overclocking your CPU, I would choose the Corsair H100 as a mild solution - it tends to be a bit cooler than the air-coolers, but it gets loud unless you replace the stock fans which are very good, yet noisy @ high revs.

 

Also, because the all the mentioned air coolers are huge, mounting tends to be problematic (my SA SB-E takes a solid 10-15min to mount properly, and you technically cannot do it with the mobo inside the case anyways), while the closed-WC loops like the H100 or H80 are much easier and "cleaner" (the Silver Arrow barely fits in my CM 690 II!).

 

Thus it is highly advised to choose a low profile ram model, with low profile or no heat-spreaders at all. The vengeance LP are such (not plain vengeance), the G.Skill Ares (not ripjaws) etc.

 

Now, as far as GPU goes, you will have to choose: if you want smoother viewport performance and you do work on really complex models, the Quadro 4000 does have the advantage. If you want faster GPU computation, the hi-end GeForce cards like the GTX 5xx or 6xx series are faster.

Not that the 4000 is "bad", but surely doesn't stand up a chance. If you prioritize working with high-pixel textures and complex models within Max, the quadro will do better. If you have shifted a lot of your workflow towards Lumion, the GTX cards will have the advantage.

 

I would not worry much about SATA 3 to be honest, as only fast SSDs can saturate Sata 2 - HDDs are nowhere near that.

If you won't overclock the CPU much, the basic X79s from either company will work fine, with no performance penalty.

 

Speaking of SSDs, cliche still true, do 256GB to have room to play with, and stick with Samsung 830 or Crucial m4. OCZ Vertex 4 is also much better than the Sandforce based SSDs like this corsair which could get a huge pain with BSODs.

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Hi Jason and Dimitris,

 

Thankk you very much for you both for helping me with your tips,

they are really very helpful. I will definitely consider on the tips which you both

have given me, before build the pc.

 

Dimitris can you kindly explain me what you have mentioned about RAM, I didn't

understand about it that much.

 

Once again thank you very much you both.:D:D

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Big air coolers are so big that portions of the heatsink and/or more often the fans that are suspended around the heatsink are extended above the dimm slots (memory slots).

 

Noctua_D14_intel_ram_sm.jpg

 

In the above image you see the ND-14. It barely clears full size dimms with regular heatspreaders (those that don't extend more than a few mm above the stick's PCB.

If you get fancy Ram sticks with large heatsings/heatspreaders, you will have issues with most of the large CPU air coolers.

CPU air coolers have serious reasons to be big.

RAM heatsings/heatspreaders do close to nothing being bigger than what you see. Many advocate that RAM heatspreaders are actually useless and all those add is looks.

Pick wisely.

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i7 3930K -583 $

asus-292$

Alpenfohn K2 cooler - 130$

But if I buy this cooler is memory going to fit in this motherboard?

also this motherboard can store 64G of ram, so if I buy now 2 x 8 G ddr3 is it possible later u put 6 x 8 G because they are not matched ? or I need to buy 2 pairs of 4x8 Gb ddr3 matched sticks?

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Where do you get these prices from?

All of them appear to be a bit on the high side.

 

The cooler especially I would not recommend in any way: you can get Noctua ND-14 in the $70ish and Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E in the $80ish price range. Both are considered to be 2 of the best if not the best air-coolers out there, so even it this particular cooler was better, I doubt it would worth almost twice that.

 

$130 is well above the H100 pricing (again, in the US) which has a very slight edge over the aforementioned 2 coolers (at a higher noise level), and well into open loop water kit territory (like the XSPC Rasa 0750 RS240 kit, which is not as hassle free as the H100, but much better - usually retailing around $140).

 

I have the same motherboard (actually the P9X79 Pro), and the Silver Arrow SB-E is a tight fight to say the last. The memory kits I've used are the 1.35V low profile 1600 4GB sticks from samsung, which are actually lower in height than the locking mechanism on the dimm slots - so absolutely no issues there.

 

Most "regularly sized" kits with low profile heat-spreaders like the G.Skill Ares, Corsair Vengeance LP, Kingston HyperX etc that don't have aluminum fins protruding more than a few mm higher than the PCB of the stick, will have no issue to fit below even the biggest coolers. You probably won't be able to add or remove sticks in a couple of slots without removing the cooler, but it will fit once you do.

 

Stay away from really big (unnecessary) heat-spreaders, like the ones in most Corsair Vengeance kits, Kingston HyperX T1 & Predator, some huge crucial ballistix etc.

 

You can get any number of sticks now, and add up to 8 in total later. Doesn't have to be the same brand or speed, but it is recommended, if you want to make the most out of Dual or Quad channel capabilities, and reduce the chances for incompatibilities.

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