kalisafielding

AWESOME! Thank you Andrew! Super helpful

3d modeling and rendering

Saving money would always be nice! I'd like to put the money towards pieces that need it more. I basically just want a really nice pc that can handle maya and some mild gaming. The 3d modeling is by far more important though

awesome! Thanks so much everyone for their advice and input. It's been really, really helpful I'm going to post my final build in a little bit once I price things out. (of course, it's always up for discussion and critique! )

Dimitris- You sir, know your stuff! Thank you so very much. My system I have now that I have been using for maya has a Intel Q6600, with 4GB of RAM and a geforce gtx 260. It has been fine for learning the programs, I just want something a bit better... It's starting to feel quite slow!

Wow, yea that website is wayyyy too helpful! So awesome. Thanks so much for posting that

That is so unbelievably helpful! I have had a few people tell me the xeon/quadro k4000 is the only way to get a proper workstation. I am so new at this stuff that it's hard to research it all, but I really appreciate everything you said! SO, what would you suggest as far as the GPU goes? And you think the 4770k>4930k? I do want it to be a nice build that is easily upgradeable later down the road if need be, but it's by and far not a computer that I'm doing work for clients yet.

Thank you so much Javier! haha, yes I did mean the i7-4930k. I didn't realize the mobo's wouldn't be certified for it right away, so that does kind of change things. I like the idea of having the newer CPU, but now I'm not sure. I would like to do this build as soon as I can, as it's for my last class in school and I want to be able to have a great & reliable rendering machine while finishing my portfolio. I've heard the firepro w7000 in is on par with the quadro k4000, but not as reliable. It is better for gaming though than the quadro from what I've read so far. But I feel like more people go with nvidia over firepro. I keep hearing various things about using an i7 over a xeon (and vice-versa) in a workstation, so it's just a lot of information to take in as this is my first build ever. I wonder why they don't have a mobo available at the release of the i7-4930k....

The build I'm leaning towards currently looks like this: CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor CPU cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BK 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler Motherboard: Asus P9X79 WS SSI CEB LGA2011 Motherboard Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk Seagate Constellation ES.3 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive GPU: PNY Quadro 4000 2GB Video Card Power Supply: Corsair Professional 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply Optical drive: Asus BW-14D1XT Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer Any feedback is really appreciated!

I've seen a few other threads with this same topic, but I figured it would be easier to make my own! I am going to be using mostly 3d programs like maya, 3ds max, zbrush and than a lot of photoshop. (mild gaming would be nice too...like sims 4, age of empires...nothing to hardcore for this computer) I'd like to keep my build under 3K, ideally less but if it's going to be a much better build I'm willing to spend a little bit more. I keep going back and forth on the type of build I want, so to start off I need to finally make a decision on my CPU: i7-3930k(or wait for the i7-4940k) or go the xeon route (like the xeon e5-1650 or a dual-xeon). as well as my GPU: Quadro k4000 or gtx 780 or firepro w7000 Once I get these figured out I have a basic idea for the rest of the parts (I'm sure I'll still need help though!), but these are mainly the ones I can not for the life of me decide on!:confused: