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Thank you for the replies. I must admit i am feeling rather lost now. If we ignore the gpu rendering side for now, my intentions are for the cpu rendering to be improved, what would the advice be?

 

I am under the assumption to go with the following;

 

New system spec

Intel 4930K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor

Asus P9X79 WS Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard

Corsair Vengeance RED 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit

2x - Samsung 256GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/

Antic P183 v3 tower

GPU - undecided

 

Use my old system as a rendernode

Should i upgrade/ammend this at all?

Recap;

My current spec

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 Intel X58

Intel® Core™ i7 965 3.20GHz Extreme

Corsair XMS3 12GB (6x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz

500GB 7200RPM SATA II

Palit GeForce GTX 285 with 2GB GDDR3

Edited by danielphillips1
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RAID 0 SSD is kinda overrated in my opinion...single drives already approach the saturation of SATA III.

If you think 256GB are not enough, just get a single, bigger drives...fast enough, and keeps things easy and simple.

 

I recently got a 500GB EVO and I think is great. If you want to go 840 Pro, it's actually a tad better, but I thought the perf. gap is not enough to justify the difference.

 

For GPU, you could keep you current. The node doesn't need more than an ultra basic GPU, just to boot.

The 285 is a power hog too...

 

Don't go P9X79 WS "just cause"....if you are not going for multi-GPU, overclocking and dual NIC - all at the same time - it has little value over tha basic P9X79.

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  • 8 months later...

Hi,

 

I am an architecture student and I'm searching for a mid-range (I guess) laptop. I narrowed down my choices to these two:

 

ASUS N550JK

 

Intel Core i7-4710HQ (2.5GHz, 6MB Cache)

16GB ram DDR3, 1600MHz

15.6" 1920x1080 (Full HD)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M (4GB DDR3 VRAM)

128GB SSD

 

 

 

DELL LATITUDE E6530

 

Intel Core i7-3740QM (quad core, 2.7 GHz, 6 MB cache, 3.6 GHz turbo boost)

NVIDIA Quadro NVS 5200M 1 GB

16 GB (DDR3, 1600MHz)

FullHD 1920x1080 WLED

128GB SSD

 

I am concerned with the GPU in dell. Although it is a quadro I was told it is not technically a "workstation" video card.

So I would be very grateful for any kind of advice.

 

Thanks

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  • 2 weeks later...

Tomas,

The NVS 5200M is along the lines of the Quadro 600. Fermi based, some years on its back...

Is it fast? No, but it would have a tad better OpenGL performance than other underpowered cards due to drivers.

I don't get what "real" workstation cards are. If you are talking all powerful, Quadro K5000/6000 etc, this is certainly not it. Doesn't cost $1700+ either too.

 

 

The 850M is a current generation, apper-mid-range gaming card. Has much much more raw power than the NVS 5200M that will make up for the driver optimization differences. The CPU in the Asus is also newer, and despite the slightly slower clock speeds it would perform the same or better under load, while having a better battery life for milder usages.

 

 

128 GB will be a bit tight after you install a few software packages, so unless you have to don't go for "everything" unless you need it (e.g. no need to install full Adobe CC suite if you will only use PS/AI/ID/AE). If you cannot refrain from hoarding modelers etc, get a bigger internal drive.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello cgarchitect, this is my first post here. I'll cut to the chase:

currently in need of a new desktop pc.

I am currently using Revit, Archicad, Autocad ( and a couple of Adobe Suite programs), but planning to use other 3d renderings programs too.

 

I am starting to think that i7-5820k is the way to go, but need some help choosing the rest parts.

I like the sense of vfm from Dimitris Tolios ( for example choosing an 840 evo 500gb over 840 pro 256gb), and I would like to built a powerful and quality rig under this rule.

Budget for the above, is a little more than 2000 euros, but I want to include a great quality pc case, quality cpu cooler, 3-4TB hdds.

 

P.S. Also, as I will be buying a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers, if there are any suggestions for those too, i would be grateful. I am thinking of going with a HP Business ZR2740w or a Dell Ultrasharp U2713H.

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Hm, that's a good point because rendering will not be the majority of its use.

Won't the 5820k clock well?

 

This is the list that I've come up with, before you pose the Haswell-E vs 2011-3 dilemma:

[ you don't have to keep anything from the list, this is just indicative]

Intel i7-5820K

Asus X99-A

Intel 730 SSD 480GB

Asus GeForce GTX970 4GB STRIX

Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler

Crucial DDR4 2133MHz 32GB CL15

2x WD Red 4TB NAS HDD

PSU XFX ProSeries XXX 850W

Corsair Obsidian 750D BIG TOWER

Dell UltraSharp U2713H

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Should you overclock both CPUs, even though the 4790K will probably clock higher and remain faster in single / light threaded workloads, the difference will be diminished a bit.

 

You will need a good & expensive cooler & probably 3x the wattage - always given you wont be unlucky to get a dud overclocking chip - for the 5820K to match the single threaded performance of the stock 4790K that boosts all theway to 4.4GHz.

 

At stock clocks of course there is little to compare. The 5820K will trail the 4790K in anything but multithreaded rendering & video encoding tasks (amongst other not relevant to cgarchitect related tasks).

 

Most functions in Adobe CC, LR & Autodesk Suites are single threaded, those that are multithreaded are usually still bound to the performance of the "master thread" and thus not linearly scalable as you add threads.

 

That is also the issue with viewports - them being dependant to CPU single thread performance - and this in a nutshell explains why adding new GPUs to old systems or more powerful GPUs than those that your CPU manages to keep up with, yields diminishing returns.

 

A 970 won't be really faster than a 760 in CAD 3D viewports, much like the 780, 770 & Titan cards weren't.

We are talking meaningful differences here. Were the Titan was great, the 760 would be really good, and were the 760 sucked a lot, the Titan would not shine either.

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Wow, thanks for the detailed answer. I think I am starting to get the picture. I gathered what I read left and right and start to think that 4790k is the way to go. Are the percentages somewhat accurate?

 

2011-3 ( 6 core i7 5820k)

+ better rendering capability ( i think ~25% faster, maybe more)

+ new socket that just came out, which will provide some upgradeability ( personally, I don't think that I will use it; chances are that a new mid-specced system (m/b, cpu, ram) will outperform a similarly priced 8 core cpu).

- [ as it is compatible with ddr4 ram] more expensive ram

- slower performance everywhere where less that eight threads are used ( this includes the programs that I mentioned I use. In reality, it includes everything rather than the actual rendering time.).

 

1150 ( 4 core i7 4790k)

+ saving a couple of $$ ( although, not really a problem)

+ [ this one uses ddr3 ram] saving a little more $$ on ram

+ faster on everything that uses less than 8 threads ( around 30%)

- "dead" socket: Four cores is the most you can get ( fine by me)

Edited by tasoskorobos
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Pretty much the above.

The 5820K is excellent value, but only compared to the much more expensive 4930K. The stock performance for those two gives a slight edge to the 5820K, which at least in the US is ~ $200 cheaper than the 4930K. This price difference more than covers the difference going for DDR4 memory vs. DDR3 (given you don't go for stupendously expensive DDR4 kits that offer no tangible advantage), so brings a 32GB DDR4 5820K + X99 board combo @ the same levels or cheaper than a 4930K + X79 board with 32GB DDR3.

 

 

Both will end up being overclocked above 4.3-4.4GHz at the end, right? Well, that's how enthusiasts that are "into" this kind of things think.

For such buyers, the 5930K is almost a nonsense for the same reasons. Not as much nonsense the 4960X was over the 4930K (as both would end up overclocking the same, with the X having $500 extra cost), but close.

 

But for those planing to keep the CPU @ Stock levels, or already own a render farm that will aid their workstation, making 2 extra cores not that much of a difference in the bigger picture of things, the 4790K is a chip that does hold its own - even in the US, where you can find 5820K (tray) @ $300 - cheaper than the 4790K that floats around $310 atm.

 

At least with s1150 you can get great motherboards for less than $140 (and if overclocking is not an issue, perhaps less than $100, without any compromise in performance) + that 25-30% cheaper DDR3 kit, which might be obsolete in a year or two from now, but in single and light threaded applications will not be outperformed by a Hex s2011-3 out of the box, probably for more than 2 years from now. Unless it is a Xeon W part that might cost $2,500-3,000 for the CPU alone.

Edited by dtolios
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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi All,

 

Good Day,this is my first post in CGarchitect...

im planning to buy a machine to hone my skill... after reading the threads and doing my research i found out that GPU is not the major hardware for vray rendering... corrrect me if im wrong...

 

Thanks

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  • 2 months later...
Researched custom build shops like ava, alienware, falcon northwest, cyberpower, etc.

ended up choosing ORIGIN PC based on the reviews i found. We were getting down to crunch time and none of us here are hardware gurus but i think this will meet our needs for LUMION.

 

here it is. Made the order. very good sales experience. very helpful. sounds good so far. i went with the 3gb gtx 580 graphics card because it is the most powerful single core card right now and LUMION only uses one core...or something like that ;)

 

let me know if u know anything different though. please feel free to scrutinize. i really enjoy learning the details when i can.

8-10 days to build, 4 days to ship from florida.

 

ORIGIN PC, Genisis:

 

ORDER DETAILS UNIT PRICE TOTAL

======================================================================

QTY 1

SKU DT002

PRODUCT DesktopTech Intel P67

PRICE $1,335.00

Premium Case Charge: None

Case (Chassis): Silverstone Raven 2

CaseExteriors: Case Exterior: No Paint

CaseLighting: CaseLighting: No Lighting

CaseWindow: Case Window

The ORIGIN Difference: Truly Custom PCs. Want a Included

component that is not on our site? Call or email

us and we will include it in your system.

Case Fans: None Included

Motherboard: EVGA P67 SLI B3 stepping (USB 3.0, $19.00

SATA 6Gb/s,)

Processor: Intel Core i5 2500 3.30GHz LGA 1155 $30.00

Quad-Core Processor (6MB L3 Cache)

System Cooling: High - Performance Air Cooling $65.00

Thermalright Venomous X CPU Cooler

Bay Devices: None Included

Media Card Reader: None Included

Power Supply: 750 Watt Silverstone PSU $54.00

Graphics Card: Single 3GB GDDR5 Nvidia GTX 580 $531.00

Memory: 16GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600Mhz (4x $172.00

4GB) Dual Channel Memory

RAID Controllers: None Included

RAID Configuration: None Included

Hard Drive One: 320GB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, Included

16MB Cache HDD

Hard Drive Two: None Included

Hard Drive Three: None Included

Hard Drive Four: None Included

Optical Drive One: 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) Included

w/double layer write capability

Optical Drive Two: None Included

Audio: 8-channel High Definition Surround Sound Included

Support

Networking: Onboard Network Port Included

Operating System: Genuine MS Windows 7 Home Included

Premium 64-Bit Edition

ORIGIN Maximum Protection Shipping Process: Included

ORIGIN Wooden Crate Armor

Warranty: 1 Year Part Replacement and 45 Day Free Included

Shipping Warranty with DVD image and Lifetime

Support/Labor

 

ADDITIONAL CHARGES

Free ORIGIN T-shirt: ORIGIN T-shirt XLarge

 

 

Subtotal: $2,206.00

Shipping Charges: $105.03

=====================

Total: $2,311.03

 

 

 

So how is this system working out for you? I am looking at buying an Origin PC right now.

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  • 5 months later...

Hello guys,

 

I also need some help.. I am beginner with modeling, and I have several problems with my computer..

I was using Lumion by now, and seems like my computer is not strong enough.. i have i7, 3610 8gm RAM, geforce 610m 2gb graphic...

 

Now, i am thinking about buying new laptop or pc.. and to try using v ray...

 

what are your recomendations? is it possible to use my laptop for vray without major problems or should I really first buy better computer?

 

thanks

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

Hey everyone!

 

A few questions...

 

Hey everyone!

 

Considering making the jump from C$D to 3DS MAX and VRAY as they seem to the be industry standard for architectural visualization. I come from a 100% Mac environment... and will be looking for a good PC that is optimal for this kind of application -

 

Though, since I never had to worry with specs in the apple world - and all I've ever had to worry was to load up on RAM and Hard Drive space - I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA where to start. I read this thread and while I'm techie enough... it really is all Greek to me.

 

BOXX machines? Gaming machines? Overclocking? Cooling? Cheap out of the box Best Buy machines? Cards? SDD vs HDD vs combo?

 

What do you guys recommend for a good machine purchase to run 3DS MAX, VRAY, PSD, AE. Something that's optimal but not overkill.

 

Any help is hugely appreciated.

 

ALSO - places online where arch viz pros hang out? I'm aware of cgarchitect and cgtalk. Anywhere else I should get plugged in?

 

THNX!

 

-g

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Well Greg, welcome to the PC world, here you need to get dirty and do your home work Dreamland Apple don't let you choose to much, almost nothing nowadays but under PC tech, you have all the choices, sometimes too many ;)

Everything depend of your budget actually, if you don't understand hardware, or just do not care, I would recommend to get a branded workstation, IF your budget is large and you want excellent customers service and personalize advice I would totally recommend Boxx computer, this ain cheap, but you get top of the line experience.

Going a little down the price tag you can get Dell or HP Works station the difference here, you need to kind of know what you need to get, because sales rep they just know regular computing, not specific AEC industry. If you want to save more money, you could go to a local Best buy and see what they sell you, also knowing your basics you may get something good.

The real deal is build the whole dam thing yourself, as many of us do, but here is where you need to do your home work, because you need to choose everything, from the case till the fans. but never the less in this mere forum you'll find several geek that specialize on that, but you need to do your home work first, do not ask, Build me a PC, you'll get run over ;)

 

If I am you I'll take a look at Dell or HP, if I had money I totally go with Boxx. Otherwise just look at the specs of the latest PC part posted here and buy the same :p

 

Regarding your question of Arch Viz corner to 1a338d54a3d45a3b63749ad97ba2f2b0.jpg there are many, evermotion, ronenbekerman, Chaos group, Corona render Forum and many others

 

 

best luck.

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Ok. Little patience and grace for the Mac guy... and I promise I won't say "build me a PC" ��

So... done research... and I'm utterly confused.

Looks like I have to choose:

Processor (choice between i5 and i7).

Cores (?)

RAM - I imagine the closest I can get to 64 (probably 32) the better

HDrive... I'm guessing anything close to 256 solid state and a 2 or 3 TB hdd (external mybook ok?)

And something to cool the whole thing

 

So... 2 questions...

a) if I want to know about the above component choices and what is compatible with what... where can I go do that research from scratch?

b) if I buy it separately... I assume I have to put it together. Is it generally plug and play?

 

Unfortunately BOXx is out of my price range. But from what I can see, I can probably put together something competitive for $1600

Just not sure where to start researching at a "for dummies" level

 

Any link... super appreciated

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Here is an idea of what you can do with this budget

PCPartPicker part list

It's a new platform from AMD and still has some minor issues to be fixed, but the new Ryzen cpus are the best vfm for rendering right now, and the 1800X has a decent single core performance for everything else. The Intel equivalent (i7 6900K) costs twice it's price (1000$).

 

If you want an Intel cpu based system, then see something like this:

PCPartPicker part list

It would be slower in rendering compared to the AMD 1800X, but with a decent oc at 4.2-4.4GHz it would still be very good in any other task.

 

With this budget you can't really purchase a decent prebuilt branded WS. You'll probably need more than 2-2.5K$ to get similar performance from dell, hp etc.

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