Upgrading my i7 machine of 2009 to LGA2011 - improvement suggestions please :)

[Jez EMIN]

Hi,

 

I'm getting back into 3DS Max work after having taken a few years break. Loving it !

 

The reason for upgrading is to provide my young son with his own computer (for his school work etc) - so I'm looking at killing two birds with one stone, my machine is a little over 3 years old and so it makes some sense to me to pass on some of the bits of mine into a machine for him whilst upgrading most of the innards of mine.

 

Here's my current machine;

Supermicro X8DAX

i7 940 processor

12gb ram

PNY FX4600

Fujitsu 300GB SAS drive (SAS controller card I think is MSI) - OS and software only

4 x 1TB WD RE3 (not in raid or anything like that).

1000w (Enermax I think - I know it was the best one made at the time)

25.5" Samsung 2953HW monitor.

Microsoft 3000 wireless keyboard

Logitech MX Revolution wireless mouse

Windows 7 64bit Ultimate.

 

I'm currently on 3DS Max Design 2010 and VRay 1.5. At some point I plan to upgrade my software....

 

I'm also a photographer and so I use Photoshop and a heap of other Adobe Software and plug-ins.

 

Of course the software which stresses my machine the most is 3DS Max and the renders I do on it (though for that, this is still a very good machine).

Whilst I'd love to O/C a system, my biggest concerns as far as work and 3DS is concerned is stability - the system simply has to work. On that basis I have always used Supermicro boards and have never had a problem. Trouble is with Supermicro, one doesn't get much (if any) in the way of O/C capabilities.

 

Is my fear unfounded ? I do enjoy building a computer, but once that's done, I don't want to be endlessly monitoring temperatures and tweaking this and that to get performance.

 

And I'm certainly not one for endlessly opening up my box and 'trying things out'.

 

So, am I right to keep away from 'enthusiast' boards ?

 

Here is my proposed new machine for me (my budget is set to 'reasonable' rather than 'ouch' !) - I will be keeping the 4 x 1tb HDDs, the 1000w psu, case, monitor, mouse and keyboard;

 

Supermicro X9SRA

Intel i7-3820 3.60ghz LGA2011

Noctua NH-D14 SE2011

Crucial 256Gb MD SSD - OS and Software only

16gb ram (don't know what make or speed yet) - 2 x 8gb sticks (to allow for 32gb if need be later)

GTX 670 4Gb

No Sound card - use onboard sound (first for me - would this be a 'mistake' ??)

 

At some point I'd like to add another monitor (maybe the same or smaller, though definitely better, than what I currently have).

 

I can't afford the most expensive/latest LGA2011 processor, thinking when it'd be time to upgrade (in a few years from now) I could get the fastest LGA2011 to fit in my board then.

 

Many thanks - any advice would be gratefully received .

 

Kindest regards,

 

Jez EMIN

Edited July 20, 2012 by JezEMIN

[Jez EMIN]

Nobody care to comment ?

 

Guess my choices must be perfect !

 

[Dimitris Tolios]

The motherboard choice is weird. Supermicro X9SRA is socket 2011 alright, but not a X79 board, aka I don't think it is Sandy-E compatible - it is meant for Intel Xeon E5-2600/E5-1600 Series (Intel C602 Chipset).

 

For roughly the same amount of money as I see that board in Newegg.com, you can get either the Asus P9X79 Pro or the Asus Sabertooth X79. Both are pretty decent boards, and more "consumer/prosumer" oriented than the sever oriented Supermicro (which would not fit your 3820 anyways), with much better slot layout, more USB 3.0 slots, more SATA 6GB/s slots, overclocking options etc.

 

The cooler choice is perfect, true. Others are offering similar or slightly better performance but not for less money so no contest/reason to change.

 

RAM: X79+i7 Sandy-E supports quad channel memory. Keep it in mind, and either go for 4x4 config if you don't need more than 16GB, or 32GBs with 4x8GB sticks. 1600 tends to be the norm for med-high end systems, and if it doesn't ruin your budget consider 1866 DDR3...faster than that you get diminishing results for the money spent.

 

GPU: if you don't use VRay RT GPU, it is not of much use, unless you game on 2 or more monitors.

 

Crucial m4 is one of the best drives out there. Samsung 830 matches the same reliability, but it is slightly faster. Either will work.

[Jez EMIN]

Thanks Dimitris - I really appreciate your time.

 

And thanks for spotting that error - I guess right now, Supermicro don't make a motherboard for this current generation of i7 processors......

 

That leaves me in a dilemna since I don't feel 100% comfortable buying a gaming / consumer type overclocking board from Asus or anybody for that matter (this machine must be reliable and for reliability I've never swayed from Supermicro).

[Dimitris Tolios]

Look at the top offering for X79 and s2011 from intel and tell me who makes products for "more mature" users...Intel or asus...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121534

Their top s2011 mobo comes with a skull-mouse pad included ffs...

 

Asus has the "WS" P9X79 (for workstation) but i doubt it is better built than the Pro of the same series...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131798

 

I would get Asus tbh.

[johnguthrie]

I just built a machine with the X9SRA and am somewhat familiar with the specs.

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C600/X9SRA.cfm

 

The board does support Core i7 Extreme / Performance LGA 2011 processors w/ Non-ECC UDIMM only, according to their website. I'm using the Xeon E5-1650 cpu so can't personally verify this, but SuperMicro FAQ support section specifically confirms that the X9SRA supports the i7-3820.

[Jez EMIN]

Thanks John,

 

Oftentimes I bow to the wisdom of others (doubting myself - note to self "have more confidence" !) - yes, I confirmed with Supermicro that the X9SRA does indeed support the processor I'm after (as you say with the memory type you mention), though now I'm going to go for the i7-3930.

 

My only thoughts rest on which graphics card to purchase, but it's looking more and more like it'll be a GTX 670 for now.