Cheap render system

[bartjole]

I'm looking to buy a new system. I'm going to start my university in architecture (rendering won't be a necessery thing there), but it's especially a hobby of me, so i have a tight budget. I know intel is the best, but amd is soo much cheaper. Are their FX 8core cpu's good enough? or is the Opteron serie with 12core or 16core.

 

So looking at the internet i came with this cheap setup:

€155 - AMD FX-8120 Black Edition

€65 - MSI 870A-G54

€85 - Corsair CMX16GX3M2A1600C11 (2x 8gb, 1600, maybe another set)

€175 - Sapphire HD 6950 2GB OC GDDR5

€48 - MS-Tech MS-N750-VAL-CM (750W +cablemanagement)

€100 - Fractal Design Define R4 Pearl Black (good quality and very silent)

(i still have HDD, drives, screens etc.)

TOTAL: €628

 

To me it looks well, but do you think i should spend a little more for something else better? Remind, its not for a job, its for my hobby. And now i have a pentium-dualcore with 3gb ram, so it will anyways be better!

[Dimitris Tolios]

Overall it looks pretty good.

The Opteron will be great for rendering / crunching numbers etc, but I think the FX is better for all-around applications, games, 3D modelling etc.

 

You should really take care to insure compatibility with the components you are picking. This motherboard is not meant for FX 81xx series CPUs.

I would go for GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 or something similar. It's pricier, but not expensive for its quality and features.

 

Also keep in mind that the 8120 is an unlocked multiplier CPU that overclocks easily to more than 4.6GHz to help it shine.

A decent cooler (around €30 or so, like the CM 212+) is enough to keep it cool @ these speeds. The stock one won't cut it unfortunately.

 

Another "sensitive" component that you should change is the PSU. Looking at the stats I am unimpressed - not a great PSU despite he "great" capacity. Lacks a strong single 12V rail, and ofc it is too cheap to even be considered as a good 750...

Your system will do ok with a 500-550W, but I would try to buy a 550-600W to be safer in case I would want to add better or dual GPUs etc.

Enermax, Seasonic, Antec, most Corsairs are among the best. OCZ, Coolermaster a tier lower. Find a good unit from one of these.

 

Ram is fine: if you can find a 1866 kit @ not to expensive, get it. FX likes fast ram.

 

You should still be around €700 or less, but with a much more solid built.

The R4 is a great case.

[bartjole]

Thanks for the advice!

I assume that if you overclock the 8120, you don't need the 8150?

And wouldt it be nice to take 32gb ram? or is it just unnecesary much, or is the MHz more important?

 

Ps: i might need a laptop for my study. It will run autocad and sketchup (no rendering), what are proper specs for this laptop (also cheap) ?

[Dimitris Tolios]

Thanks for the advice!

I assume that if you overclock the 8120, you don't need the 8150?

And wouldt it be nice to take 32gb ram? or is it just unnecesary much, or is the MHz more important?

 

Ps: i might need a laptop for my study. It will run autocad and sketchup (no rendering), what are proper specs for this laptop (also cheap) ?

 

Correct. The 8150 is technically the same chip as the 8120. Both are produced by the same wafer. They undergo a QC afterwards, and the picks for the 8150 badge are usually a bit cleaner / run @ extreme O/C speeds with slightly lower Vcore. Otherwise both chips reach by average the same clocks, making the 8150 less desirable if you plan on O/C with decent cooling.

 

32GB of RAM is overkill for a starting architecture student - unless your hobby has you already deep into crazy models etc - which i doubt, given the system you are currently using

 

16GB, or even 8GBs are enough for most stuff.

Having 2x8GB lets the 32GB upgrade option open.

If you decide that 16GB won't be a problem, try to find the low profile Samsung 30nm 4GB sticks, and opt for a 4x4 configuration.

 

 

These RAM modules are 1600 1.35V, but get easily overclocked to 1866 @ stock voltage, and can reach even 2000-2133 without much difficulty once you pump the V a bit (all 2000+ kits are 1.6V at least anyways). It is recommended as the best 4GB stick around, as it does what "2133" certified kits do @ same or lower voltage, doesn't need silly heatsinks, sells pretty cheap and runs cooler than most of the competition O/C or not, most likely also with better timings...it is simply a generation ahead in the manufacturing process (or half, Intel would call it Tick+).

 

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Laptop:

Depends on your budget actually. An cheap i5 with dedicated GPU or one with a good A8-A10 AMD would cut it. Having been though arch schools (+ grad school lately), I would recommend you considering leaving the desktop for now, and opting for a good laptop.

 

You can get most of the performance (ok it will lack @ rendering ofc but be pretty decent through modelling etc, while rendering more than great for a laptop).

 

As you say you will need the laptop for working @ school, and it will only get more intense year after year. Team projects, model shops and whatnot will be keeping you working out of home, and a good laptop will help you more than a desktop.

 

A nice Asus or MSI gaming laptop with a 3rd gen i7 + a 660M or equivalent might be a better choice than a cheap laptop + cheap desktop. When home, you can always hook up a 2nd monitor (you would buy that for your desktop or you already have it) and boost your productivity with moar real estate - that was my routine tbh).

[heni30]

You might want to consider a used system also. I've found a couple of i7 computers on Craigs for a very reasonable price; usually from gamers who are up-grading to the latest and greatest. And game system requirements are very similar to specs that we need since they are trying to play full frame at max fps.

 

The advantage being is that the system is up and running so you don't need to worry about components not playing nice with each other. Plus a lot of these people build their systems so you don't need to worry about name brand proprietary issues.

[bartjole]

I might get the laptop my parents have right now:

Dell Studio 1749

-Intel Core i5-520M 2.4 GHz

-Intel HM55

-4gb ram

-ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 1gb GDDR3

-17.3 inch screen

I i saw as well that i can upgrade it to 8gb memory. This a good system, isn't it?

[Dimitris Tolios]

I might get the laptop my parents have right now:

Dell Studio 1749

-Intel Core i5-520M 2.4 GHz

-Intel HM55

-4gb ram

-ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 1gb GDDR3

-17.3 inch screen

I i saw as well that i can upgrade it to 8gb memory. This a good system, isn't it?

 

It is decent for the task.

It won't break any records ofc, but it being dual core (with HT / 4 threads) is not that bad when modeling as none of the popular applications for that is really multitheaded - renderers are ofc. I never worked with this processor and VRay, but I guess it will do fine. We get spoiled too fast with modern CPUs blowing away older architectures. I smack my i7-720QM laptop I used through grad school (also 900p 17.3" with ATI 5680 1GB), yet pure rendering speed in Cinebench 11.5 is actually as fast as my Q6600 desktop I left back in Greece...

 

The ATI card is also decent and beats all GT 5xx nVidia's that most laptops use in the sub-$1200 range - at least in desktop applications. GTXs are a different case in anything D3D, but OpenGL is again, not that much better - if any. Works nicely with Sketchup, Rhino, decently with 3DS and Nitrous (here the GTXs blow it away).

 

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Yes, the maximum RAM for this CPU is 8GB, so don't get carried away to get a 2x8GB DDR3 So-DIMM kit despite them being dirt cheap atm.

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The 17" screen (and hefty size) is unfortunately the price we pay if we won't decent mid-range Laptops with more than 768p screens...

I don't know if yours is the 900p or 1080p version of this laptop, but either is a significant productivity adv. over 768p. This particular 17" by dell is a bit overkill-bulky imho (ala Asus G7x series / Clevos etc, machines that are this big cause they have to dissipate 2x+ the amount of heat from top of the line components), but since you already have it, use it.

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Big question:

Will you need a desktop ontop of that?

Well, it depends. Surely having 2x machines makes syncing your files more complicated and stuff - trust me, it will take a couple of years for your school to catch up and ask you renderings the Dell won't be able to spit out in less than 15-30 min or so (unless you wanna do banner-big background renders or your hobby evolves much faster than the school will require of you). With decent space management, the best syncing method I've found so far, is Sugarsync.

 

So, the "mature" answer is no. Probably you won't need to use the desktop much very soon for stuff other than gaming. The latter is a reason in itself to buy it, still...