New computer for renderings: any suggestion?

[alewoke]

Hi

 

I would like to buy a new computer which could be quite fast for architecture renderings

 

I'm not expert about hardware, do you have any suggestion about what should I consider?

Is it enough to try to have as much RAM as possible or there are many things that I should consider?

 

Thank you in advance!

 

PS (information added)

MY BUDGET COULD BE AROUND 1000 EUROS without the monitor (more or less 1200 $)

Edited April 2, 2013 by alewoke

[abhaysingh]

Hi Ale Woke,

Every part is important in computer.You can research a little on a high end configuration & your budget so others can suggest/comment on the same accordingly.If you're going to render large scenes with millions of polygons & proxies or planning to do complex simulations then you would need good amount of RAM.16gb would be more than enough in most of the cases & will save your future.

Recently i bought this configuration.You take it as a reference.

--Intel I73930k CPU

--Antec Kuhler 920 h2o cpu liquid cooler,

--Asus rampage IV extreme motherboard,

--Nvidia gtx 660ti 2gb GPU,

-- 120gb OCZ vertex 3 SSD

--1Tb seagate baracuda HD

--(4X4)16Gb Gskill Ripjaws DDR3

--Power supply/psu -- seasonic 750w pro gold (80 plus)

--Mid-tower cabinet case--Cooler Master 690 II Advance

 

I don't know where are you from.You can check the pricing for the configuration above and get a quotation from your local dealer or check pricing online by yourself.Then according to your budget, you can save money or spend more on some better parts then mine.

 

Hope this helps.

[BVI]

I generally go with the philosophy of purchase the best you can afford at that point in time - don't skimp on the pc, that little extra you spend now will prolong your PC's life by months and years.

 

I would think you should focus on:

 

RAM - as much as possible, 32 gigs will do you well - make sure that your Mobo has 4 slots, if you go for 16, then get 2x8 and you can always add some more later.

CPU - best you can buy, coreI7 (skip the cheap i5's)- see what you can afford.

PSU - this is something I've learnt the hard way, always get a big ass power supply, 700+ Even if the Mobo can run on less it pays to get a larger one in the long run.

HD - Solid state is a bit of a pain due to the size of the drives but if you are intent on getting one, then get a huge drive for your data and then load the OS onto the solid state.

GFX CARD - If you are using software that renders in the GPU then go ahead and get a higher end card, but if you are not then look at a Card with the Max Vram you can get - it will speed up the viewport etc.

[dhammikaherath]

Everything depends on your budget. Recently I assembled a PC for me. Mother Board and VGA I imported from USA. In there it is really cheaper. You can check this site and amazon to get an idea about prices. http://www.excaliberpc.com/

Better mention about your budget and people here definitely can help you.

[Krisztian Gulyas]

I would say just Nicolas B. said. Buy the best you can.

 

16 or 32 gigs of RAM? Well I would say count 2GB of RAM per thread + a few gigs more. The latest i7 has 12 threads so 24GB RAM is needed when rendering complex scenes + a few GB for the OS and other stuff. It's not a rule, just the best processor-ram config (IMO).

The graphics card should be at least a mid-end card, 2GB and up. I recommend an nvidia.

DO NOT buy a cheap motherboard, it is just as necessary to be good/fast as the other parts.

A big ass cooler is a must, preferably water-cooler. I had some problems with the gas-cooler which is good, but cant keep the processor cool when the rendering takes 10+ hours and it (the rendering) takes just more time to finish if the processor heats up.

I have an 750W power supply, it's enough for me but wouldn't mind a better one. I recommend buying at least an 800W PS. It doesn't matter if you have more power than your pc needs, but to have just enough could be a problem.

One HDD for storage and one 120GB (or at least 60GB) SSD for the OS. It's better to have a RAID 1 config so you won't lose your data even if one of your HDD dies. If you want that you'll need 2 (exact same) HDDs and it's good to have one small SSD just for the OS.

I hope I could help.

 

ps: you can buy a "render farm", thuogh it's very expensive. Take a look Lantech's website.

http://www.lantechpc.com/cusserver.php?nSerId=362

Edited April 1, 2013 by krisztiangulyas

[Scott Schroeder]

If you are going for power, don't forget the the fans and a good case either. All of that awesome sauce you are packing in there is going to generate a lot of heat.

 

I'm not sure about going all the way for water cooling, unless you plan to OC or you have the extra cash. Don't skimp on anything just to get water cooling. But you want to look at something above the stock intel cooler. Artic Cooling and Cooler Master have some great cooling options.

[Krisztian Gulyas]

Scott S. is right. I forgot to mention that i OC my CPU so the stock gas cooler couldn't handle the heat sometimes.

[alewoke]

Thank you very much for your help guys!

 

I forgot to mention that my budget could be around 1000 euros without the monitor (more or less 1200 $)!

 

Is it enough?

[dhammikaherath]

To be honest for that budget it is really hard to go for a high end PC which everyone mentioned in this Thread. But mainly focus on Motherboard, SSD, 16 GB Ram and at least 2GB Vram. Try to push your budget to get Intel core i7-3770k processor. I believe in that configuration you can push your pc to get high end productions.

[angiliaduan1]

I think Intel I73930k CPU is the best for you! Very quick for architecture rendering as we all know.

[Dimitris Tolios]

With his budget, 3930K with proper subcomponents is not really doable. Not even close.

 

The 3930K is great allright, but there is a distinct difference between a configuration that is aimed to $1000-1200, and one that realistically will exceed the $1700, even without the Asus RIVE board (which is a huge waste unless you plan on way higher than 4.5-4.6GHz overclocks, which automatically pushes you into voltage and heat territories that cheap closed loops and air-coolers cannot keep up with, i.e. you are adding at least another $160-200 for real watercooling + the mess / maintainance required etc).

[abhaysingh]

Dmitris is right, Asus RIVE mobo is overkill & waste of money if you are not planning to overclock your cpu.

@Dmitris, I waited for you to comment on this.I wanted to ask you about the cpu cooling system.I bought the above configuration(see my post) almost a month back.Do you think antec 920 will be able to cool down cpu when overclocked at 4.5Ghz ? right now, antec is keeping my cpu running under 40 degs. on idle.When cpu is on full throttle (100% load), it keeps the cpu core temperature around 57 degs. & if i change antec cooler's mode to "extreme" then cpu temperature comes down to 36 deg. from 57 deg.Seems good to me but i haven't tested other liquid coolers.I haven't overclocked my cpu yet but I will surely.

Edited April 11, 2013 by abhaysingh

[Dimitris Tolios]

Dmitris is right, Asus RIVE mobo is overkill & waste of money if you are not planning to overclock your cpu.

@Dmitris, I waited for you to comment on this.I wanted to ask you about the cpu cooling system.I bought the above configuration(see my post) almost a month back.Do you think antec 920 will be able to cool down cpu when overclocked at 4.5Ghz ? right now, antec is keeping my cpu running under 40 degs. on idle.When cpu is on full throttle (100% load), it keeps the cpu core temperature around 57 degs. & if i change antec cooler's mode to "extreme" then cpu temperature comes down to 36 deg. from 57 deg.Seems good to me but i haven't tested other liquid coolers.I haven't overclocked my cpu yet but I will surely.

 

Depends on what you mean with "Cool down"...

When you are really pushing your CPU, keeping it under 80oC is actually pretty good. Closed loop water coolers like the Corsair and Antec (almost all are manufactured by the same 2-3 companies, mainly Asetek and rebranded) coolers are an "ok" introduction to water cooling but - as their bulk should indicate, there is little to compare with "open loop" (i.e. you can empty the coolant liquid, customize them etc) water cooling solutions.

 

The rule of thumb has each 120mm segment of a "thin" radiator to dissipate around 100W of heat.

The Kuhler 920 is a "thick" 120mm radiator, with push-pull fans, so you can guess around double that. Tests prove that, and actually the 920 and the H80i are slightly better than the 1st generation H100 which had a thin 240mm rad = ~200W theoretical capacity.

 

Trouble is that a really pushed 3930K (4.5GHz is not that really) can be more than 250W.

You definitely won't be seeing your temps under load being in the 50s...I would say high 80s, which is not horrible: remember than most high end GPUs work in the 80s-90s even @ default clocks, and intel CPUs are throttling past 100oC - unless instability comes from low voltage and not temps.

 

To give you a perspective, my 3820 which is 50% "less" CPU than a 3930K, runs at 79-81oC max core temp @ 4.625 GHz under my Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E, which is roughly in the performance range of the water coolers mentioned: better in all but extreme settings, and much more quiet (virtually unnoticeable @ full over my GTX 670's fan). Closed loop coolers @ max speed are almost always "LOUD". yet I think you will be easily in the high 80s when your 3930K will be pushed @ 4.5GHz under load. Idling is irrelevant. With proper settings you will have it a little bit higher than your current idling / low utilization temps.

 

Personally, when I will make the switch to the 3930K or a 49xx IB-E, I will get an "real" water-cooling kit.

The AIO closed loops are decent coolers for O/Cing Quads and AMD FX chips, but I think the 3930K will be running a bit on the hot side.

[thiyagu arjunan]

Dimitris Tolios .....the ans

Edited April 12, 2013 by arjuraj