New computer..... what to get out of these two??

[mikebolton]

I'm looking to get a new computer as my current one is stuggling to cope with the demands. I use 3ds max and vray, and need a computer which can handle large scenes and also render (at a decent speed)

 

option 1

 

-intel core i7 2700k 3.50ghz

-16gb ram

-64bit

-558 gb hard drive

-AMD firepro v79000 garphics card

 

option 2

 

-iMac

-3.2 ghz quad core intel core 5

-8gb 1600mhz ddr3 memory

-1tb hard drive

-nvidia geforce gtx 675 mx 1 gb graphics card

-bootcamp

 

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[dhammikaherath]

Definitely option 1. If it is possible go for i7 – 3770k.

I would prefer Nvidia more than AMD. (GTX 670 or 680 with 4GB Vram)

Hard drive I think you can go for 1TB. Any way you can upgrade that later if it drives you out of budget.

[mikebolton]

Thanks for your opinion, everyone seems to say that Nvidia is the best option. I have used AMD and with 3ds max and certain things don't seem to work, like verts not showing up etc... in the viewport. (which i read is down to the graphics card)

[mikebolton]

any other feedback would be greatly appreciated

[Dimitris Tolios]

Well, you realize that you are comparing "Apples with Oranges", right?

 

1st of all, buying a Mac to run 3DS is counter-intuitive: other than styling, why buy a mac specifically to run Windows on? 3DS is win-only for the moment. Bootcamp solves little if you already have invested in Mac-OS graphic suites and you will be torn switching between OSes etc to access stuff that are meant to be accessible simultaneusly: i.e. it is a pain to have Photoshop on the Mac side and needing to edit textures for 3DS on the Win side etc. Parallel OSes cripple performance and divide resources.

All of the above are catastrophic choices for someone who needs to boost his productivity.

 

2nd: most all-in-one desktops, including the imac are based on low-wattage desktop and/or laptop parts. That's how they manage staying impressively thin. Low wattage nessesarily means less compute power for parts of the same generation / manufacturing process. Think of it as an extension of the 2nd thermodynamic law: CPUs and GPUs are electric machines that pump data. You cannot move more data for "less" power.

CPUs are usually the low consumption, slightly slower counterparts available, and GPUs are laptop grade. Fast laptop cards, sure, but I would say that mobile cards have the performance of a desktop counterpart that costs 1/2~1/3 the price.

 

3rd: AMD vs. nVidia is just like AMD vs. intel. A lot of opinions, a lot of bias.

In this scenario, the v7900 could really not be much more different than the GTX-M the iMac has: a mid to high grade previous generation workstation card vs. a mid-high end mobile GeForce...yes, it is amazing that the 675 MX can deliver...GTX 470 (desktop version) performance with such low consumption (and heat generation), but that doesn't take away that the 470 is 3 years old, and that a 660ti is twice as fast (probably a $200 650 boost is too). Those GPUs are a huge portion of the iMac 27's initial cost.

 

RAM: 8GB for a CG workstation is too little. Ofc the apple pricing is forcing you to do so...8GB DDR3 16000 extra are what? $200?

For that money you can get 32GB on the PC platform (or upgrade your mac's ram yourself).

 

There are many recent threads dealing with $1500-2000 workstations in the hardware section of CG Architect already.

Get your guidelines from them to build-to-order from a local shop something decent around $1400 (or build it yourself from parts), allow those $600 for a 27" like the U2713HM (lots of deals in US stores for that monitor lately, including Amazon and newegg at this price, or less).