New Workstation

[maxwood]

Hey guys,

 

Yep, it's another workstation thread. Hoping I might be able to get some advice on some specs and hopefully Dimitris will chip in with his knowledge.

 

I'm looking to build a new workstation, I was hoping for a few suggestions on a couple of peripherals. I'll be using 3DS Max and VRay mainly, perhaps a little gaming at some point but that's not a priority. Renders around 4k in size and I also want to start experimenting more with GPU Rendering. My budget is ideally £1500-£2000.

 

1. CPU - I'd be looking for at least 16 threads. I'm currently looking at Intel Core i7-5960X 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor

 

2. Graphics Card - I've used the quadro cards at work quite a lot but they never felt particularly quick, hard to know without testing the same scenes on another card but ideally I'd rather not buy one of these. So for both heavier scenes and some GPU rendering I'm currently looking at either the following -

 

a. GeForce GTX Titan Black

b. 1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB WINDFORCE

c. 2 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB WINDFORCE

d. GeForce GTX 980

e. GeForce GTX 970

f. I have no idea?!

 

 

3. RAM - Assuming more is obviously better, what's the best type of RAM to get? How much of an impact does the Mhz have on RAM? I'll be aiming for preferably 32gb of ram. Currently looking at G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

 

4. Motherboard - How do you find one of these suckers that supports the CPU I decide on? I'm currently looking at ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard

 

5. Power supply - What's necessary for this kind of machine?

 

 

Here's a PC Partpicker config I threw together - not sure about some of the parts here.. http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/8tRtkL

 

If someone could throw together a revised PC Partpicker config - I'd really appreciate that

 

Quite a few questions there, but really appreciate the help.

 

Thanks,

 

Max

[Nikolaos M]

I tried to stay on budget (under £2000):

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5960X 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor (£755.94 @ Aria PC)

CPU Cooler: RAIJINTEK EreBoss 56.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£36.51 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: Asus X99-A ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard (£191.99 @ Scan.co.uk)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£180.20 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.39 @ Aria PC)

Storage: Western Digital Red 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (£46.79 @ Aria PC)

Storage: Western Digital Red 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (£46.79 @ Aria PC)

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card (£275.96 @ Scan.co.uk)

Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case (£117.59 @ Aria PC)

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£94.99 @ Amazon UK)

Total: £1821.15

 

I made some changes, mainly in parts that can be easily upgraded, like memory, hdds etc. I think you can start with 16gb of RAM (of course, only you know exactly how much RAM you really use when working with these programs, it depends on how heavy your projects are) and add another 4x4gb in the near future. If you really want to start with 32gb, G.SKill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 are an excellent choice. As for the other parts:

 

1. I think you need a full tower if you intend to add more gpus in the future and it would be better if you pick one that is designed for better air flow. The 750D is a solid case with plenty of space and good airflow. The R4 is an excellent chassis, but mostly oriented towards silent operation.

 

2. With a total budget under £2000, I would start with a single gpu and add another one in time (a good set of cpu/mobo is far more important to start with). As far as I know, Vray can take use of 2 or more discrete gpus, but I don't think that an SLI configuration is necessary or gives better performance. Dimitris and other members should know more about this.

 

3. While the AX860 is a top psu, the EVGA 850 G2 costs much less and has a solid performance for its price (+ 10 year warranty). You can save some cash here.

 

4. I put 2 separate hdds of 1TB and chose the WD Reds because they are optimized for raid setups. It's good to secure your files with this way. Of course, you can add more hdds in the future if more space is required.

 

5. I picked a smaller ssd to lower the cost. A 256gb MX100 would be more than enough to run the OS and all the programs you need. Besides, I belong to those who never use ssds to store/save data. Hdds are made for this job.

 

6. If you intend to oc your cpu then you will need a better cpu cooler. The Ereboss would probably be sufficient for a modest oc. If you have plans to oc this beast of a cpu at frequencies higher than 4.3-4.4GHz, I suggest you choose an AIO liquid cooler, ex. http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rls24m24pkr1.

 

Hope I helped.

[krimson2580]

Hello,

 

Lately i've been surfing the web to configure the same workstation you're aiming at (besides the gpu rendering)

http://forums.cgarchitect.com/76477-advice-needed-new-workstation-4.html#post395122

 

for a decent setup with good quality parts i came minimum 2500£.