Virgil Johnson Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 OK time for a new monitor. Thinking perhaps of a 32" 4K model. Wondered if there were any new opinions of what to buy. Using the usual suspects Max, Vray, Revit, Sketchup and the occasional Lumion. Photoshop and After Effects. (architectural visualizations - mostly stills) And for even more challenge - 6-7 grand budget for a new computer. Any new thoughts on this build? Thanks. Virgil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolaos M Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 (edited) Check out these monitors: 1. https://pcpartpicker.com/part/lg-monitor-31mu97cb (excellent reviews, but only dp connection and not an hdmi 2.0) 2. https://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-pa328q (although, I hear complaints about asus's monitors lately, mostly about quality controls, but I wouldn't reject it for start) 3. There is also a slightly older model of EIZO that deserves a look, the http://www.eizoglobal.com/products/flexscan/ev3237/. I couldn't find a price for the US, but in Europe it costs around 1200€. It also needs a dp for 60HZ. For almost 6K you could easily build yourself 2 discrete rigs, one as a main workstation and one as a render slave for Vray. That's what I would do with this kind of money. And because "pcpartipicking" is a hobby that relaxes me the most () I'll post my "ideal" build for the budget. MAIN WORKSTATION PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.99 @ Micro Center) CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.99 @ B&H) Motherboard: Asus Z170-DELUXE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz) Memory: Kingston Savage 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($242.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($329.99 @ Micro Center) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($133.89 @ OutletPC) Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($699.99 @ Amazon) Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz) Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit) ($129.89 @ OutletPC) Total: $2475.70 Every part in the system above is top notch imo. The gpu might seam strange as an option, but it's the quietest and coolest 980Ti in the market right now. Why a 980Ti? Because you can Also, if you don't intend to highly overclock your processor, or want to run at stock speeds, you could definitely go to a good air-cooler. Noctua, Be Quiet! and Cryorig are the ones you should aim at, imo. Here are some examples of what you could get: 1. https://pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhu14s 2. https://pcpartpicker.com/part/be-quiet-cpu-cooler-bk019 3. https://pcpartpicker.com/part/cryorig-cpu-cooler-crr1b RENDER NODE PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2650 V3 2.3GHz 10-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($1059.95 @ SuperBiiz) CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2650 V3 2.3GHz 10-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($1059.95 @ SuperBiiz) CPU Cooler: be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim 67.8 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.90 @ Newegg) CPU Cooler: be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim 67.8 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.90 @ Newegg) Motherboard: Asus Z10PE-D16 WS SSI EEB Dual-CPU LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($487.99 @ SuperBiiz) Memory: Kingston 32GB (4 x 8GB) Registered DDR4-2133 Memory ($265.99 @ Amazon) Memory: Kingston 32GB (4 x 8GB) Registered DDR4-2133 Memory ($265.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz) Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GT 720 1GB Video Card ($45.99 @ Directron) Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon) Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg) Total: $3485.63 This render node would give an aprox. 2400cb in Cinebench that is quite fast for most users. You could also go to a classic 27" 1440p monitor for half the money you'll need for a good 32" 4K. This a more standard solution the time we speak. In this case you could switch to two Xeon E5-2660 v3 that would give an additional 15-20% rendering power to your render node and without braking the bank with the 7K budget. M2C Edited November 6, 2015 by nikolaosm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Johnson Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 You brought an issue that I had not really thought about enough. First thank you for the response. It is quite a hobby you have. That information gave me a lot to research. But what occurred to me is how viewport response is important in my work. Like others here I do the usual arch visualizations but actually the bulk of my work is in the design phase. My clients are often sitting next to me as they work out their ideas. So screen grabs and down and dirty renders are the order of the day. You can see why a good monitor becomes important. When it comes to the final render is does not matter if I have a 12 or a 24 hour render. By the time I get to the end the bulk of the work is done. So it makes sense to have one machine really good at fast viewport responses and one (or more in my case) for rendering. Virgil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolaos M Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 (edited) First thank you for the response. It is quite a hobby you have. That information gave me a lot to research. Well, you're welcome and thank you, sir. This hobby is free and a good exercise against Alzheimer... But what occurred to me is how viewport response is important in my work. .... So it makes sense to have one machine really good at fast viewport responses and one (or more in my case) for rendering. That's exactly the logic behind these setups. The first rig (=MAIN WORKSTATION) has all the features that are essential for fast design process and viewport performance. Viewport's fps is mainly a gpu thing. Both Max and Revit use Direct3d, so you couldn't expect anything faster than the 980Ti inside the viewports of these programs. Maybe a TitanX would be slightly faster (for an additional 300$), but I don't think it would be measurable or worth the extra cash. Sketchup uses OpenGL. I've never tried Sketchup, but as far as I know, it's not so gpu intensive (besides, it's a "quick and dirty" design software, if I have it right). I might be wrong here, but again, viewport fps would be more than fine with a 980Ti. The design process, on the other hand, i.e. the changes we make to are model (adding or altering geometry) is basically a cpu thing, and more particularly, a single-threaded cpu task. The 6700K, at the moment we speak, is the king in single-threaded performance. With a good AIO cooler, like the X61 I've picked, a 4.6GHz oc is easy to achieve and would pump up the per core performance a great deal. This "beast" should be able to calculate modeling changes with blazingly fast speeds. And the last thing is the whole system's response in loading or writing files etc. and here is where the Samsung 950 is the king, at the moment we speak. It's the fastest consumer ssd (of all types) in the market right now. First reviews are impressive. ...You can see why a good monitor becomes important. I see. I don't know if you already have an experience with them (I don't), but if you don't, keep in mind that 4k monitors aren't always easy to work with (I read reviews and user's feedback here and there and that's a first conclusion). Most programs (even OS's like Windows, although Mac seems to deal better with this issue) aren't fully prepared for the transition, and scaling is a big issue to be solved. Photoshop (and some other adobes) is one of the few programs that co-operate well with the 4k's as far as I know. You should do a thorough research before purchasing, and wait for some real life users' reviews on this subject. I can't help you more on this, because I haven't got the 4k experience yet. I know for sure, though, that a 27" 1440p is a standard choice right now, and of course, a safer bet. Wait for more feedback before deciding. Edited November 7, 2015 by nikolaosm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Johnson Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 I know the idea behind keeping the brain active. I am 68 years old. I have been doing vizs for 20 years (you can find some threads here back to 2007) and I got to say I have met quite a cast of characters as well. (My life is a soap opera - but a funny one.) Monitors. From what I read I think you are right about staying with 1440 p. I just want to have as clear and large a screen as I can since my work really is displaying and working with designs with the designer sitting next to me trying out ideas. Also I design (and build actually) small garden structures and fantasy buildings. --tea houses, sanctuaries, foot bridges. etc. --small houses have come into the picture lately -- which means people are designing their own fantasy right on the screen. --Which produces a very different and personalized graphic looking far different than what is often presented on a lot of forums as the way to do things. My experience with graphics is that you have to tailor the images to what a client wants and needs rather than the artist/visualizer thinks is right. My next project will be work on a town hall (public building). I can tell you after working with this architect for 17 years he will have very different ideas for design and strong opinions on how these images are going to be presented. After all these graphics are part of the image he wants to project about himself and his design. SketchUp is not my favorite but it seems some architects are turning to it rather than Revit. On the other hand after 8 years with Revit drawing I am have still not made real friends with it either. After Max everything seems so clumsy. However I need to have a machine that can use these files as well. Thanks again. You have given a me a very clear and understandable response. Virgil Virgil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbird Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Curious about that render node build - what's the reason to put in a video card at all? The motherboard has onboard video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolaos M Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the comment. I hadn't noticed that. Yes, it has an onboard VGA that supports up to 1920x1200. Edited November 13, 2015 by nikolaosm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slawnick Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Monitors. From what I read I think you are right about staying with 1440 p. I just want to have as clear and large a screen as I can since my work really is displaying and working with designs with the designer sitting next to me trying out ideas. Also I design (and build actually) small garden structures and fantasy buildings. --tea houses, sanctuaries, foot bridges. etc. --small houses have come into the picture lately -- which means people are designing their own fantasy right on the screen. --Which produces a very different and personalized graphic looking far different than what is often presented on a lot of forums as the way to do things. My experience with graphics is that you have to tailor the images to what a client wants and needs rather than the artist/visualizer thinks is right. Virgil Why not a good 30" monitor at 2560 x 1600? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Johnson Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 Got any suggestions? The size of the screen important as I said. My work is in the design phase mostly. So the more that can be seen on a big screen the better. No one really cares about artistry. Just show me clearly what I am designing kind of thing. v Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slawnick Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 I know people who are quite happy with the Dell 30" models; also the HP Z30i. There are quite a few more models out there than there used to be. If you take a look at Newegg, you can see what's available, often with reviews. http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/ is a good site for info; as is http://www.flatpanelshd.com/ Got any suggestions? The size of the screen important as I said. My work is in the design phase mostly. So the more that can be seen on a big screen the better. No one really cares about artistry. Just show me clearly what I am designing kind of thing. v Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Johnson Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 Thanks for the links Steve. All this information is helpful. So many choices in life... virgil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesgallagher Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Have you though about getting an ultrawide monitor? (http://www.lg.com/ca_en/ultrawide-monitors) I bought a LG 34UM95 a few months ago and I don't think I could go back to 16:9 or 16:10 again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Schroeder Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Crap, this deal is gone. But this monitor was 50% off all last week. Hopefully it goes on sale again. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824025038 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyderSK Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 The 29" 21:9 is very narrow in both height and resolution. The 34" is so-so compared to classic 27" but still quite narrow in height compared to my regular 30" (16:10). 36" in this proportion would have been ideal and with at least 1600px in height. To be honest, the new 31.5" (16:9)4K monitors are absolutely ideal in size and resolution and if it's true that Autodesk 2017 are 4k-ready than that should be prime candidate for everyone looking for update. The pricing is excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Schroeder Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Crap, this deal is gone. But this monitor was 50% off all last week. Hopefully it goes on sale again. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824025038 To chime in since I've had about a week or so with this monitor. Like Juraj mentioned, the 21:9 is very narrow at first and does take some getting used to. However, for my personal workflow in my home office, this monitor rocks. I don't run a dual monitor setup at home as I found I just really don't need it, so having the extra width for doing work in Photoshop, After Effects, and Light Room is awesome. Max is where it starts to get weird because Max modeling environment doesn't really scale well to wider screens. So for an at home monitor where you mostly game and edit photos and videos, this thing is really good (especially when it goes on sale for 50% off) if you can get used to the 21:9 ratio. Though, I wouldn't have bought it had I not gotten it for 50% off during Cyber Monday. The monitor isn't really worth it's full price for what you can get in comparable 16:9's. For a heaving Max modeling or in-office working environment, it's not so hot and I would probably not recommend it. I would really not recommend a dual monitor set up (for working anyways) with these as it would be like looking out a bunker slit into the world. If you want to to a 3-screen immersive set up for flight or racing sims, go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyderSK Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 (edited) To correct slightly my post, I do like 21:9 ratio a lot, just not in 29" (2560x1080px) size. 34" 21:9 (3440x1440px) is more ideal, as it has physical height of classic 27" monitor (almost) and slightly better resolution, although narrow in height too. Absolutely ideal in my eyes would be 36" 21:9, pseudo "5K" (5120x2160). I am finding myself using dual-monitor set-up less and less (although my 30+24" is quite awkward and just so far away...), but I still need to occasionally look at reference steadily because I forget in brink what I saw...but it's more issue of poor short term memory. I read through photographer's review of LG34" 21:9 and after about 6 months he still kept using secondary display. Now I wonder how awkward that feels (my secondary 24" is already behind my 30", not even next to it, since I don't want to keep primary display angled). Edited December 17, 2015 by RyderSK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now