Dell Precision Workstation - $4,000 to $5,000 Budget

[davidsmith5]

Hello everyone! Like many on this site, I have been tasked with building a new PC for rendering with a $5,000 budget for my Architectural Firm. It would be used primarily for still renderings using 3DS Max, Rhino, Photoshop etc. They are strongly leaning towards purchasing a tower from Dell because that is what our firm has bought since their beginning and they like the support, but I think I would be able to make the case for another company if anyone had other suggestions, but not for a custom build. That all being said, I have pieced together what I believe would be a powerful machine while staying under $5,000.

 

What I put together (See attachment for exact build):

 

-Dual Intel Xeon Processor E5-2630 v3 (8C, 2.4GHz, Turbo, HT, 20M, 85W)

-NVIDIA Quadro M4000 8GB

-32GB (4x8GB) 2133MHz DDR4 RDIMM ECC

-256GB SSD Boot drive for windows and frequently used programs

-1TB HDD for file storage (we have servers so the size is not a large factor)

 

If anyone has any words of wisdom or suggestions before I pull the trigger, I would really appreciate them!

 

Dell Precision 7910 Build.pdf

[Francisco Penaloza]

Hi,

My company also uses Dell for the same reason, tho lately we are giving a try to Boxx computers, sadly REVIT users are getting those before we the rendering people

Any ways, Dell PC are good from your setup I can tell you, that machine will be great while rendering, but in every day task, such Photoshop or modeling, it will feel slower than a regular i7. Sadly Dell does not sell i7 workstations, your only option would be trying to get a high clocked xeon, but the price spike a lot, maybe choose a dual 6 core instead? For every day task and viewport response a high clock CPU is better, while rendering or many task or app open then more cores is better.

 

Also these Dell are a little slow when realtime apps are running. If you don't plan to use any real time software, you should be OK with that Quadro but if real time is in the long run adding a GTX would be recommended. But again I don't think Dell let you do that.

 

I will recommend to quote a Boxx machine, they can se it up to your like depending of the app you'll use. price wise it may be in your budget.

 

The ideal for an Arch firm would be for you to have a workstation and at least one render node, so you can keep photoshoping or setting scenes while other computer render.

my Two cents and half

[Jose Negrete]

Since you have to purchase through Dell you may be able to spec an Alienware w/ geforce card instead of quadro.

[davidsmith5]

Thanks for the response. The Render Pro might even be a better solution than an altogether new workstation. I do most of the modeling/rendering/post production on my single workstation. They are looking to get an all in one machine, but the more I dive, the more I realize that the fastest rendering vs everything else, isn't solved with the same machine unfortunately. Funny thing is, the workstation I am on is an intel Xeon E5-2603 v2 @ 1.8ghz, 16GB Ram, and a 2GB Quadro k2000. So this machine will indeed be a huge upgrade and improve render times, but won't heavily impact the rest of my workflow. If improving render times is what my bosses want, then a dedicated render PC might be a better solution.

[Nikolaos M]

You could build a custom pc so much faster in rendering with 5K$... It's a pity bosses always insist on buying branded workstations. You could build exactly the same WS as the Precision with around 3K$.

[Francisco Penaloza]

My work station is a old Dell Pre Precision T 7500 Dual 6 core Xeon 2.4 Ghz, 44 RAM. It works great, while rendering it is pretty consisten and fast.

For Photoshop and editing video it feel slower than my i7 O.C. 4.0Ghz machine at home (obviously because the the CPU speed). Not that it is a slow machine, but compared side to side it perform slow.

We got now Boxx i7 OC 4Ghs 16 ram, and they feel really snappy opening apps and editing stuff. while rendering they are about the same speed of our Xeons. and depending of the scene sometimes faster.

We also purchase new Dell Precision T1700, those are a little case machine but with latest i7 at 3.4 Ghz they turbo at 3.9 Ghz while rendering, those Dells also feel very snappy as workstation, and under rendering they are almost at the par with the Boxx machine. Backburner score for our Xeons 1.0 for the Boxx 0.9 for the Dell 0.8 for price ratio I think the Dell T1700 is the best option, pretty good performance. For monster rendering the Dual Xeons for sure. If you have the budget the Boxx will be great because you could eventually put a GTX on it and then Fly with sketchup or any real time app.

 

 

In your case I will recommend to talk your manager to get you two machines. Seating doing nothing while rendering is not productive at all. Trusting all rendering to happen over night while you are not there is also not right because if anything goes wrong, you'll find out next day. then you need to seat and wait for the render.

 

If I am in your Case, I would propose to get any combination of the above machines for a good investment. as budget option two Dells T1700 one as work station other as render node.

 

Build machines are always a better option when budget is a issue (I always build my home computers) , but for medium or large companies, they are more headaches than a solution. Then the money you save building them is almost not worth it.

[Scott Schroeder]

+1 one for building it yourself. I had never built a PC before, but there is just so much information on the web it is not as hard as it used to be. Plus most of the components are like putting together a snap-tight model. You can't screw it up unless you really try to. What I just built at home and what I paid for it, if I tried to get that same machine from Dell I'd pay easily 2 times the cost.

 

If you must buy a branded machine, we buy a lot of our machines at work from Dell's refurbished line. Those machines are essentially brand new and they are a fraction of the cost of the new machine.

[davidsmith5]

I would 100% agree that a custom build is better in terms of cost efficiency. I have built all of my home PCs for years now, however, the reliability and support is not something I can guarantee compared to Dell or any other manufacturer. I contacted BOXX and spec'd a similar priced machine, with the only real change being the Dual Xenons -> OC i7 @4.0GHz+.

 

In terms of rendering times, is the time really that significant between the i7 and Dual Xenon? Though I do need to speed up render times, a lot of the time I am not rendering - most of the time is spent in CAD, Photoshop, or 3DS Max modeling. So I do need to justify the new computer with faster renders, but I'm on a single Xenon 1.8GHz currently, so the i7 will actually be a huge boost in day to day, as well as rendering. If that difference between render times isn't massive between dual Xenon 8C 2.4GHz, then the i7 sounds better. I should also note, we don't do massive cityscapes or heavily populated scenes, yet at least. The majority are interior renderings and exterior massings.

[TomasEsperanza]

Another perspective:

 

I like Dell; I have Dell monitors and a Dell laptop, but I would not get my main workstation from them. There are better solutions. I'm currently using Workstation Specialists (similar to Boxx) for my WS and RN. The WS has a 6C i7 @ 4.2GHz, and the RN has dual 6C Xeons @3.06GHz. GHz for WS, cores for rendering.

 

I'm satisfied with the performance, but self-building is surely the way to go for the best machine in your budget. Hardware marketed for "gaming" is often far better value. Prompt on-site Dell support is reassuring, but if your firm has a decent IT guy/team, that may not be necessary.

[jinjinn]

I wouldn't buy a Quadro anymore. Pick Up a GTX Titan, 980 or 970. I find they work better with large scenes. Do not do SLI though Max does not utilize this.

[Nikolaos M]

I'm currently using Workstation Specialists (similar to Boxx)

I didn't know them. I liked their site and the configuration freedom of their forms. Do they charge similarly to BOXX too? BOXX is ridiculously expensive some times.

[Francisco Penaloza]

I didn't know them. I liked their site and the configuration freedom of their forms. Do they charge similarly to BOXX too? BOXX is ridiculously expensive some times.

Well Boxx is manufactured in USA, lot of parts from Chine for sure, but since is build and designed here, the prices are higher, of course, you also have local Tech support. Workstation Specialist, seems to be in England?? if so, their prices will fit the reality of their economic situation.

IT is the sad reality of an open market.

 

If that difference between render times isn't massive between dual Xenon 8C 2.4GHz, then the i7 sounds better.

 

from what you have now anything will be a good improvement but you need to be careful and compare apples to apple, one i7 compared to the same speed of two Xeon will be slower, obviously because you are comparing to two xeons. The difference is when you get dual Xeons with high clock speed it is way more expensive than an i7 at the same speed, but with the Xeon you can allocate more RAM memory.

So it is all about balance. If you are in a single machine, I would recommend a dual Xeon setup hopefully with a high clock speed that your budget can pay, so you can finish those rendering faster. but if you render once in a while, maybe the i7 will be enough.

[Nikolaos M]

Well Boxx is manufactured in USA, lot of parts from Chine for sure, but since is build and designed here, the prices are higher, of course, you also have local Tech support. Workstation Specialist, seems to be in England?? if so, their prices will fit the reality of their economic situation.

IT is the sad reality of an open market.

Yes, I've noticed that Specialists are located in UK. Besides, Thomas is from UK too, so it's natural for him to order localy.

I always examine prices in relation to the local market. Thomas noted "similar to BOXX", i.e. a UK equivalent (that's how I understood that), so I asked if prices are "similarly charged" too. Of course it's an open market, and prices vary depending on where one's located, but it's a well- known fact that branded WS are always much pricier than custom builds, and the premium goes for some kind of support that isn't always worth it.

[Francisco Penaloza]

Yes, I've noticed that Specialists are located in UK. Besides, Thomas is from UK too, so it's natural for him to order localy.

I always examine prices in relation to the local market. Thomas noted "similar to BOXX", i.e. a UK equivalent (that's how I understood that), so I asked if prices are "similarly charged" too. Of course it's an open market, and prices vary depending on where one's located, but it's a well- known fact that branded WS are always much pricier than custom builds, and the premium goes for some kind of support that isn't always worth it.

 

True that, as mentioned early, at home I always build my own machines, and for families member or anybody who ask me what PC to buy.

But when you are in a corporate environment there is other factor and made the choice favorable to brand companies.

We have a few Boxx machines here, and support is always there so for our company it is worth the extra price. Otherwise I would go for custom build for sure.

[TomasEsperanza]

Do they charge similarly to BOXX too? BOXX is ridiculously expensive some times.

 

(sorry, late reply) Yes similar prices. It is unhelpful that they don't list all the prices online.

[Chris MacDonald]

We run Dell desktops, and Workstation Specialists render nodes. I'd happily spec and build the workstations and render nodes, but the company has got to a size where this kind of thing is contracted out to an IT company.

 

If you have the time, build yourself - but don't skimp on the motherboard. I've had more motherboards fail on me than any other component in the years and years I've been putting together PC's at home.

 

If you have to go through a company, Dell and HP are much the same. Boxx seem to be more expensive(?).