3d Workstation Rig

[efebre]

Hey i'm a 3D artist looking to build up my first computer as a Workstation. The programs I'm looking to use are Maya, Zbrush, (Adobe)PS,AE,AD,MARI,NUKE etc. My original plan was to get a Mac Pro but i've realized that PC is a better option going forward in 3D, as Mac can be restricted when it comes to new programs and video cards. So I was shopping at places like cyberpower, BOXX, etc. when my buddy suggested I could save a lot of money by building it myself. I'm completely new to this but he said he can help me put it all together. I'm just not completely sure on the parts I need or which are compatible.

What I'm pretty sure on so far is this:

PU

i7 3960x extreme 3.3ghz

Board & RAM

ASUS rampage IV Extreme intel x79/ according to my research this or any of the Asus goes well with what i'm wanting to do.

Corsair Vengeance 16GB-32GB

HDDs/SSDs

128gb SSD Samsung or Corsair

Seagate HDD for storage.

GPU

PNY Nvida Quadro 4000

Things i'm unsure of:

PSU

how much do I need? 1050,1200?

CASE

considering the NZXT Switch 810 but whatever will get me to fit everything nicely

Heat Sync:???

AIR cooled vs Water cooled:

can I get away with just going air cooled?

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[frufsa]

There are no point of bying the 3960x, the only place where its bether than the 3930k is in benchmarking.

Also i would change the MoBo to p9x79 ws from asus, wich is a board thars made for workstation

About psu: 850w should be enogh.

About cooling: yes air cooling would work just fine.

 

[JackyBoy]

Yeah I wouldn't go for the Rampage, it's more of an overclockers board so you would be wasting money.

But I'd also have to disagree with CRG, I would go for the 3960, as it would also reduce rendering time. So save money on the mobo and get the 3960.

Never really used a quadro before, what will you be using it for? Does it help rendering or just viewport performance etc?

 

[yassarikhan786]

I agree with CRG on getting the 3930K. How much faster would it be? Nothing considerable.

 

[PetrolHead247]

I agree with CRG too, save yourself a bunch of money and get the 3930K. The only difference between the 3930K and the 3960X is the cache size, definitely not worth an extra +£300. As already mentioned too, drop the Rampage IV for something like a Sabertooth or similar. Then maybe spend that money you saved on a bunch of sweet watercooling parts?

 

[JackyBoy]

Yeah, depends how much your time is worth really. Like you say, it's not a GREAT deal of difference. But I know when I'm doing a job id rather wait 10 hours for a render to finish rather than 12+.

 

[frufsa]

A file thats taking 10hr to rend on a 3960x wouldnt take more than 10min more rendring time, max.

 

[yassarikhan786]

A file thats taking 10hr to rend on a 3960x wouldnt take more than 10min more rendring time, max.

Yeh the cache size wouldn't make that much of a difference. The 3930k is the smart choice imo.

 

[Rastalovich]

There are no point of bying the 3960x, the only place where its bether than the 3930k is in benchmarking.

Also i would change the MoBo to p9x79 ws from asus, wich is a board thars made for workstation

About psu: 850w should be enogh.

About cooling: yes air cooling would work just fine.

I'd go with this. (cept the Asus mobos, as a personal choice)

850 is a good place to be.

.. another personal choice for a workstation - since you're not sure which cooling way to go - I'd really not go water on your first build, but I'd not totally shun the idea of the Corsair Hxx self contained "water cooler" options. Very easy to install, if your choice of case will allow it, and can be nice and quiet. Less bulk in the case too.

I'm hoping your software goes well with the quadro 4000.

 

[efebre]

Thanks for the advice. Looks like I'll be going for the 3930k especially if it's half the price for near the 3960x in performance... If it's an extra hour or so of rendering time I really wouldn't mind...

As for the case I've narrowed it down to the Storm Trooper and The Corsair 600t... and from my understanding i can fit an H100 in either one

I'm also leaning towards going for an AMD 7900v rather than the Quadro 4000

Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

 

[efebre]

I'd go with this. (cept the Asus mobos, as a personal choice)

850 is a good place to be.

.. another personal choice for a workstation - since you're not sure which cooling way to go - I'd really not go water on your first build, but I'd not totally shun the idea of the Corsair Hxx self contained "water cooler" options. Very easy to install, if your choice of case will allow it, and can be nice and quiet. Less bulk in the case too.

I'm hoping your software goes well with the quadro 4000.

What moBo would you suggest

are there problems with the quadro 4000? i'm thinking of going for AMD 7900 now

 

[efebre]

Yeah I wouldn't go for the Rampage, it's more of an overclockers board so you would be wasting money.

But I'd also have to disagree with CRG, I would go for the 3960, as it would also reduce rendering time. So save money on the mobo and get the 3960.

Never really used a quadro before, what will you be using it for? Does it help rendering or just viewport performance etc?

thanks for the advice... the Quadro more for view port performance and It'll be smoother to Deal with Dynamics and particles. But I'm thinking of going for the AMD 7900v now

 

[frufsa]

What moBo would you suggest

are there problems with the quadro 4000? i'm thinking of going for AMD 7900 now

if you are going to do 3d moddeling you are retarded if you go for a gaming card and not at moddeligng card.

Deffinitly go for the quadro!

I see now that the 7900v is a moddelig card, i thought that you mean the 79xx series,

Personaly i whould go for a nVIDIA card, but thats just my personal prefference

 

[Rastalovich]

The whole reason, imo, to go for the non-gaming cards specifically, is if your software packages are going to use them in terms of using the gpu to process stuff rather than the cpu.

In addition to that, the detail will be that much greater for modeling and cad work etc.

In this sense you're qualifying the extra expense and so forth. Otherwise you're using the graphic card a merely a display and the cpu will do all the work.

This is the real reason for me mentioning the 4000, I do believe versions of Adobe software like them, I don't know about the 7900v in that sense.

I've always looked at it that, if the software exploits the use of the non-gaming cards, then great - if not, get a regular one. Or get the version of the software that will exploit it.

 

[JackyBoy]

if you are going to do 3d moddeling you are retarded if you go for a gaming card and not at moddeligng card.

Deffinitly go for the quadro!

I see now that the 7900v is a moddelig card, i thought that you mean the 79xx series,

Personaly i whould go for a nVIDIA card, but thats just my personal prefference

Don't agree with this at all.

The only reason you would really want to have a quaddro card (if you are using it for rendering) is if you are going over 3gb in scene sizes. Otherwise a 3gb 580 would render faster. Making the quaddro pointless.

 

[frufsa]

Don't agree with this at all.

The only reason you would really want to have a quaddro card (if you are using it for rendering) is if you are going over 3gb in scene sizes. Otherwise a 3gb 580 would render faster. Making the quaddro pointless.

I Totaly dissagree!

a moddeling card will be MUCH bether, there is a reason why NOBODY who moddels is running a gaming card, maby because it's for gaming?

with my NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 im running much smoother in 3ds max, than my friend, who has 6870.

i wold deffinitly go for the quadro kard.

 

[JackyBoy]

I Totaly dissagree!

a moddeling card will be MUCH bether, there is a reason why NOBODY who moddels is running a gaming card, maby because it's for gaming?

with my NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 im running much smoother in 3ds max, than my friend, who has 6870.

i wold deffinitly go for the quadro kard.

Sorry to keep stealing your thread efebre, but I am also building a PC to do a lot of 3D so it is something I am interested in

But yeah, here is my evidence on what I said http://jeffpatton.net/2011/10/iray-and-gpu-faq/

So yeah, I model and I wouldn't bother getting a quadro as a Geforce renders for me quicker and is much cheaper because I won't go over 3gb scenes. But like I said, that is just for rendering, viewport performance doesn't mean anything to me, nor does dynamics etc.