$1500 New 3D + Rendering Workstation Build

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T1MK

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Mar 13, 2012
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I'm limping along on my current system, and hoping to get some quick feedback on a new build. My budget is limited at the moment, so I'm open to building something modular that I can expand on in the coming months. Below is my attempt at hitting my $1500 budget on a 2011-3 platform with the ability to add a second cpu, as well as a workstation graphics card and more ram in the future.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/mnV92R

I am by no means savvy at this sort of thing, so any and all feedback is welcome and appreciated.

Approximate Purchase Date: This week
Budget Range: $1500usd with rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important:
3d Modeling in Solidworks, 3ds Max, Sketchup
Rendering in Corona Renderer for 3ds Max (all CPU)
Post production in Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign
Are you buying a monitor: Yes separately, and does not need to be included in the build.
Do you need to buy OS: Yes separately, and does not need to be included in the build.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Frys, Microcenter, Amazon
Location: Portland OR, USA
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: No
Additional Comments: I will not be doing any gaming on this machine.
 
Solution
logainofhades
I wouldn't use a 212 evo on those CPU's. You do not need the arctic silver either. The cooler supplied stuff is pretty good. Cryorig H5 would be a much better cooler. I would suggest something more like this.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2620 V4 2.1GHz 8-Core Processor ($407.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($56.69 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Supermicro MBD-X10DAL-I-O ATX Dual-CPU LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($301.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 32GB (4 x 8GB) Registered DDR4-2133 Memory ($167.19 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($124.99 @ Jet)...
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I suggest a 6 core CPU with a much higher clock rate. Also the 1060 is much faster than the 970.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-1650 V3 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($600.98 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Supermicro MBD-X10DAL-I-O ATX Dual-CPU LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($301.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 32GB (2 x 16GB) Registered DDR4-2133 Memory ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SC GAMING Video Card ($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1613.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-05 16:44 EST-0500
 
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I wouldn't use a 212 evo on those CPU's. You do not need the arctic silver either. The cooler supplied stuff is pretty good. Cryorig H5 would be a much better cooler. I would suggest something more like this.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2620 V4 2.1GHz 8-Core Processor ($407.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($56.69 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Supermicro MBD-X10DAL-I-O ATX Dual-CPU LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($301.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 32GB (4 x 8GB) Registered DDR4-2133 Memory ($167.19 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($124.99 @ Jet)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB WINDFORCE OC 6G Video Card ($249.99 @ Jet)
Case: Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1473.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-05 17:03 EST-0500


 
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Solution




Thanks for your quick replies and help!

I took into account both of your advice on a couple different areas (despite the low clock rate I think I still want to stick with adding an additional cpu in the future for rendering). Is the 650W power supply elbert noted okay to use on this build with 2 cpus?

Updated parts list https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kN7bTH
 
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Dual Xeon

Pros
  • ■ Flexibility to upgrade CPU, some dual E5 V4 outperform single i7 6950X for Corona Render.
    ■ Flexibility to add more RAM
Cons
  • ■ Limited option PSU and casing that support SSI EEB type motherboard■ Limited option for speedy M.2 storage
 
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T1MK,

Given the systems demands, and budget, the best results would be achieved by upgrading a proprietary workstation. I think even a basic, dual LGA2011-3 starting with a single 8-core CPU fast enough to model in Solidworks will go over the budget. A Xeon E5-2640 v3, 8-core @ 2.6 / 3.4GHz is $950. Add the inevitable Quadro GPU and that's already the $1,500. But, upgrading is also faster and less fuss than researching, ordering, assembling, wiring, and configuring from all separate components.

For example, purchased for $270 (slight cosmetic damage):

HP z620 (Original) Xeon E5-1620 4-core @ 3.6 /3.8GHz) / 8GB (1X 8GB DDR3-1333) / AMD Firepro V5900 (2GB) / Seagate Barracuda 750GB + Samsung 500GB + WD 500GB / Windows 7 Pro
[ Passmark System Rating= 2408 / CPU= 8361 / 2D= 846 / 3D = 1613 / Mem =1584 / Disk = 574 ] 7.13.16

CPU's: $154 and $152
2nd CPU riser: $150
RAM: $128
GPU 1: $300
GPU 2: $86
M.2: $150
HD: $60
Set of all case plastic parts: $56

The total was about $1,300 and this made the highest rated HP z620 on Passmark:

Analysis / Simulation / Rendering:

HP z620 (2012) (Rev 3) 2X Xeon E5-2690 (8-core @ 2.9 / 3.8GHz) / 64GB DDR3-1600 ECC reg) / Quadro K2200 (4GB) + Tesla M2090 (6GB) / HP Z Turbo Drive (256GB) + Seagate Constellation ES.3 (1TB) / 800W > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > HP 2711x (27" 1980 X 1080)
[ Passmark System Rating= 5675 / CPU= 22625 / 2D= 815 / 3D = 3580 / Mem = 2522 / Disk = 12640 ] 9.25.16
[ Cinebench R15: OpenGL= 119.23 fps / CPU = 2209 cb / Single core 130 cb / MP Ratio 16.84x
10.31.16

That system will be running: Autodesk Building Suite/ Inventor, Solidworks 2015, Sketchup, Adobe CS6, and Corel WP Office, and etc.

The Quadro K2200 + Tesla M2090 combination has about the same 3D power as a Quadro M5000 (8GB) and somewhat more than GTX 970. This system will run a 3180 X 2140 VRay RT (GPU rendering in about 4 minutes. The CPU renderings- running on 32- threads at about 3.3-3.4GHz are similar timings. Solidworks has perhaps the best scalar CPU rendering- the more cores the better, while Adobe CS peaks at about 6-cores and performance may drop with dual CPU's. The M2090 is the server version, so that needs a special cooling solution or better, instead use Tesla C2075.

I have had seven used, upgraded workstations since 2009 and have had 100% reliability, easy support for drivers and firmware, and this z620 is the quietest system I've ever had- very important. If the right system is selected, it's possible to use the system and upgrade while looking for the new components.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

CAD / 3D Modeling / Graphic Design:

HP z420 (2015) (Rev 3) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 (6-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz) / 32GB DDR3 -1866 ECC RAM / Quadro K4200 (4GB) / Samsung SM951 M.2 256GB AHCI + Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) + Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > Logitech z2300 speakers > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)
[ Passmark Rating = 5581 > CPU= 14046 / 2D= 838 / 3D= 4694 / Mem= 2777 / Disk= 11559] [6.12.16]


 
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Just as an FYI while PCpartpicker doesn't throw an error, you cannot use an E5-1xxx processor in a dual processor board. For dual processor boards you need E5-2xxx processors. You cannot use 2 E5-1xxx processors together.

And before anyone jumps down my throat and says it will work; I should say, it would probably boot up and run (with 1 E5-1xxx), but you can't run a second processor in it therefore wasting money and defeating the purpose.
 
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Sure but understand Zen and skylake-ep will be out soon. Even if Zen only half way delivers its going to effect pricing. Prices should plummet and you may be looking at 2 x 14 cores a year from now. I say get the faster CPU now and not lock your self into speed limitations trying to use the slow CPU..
 
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Prices should plummet and you may be looking at 2 x 14 cores a year from now.
Click to expand...

No. Development and implementation of a CPU architecture takes years. There is a reason companies lay out projected development cycles years in advance. Intel doesn't have a magic 14 core CPU hiding in the corner. Intel has also never dropped their prices based on anything AMD did. The graphics card market is different from the CPU market. And AMD marketing has lived up to the hype exactly never.
 
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V5 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($251.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X150M-PLUS WS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($88.03 @ Amazon)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.00 @ B&H)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($61.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: NVIDIA Quadro M4000 8GB Video Card ($766.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill Galaxy-01 ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1445.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-06 14:01 EST-0500

a diffrernt built idea: 4 core/8 thread Xeon and an 8gb maxwell-based workstation card
 
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Not magic just costly due to no competition. Next year tho it will be facing the AMD's snowy owl plateform. Intel thus will either have to lower price or lose sales. Now as for Intel lowering prices they did against the Athlon.
https://www.neweggbusiness.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9B-19-117-636&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleBiz-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleBiz-PC-_-pla-_-Processors+-+Server-_-9B-19-117-636&gclid=CPS2v9Gj4NACFQsRgQod288G4Q

http://www.pcworld.com/article/126589/article.html

 
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Thanks bambiboom. I was hoping you would reply, as I saw a lot of your suggestions while searching for similar builds. Based on your recommendation I was looking for the right used z620 on ebay, but was having trouble finding a setup at the <$300 price point. Is there one listed right now that you would recommend? It sounds like you update your system pretty regularly, do you think the 2011 platform will sustain me (with upgrades) for 3-5 years?

Ultimately my waiting to find the right build on ebay led me to start tinkering on partpicker and look at the 2011-3 platform for "future-proofing". It seems like the consensus though is that a single E5-2620 is not a great idea for my workflow, and the money could be better spent with a higher end older system or a single cpu system.
 
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I dont think Intel has anything to be stressed over from AMD the have not made a good processor since the old PII and have promised the world each release just to fail.
 
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Thanks elbert, I see your point now -- I was wondering about that based on what Rogue Leader said. The E5-1650 definitely looks appealing from a price/core standpoint. I'm starting to question whether I should go with a single cpu x99 xeon build, and use the extra money on workstation graphics or continue to dump it into 3rd party cloud rendering.
 
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Thanks ScrewySqrl, I've a lot to wrap my head around. I work on an m4000 at work (solidworks 8-12 hours a day), so I definitely see the appeal of this build. The system I'm building will be for contract work, where I do a lot of 3d cpu based rendering (interchanging solidworks, sketchup, and 3ds during modeling). I'm wondering if Solidworks is the main reason for this build, or if I will see the benefits of the m4000 in other areas of my workflow? Any thoughts on bambiboom's Quadro K2200 + Tesla M2090 in this build?
 
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Thanks bambiboom. I was hoping you would reply, as I saw a lot of your suggestions while searching for similar builds. Based on your recommendation I was looking for the right used z620 on ebay, but was having trouble finding a setup at the <$300 price point. Is there one listed right now that you would recommend? It sounds like you update your system pretty regularly, do you think the 2011 platform will sustain me (with upgrades) for 3-5 years?

Ultimately my waiting to find the right build on ebay led me to start tinkering on partpicker and look at the 2011-3 platform for "future-proofing". It seems like the consensus though is that a single E5-2620 is not a great idea for my workflow, and the money could be better spent with a higher end older system or a single cpu system.

T1MK,

It's impossible to beat the cost /performance of a used workstation as the CPU's are so quickly and highly depreciated. The E5-2690's I bought for a total of $306 cost $4,100 new. To buy the an E5- 2600 v4 that is closest: 8-core and has a top turbo speed of 3.8GHz requires an E5-2667 v4 (3.2 / 3.6GHz) and that is magically- $2,050. The E5-2667 v4 Passmark CPU average is 25004 whereas the E5-2690 in my z620 score 22625, So, for the $306 spent on the two E5-2690's as compared to the $4,100 for two E5-2667 v4's equals a 10.5% advantage for an additional $3,794.

LGA2011 still has a lot of life left in it, especially if the system is modern enough to be able to use Xeon E5- v2 CPU's. The LGA2011-3 platform has advantages- X99 is a very fast chipset, but the v3 have inconvenient dore /speed specs. and v4 is a better range. In some ways the E5- v2's have the best range of choices in terms of core to clock speed and lately the prices for v2's is beginning to be reasonable. When shopping for a z620, ask in advance if the bootblock date is post 6 2013 so it can use E5 v2 and DDR3 1866.

It will be difficult to find a z620 under $400 that is suitable to upgrade, especially as the prices are highest this time of year (lowest in August). About $400 is still OK for the $1,500 budget:

System: $400
CPU: $200 (recommend Xeon E5-2690
GPU: $430 (recommend Quadro M2000)
RAM: $150 (recommend 64GB used DDR3-1600 ECC registered)
Drive 1: $220 (recommend Samsung Evo 850 500GB or Samsung 950 Pro M.2 256GB)
Drive 2: $100 (recommend WD Black or Seagate Constellation ES.3
_____________

TOTAL = $1,500

In the future add:

2nd CPU (requires riser)
Tesla GPU coprocessor: possibly C2075 or K8
M.2 primary drive

I have to say I'm not a big fan of CPU risers and if you can find a good z820, that would be worth stretching the budget a bit:

HP Z820 Workstation 6-Core Xeon E5-2667 2.9ghz/DVD NO RAM > BIN $500

Not having to buy the riser saves $150, so this is, net, less expensive than the z620 above. The E5-2667 (6-core @ 2.9 / 3.5GHz is not a bad CPU and that can be sold for $80-$100- a nice little rebate. As compared to the z620 that particular z820 is: $500 - ($150 (riser) + 90 (value E5-2667) = $260 net. It would be worth setting up the system using the single E5-2667 and if it's promising, buy another for $80-100 , and the second heatsink- $60 or so and diverting the savings into a better GPU- try for a Quadro M4000 (about $650) and then upgrade the CPU's after a year to faster 8-cores. The Passmark single- thread mark is 1579- not fantastic, but a healthy GPU does a lot.

Yes, I do upgrade fairly regularly. The z620, replacing a Del Precision T5500 (2X Xeon X5680 /48GB /Quadro K2200/ PERC H310 / Samsung 840 /WD Black 1TB) was purchased specifically to allow finishing a very large project that has three complex Sketchup models- up to 160MB and then I'm working on a project with a 6000+ part Solidworks (2014) assembly.

Used workstations are a complicated equation that requires wise and patient shopping, but the cost/ performance in a context of reliability and support is very advantageous. LGA2011 does have a very good future in my book.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Today's upgrade: For the Z620, a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium 7.1 sound card- $30 .

 
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the K2200 is an older card than the M4000 (Kepler was the generation before Maxwell) the Motherboard I used is also single GPU only (compromises have to be made when over 50% of the budget is the GPU 😀)

the main idea was the workstation card woudl probly be stronger at all 3d rendering tasks than any game-centered card,, though they are often only adequate at gaming
 
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Depends if u need it pronto (aka right now). Can wait a couple of more weeks?

My suggestion I would not bother with intel as of right now as in rendering and Pro applications they are being crushed by AMDs new cpu.
Go with the lowest priced 8core/16thread 3Ghz RyZen 1700 (which over-clocks to 4ghz no problem).
On cinebench (which is a reliable way of judging rendering speed being a real world engine from Cinema4D software)
E5-2620v4 @3ghz scores a measely 1096cb (compared to a i7-770Ks 1088cb)
But on the Ryzen 1700 stock ur getting over 1410cb, and at 4.0-4.05ghz you will be hitting somwhere in the 1750cb range (or more)
Keep in mind these systems are scoring this despite having fresh platform and green drivers, so once u give the developers 6-8months to tweek the bios and windows motherboard drivers u could potentially see 1850cb - to - 2000cb scores showing up (especially if a bit higher clocks will be enabled).

In the end tho, it's ur money so do what u like with it.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GFHXZ8
 
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