3D and graphics workstation to buy

[avshash]

Hello everyone, I hope someone could advice me.
I'm a freelance 3D animator and graphic designer looking to get a pretty nasty workstation.
I was wondering if the specs I was offered on paper are any good?.I know they are the latest specs but maybe another combination would work better?
I'm not an expert on hardware and I'm very close to giving up on a PC and move to a Mac Pro, so any advice on that will be welcomed as well.

Here is what was offered to me:
CPU: Intel Core i7 5820K 3.3GHz 15MB L3 Cache s2011-3 - Box
CPU Fan: Arctic Freezer 7 Pro Rev-2 CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-99-UD4 LGA2011-3, Intel X99, DDR4, 4xPCI-E
Memory: G.Skill 4x4GB DDR4 2400MHz PC4-19200
Graphics Card: Gigabyte GTX970 ITX 4GB - should I upgrade to 980? much difference there?
Power Supply: Seasonic 750W Active PFC Modular 80+ Bronze M12II EVO PSU
Case: I was offered a Antec One Hundred but to me it looks too childish, is Antec P100 any good?
HDD: the system will have what I own already, 256GB SSD (Samsung 840 Pro) and a 3TB (WD30EZRX).
OS: I'm thinking of Windows 8. Can I use Windows 7 with this system at all?
Thank you for any input in advance.
A

 

[kanewolf]

The graphics card is not a workstation graphics card, it is a gaming card. It will not have drivers that are optimized for workstation software. You should look at a Quadro or FirePro card. You should investigate what graphics card optimizes the type of work you do.

Otherwise it will be a quite functional PC. 16GB RAM could be small depending on what you do.

 

[fport]

Moving from PC to MAC will entail redoing software installations. Just saying, same apps different living room.
Then there is the cost/performance compared to what you can get from a home-built PC.

Your proposed setup using a 2011 socket gives you lots of pci-e lanes, access to fast DDR4 RAM and so on based
on a fairly fast many core'd CPU.

Another option is to head for the Xeon if you aren't going for overclocking as a new hobby. Other things happen
with that choice like DDR3 ECC memory or dual CPU's.

A third option is to take an i7-4790K, add 32 GB of RAM and a K4000 or K4200 if your software would majorly
benefit from it.

When you ask for advice it is good to give a list of programs to be used and needs in order of importance.

I see a workstation there. But it is somewhat hamstrung depending on what you are doing with what you are
using right now and what you would like to step up to to get a nasty boy. My godbox lived up to its name but
it wasn't really fast just robust. My new build had an i5-4690K which I ran for a couple of months before putting
in an i7-4790K in a complex trade with my son. I can't feel the difference really, yet.

 

[avshash]

Thank you. The software I'm using is actually not too high end - 3ds Max, After Effects and Photoshop are the main software that require power.
Rendering large sequences might be done online/elsewhere, so it's basically just handling a lot of Graphics and fast processing that I'm looking for.
Do I really need a professional FirePro or Quadro for this? What I don't want is replacing my PC after two years.

 

[fport]

A fast personal machine is key. It just lets you do more stuff, faster. A quadro gives you 10 bit on the screen.

Having said that a GTX 970 seems to be the sweet spot while many are jumping to the GTX 980. On top of that
the 980 Ti is out in the wild. Your GPU can be doubled or simply replaced rather than change your platform.

I like the six core option, threads and speed of the 2011 build.

Anything you get from the suggestions above would be good for what you want to do.

Look at 32GB of RAM (4x8). You just don't run out when you attempt to do a few things at once.

Look at a PCI-e SSD for your scratch drive.

I also like to have a hot swap cage for loading in 3TB drives to suck up projects and store them safely.

Your case should be large enough to accommodate all your peripherals and future expansions and later
your new builds. I bought a Thermaltake V71 - see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lLpg8twpGg

You could go to the next step and build the whole thing yourself by getting an account on http://pcpartpicker.com/
and plug your setup in and then ask for improvements or gotchas from the members.

If the person offering the deal is trusted and will be there as support you can confidently buy that setup and have
a very good and powerful machine.