3d Modeling/ Rendering Build

[mrhumbility]

Hi, i've been doing a lot of research over the past month or so trying to find out exactly what parts are going to be right for me in my new computer. I want to buy by the end of the summer at the very latest, but its really as soon as my bank account can hit the budget i've set which is ~ 2500. That has to include everything except maybe storage drives and keyboard/ mouse. Im getting very close to knowing what I want, so now I thought would be a good time for some feedback to make sure i'm not unknowingly bottlenecking somewhere. I believe that I also have a cd drive laying around somewhere. I want to put a blu ray drive in eventually, but its something that could wait for a while to make way for spending money elsewhere right now. I work mostly in Maya and will soon be using Houdini and zbrush, basically all the 3d modeling/ rendering programs. I also work in the Adobe products as well. Gaming is not a priority, and therefore from the research i've been doing it seems that a quadro card will be better for what im working on (I think). If I was to go with a gtx card it seems the 580 or 570 would be the way to go, but I still think a workstation card is more up the alley of what i'm wanting to do, tell me if i'm wrong there. So anyways, I'd love some feedback, thanks.


Cpu:Intel I7 3930k - $559.99

Motherboard: ASUS P9X79 DELUXE LGA 2011 Intel X79 - $359.99

Gpu: I'm between PNY VCQ4000-PB Quadro 4000 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 - $749.99 and the PNY VCQ2000-PB Quadro 2000 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 - $399.99 Problem is the 4000 breaks my budget a little, so is it going to be worth it.

Ram: CORSAIR Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $259.99

Heatsink Fan: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm - $34.99

Boot Drive: Crucial 128 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive - $124.21

Power: Corsair HX Professional Series 750-Watt 80 Plus Certified Power Supply - $134.99

Monitor: Asus VE278Q 27-Inch - $309.73

Case: Corsair Obsidian 650d - $161.84

 

[mrhumbility]

Cheaper gpu total price - 2345.72
More Expensive gpu total price - 2695.72

 

[TheBigTroll]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/a5ye

if you didnt need a monitor, this would suit you

 

[TheBigTroll]

a 560ti 448 is the equivalent of a quadro 6000 other than the ram. so, in he end, getting a 580 is a much cheaper way to get the same performance as a quadro card.

 

[mrhumbility]

My understanding was that a gaming card looks better on paper but that they work differently, gaming cards being designed for the super wuick refresh rates needed in video games, but each pixel doesn't have to be exactly perfect for it to look pretty, where as a quadro workstation card is more precise and works differently to maximize workflow in Maya and open gl programs. A gaming card might have a lot of power behind it, but won't work as well in programs like Maya because of the way their inner algorithms are calculated and such. Am I right in thinking that?

 

[TheBigTroll]

yes you are. that is why drivers are designed this way. they are essentially the same core but the drivers are just optimized different

 

[randommistakes]

You could look into the AMD Firepro gpu if you want to save some money. Reviews show them to be fairly comparable. I literally just ordered parts for a slightly lesser rendering machine. Here's my setup:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/a6Fk

Firepro vs Quadro:
http://www.cgchannel.com/2011/10/review-professional-gpus-nvidia-vs-amd-2011/

 

[mrhumbility]

I've seen all over the place that nvidia graphics are a must for cad programs though?

Another question I had was could I buy two of these (Same ram, 2x8gb) for a total of $240 rather than the 4x8gb of the same project. they both equal 32 gb of ram, and it saves 20 dollars, so is there a benefit to buying all 4 sticks together?

*edit* actually there is a difference in the cat latency (10 vs 9) and the timing between those two. Whenever I look up what those numbers mean though it goes a little over my head so I just assume a slighty larger price tag = better haha.

 

[mrhumbility]

According to a post about halfway down on here, a workstation cards' benefits are not going to be helpful to someone doing visual effects style work (ie me) but is only helpful to people doing engineering work and the precision gain isn't really necessary. I just need a graphics card that will let me navigate through very high poly scenes without slowing down or crashing on me. How much better is an expensive workstation card going to be than a gtx 570/ 580 or something like that.

quote from page

You don't need Quadro or FireGL unless you are a mechanical engineer using Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire or other high-end CAD packages and requires absolute precision because you are working on mission critical projects. If you are just doing general CG/CAD/rendering a nVidia 5xx series is more than enough (nVidia 560 Ti is a good choice right now for price and perforance sweet spot). [...] Nvidia is all-round workhorse that are generally trouble-free and works great with both games and 3D packages.

From here

 

[TheBigTroll]

well then pick up a 580 or a 680. you can find a 580 at around 300 dollars

 

[mrhumbility]

Is buying 2 - 2x8gb sets of the same ram going to be any different than buying a set of 4x8gb? Newegg just sold out of the 4x8gb cards and I cant seem to find the same ones anywhere else.

 

[TheBigTroll]

not really since SBE runs both dual channel and quad channel ram. it is more optimal to get 4x8 since the memory sticks are binned to run in quad channel