Build with k2000 for 3D animation and rendering: maya, 3DS-max, Zbrush

[Wommel]

Hey everyone,

I'm really no expert at building pc's so I'd like some help/feedback to get a build for 3D animation finalized. I've decided to go for a quadro K2000 to get good viewport performance, from what I read in threads here I should couple that with a Xeon processor and 16GB ECC ram for decent renderspeeds and minimal calculationerrors.

My problem is that if I go that route, I don't find a motherboard to my liking, and the total cost becomes a lot higher and is perhaps too powerful compared to the GPU I got in mind...

So far I have this build in mind:

New parts:

CPU: XEON E5-1620v2 370GHZ
Cooler Hyper T4 CPU Air Cooler
RAM: 4x Kingston 4GB 1600Mhz DDR3 ECC CL11 Dimm
Hd: Western Digital 1TB SATA III 7200RPM 64MB Caviar Black
OS: Microsoft windows 7
MB: I'm not sure what motherboard to pick, I see the ASUS Z9PA_u8 a lot in posts but it seems overkill and kinda pricy.
My first Idea was to go for the ASRock X79 extreme 4 but that doesn't take ECC ram which in turn makes the choice for a Xeon kinda pointless, but then I'm back to square one.

Old parts I'd reuse:
Yesico powersupply 560w (or is renewing that a must?)
I also got 2x old maxtor 250GB HD's bought back in 2006, perhaps use as 2nd and third storage?
Old plextor dvdburner still seems to work...
Old antec case which reads inner temperature <3

My questions:

Should I go for the more expensive ASUS Z9PA-U8 and does it make sense to couple it with a midrange k2000? Or should I ditch the idea of getting ECC ram and settle with the less expensive ASROCK?

Any opinions on reusing the old hd's and powersupply?

My budget: I'd like to keep the cost around 1200€.
I'm also not looking to overclock anything.

Thanks in advance for your help and feedback.

 

[middlemarkal]

I would say start with the software you will be using , and see if it's more important to put your money on the quadro card or the CPU.
IMO you don't need a xeon or ecc. don't use a X79 go to full X99 or use a regular Haswell Z97.

I you are defetively going to use an X79 look for used ones since the X99 is out i'm sure you caould find some X79 kit cheap.

 

[bambiboom]

Wommel,

In general, your proposed build includes very good choices for a cost / performance standpoint. In my view, LGA2011 is the best platform for workstations as there is a bandwidth more than double LGA1150 and 40 PCIe lanes instead of 28. Importantly, the CPU can be upgraded to up to 18 cores (LGA2011-3) whereas LGA1150 is limited to 4-cores.

The recent set of LGA2011-3 Haswell Xeon E5's and the X99 chipset though present important advantages, including the very fast M.2 Ultra controller. I think the future is going to be PCIe SSD's and the DDR4 memory, though expensive now, will of course become standard. Overall, though it's a bit more expensive, you might consider using the newest technology to extend the working life of your system as far as possible. If you divide the cost of a system over the years of it's use and subtract the value at the end, It's impossible to say exactly, but I believe that a LGA2011-3 system today would be useful for up to 2 years longer and have a noticeably better resale value at the end.

Another item to be aware of is that there is a replacement for the Quadro K2000, the Quadro K2200, which is now 4GB and has a performance that rivals or surpasses the K4000 (3GB). See:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/nvidia-quadro-k5200-k4200-k2200.html
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=PNY-K2200

Follows is an LGA2011-3 Xeon E5 system idea using the new E5-1630 v3 and Quadro K2200. This costs the equivalent of Eur 1586 but is an example of what I would consider to have a very good performance for the cost and is future-looking:

BambiBoom PixelCannon Cadamodarendergrapharific iWork TurboBlast ExtremeSignature SuperModel 8000 ®©$$™®£™©™_ 10.8.14

1. Intel Xeon E5-1630 v3 Quad-Core Processor 3.7 / 3.8GHz 0GT/s 10MB LGA 2011-v3 CPU, OEM > $380
____ http://ark.intel.com/products/82764/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-1630-v3-10M-Cache-3_70-GHz?q=e5-1630
____ http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=E5-1630V3

2. Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Fan For Intel LGA1366/1156/1155/1150/775 & AMD FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2 > $31.

3. Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 LGA 2011-v3 Intel X99 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard > $240
____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157543&cm_re=asrock_x99_extreme_4-_-13-157-543-_-Product

4. Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM ECC DDR4 2133 (PC4-17000) Server Memory Model CT2K8G4RFS4213 > $244
____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148839&cm_re=Crucial_16GB_%282_x_8GB%29_288-Pin_DDR4_SDRAM_ECC_DDR4_2133_%28PC4-17000%29_Server_Memory-_-20-148-839-_-Product

5. GPU: PNY VCQK2200-PB Quadro K2200 4GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Workstation Video Card > $459
____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133559&cm_re=quadro_k2200-_-14-133-559-_-Product

6. Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) ) > $113 (OS, applications, working files)
____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148820&cm_re=crucial_mx110-_-20-148-820-_-Product

7. Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200RPM SATA3/SATA 6.0 GB/s 64MB Hard Drive > $82 (Files, Backup, System Image)

8. CORSAIR HX Series HX750 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI CrossFire 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready> $130

9. Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24X SATA DVD±RW Internal Drive w/o Software (Black) SH-224DB $17.99

10. LIAN LI PC-A75X No Power Supply ATX Full Tower Case (Black) CA-A75 $170

11. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit w/ SP1 (1-Pack, DVD), OEM MSFQC04649 $138.99

________________________________________________________

TOTAL = $ 2,008

PSU: For this kind of system, I think a 600W power supply is the minimum.

Of course, you can do an E5 v2 system and this will be somewhat less expensive, but if you compare the cost of the CPU , a Xeon E5-1620 v2 costs $290 (US) and a v3 is $295. [ Note that the v3 has a clock speed of 3.5 /3.6 to the v2 speed of 3.7 / 3.9 GHz.] A Quadro K2000 is $430 and the dramatically better K2200 is $460, so the difference is not proportionally very much.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

HP z420 (2014) > Xeon E5-1620 quad core @ 3.6 / 3.8GHz > 24GB DDR3 ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 4000 (2GB)> Samsung 840 SSD 250GB /Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > AE3000 USB WiFi > HP 2711X, 27" 1920 X 1080 > Windows 7 Ultimate 64 >[Passmark system rating = 3923, CPU= 9223/ 2D= 839 / 3D=2048]

Dell Precision T5400 (2008) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB DDR2 ECC 667> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card / Linksys 600N WiFi > Dell 24" and Dell 19" LCD > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit > [Passmark system rating = 1859, CPU = 8528 / 2D= 512 / 3D=1097]

Dell Precision 390 (2005) Xeon x3230 quad core @ 2.67GHz > 6 GB DDR2 ECC 667 > Firepro V4900 (1GB)> 2X WD 320GB > 2X Dell 19" LCD > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit [Passmark system rating = 1431, CPU = 3642 / 2D= 433 / 3D=1346]

2D, 3D CAD, Image Processing, Rendering, Text > Architecture, industrial design, graphic design, written projects

 

[Wommel]

I would say start with the software you will be using , and see if it's more important to put your money on the quadro card or the CPU.
IMO you don't need a xeon or ecc. don't use a X79 go to full X99 or use a regular Haswell Z97.

I you are defetively going to use an X79 look for used ones since the X99 is out i'm sure you caould find some X79 kit cheap.

Wommel,

In general, your proposed build includes very good choices for a cost / performance standpoint. In my view, LGA2011 is the best platform for workstations as there is a bandwidth more than double LGA1150 and 40 PCIe lanes instead of 28. Importantly, the CPU can be upgraded to up to 18 cores (LGA2011-3) whereas LGA1150 is limited to 4-cores.

The recent set of LGA2011-3 Haswell Xeon E5's and the X99 chipset though present important advantages, including the very fast M.2 Ultra controller. I think the future is going to be PCIe SSD's and the DDR4 memory, though expensive now, will of course become standard. Overall, though it's a bit more expensive, you might consider using the newest technology to extend the working life of your system as far as possible. If you divide the cost of a system over the years of it's use and subtract the value at the end, It's impossible to say exactly, but I believe that a LGA2011-3 system today would be useful for up to 2 years longer and have a noticeably better resale value at the end.

Another item to be aware of is that there is a replacement for the Quadro K2000, the Quadro K2200, which is now 4GB and has a performance that rivals or surpasses the K4000 (3GB). See:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/nvidia-quadro-k5200-k4200-k2200.html
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=PNY-K2200

Follows is an LGA2011-3 Xeon E5 system idea using the new E5-1630 v3 and Quadro K2200. This costs the equivalent of Eur 1586 but is an example of what I would consider to have a very good performance for the cost and is future-looking:

BambiBoom PixelCannon Cadamodarendergrapharific iWork TurboBlast ExtremeSignature SuperModel 8000 ®©$$™®£™©™_ 10.8.14

1. Intel Xeon E5-1630 v3 Quad-Core Processor 3.7 / 3.8GHz 0GT/s 10MB LGA 2011-v3 CPU, OEM > $380
____ http://ark.intel.com/products/82764/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-1630-v3-10M-Cache-3_70-GHz?q=e5-1630
____ http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=E5-1630V3

2. Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Fan For Intel LGA1366/1156/1155/1150/775 & AMD FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2 > $31.

3. Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 LGA 2011-v3 Intel X99 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard > $240
____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157543&cm_re=asrock_x99_extreme_4-_-13-157-543-_-Product

4. Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM ECC DDR4 2133 (PC4-17000) Server Memory Model CT2K8G4RFS4213 > $244
____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148839&cm_re=Crucial_16GB_%282_x_8GB%29_288-Pin_DDR4_SDRAM_ECC_DDR4_2133_%28PC4-17000%29_Server_Memory-_-20-148-839-_-Product

5. GPU: PNY VCQK2200-PB Quadro K2200 4GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Workstation Video Card > $459
____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133559&cm_re=quadro_k2200-_-14-133-559-_-Product

6. Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) ) > $113 (OS, applications, working files)
____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148820&cm_re=crucial_mx110-_-20-148-820-_-Product

7. Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200RPM SATA3/SATA 6.0 GB/s 64MB Hard Drive > $82 (Files, Backup, System Image)

8. CORSAIR HX Series HX750 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI CrossFire 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready> $130

9. Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24X SATA DVD±RW Internal Drive w/o Software (Black) SH-224DB $17.99

10. LIAN LI PC-A75X No Power Supply ATX Full Tower Case (Black) CA-A75 $170

11. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit w/ SP1 (1-Pack, DVD), OEM MSFQC04649 $138.99

________________________________________________________

TOTAL = $ 2,008

PSU: For this kind of system, I think a 600W power supply is the minimum.

Of course, you can do an E5 v2 system and this will be somewhat less expensive, but if you compare the cost of the CPU , a Xeon E5-1620 v2 costs $290 (US) and a v3 is $295. [ Note that the v3 has a clock speed of 3.5 /3.6 to the v2 speed of 3.7 / 3.9 GHz.] A Quadro K2000 is $430 and the dramatically better K2200 is $460, so the difference is not proportionally very much.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

HP z420 (2014) > Xeon E5-1620 quad core @ 3.6 / 3.8GHz > 24GB DDR3 ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 4000 (2GB)> Samsung 840 SSD 250GB /Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > AE3000 USB WiFi > HP 2711X, 27" 1920 X 1080 > Windows 7 Ultimate 64 >[Passmark system rating = 3923, CPU= 9223/ 2D= 839 / 3D=2048]

Dell Precision T5400 (2008) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB DDR2 ECC 667> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card / Linksys 600N WiFi > Dell 24" and Dell 19" LCD > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit > [Passmark system rating = 1859, CPU = 8528 / 2D= 512 / 3D=1097]

Dell Precision 390 (2005) Xeon x3230 quad core @ 2.67GHz > 6 GB DDR2 ECC 667 > Firepro V4900 (1GB)> 2X WD 320GB > 2X Dell 19" LCD > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit [Passmark system rating = 1431, CPU = 3642 / 2D= 433 / 3D=1346]

2D, 3D CAD, Image Processing, Rendering, Text > Architecture, industrial design, graphic design, written projects

First of all, thanks for your helpful reply guys, it is very helpful feedback.
But now after reading this tread, I require your advice once more.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2361802/computer-build-animation-rendering-compositing-1000.html

I remain in doubt if I really should invest in the heavier stuff. A friend of mine also suggested a quadro or Xeon wouldn't help much in terms performance when playing animation creating animation in maya unless the scene is very complex. So far I've only animated on absolute crapmachines in maya. This time I'd like a reliable system that can scroll through keys without hanging, I'm not an independant pro however , I'm more like an eternal student animation trying to get a fresh reel together, I'm not rendering my own shorts every night. so my question is this:

Should I really go for the Xeon-build to get optimal preview-image when creating character-animation or will a system with the i7 and gfx770 not perform that much worse for what I'm focussing on?

 

[bambiboom]

Wommel,

Choosing a level of performance for someone else is of course difficult as everyone has a different view of performance and a different expectation. there's also the matter of equating hardware to performance in a particular program and other programs- and future programs. I like to think of choosing hardware that will reasonably run the most demanding program I'll ever use - and for the lowest cost. This is why I've ended up buying almost all my graphics cards used!

Your situation is complicated by the idea of "eternal student" as it's impossible to know the point at which things just won;t work or work fast enough. When I changed from 2D to 3D CAD in 2009, I was caught by Sketchup, inexpensive and so easy to learn I did a big project only by playing with the controls. Of course, I ended up with a 105MB model that became impossible to navigate or that could extract renderings.

Overall, to have a good performance in programs like Maya and be somewhat future looking, you might think about staying with LGA2011 or LGA2011-3 to have the bandwidth and PCIe lanes and to be able to add cores later, and have a used Quadro,. For new Quadros though, the 4GB K2200 is such good value- as fast as a K400 that I've ordered one. Xeons that are used in OEM systems- the E5-1xxx models are good value and in future could be changes for 8-core (LGA2011) or up to 18-core LGA2011-3. If you buy the i7-equaivalent, you pay a bit extra for the integrated graphics and with a "K" version for the overclocking feature. It's a bit difficult to do an LGA2011 (-3) / Quadro system for 1200 Cameronquid but careful shopping might do it.

My other tactic in this situation is to consider a good used workstation system that is a basis for modernization, and is flexible in that you can start out using it as is- as is and save the fuss and difficulty of choosing every part and assembling it and then add better parts as demands change. My choice for this use today is a Dell Precision T7500 and especially with one or two of the Xeon X5680 or X5690. Those CPU's (LGA1366) aare 6-cores at 3.33 or 3.47 and 3.6GHz turbo speed that cost over $1,600 each new. However, a fully depreciated T7500 makes these affordable:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FAST-DELL-T7500-WORKSTATION-XEON-HEX-CORE-3-33GHZ-24GB-2-X-146GB-SAS-WIN-7-PRO-/111492502265?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item19f57892f9

> a completed listing which has an X5680 6-core,a Quadro FX4800 (1.5GB, $1,300 new) and 24G RAM for £569. You could be using this three hours after receiving it, and with your budget eventually change the GPU, add a second CPU , more RAM, drives etc. Quite few f these will already have the two CPU's:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Dell-Precision-T7500-2x-HexaCore-Intel-Xeon-X5680-CPU-24x3-33GHz-HDD-2TB-/171463240674?pt=DE_Technik_Computer_Peripherieger%C3%A4te_PC_Systeme&hash=item27ec016be2

> a completed listing in Germany that also has a Quadro 4000 for EUR 905 (£713).

These systems are ultra-reliable, made to run all the time and are very quiet.

Cheers,

BambiBoom