CGI WORKSTATION specs?

[5dn]

Dear Forumers,

I am planning purchase a computer for CGI purposes.

I have some questions:

1. I want to run large, complicated dynamic simulations, so I have chosen the fastest 8 core Xeon processor. Is this wise? I also chose the fastest RAM. This is best for that right?

2. A graphics card is mostly pointless for CGI work, because all rendering and simulations use the processors in the CPU not the graphics card? (also SSDs improve rendering alot?)

3. When compositing it is best to have source images on one SSD drive and the output on another? So I have a few SSD drives. This also makes sense right?

Thanks for any pointers you may give,

Nick.

Here is the spec....

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Xeon® 8-Core E5-2687W (3.1 GHz, 8.00 GT/s, 20M L3 Cache)
Motherboard
ASUS® P9X79 WS - SOCKET 2011, QUAD DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6 GB/s
Memory (RAM)
32GB KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST QUAD-DDR3 2400MHz X.M.P (4 x 8GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 210 - DVI, HDMI, VGA
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
3rd Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
Processor Cooling
INTEL BXSTS200C THERMAL SOLUTION FOR XEON E5 CPU

 

[Shaun o]

Far as i am aware Xeon are used in most cgi based systems.
But the bulk of the work and computation is done by rendering servers consisting of NVIDIA Quadro or AMD Firepro cards.

That`s what the cards are built for simulations.
Rendering calculations.

 

[5dn]

Confused... simulations and rendering are different things. I mean dynamic rigid/soft body or fluid simulations. I thought GPUs were never used for this and GPU rendering technology was in its infancy. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

PS: I use Maya, Realflow, and Nuke to composite.

 

[Shaun o]

http://www.cgchannel.com/2013/10/videos-nvidias-real-time-multi-physics-volumetrics-and-gi-tools/

As far as I know realflow does support,fluid rigid Gpu.
Particle. Simulations in Maya using the GPU

Gpu`s are better at raw calculation, there used more and more in favor of the cpu alone.

 

[5dn]

http://www.cgchannel.com/2013/10/videos-nvidias-real-time-multi-physics-volumetrics-and-gi-tools/

As far as I know realflow does support,fluid rigid Gpu.
Particle. Simulations in Maya using the GPU

Gpu`s are better at raw calculation, there used more and more in favor of the cpu alone.

thanks

 

[5dn]

hows... PNY QUADRO K2000 - 2GB GDDR5, 384 CUDA CORES ????