Dual Xeon vs i7 975 or wait for gulftown?

[bluewavesix]

I know that this question has probably been asked before, but each person that asks seems to have such specific applications.

Here's my situation: I want to build a setup that will be able to render HD video, encode HD video, render 3D designs, and edit images as fast as possible according to my budget (It would be a bonus if I could play a few games on it too).

I've been thinking of getting a dual chip setup such as dual quad core Xeons, or getting a single chip i7 950/975. The reason I would consider the 950 is because I heard the gulftown was going to fit the LGA 1366 socked, so I could upgrade to that in about a year or 2, thus extending the life of my machine rather then spending extra cash on the 975.

I want to spend around $2-3K on a completely new system. The only thing I will not need is a monitor or optical drives as I am scrapping my old machine.

So 2 Xeons or 1 i7? Recommendations for GPU, CF,SLI? MB? RAID and HDD? Good amount of RAM?

I know, I know, sooo many questions. I feel like I've not kept up in so long and I'm hopelessly behind in the current technology. If someone could recommend the parts that would be best for my needs, I'd greatly appreciate your help.

 

[r_manic]

Are these activities (video encoding, rendering, etc.) for professional purposes? Keep in mind high-end Xeons and i7s easily cost over $500. The i7 920 or the i7 870 should provide enough power, while leaving you with enough cash to buy good components and peripherals.

With your large budget however, I'd recommend the high-end i7. Still, consider saving money, so you can go for a multiple monitor setup! That's a definite productivity booster!

 

[mindless728]

SUPERMICRO MBD-X8DAH+-O Dual LGA 1366
2 x Intel Xeon E5530 Nehalem 2.4GHz
2 x SUPER TALENT 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1333
ENERMAX REVOLUTION85+ ERV850EWT 850W
XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770
ZALMAN PROFESSIONAL GS-1000-BK
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM
LG Black 22X DVD+R

~$3000, yes the board may seem a little excessive, but it gives you room to grow for memory (up to 144GB if you ues 18*8GB)

 

[bluewavesix]

Are these activities (video encoding, rendering, etc.) for professional purposes? Keep in mind high-end Xeons and i7s easily cost over $500. The i7 920 or the i7 870 should provide enough power, while leaving you with enough cash to buy good components and peripherals.

With your large budget however, I'd recommend the high-end i7. Still, consider saving money, so you can go for a multiple monitor setup! That's a definite productivity booster!

Yes, this for professional results. I work a lot with marketing departments and create HD commercials, 3D animation, special effects, graphic/web design etc. I noticed that what really slows me down is the rendering times. If I could cut down that time, I could be that much more productive. Also, I do have several 20"-23" monitors, but I suppose you really can't have too many!

 

[bluewavesix]

SUPERMICRO MBD-X8DAH+-O Dual LGA 1366
2 x Intel Xeon E5530 Nehalem 2.4GHz
2 x SUPER TALENT 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1333
ENERMAX REVOLUTION85+ ERV850EWT 850W
XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770
ZALMAN PROFESSIONAL GS-1000-BK
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM
LG Black 22X DVD+R

~$3000, yes the board may seem a little excessive, but it gives you room to grow for memory (up to 144GB if you ues 18*8GB)

This build looks great! I'm not so sure that I like ATI GPUs though. I'm sure it's fine, but I've run into some issues with ATI cards in the past. I'm thinking about adding a Blu-Ray burner, a multi-card reader, and perhaps 2 more HDD to the mix. I wonder where I could skimp? Maybe I should buy 2GB sticks of RAM instead?

 

[BadTrip]

Dont skimp on the memory, the more memory the better. Also running a couple of hd's in raid will definitely help speed things up.

 

[MRFS]

The Gulftown will come in the Westmere server version -- the Xeon 5600-series.

So, a twin socket motherboard will give you more headroom for future expansion.


MRFS

 

[bossman032]

The current X5500 setups are pretty badass. You should get a Dual CPU setup. Actually, I have a nice system up for sale on ebay. If you are looking for something might want to check it out Lenovo D20. I think for a good price you cannot beat that deal..Just make a good offer..

 

[BadTrip]

These forums are not your private classifieds. Take that elsewhere.

 

[mindless728]

i have already told him that in another thread where someone was looking for a dual xeon workstation (i actually copied and pasted this build from that thread since they had the same budget)

 

[bluewavesix]

The current X5500 setups are pretty badass. You should get a Dual CPU setup. Actually, I have a nice system up for sale on ebay. If you are looking for something might want to check it out Lenovo D20. I think for a good price you cannot beat that deal..Just make a good offer..

Yeah, that kind of presents a conflict of interest. I am set in building my own workstation.

To everyone else: Thanks for being so helpful. I'm going to take mindless's recipe and use it as a guide. I'm hoping someone can confirm that I have everything I need and that all is compatible for my build before I order. It's just nice to get confirmation so I don't end up with a PSU that doesn't fit, incompatible memory, forget a heatsink/fan/cooling, etc.

I really appreciate everyone's time. I hope to have my list posted later today.

 

[bossman032]

Yeah, that kind of presents a conflict of interest. I am set in building my own workstation.

To everyone else: Thanks for being so helpful. I'm going to take mindless's recipe and use it as a guide. I'm hoping someone can confirm that I have everything I need and that all is compatible for my build before I order. It's just nice to get confirmation so I don't end up with a PSU that doesn't fit, incompatible memory, forget a heatsink/fan/cooling, etc.

I really appreciate everyone's time. I hope to have my list posted later today.

Sounds like fun, good luck with making everything work properly. 😀