Dual xeon workstation - water cooling?

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Svend Hansen

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Oct 20, 2014
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I will be building a workstation for maya, photoshop and video. I am considering dual xeon of the latest generation (not top of the line, though) but not sure which motherboard to use.

My current workstation has Intel s5520SC mobo and dual xeon 5520 cpus. I found it quite difficult to set up. Hope to find an easier solution this time.

Also my current workstation takes off like a jet engine when working on full load, so I am hoping to find a (much) quieter solution this time around. Is water cooling an option?

Help on configuration will be very much appreciated.
 
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Svend Hansen,

As the new line of LGA2011-3 Haswell EP Xeon processors have increased the number of cores within the same die size by reducing the lithography to 22nm. The increased core count also corresponds to somewhat higher wattage. the E5-2687w v2 required 150W and the E5-2687w v3- having +2 cores is 160W. Logically, the higher density and currents in combination over the same physical area suggest that heat production should be also higher. Intel recommended liquid cooling for the E5-2687w v2 and so I would imagine the v3 is needs even better cooling.

As some of the applications you mention can take advantage of highly threaded processors- use all the cores, liquid cooling is logical. The problem is that liquid cooling pumps in combination with the fans make more noise than air cooling and to me is a comparatively somewhat annoying kind of sound. As I believe you are correct to use liquid cooling, my only suggestion is to look for liquid cooling solutions according to the published sound ratings and also consider the characteristics of the case, including: case material type and thickness, the locations of air intakes and outputs where the fan/radiators may be located, the possible addition of sound insulative materials, and, the factor I've found most useful- the placement of the system well under the desk. I'd rather have to sometimes reach a bit to the DVD drive and USB ports than hear the noise.

You didn't mention a budget for your system or the country, but here is a kind of generic system idea as a starting point, that I believe would have a very good cost / performance ratio for your uses. The calculation here is to use a single, faster 6-core CPU on a motherboard with very fast disk control (M.2 ultra) subsystem. I saw a test in which an X99 system had transfers of 8.2GB /s!. The 3D modeling is faster due to the first two cores running at 3.8GHz and the fast RAM, 3.2GHz speed when all cores are working, and high disk system processing makes up in animation and processing speed for having extra cores. The new Quadro K4200 for me is fantastic, with higher performance than the card that was my ideal GPU, the previous series K5000 for 1/2 the price. The systems listed do not specifically address noise considerations and do not include recommendations for sound systems.

BambiBoom PixelCannon Cadamodelrendergrapharific iWork TurboBlast Extreme SuperModel 9000 ®©$$™®£™©™_ 9.24.14

1. CPU: Intel Xeon E5-1650 v3 Six-Core Processor 3.5 / 3.8GHz 0GT/s 15MB LGA 2011-v3 CPU> $575

____ http://ark.intel.com/products/82765/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-1650-v3-15M-Cache-3_50-GHz
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=E51650V3BX
____ http://www.amazon.com/XEON-E5-1650V3-6C-3-5G-15MB/dp/B00MU045JU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411580728&sr=8-1&keywords=E5-1650+v3

1A. CPU: Alternate: Xeon E5-1680-v3 eight Core Processor 3.2 / 3.8 GHz 20MB cache > $1750

____ http://ark.intel.com/products/82767/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-1680-v3-20M-Cache- LGA 2011-v3 CPU

2. CPU Cooler: CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120XL RL-S12X-24PK-R1 120mm CPU Liquid Cooling System > $80

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=FAN-RLS12X

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. Memory: 32GB (4) Samsung DDR4-2133 8GB/1Gx72 ECC/REG CL15 Server Memory > $460 ($115 ea.)

____ http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=D4218G4S1

5. GPU: PNY NVIDIA Quadro K4200 4GB GDDR5 PCIe Graphics Card (VCQK4200-PB) > $822.
____ http://www.macmall.com/p/PNY-Video-Cards/product~DPNo~13248565~pdp.iigbbje?source=mwbgoogleshop&gclid=CjwKEAjw2f2hBRCdg76qqNXfkCsSJABYAycP_-AKV0I5UZVBtWrk8ltpCKFcaH__Twc558CuDVDMhBoC8B_w_wcB

6. Drive 1: Crucial MX100 CT512MX100SSD1 2.5" 512GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) > $210
____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148821&cm_re=crucial_mx110-_-20-148-821-_-Product

7. Drive 2: Western Digital Black 2 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive, Black, WD2003FZEX> $140 (Files, Backup, System Image)

8. PSU: SeaSonic X-850 ; SS-850KM3 ACTIVE PFC F3 850W 80 Plus Gold ATX12V/EPS12V Power Supply > $146

9. Optical Drive: Pioneer Black 16X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM SATA Blu-ray Burner BDR-2209 $86.

10. Case: LIAN LI PC-A75X No Power Supply ATX Full Tower Case (Black) CA-A75$179.99

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

________________________________________________________

TOTAL = $ 3,080 with E5-1650 V3 or $4,255 with E5-1680 v3

Of course, the extra two cores are quite expensive, but do offer a 25% increase in core / thread count. Still, the capabilities of a fast single CPU system I believe are a faster better cost / performance benefit than a dual Xeon system using lower clock speeds.
____________________________________________________

As reference, here is a kind of ideal, maximized, dual Xeon system providing 12 cores with liquid cooling, and the new Quadro K5200 (8GB) which should have amazingly good performance, the total of which is, as you can see, quite a bit more expensive:

BambiBoom PixelCannon Cadarendercompilagrapharific iWork TurboSignatureExtreme WalletScream ModelBlast 9000 ®©$$™®£™©™10.2.14

CPU: (2) Xeon Processor E5-2643 v3 , 6-core @ 3.4 / 3.7 Ghz, 20MB, 135W > $3,114 ($1,552 ea)

http://ark.intel.com/products/81900/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2643-v3-20M-Cache-3_40-GHz

CPU Cooler: (2) Cooler Master Seidon 120XL RL-S12X-24PK-R1 120mm CPU Liquid Cooling System > $160 ($79 ea.)

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=FAN-RLS12X

Motherboard: Supermicro X10DAi > $400

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C600/X10DAi.cfm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182938&cm_re=Supermicro_X10DAi-_-13-182-938-_-Product

Memory: 128GB (8) Samsung DDR4-2133 16GB/2Gx72 ECC/REG CL15 Server Memory > $1,600 ($200 ea.)

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=D42116G4S

GPU: PNY NVIDIA Quadro K5200 8GB GDDR5 2DVI/2DisplayPorts PCI-Express Video Card > $1.996

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=PNY-K5200

Disk 1: Plextor M6e 512GB PCI Express x2 Solid State Drive (MLC) > $506.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=PXAG512M6E

Disk 2 and 3: Seagate Constellation ES.3 ST4000NM0033 4TB 7200RPM SATA3/SATA 6.0 GB/s 128MB Enterprise Hard Drive (3.5 inch) > $580 ($290 ea.)

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=HD-ST40NM3

Optical Disk: LG Black 16x Blu-Ray BDXL SATA Internal rewriter with 3D Playback, Model BH16NS40 > $100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136264

Power Supply: Seasonic PLATINUM-1000 1000W 80Plus Platinum ATX12V/EPS12V Power Supply > $209.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=PS-PLA1000

Case: LIAN LI PC-D8000 No Power Supply ATX Full Tower Case (Black) > $400
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=CA-D8000

Fan Controller: NZXT Sentry-2 5.25" Touch Screen Fan Controller > $23.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992005&cm_re=fan_controller-_-11-992-005-_-Product

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit English (1-Pack), OEM > $139.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MSFQC08289
_______________________________________

TOTAL = $9,227.

Somewhere there or in between, I hope there may be some useful ideas.

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]

Dell Dimension E520 (2006) Core2 Duo E6700 dual core @2.66GHz > 4GB DDR2 667 > GeForce GT440 (1GB GDDR5) > 2X Dell 19" LCD > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit [Passmark system rating = 1219, CPU = 2024 / 2D= 457 / 3D=978]

2D, 3D CAD, Image Processing, Rendering, Text > Architecture, industrial design, graphic design, written projects
 
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Thanks Bambiboom for your extensive answer - appreciate it. I was considering a system with just one cpu. Your suggestion looks fantastic!

What are your thoughts on setting up the HDs in Raid? (I am a novice in this)

Accidentially I have stumbled on this second hand workstation:
Mobo: Asus Z9 PE-D8 WS
CPU: 2x Xeon E5-2650 total 16 cores
Ram: 32 GB 8x4 Kingston HyperX 1800Mhz
Gpu: 2x Ati 6990 in Crossfire
HD1: 2 x Samsung 840 SSD'er i RAID 0 (total 500GB)
HD2: 4 x WD 250gb 7200rpm i Raid 0+1 (total 1TB)
Kabinet: Phantex Etho Primo (5 top-rated fans).
PSU: Cougar
Cooling: 2 x Corsair H100i.
Screen: Dell P2414h 24" 1080p Skærm

HD2 is too small, though. Screen also. Any thoughts on this and how much I should pay?

My budget is max. 3000 euro ex. screens. (which will be minimum Ultra HD)
Oh, and it's in europe 😉
 
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A single CPU solution.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2630 V3 2.4GHz 8-Core Processor (€666.82 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: NZXT HAVIK 140 90.3 CFM CPU Cooler (€69.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard (€201.89 @ Home of Hardware DE)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (€568.34 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€90.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (€105.16 @ Pixmania DE)
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (€105.16 @ Pixmania DE)
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (€105.16 @ Pixmania DE)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB AMP! Omega Edition Video Card (2-Way SLI) (€353.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB AMP! Omega Edition Video Card (2-Way SLI) (€353.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case (€134.90 @ Caseking)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (€75.72 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (€119.49 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €2950.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-21 16:39 CEST+0200
 
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If you are going to do heavy animation and media work with this, I would RAID in this way with this type of system and I'll explain why as I deal with heavy media work myself.

This system if ordered as a work station from some of the big computer manufacturers would be around £13000. It is a true work horse with the ability to upgrade some of the items in the future.

Unless you are going to do very heavy CAD work, I would stay away from 2 CPU setup, as you may well know it can and will be very pricey once you have everything built.

I think this is a bit more then you wanted to spend, but it is a complete "At Home Workstation". You can drop this by 1K if you go for the 6 core CPU and stick with just 32g RAM and put all programs on just 1 512 SSD, but I would leave the DATA drives the same way.

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/msBKNG
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/msBKNG/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2650 V3 2.3GHz 10-Core Processor (£867.50 @ Scan.co.uk) <<< This has the power to push the programs to their highest without the need of 2 processors.

CPU Cooler: Swiftech H240x (£99.99) <<< Will be the best cooling option for a 10 core beast. You could go custom loop but it will cost much more. Yu can also go air, but with this size of CPU the air will be around the same price.

Motherboard: ASRock X99 Professional EATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard (£277.51 @ More Computers) <<< Best MOBO to get that can go up to 128g in RAM

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£358.80 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£358.80 @ Amazon UK) <<< With 64g you'll be able to produce allot and keep all vital programs open at the same time with little slow down when switching. You also have the ability to expand another 64g. The more RAM the smoother the animation programs will run.

Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£87.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£87.99 @ Amazon UK) <<< Run in RAID 0, these smaller drives are only for OS and monitoring software. Do not have any programs on this RAID 0 drive.

Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£139.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£139.98 @ Amazon UK) <<< Run in RAID 0, this is only for your programs, do not save any data to these. I run min in RAID do to the constant read/write with the programs. That is the only reason. Having SSD's in RAID 0 will not make the program run any faster, but it does help with data transfer.

Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive (£159.98 @ More Computers)
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive (£159.98 @ More Computers)
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive (£159.98 @ More Computers)
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive (£159.98 @ More Computers) <<< Run in RAID 10. This is where it gets pricey, but it is for good reason. Due to the amount of data you will be transferring back and forth, I never use SSD's for my work data drives. I only use 10K drives and I run them in a redundant array built for performance at the same time. For me this is a must have as if you have any data loss with products there is a backup. The use of the 10K drives gives me the speed needed when dealing with larger working files. Primarily you will notice this as you switch from Photoshop, Maya, Softimage, AutoDesk, and Illustrator when they are all running at the same time. These drives are not for long term storage, just working project storage.

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 295X2 8GB Core Edition Video Card (£612.70 @ More Computers) <<< The best graphics card for the money you can get your hands on. You can go to FirePro or Quattro cards but they will cost a bit more for the performance boost, so $$$ for GPU power this is a hands down choice in my eyes.

Case: Corsair 900D ATX Full Tower Case (£270.00 @ Aria PC) <<< This case is fantastic due to the amount of drive bays. In dealing with large amounts of working data you have the ability to add more drives as needed. In this case you can look at say long term storage drives and add some WD Red 4tb drives, or stick with NAS if you want to keep external. For long term storage, I use NAS storage not my working machine.

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1300 G2 1300W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£148.96 @ Scan.co.uk) <<< All the power you could need for expanding is need be.

Optical Drive: LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit)

Total: £4090.12

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-25 17:52 BST+0100

Peace
 
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+1; it is also a lot cheaper.
 
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Yes I will agree it is "cheaper" but it does not have the computation power of the system above. Even with removing the 10 core cpu/RAM/and switching to a 512 drive lowers the price down to Logainofhades build well a little more, but it will still give the options of high expand-ability and a faster render times when dealing with certain programs. The first system build is to match the computing power of a Dual CPU system.

Here is an idea of a toned down version of the first system.

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/zqX8xr
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/zqX8xr/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2630 V3 2.4GHz 8-Core Processor (£509.50 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Professional EATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard (£277.51 @ More Computers)
CPU Cooler: Swiftech H240x (£99.99)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£358.80 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£87.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£87.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£266.08 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive (£159.98 @ More Computers)
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive (£159.98 @ More Computers)
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive (£159.98 @ More Computers)
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive (£159.98 @ More Computers)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 295X2 8GB Core Edition Video Card (£612.70 @ More Computers)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case (£119.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£124.93 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit)

Total: £3185.39
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-26 04:56 GMT+0000
 
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Sven Hansen,

I apologize as I only saw your reply of 21 October,14 today.

As for RAID, there are many important advantages. A RAID 0 provides performance, a RAID 1 protects the data, and there are several combination RAIDs that provide both. the way a RAID can rebuilds itself when there is a failure is fantastic. Of course, there are costs in having the extra drives, which are redundant and don't increase the total amount of storage, and the time in configuration, but the speed and protection of the work is worth the effort. I would recommend a RAID 1 at least.

As for the used system, the specification is excellent. The Asus Z9 PE-D8 WS would be among my first choices for motherboard, 32GB of RAM is quite good. Having two 4GB Ati 6990 is also impressive as those have the widest bandwidth of any current GPU-512-bit and that is perfect for video. Having a pair of the very fast Samsung 840 Pro in RAID 0 and 4X 250 in RAID 1+0 is also excellent in terms of configuration. Be aware though that the SSD's in RAID 0 provide a total of 250 GB and the RAID 1+0 of the mechanical drives will actually provide only 250GB total storage as the RAID 0 uses two drives striped for performance and then the RAID 1 is parity / mirrored - those two drives are copies that rebuild the RAID 0 or the RAID 1 data storage drive. If you are working with video and animation you would probably need larger drives- I think perhaps 2TB,or even 3 or 4TB but you could try a RAID 1 only for data protection and add the RAID 0 later if performance was not sufficient. The CPU is also an excellent in having 16 cores /32 threads is the dream of all those doing complex, large renderings and film effects processing. The first two cores of each CPU will run at 2.8GHz and all cores at 2.0GHz:

http://ark.intel.com/products/64590/

The core count alone is very encouraging, and my only questions are whether the 2.8GHz speed will be fast enough for modeling in Maya when there are a lot of active textures and the limitations of the file storage in RAID 1+0. However, overall, that system would appear to be very good for your uses. Yes, a very good basis and would save days of research, ordering, assembly, configuration.

From your name, are you in Norway?

Cheers,

BambiBoom



 
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Amencerment and Bambiboom

I feel a bit foolish for not having invested the time to learn the wonders of RAID. What a great new world unfolding. Raid 1+0 will be perfect for me. For the second hand system I concider to use the two raids just as working storage and to keep the long term storage on a nas.

It is inspiring to read your replies and I am very grateful.

I am divided between buying the 2.hand and building a new. The second hand looks fantastic and I have had it demonstrated the other day. It scored 27700 on Geekbench multicore score and 88 fps something on Cinebench. My concern about the 2.hand is how to make sure it is flawless.

What are your thoughs on the price for a used workstation this age?

Bambiboom: qualified guess - I live in Denmark 😉

Thanks,
Svend
 
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Svend Hansen,

I have bought both new and second-hand systems and built a couple of system and there are advantages to each choice. Building is some ways is the best method as each part may be be an optimal choice if one is prepared to study the performance of all available choices for every part and analyze that performance against the cost.

I've done this- to a degree- with imaging and scientific PC's and in all the storm of possibilities, and there is a difficult dividing line between single and dual CPUs. Overall, my conclusion is that the best features / cost / performance CPU for this kind of system is to use a single Xeon E5-16XX series. I admire the E5-2XXX series dual CPU's- the E5-2587w v3 is one the best CPU's and 3.4 / 4.0 GHz -a fast 8-core, but it is also costs $2,200. An E5-1680 v3 is 8-cores 3.2 /3.8 for $1,750, an 8-core E5-1660 v3 is 3.0 / 3.5 for $1,100, and a 6-core E5-1650 v3 is 3.5 / 3.8GHz for $583. The choice is then to balance the number of cores with the speed in each use. If you're spending most of your time in 3D modeling speed will more more important than core count as all the cores are only used when processing, rendering and when that is running you are off having coffee- whether it takes an extra hour may not matter. In my case, I'd rather be forced to have the extra cup of coffee.

I've thought of trying to work out a way to factor this with a formula , but there are too many factors that are experiential and not objective. In the end my solution was to have a fast (3.6 / 3.8GHz) 4-core modeling system and a separate, used dual 4-core Xeon 8-core and inexpensive - ($1,000) 3.2 system that can sit in the corner and render. I thought this was oh so clever, but I discovered that the faster clock speed - and 6- years newer 4-core system with ECC DDR3 1600 RAM makes the renderings faster than the dual Xeon with 8-cores at the lower speed and ECC DDR2 667 memory. What have I learned from this? That I should sell the dual Xeon system and use the $800 towards upgrading my E5-1620 to an E5-1650 v2, 6-core at 3.5 / 3.9GHz and costing $570. Then, take the other $230 plus the $300 value of the Quadro 4000 and with another $300 buy a Quadro K4200 (4GB) which outperforms the $1,700 Quadro K5000.

I apologize for going through all this reasoning and history, but it demonstrates the complexity of decisions in the time of rapid improvements in hardware performance with prices dropping. This is by way of trying to analyze your various choices. The used E5-2650 system having 16 cores and the two powerful GPU's is very, very tempting. This would be close to being perfect if the CPU's were E5-2650 v2 which are 2.6 / 3.4GHz instead of 2.0 /2.8. What is the selling price?

I regret to say that I have very little direct experience with RAID, having never configured a RAID on my own system. But, I think it is important to a fully optimized, high performance system and of course to those with very large files and storage. This is going to change as I was recently given a Dell Poweredge 2900 server and 24-port hub, and wireless router. This has dual Xeons, a Dell Perc RAID controller, 5X 10K RPM drives, and Server 2003. Old-fashioned but as I have four systems, and for an education I'm thinking I might configure a little network and work out the RAID setup.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

My Motto: "Never use one word when twenty will do just as well."


 
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Bambiboom

The CPU's are E5-2650 (v1). The seller is asking for 2600$. Getting these parts all new would cost 5150$.

This is my motto: "Why take the straight path when you can wobble?"
 
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Svend Hansen,

Yes, the clock speed of the (v1) version of the E5-2650 is the principal concern. You mentioned having a demonstration of this system. This may sound a bit extreme, but is it possible that the seller would allow you to download and install a free trial of Maya such that you also load your most complex project and have a test drive- try navigation and manipulations, effects processing of the model ? but, it is overall extremely promising. A Dell or HP of that specification would be at least $9,000 in the US.

It's understandable that this may not be allowed, but would be the best method to ensure that you will be be satisfied with the performance. There rare also utilities that can display the number of hours on the hard drives for an indication of the use. check that the cables, configuration and air flow in the case is orderly and if the system also appears in overall good condition, then It seems to be a very good choice. In my view, the monitor should be a 27" 2560 X 1440 with color correction, but with that pair of powerful GPU's you can easily add the larger professional and use the 24" one side by side to show certain menus or other programs running at the same time. I often have four or five programs simultaneously- 2D CAD, 3D CAD, photo manipulation, word processor, and web browser.

I like your motto very much as I enjoy a good wobble, although it is discouraged in the US as we haven't a way to make money from wobbling.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

My Other Motto: "No matter what your intelligence, wealth, or health may be, the cheapest things in Life are free."

 
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I am the type of person that does not see a fault in used equipment. Just as Bambiboom mentioned it is good to know how it was used. I myself have used "used" blade servers for stuff with websites.

I would also have no problem with using old parts or systems for a workstation. There is 3 factors I tend to look at.

1) How longer were the drives used for. This is a big thing if they were 24hr drives or shut down after 16-18hrs of work.

2) What type of drives are they... i.e economy, consumer, business, and enterprise. With each level comes an expectant use out of the drive and what they are capable of doing. Yes all drives save data and allow access, but there are different methods and durability of drives. Now don"t think of warranty because that is just a factor of what a company wants to cover old gear for.

A) Economy = 7200 Standard drive is a low power and high storage using lesser quality parts. I am not saying the drive is lesser quality, it just has a higher risk factor of failure and or data loss.
B) Consumer = 7200 Data drive with higher standards of an economy drive. Give a bit better results in read/write with longer run times.
C) Business = 7200 data drives that are used to continues use i.e they can run 24hrs with little error or fail. These are great for storage like NAS or 24hr monitored stations. They are not the fastest but very reliable.
D) Enterprise = 10--15K drives, these drives are a double duty drive as they have endurance and performance but they come at a price.

Knowing what type of drive is used and how will help judge if it will be reliable to by when used.

3) Knowing what the system was used for and what was done with it.

A) Now with the CPU in used gear really only matters when it comes to people that OC, if it has not been OCed, failure will be rare after a bit of time used. BUT and I mean BUT if the person OCed and is a novice with OCing, be very aware.

B) What version of programs were last run on the system. It might sound off, but seeing what they were running on the system might let you see what it has the possibility to become.

C) Can it handle upgrades. Simple as that. If it can go no further is it worth it?

Now when it comes to RAID systems, I am a very big advocate. I have been running RAID for over 15 years in every system I have created. I can tell you it is good for some, great for others and a complete waste for the rest. It is all going to depend on what it is being used for.

Now as for you and building a "workstation" type of machine look at programs being on RAID 0 and working saved data on RAID 10 or (1+0) depends on how you look at it.

When you start dealing with LARGE working data files you want to have the read/write of RAID 0 plus the data backup of RAID 1 hence why RAID 10 (1+0) is so nice, but it comes with a price.

You have to remember when working with SSD's RAID 0 will not make the programs run faster SSD's are very efficient with program speed. The difference is going to be with write/read of the data.

The other thing to look at is RAM. I hate when people say you only need this much RAM for "that or this". As Bambiboom said before what if you run "this, that, another this, some more of that, and then the other." They all get stumped, and have no clue what it is like to run 5-9 programs at once, or raytrace.

I am in the same ideal thinking as Bambiboom, and run many programs at once. This gives me the ability to switch from and use many programs at once. This to me is a very big deal when working with different files in media.


That's just my thought process...

 
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