How can I upgrade gaming rig to rendering workstation?

[adnanahmed12]

So I am in university and I use revit architects and this is a demanding product. I wanted to upgrade to a gaming/ rendering workstation but I my priority is rendering,

I would appreciate upgrades as I could save money but if that does not work I dont mind saving up and starting a pc build project

Intel i5 4690k
nvidia geforce 760
msi z87 mobo
ddr3 corsair 8gb
NO ssd
1tb western digital

so if I am only upgrading budget will vary i guess but if you insist I build new then £800-£1200
But i'd rather upgrade

thanks!

 

[CraigN]

Is the rendering you're doing CPU-bound or GPU bound? I'm not familiar with Revit, but from my understanding, your main area of concern with rendering is either fast CPU for CPU-bound rendering applications, or a faster GPU for GPU-accelerated rendering solutions. I don't do a lot of rendering, and most of my knowledge is based on what my coworker who DOES do a lot has told me, so, someone feel free to come in and correct me here.

The i5-4690K is a pretty damn fast CPU, if Revit has GPU-accelerated rendering, you would do well with a GPU upgrade (and consequently will help your gaming as well!) for most of your money.

I definitely don't think you need to build new with your current setup. Your focus should be on a faster GPU, at the very least, and maybe a bump up to either 16GB of RAM, and maybe to an i7-4790K, in that order of importance. Someone more knowledgeable feel free to smack me upside the head, but, as far as I know, those would be your best options.

 

[guanyu210379]

I built already quite a few machines for CAD and rendering needs.
In the begining I waslost but after building such rigs for several friend of mine and received their feedback, I know now for sure:
You will want as many cores and as much RAM as possible, you can get those mainly from 2011 (X99) platform.
Thus, I would recommend as basis:
i7 5820k or i7 5930k
Any X99 mobo
4x8GB DDR4 RAM
and...
You would also want a GPU with plenty of VRAM like GTX980Ti or R9 390x, budget dependent.
You might also wanna check if your software is better on CUDA or OpenCL.
You will also do not want to miss an SSD.

 

[bambiboom]

So I am in university and I use revit architects and this is a demanding product. I wanted to upgrade to a gaming/ rendering workstation but I my priority is rendering,

I would appreciate upgrades as I could save money but if that does not work I dont mind saving up and starting a pc build project

Intel i5 4690k
nvidia geforce 760
msi z87 mobo
ddr3 corsair 8gb
NO ssd
1tb western digital

so if I am only upgrading budget will vary i guess but if you insist I build new then £800-£1200
But i'd rather upgrade

thanks!

adnanahmed12,

As it happens, Revit and rendering are two very demanding applications and I suggest a Xeon > ECC RAM > Quadro solution. Revit is not only a complex 3D modeling visualisation software, but the BIM component is a heavy dataset /database function. Rendering has been oreintated towarrds GPU-based for awhile, and while much faster I never had good image quality with it and quickly returned to CPU-based, which can take advantage of more CPU threads.

As regards the project being an upgrade to the exisitng system, you could replace the motherboard, CPU, RAM, GPU, and add an SSD with reasonable results that would be sufficient for universoty work:

Supermicro ATX Motherboard X10SAE for Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3, 4th gen. i7/i5/i3, S 1150 > £184.93

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/supermicro-x10sae-intel-c226-express-s-1150-atx-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-%28x16%29-vga-dvi-

Intel Xeon E3-1240 v3, LGA 1150, Haswell, Quad Core, 3.4GHz Base, 3.8GHz Turbo, 8MB Cache, 80W, CPU, Retail > £213.53

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-xeon-e3-1240-v3-lga-1150-haswell-quad-core-34ghz-base-38ghz-turbo-8mb-cache-80w-cpu-retail

16GB (2X 8GB) CT102472BA186D - 8GB Crucial Server Memory, DDR3 PC3-14900 (1866), 240 Pins, ECC, Unbuffered, CAS 13, 1.5V > £ 96 (£48 each) (The 8GB module allows adding to 32GB later)

Nvidia Quadro K2200 4GB GDDR5 PCIe x16 Graphics Video Card PNY VCQK2200-PB > sold for £184.52 (Yes, used, but these are made for the long long rendering slogs. I've had eight used Quadros over the years and never a single failure, including a 2004 FX 580 for a server monitor that still works perfectly, sometimes running continuously for weeks. I consider this the entry level for effective Revit use. I used a K2200 and for a big project eventually changed to a K4200. )

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nvidia-Quadro-K2200-4GB-GDDR5-PCIe-x16-Graphics-Video-Card-PNY-VCQK2200-PB-/201397774361?hash=item2ee43e2819%3Ag%3ApVkAAOSwT6pVs1pX&nma=true&si=kdll1A1N3cdHpTQse3IOzs2SBec%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

250GB Samsung 850 EVO, 2.5" SSD, SATA III 6Gb/s, MGX, 3D V-NAND, 512MB Cache, Read 540MB/s, Write 520MB/s, 97k/88k IOPS > £74.22

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/250gb-samsung-850-evo-25-ssd-sata-iii-6gb-s-mgx-3d-v-nand-512mb-cache-read-540mb-s-write-520mb-s-97k

___________________________________

TOTAL = £570

Still, adding a case, power supply, HD, and OS is still possible within your budget, so i.e. an entire new system:

Corsair Carbide Series 330R Ultra Low Noise High Performance Black Mid Tower Case E-ATX/ATX w/o PSU > £77.20

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-carbide-series-330r-ultra-low-noise-high-performance-black-mid-tower-case-e-atx-atx-w-o-psu

550W Corsair RM550x Series, 80 PLUS Gold, Full Modular, Single Rail, 45.8A +12V, 1x135mm Fan, ATX PSU > £69.98

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/550w-corsair-rm550x-series-80-plus-gold-full-modular-single-rail-458a-plus12v-1x135mm-fan-atx-psu

Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile Quiet CPU Cooler, Intel LGA1150/1151/1155/1156 > £32.50

1TB Western Digital WD10EZRZ WD Blue, 3.5" HDD, SATA III - 6Gb/s, 5400 RPM, 64MB Cache > £41.20

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-western-digital-wd10ezrz-wd-blue-35-hdd-sata-iii-6gb-s-5400-rpm-64mb-cache

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 32-bit English Operating System, Service Pack 1, Single Pack, DSP OEM DVD LCP > £118.76

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/microsoft-windows-7-professional-32-bit-english-operating-system-service-pack-1-single-pack-dsp-oem-

___________________________

TOTAL = £342

So, for about £950, you could have a quite good system that would have very good, reliable performance for several years.

An alternative would be to buy a used proprietary workstation, and look for either a single 6-core LGA2011 CPU, and I feel the ability to have up to 18-cores, more PCIe lanes, and more RAM, is a much better long-term solution, useful into professional life:

HP Z420 Workstation E5-1650 v2 3.5GHz 8GB RAM 500GB HDD K600 Win7 Pro G3E87US > £776.92 (in US)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Z420-Workstation-E5-1650-v2-3-5GHz-8GB-RAM-500GB-HDD-K600-Win7-Pro-G3E87US-/301696156440?hash=item463e7e0318:g😀2MAAOSwHnFVsqyG

The E5-1650 v2 is 6-cores at 3.5 / 3.9Ghz- one of Intel's best. I have two HP z420', one an E5-1620 and the other E5-1660 v2 and these have been over three years completely reliable. The K600 is not a favourite, but would be useful long enough to find a good K2200 while shopping.

Or, go back to LGA 1366 and have a dual 6-core. The latter approach takes more study and careful shopping but results can be very good. I bought a Dell Precision T5500 for $171:

Dell Precision T5500 (2011) (Original): Xeon E5620 quad core @ 2.4 / 2.6 GHz > 6GB DDR3 ECC Reg 1333 > Quadro FX 580 (512MB) > Dell PERC 6/i SAS /SATA controller > Seagate Cheetah 15K 146GB > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
[ Passmark system rating = 1479 / CPU = 4067 / 2D= 520 / 3D= 311 / Mem= 1473 / Disk= 1208]

> and spending about $900 have:

Dell Precision T5500 (2011) (Revised)> Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card 875W PSU > Logitech z313> Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3490 / CPU = 9178 / 2D= 685 / 3D= 3566 / Mem= 1865 / Disk= 2122] [Cinebench 15 > CPU = 772 OpenGL= 99.72 FPS] 7.8.15

You can do this with a T5500 or T7500 and use up to a Xeon X5690 which is 6-cores at 3.47 /3.73GHz. You can also start with a single CPU and add another later. Then, besides the SSD and mech.' l HD, add a PERC H310 PCIe RAID controller to have a 6GB/s disk system. I've had four used Dell Precisions over the years and never had a single failure.

Cheers,

BambiBoom
formerly Architectural Association

HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

Pending upgrade: HP /LSI 9212-4i PCIe SAS /SATA HBA RAID controller, 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB (RAID 1)

HP z420 (2013) > Xeon E5-1620 four core @ 3.6 /3.8GHz > 24GB DDR3 ECC 1600 RAM > AMD V4900 (1GB) > Seagate 500GB > Linksys WMP600N WiFi
[Passmark system rating = 2372 / CPU = 9001 / 2D= 712 / 3D= 1353/ Mem= 2261 / Disk= 712]