Need help choosing parts for Workstation PC

[BigZero]

Hi I'm planning to build a new home workstation and there are some parts I need help choosing.
Programs I'm working with: 3Ds max with Vray and Vray RT, Maya, Mudbox, Photoshop, After Effects. I often use real time rendering in 3D programs.
Here are my options on main components:

CPU: Single i7 4960X, i7 4930k or Dual Xeon 2620 v2, or 2630 v2
Cooler: 1 or 2 CM Hyper 212 EVO
Mobo: ASUS P9X79 WS for Single i7, Supermicro X9DAE-O for Dual Xeon
RAM: 16Gbs and do I need ECC Regstered or not?
GPU: Quadro k4000 or Firepro w7000 (I need to handle complex scenes and particles)
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000w
Case: Cooler master CM 690 II
Or other parts you would recommend

My budget is around $3500
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time guys

 

[bambiboom]

Big Zero,

Here's a thought > This is based on the the Zeon six core E5-1650 V2 on a C602 motherboard. For your use I would only have an LGA2011 system- greater bandwidth, more PCIe lanes, more memory, and the ability to expand to 8 and 10 core CPU's in the future.. The 1650 V2 at 3.5 / 3.9GHz is one of the fastest Xeons, plus at $600 is one the best in terms of cost / performance. I do recommend ECC RAM for accurate and artifact-free modeling /animation of particles, gas, reflections, and clean rendering. In my view, the very best card for all the applications listed is the Quadro K5000, and the upper level W-series (9000, 8000, 7000) are very good also. I am planning on snapping up a K5000 up as soon as they drop below $900 used,..

BambiBoom PixelCannon Modarendergrapharific iWork TurboSignature Extreme ModelBlast 6000 ®©$$™®£™©™_ 3.2.14

Processor> Processor: Intel Xeon Six-Core Processor E5-1650 v2 3.5 / 3.9GHz 0GT/s 12MB LGA 2011 CPU, OEM > $630 (Superbiiz)

____http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?p=E5-1650&c=fr&pid=...

____http://ark.intel.com/products/75780/Intel-Xeon-Processo...

Cooling> Noctua NH-U12S 120x120x25 ( NF-F12 PWM) SSO2-Bearing ( Self-stabilizing oil-pressure bearing ) CPU Cooler $70

____http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Motherboard> ASUS Z9PA-U8 ATX Server Motherboard, C602 chipset, LGA 2011 > $278

____http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131915

RAM> 32GB ( 2 X 16GB) SAMSUNG 16GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1600 Server Memory Model M393B2G70BH0-CK008 $380 > ($190 ea.)

____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

GPU> NVIDIA / HP Quadro K4000 3GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Workstation Video Card > $754

____ http://www.amazon.com/HP-Quadro-K4000-Graphic-Card/dp/B...

Hard Drive 1> SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD512BW 2.5" 512GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) > $470. (OS , Applications, Working Files)

____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Hard Drive 2> Western Digital 2 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive, Black, WD2003FZEX(RAID 1) > $168 (Files, Backup, System Image)

Hard Drive 3 > Western Digital 2 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive, Black, WD2003FZEX (RAID 1) > $168 (Files, Backup, System Image)

____http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Cache-Desktop-WD2....

Case> Corsair Obsidian Series 900D CC-9011022-WW Black Aluminum ATX Super Tower Computer Case $349.99

____http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168.....

Power Supply > SeaSonic G-750 SSR-750RM 750W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $110.

____http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

DVD Burner> ASUS Black 16X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM SATA Blu-ray Burner BW-16D1HT > $109.99

____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

_________________________________________________________________

TOTAL = $3,489.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

HP z420 (2014) > Xeon E5-1620 quad core @ 3.6 / 3.8GHz > 24GB ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 4000 (2GB)> Samsung 840 SSD 250GB /Western Digital WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > AE3000 USB WiFi > HP 2711X, 27" 1920 X 1080 > Windows 7 Ultimate 64 > Autodesk Building Design Suite, 3DS Max. Inventor Pro, Solidworks, Adobe CS MC, Corel Technical Design, Sketchup Pro/Vray, WordP Office, MS Office Pro [Passmark system rating = 3815, 2D= 767 / 3D=2044]

Dell Precision T5400 (2008) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB ECC 667> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card / Linksys 600N WiFi > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit > (earlier versions) AutoCad, Revit, Solidworks, Sketchup Pro, Corel Technical Designer, Adobe CS MC, WordP Office, MS Office Pro [Passmark system rating = 1859, 2D= 512 / 3D=1097]

 

[BigZero]

Thanks for ur reply, that is a nice build but I still have some questions if u dont mind.
Would an i7 4930k be a better choice compared to the E5 1650 v2? If going with Single CPU
Also I forgot to mention that HDD and SSD are not needed cuz I will be using my old ones.
Should I allocate more budget on CPU (possibly dual Xeon) or GPU (Quadro k5000)?

 

[bambiboom]

Thanks for ur reply, that is a nice build but I still have some questions if u dont mind.
Would an i7 4930k be a better choice compared to the E5 1650 v2? If going with Single CPU
Also I forgot to mention that HDD and SSD are not needed cuz I will be using my old ones.
Should I allocate more budget on CPU (possibly dual Xeon) or GPU (Quadro k5000)?

BigZero,

The applications you use > 3D modeling, animation, and rendering, are in the most demanding classification and would benefit from as many CPU and CUDA cores, as possible. As a system has to work in the most demanding application, I strongly recommend a Xeon, ECC RAM for those applications and a Quadro card to run the viewports in Maya and 3Ds Max- the demanding ones. In my view the Quadro K5000 is the ideal Maya card, and in fact is good at about everything.

The step up to a dual Xeon with an appropriate clock speed and Quadro K5000 is quite a jump in cost, but not inappropriately expensive given that you're running $20,000+ in software. Here is an idea of a good system of that kind that should have quite high performance >

BambiBoom PixelCannon Cadamodirendacompilarific ExtremeTurboSignature IWork 9000 ®©$$™®£™©™ _3.4.14

CPU > (2) Xeon E5-2643 V2 Six Core 3.5 / 3.8 GHz LGA2011 25MB > $3146 ($1578 ea)

____ http://www.provantage.com/intel-cm8063501287403~7ITEP3WR.htm

CPU OPT'L > (2) Intel Xeon Processor E5-2637 v2 Four core 3.5 / 3.8 GHz 15M Cache >$1992 ($996 each)

http://ark.intel.com/products/75792/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2637-v2-15M-Cache-3_50-GHz

Motherboard > ASUS Z9PE-D8 WS Dual LGA 2011 Intel C602 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 SSI EEB > $534

____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131817

CPU Cooler > CORSAIR Hydro Series H60 (CW-9060007-WW) High Performance Water / Liquid CPU Cooler. 120mm > $130 ($65 ea)

____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181030

RAM > 64GB (4) Kingston 1X16GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Server Memory Model KVR18R13D4/16 $745 ($185 ea) > VERIFY

___ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239756

GPU > NVIDIA Quadro K5000 4GB GDDR5 Graphics card > $1689.

____www.amazon.com/NVIDIA-Quadro-K5000-Graphics-PNY/dp/B009L8E4UO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391826733&sr=8-1&keywords=quadro+K5000

HD 1 > SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD512BW 2.5" 512GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) > $400 (OS and Applications)

___ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147194

HD 2 and 3 > (2) Seagate Constellation ES.3 ST2000NM0033 2TB 7200 RPM 128MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Enterprise Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive > $ 294 ($197 ea) (RAID 1) (Files, system Image)

___ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178296

Power Supply > CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply > $160.

____http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

Optical Drive > SAMSUNG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA Model SH-224DB/BEBE - OEM > $20

Case > Case Labs > Mercury S8 > with options $400

___ http://www.caselabs-store.com/mercury-s8/

OS > Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit- OEM > $190

____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416808
__________________________________________________________

TOTAL = $7,708 or $7,014 without SSD and HD's. With Xeon E5-2627 V2 and no drives = $5,860

With 12 cores / 24 threads at high clock speeds, I believe this kind of system would be a far better performing and might extend the useful life up to three years longer than the single CPU concept. The only improvement to this system would be to have 2X 8-core Xeon 2768W V2 @ 3.5 /4GHz ($2,200 each).

If the budget is not as flexible, I believe the Quadro K5000 to be the best all round workstation card going and I for one would make an effort to have that one. When those are available used at under $800 (there have been a few sales close to that already), that will be my next GPU.

On the subject of used Quadros,, I might mention that I have had a used> FX550, FX570, FX580, FX1700, and FX4800 ($1,200 new, $150 to me when 18 months old) and I have never had one failure or problem that wasn't in reality a driver version problem. If you are good at judging used stuff and have patience, you might consider springing on a used Quadro K5000 deal. Here's one I missed by a day. > >

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-Quadro-k5000-Brand-New-Taken-Out-Of-Packaging-For-Pictures-/171237369923?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item27de8ae843

No guarantees of course, but my I can't believe that my luck with 5 used Quadros over 10 years is unique.


Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[victorarq]

BambiBoom,

great reply. I'm about to make my own workstation and I was wondering why you picked the Xeon over the 4960x. Is there a big difference?

Thank you

 

[bambiboom]

BambiBoom,

great reply. I'm about to make my own workstation and I was wondering why you picked the Xeon over the 4960x. Is there a big difference?

Thank you

victorarq,

There has been, I think- always been a pairing of the i7's and a Xeon equivalent. The i7-4960X has it's Xeon cousin in the Xeon E5-1660 v2. These CPU's are very similar- even the prices are similar, but the i7 may be overclocked for performance and the Xeon is locked for stability, the i7 is 3.6 / 4.0 GHZ and the E5 is 3.7 / 4.0 and most importantly for workstation use, the Xeon supports ECC error correcting RAM. Not everyone needs ECC, but for scientific and computational work, 3D modeling, simulations, and in CPU-based rendering, ECC can be important. This resolves positional computations in waveforms and 3D modeling, thereby preventing or mitigating accumulated errors. If you are rendering with complex textures, smoke, and reflections, calculating wind or ocean currents, or making waveform filters or extrapolations, ECC help keep subsequent repositioning in it's proper place. ECC has a greater latency than non-ECC, but the precision can be important in both calculation and image quality.

If you're thinking of a Xeon /Quadro workstation, be aware that since this thread has started, there is a whole new line of Xeon E5 v3's, many of which have added cores, and up to 18 tota land with some loss of clock speed, using DDR4 2133 RAM- which seems to be quite expensive. The Quadro K4000 and K5000 are now the K4200 and K5200 with remarkable improvements in performance- the K4200 is faster than the K5000 and the K5200 is now 8GB and also much faster- not than the K6000 though. The K2000, now the K2200 (about $460 US), is faster than the K4000 (about $750) and even the entry-level K620 ($175) is almost as fast as a Quadro 5000. Likewise, the i7-4960X 6-core @ 3.6 / 4.0GHZ is now the i7-5960X 8-core @ 3.0 / 3.5GHz- and it's Xeon cousin is the E5-1660 v3, also 3 /3.5GHZ. See, more cores but at a lower speed. My choice for a single CPU workstation now would be the E5-1650 v3 6-core @ 3.5 /3.8GHz, about $590.

What programs are you using?

Cheers,

BambiBoom

My systems> Note the presence of Xeons and ECC RAM:

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 (2006) 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 = 1458, CPU = 3642 / 2D= 433 / 3D=1346]

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