New Build for Maya 2016 Would like some advice.

[StardustLuna]

Hello everyone. I am an animation student and I will be graduating this spring. My parents are going to help me buy a new computer for graduation as my laptop currently only runs Maya 2016 as long as I don't have the textures turned on. I looked at all sorts of HP and Asus products but eventually I felt that I (and my parents) would get the most value if I built one since most of the parts can be reused for later machines.

I've been messing around on pcpartpicker and I think I have put together a pretty good build. Though I would very much appreciate some extra sets of eyes to make sure that I'm getting decent parts, or even if there is a cheaper alternative that doesn't lower the quality.

Some other things I'd like to check is:
- If I will be able to use two monitors on this system
- I would like microphone, webcam, headphone support.
- This will be able to plug into your normal outlet. Also that the wattage isn't too high.

Approximate Purchase Date: May-June

Budget Range: $1000-1200 after everything is said and done.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Maya 2016 mainly. Maybe Composite or Nuke. I'm not as concerned about rendering as my specialty is lighting/look dev and I won't be doing a lot of animation heavy or lengthy projects on this machine. Plus I know people who have access to farms and I could use theirs for small things too. Also, I only intend for it to be something that I can work at home on if I can't go into the studio one day of where ever it is that I'll hopefully be working at soon. My laptop did alright with rendering even with its crappy integrated graphics card.

Are you buying a monitor: I'd like to, but I do have an older one I can use if my budget is too low.

Parts to Upgrade: Everything. This will be a brand-new build.

Do you need to buy OS: I'm not sure... I have Windows 7 on my laptop and so I think I can make a system recovery cd or something like that. But I'm not so sure on the legalities of doing that. If I do have to buy windows I'd prefer windows 8.1 unless 10 is actually a good system.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I've never bought parts online before for something like this. I will defer to you folks better judgement on knowing which places are honest.

Location: Cocoa, FL, USA.

Parts Preferences: I prefer the i7 cpu's as that is what my current laptop is as well as all of the computers at school. I heard a lot of good things about Asus, and so I've been trying to lean towards their products when available.

Overclocking: I don't really feel there is a need for it here.

SLI or Crossfire: I only plan on buying one Graphics card so I don't think I can do this? Though if having two is better for what I'm using this system for then I guess I could...

Your Monitor Resolution: I would like to get 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I'd like a fairly simple system. I don't want to go messing around with the parts too much, just want to have the flexibility to upgrade as I need to.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Because I need a computer that can run Maya after I graduate or I will have a really hard time keeping up a demo reel.

Part List:

PCPartPicker]http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Z69f7]PCPartPicker part list[/url]

Price]http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Z69f7/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url]

CPU:
Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.89 @ OutletPC)

[strike]CPU Cooler:
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.75 @ OutletPC)[/strike]

Motherboard:
Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($153.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory:
Kingston ValueRAM 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($60.38 @ Newegg)

Storage:
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.89 @ OutletPC)

Video Card:
MSI GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card ($209.89 @ OutletPC)

Case:
Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply:
EVGA 650W 80+ ($69.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive:
Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.78 @ OutletPC)

[strike]Sound Card:
Asus Xonar DG 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($19.99 @ NCIX US)[/strike]

[strike]Wired Network Adapter:
TP-Link TG-3468 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI-Express x1 Network Adapter ($11.58 @ Amazon)
[/strike]
Wireless Network Adapter:
Asus PCE-N10 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($18.99 @ OutletPC)

Case Fan:
Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 White Case Fan FD-FAN-DYN-GP14-WT ($11.99 @ Amazon)

Keyboard:
Logitech Wireless Keyboard K360 ($23.15 @ Amazon)

Total: [strike]$1028.25[/strike] $1046.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02

This price is without the operating system if I can still use my old one and without a monitor which I can live with until I can buy a new one.

 

[rujoesmith]

Couple things. You don't need the cpu cooler, the one that comes with the cpu will be just fine. The motherboard has onboard Ethernet, so you don't need an additional card for that. Unless you needed additional inputs/outputs that soundcard will not make little to no difference in sound quality. I would also recommend a different powersupply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438026&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[StardustLuna]

Thank you for the reply. One of the things I'm most worried about is overheating...though since I'm not overclocking or using multiple GPU's I'm guessing I shouldn't really have that problem?

 

[rujoesmith]

No not at all, that case has good airflow, and you will have a total of 3 fans.

 

[bambiboom]

Hello everyone. I am an animation student and I will be graduating this spring. My parents are going to help me buy a new computer for graduation as my laptop currently only runs Maya 2016 as long as I don't have the textures turned on. I looked at all sorts of HP and Asus products but eventually I felt that I (and my parents) would get the most value if I built one since most of the parts can be reused for later machines.

I've been messing around on pcpartpicker and I think I have put together a pretty good build. Though I would very much appreciate some extra sets of eyes to make sure that I'm getting decent parts, or even if there is a cheaper alternative that doesn't lower the quality.

Some other things I'd like to check is:
- If I will be able to use two monitors on this system
- I would like microphone, webcam, headphone support.
- This will be able to plug into your normal outlet. Also that the wattage isn't too high.

Approximate Purchase Date: May-June

Budget Range: $1000-1200 after everything is said and done.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Maya 2016 mainly. Maybe Composite or Nuke. I'm not as concerned about rendering as my specialty is lighting/look dev and I won't be doing a lot of animation heavy or lengthy projects on this machine. Plus I know people who have access to farms and I could use theirs for small things too. Also, I only intend for it to be something that I can work at home on if I can't go into the studio one day of where ever it is that I'll hopefully be working at soon. My laptop did alright with rendering even with its crappy integrated graphics card.

Are you buying a monitor: I'd like to, but I do have an older one I can use if my budget is too low.

Parts to Upgrade: Everything. This will be a brand-new build.

Do you need to buy OS: I'm not sure... I have Windows 7 on my laptop and so I think I can make a system recovery cd or something like that. But I'm not so sure on the legalities of doing that. If I do have to buy windows I'd prefer windows 8.1 unless 10 is actually a good system.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I've never bought parts online before for something like this. I will defer to you folks better judgement on knowing which places are honest.

Location: Cocoa, FL, USA.

Parts Preferences: I prefer the i7 cpu's as that is what my current laptop is as well as all of the computers at school. I heard a lot of good things about Asus, and so I've been trying to lean towards their products when available.

Overclocking: I don't really feel there is a need for it here.

SLI or Crossfire: I only plan on buying one Graphics card so I don't think I can do this? Though if having two is better for what I'm using this system for then I guess I could...

Your Monitor Resolution: I would like to get 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I'd like a fairly simple system. I don't want to go messing around with the parts too much, just want to have the flexibility to upgrade as I need to.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Because I need a computer that can run Maya after I graduate or I will have a really hard time keeping up a demo reel.

Part List:

PCPartPicker]http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Z69f7]PCPartPicker part list[/url]

Price]http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Z69f7/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url]

CPU:
Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.89 @ OutletPC)

[strike]CPU Cooler:
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.75 @ OutletPC)[/strike]

Motherboard:
Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($153.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory:
Kingston ValueRAM 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($60.38 @ Newegg)

Storage:
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.89 @ OutletPC)

Video Card:
MSI GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card ($209.89 @ OutletPC)

Case:
Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply:
EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive:
Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.78 @ OutletPC)

[strike]Sound Card:
Asus Xonar DG 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($19.99 @ NCIX US)[/strike]

[strike]Wired Network Adapter:
TP-Link TG-3468 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI-Express x1 Network Adapter ($11.58 @ Amazon)
[/strike]
Wireless Network Adapter:
Asus PCE-N10 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($18.99 @ OutletPC)

Case Fan:
Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 White Case Fan FD-FAN-DYN-GP14-WT ($11.99 @ Amazon)

Keyboard:
Logitech Wireless Keyboard K360 ($23.15 @ Amazon)

Total: [strike]$1028.25[/strike] $971.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02

This price is without the operating system if I can still use my old one and without a monitor which I can live with until I can buy a new one.

StardustLuna,

If I might offer an alternative approach.

Given the demands of Maya are about as extreme as any program- the single-threaded performance has to be good for modeling and the rendering of animations can use all the threads available, my suggestion is to consider upgrading a dual Xeon workstation. For example, this completed Ebahhhh listing:

Dell Precision T7600 Barebones w/ 1x Heatsink No CPU No RAM No RAID No HDD > not sold at $361

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T7600-Barebones-w-1x-Heatsink-No-CPU-No-RAM-No-RAID-No-HDD-/231841181986?hash=item35facfb122%3Ag%3AzK8AAOSwuAVWuorQ&nma=true&si=22X36qNbcfiWrDol6w3eGP7Qrms%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

And to this you have to add the CPU(s), RAM, GPU, and drives. For this, I'd suggest adding a single Xeon E5-2680. This is 8-core and will run at 3.5GHz for modeling and then render on 14-threads at 2.7GHz. The good news is that these are selling currently (2.16) for as little as $150. Then, add 16GB of DDR3 1600 ECC in 2X8GB modules- about $140, a used GTX 970 about $170, a Samsung 850 Evo 250GB- $90, and WD Black 1TB, about $75. The total cost is about $1,100. That's assuming the the T7600 costs $370 and these are more likely to be $500 so that would be a total of $1,240.

That is a bit over the budget, but you would have a system with the potential to have a total of 16-cores /32 threads at up 2.7 /3.5, 16X 8GB of RAM = 128GB, two 150W GPU's, and with a RAID controller card, an extremely fast disk system. A quad core, consumer -grade system is not the thing to run Maya and try to process animations. Consider the difference of rendering on 6-threads instead of 14 with the single CPU and 30 when the 2nd CPU is added.

In my view, this system should also be running a Quadro GPU and in a year or so, consider a used Quadro M4000 (8GB). They've only come out recently - 10.15, but in a year they'll be $500 or so.

The other, very nice aspect, is that you only need to plug in the CPU, RAM, GPU, and drives, no wiring and very little configuration to be up and back to work. Also, there is a tremendous convenience to go to Dell.com and download the manuals, BIOS and chipset updates, and all the drivers and etc. When I bought the used, 4-year old T5500, Dell sent me a re-installation disk fro Windows free of charge.

I've done this with a Precision T5400 in 2010, and a T5500 in 2015 and neither of those systems ever had one component failure- they're ultra-reliable and the T7600 is designed to be very quiet.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Modeling:

1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 (6-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz) > 32GB DDR3 1866 ECC RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > Logitech z2300 speakers > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)>
[ 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)

Rendering:

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) (Revised) > 2X Xeon X5680 (6 -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz), 48GB DDR3 1333 ECC Reg. > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > PERC H310 / Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (27", 1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3844 / CPU = 15047 / 2D= 662 / 3D= 3500 / Mem= 1785 / Disk= 2649] (12.30.15)

 

[StardustLuna]

And to this you have to add the CPU(s), RAM, GPU, and drives. For this, I'd suggest adding a single Xeon E5-2680. This is 8-core and will run at 3.5GHz for modeling and then render on 14-threads at 2.7GHz. The good news is that these are selling currently (2.16) for as little as $150. Then, add 16GB of DDR3 1600 ECC in 2X8GB modules- about $140, a used GTX 970 about $170, a Samsung 850 Evo 250GB- $90, and WD Black 1TB, about $75. The total cost is about $1,100. That's assuming the the T7600 costs $370 and these are more likely to be $500 so that would be a total of $1,240.

That is a bit over the budget, but you would have a system with the potential to have a total of 16-cores /32 threads at up 2.7 /3.5, 16X 8GB of RAM = 128GB, two 150W GPU's, and with a RAID controller card, an extremely fast disk system. A quad core, consumer -grade system is not the thing to run Maya and try to process animations. Consider the difference of rendering on 6-threads instead of 14 with the single CPU and 30 when the 2nd CPU is added.

Our program just got a render farm. When I use Qube, I have to put in how many threads I use. Are these the same threads that you are talking about with the Xeon? If so then I am very tempted to put in another 100 bucks for this kind of system as our farm only has 18 threads and I am rendering at an average of 2 min for each frame with all of the passes.

 

[bambiboom]

And to this you have to add the CPU(s), RAM, GPU, and drives. For this, I'd suggest adding a single Xeon E5-2680. This is 8-core and will run at 3.5GHz for modeling and then render on 14-threads at 2.7GHz. The good news is that these are selling currently (2.16) for as little as $150. Then, add 16GB of DDR3 1600 ECC in 2X8GB modules- about $140, a used GTX 970 about $170, a Samsung 850 Evo 250GB- $90, and WD Black 1TB, about $75. The total cost is about $1,100. That's assuming the the T7600 costs $370 and these are more likely to be $500 so that would be a total of $1,240.

That is a bit over the budget, but you would have a system with the potential to have a total of 16-cores /32 threads at up 2.7 /3.5, 16X 8GB of RAM = 128GB, two 150W GPU's, and with a RAID controller card, an extremely fast disk system. A quad core, consumer -grade system is not the thing to run Maya and try to process animations. Consider the difference of rendering on 6-threads instead of 14 with the single CPU and 30 when the 2nd CPU is added.

Our program just got a render farm. When I use Qube, I have to put in how many threads I use. Are these the same threads that you are talking about with the Xeon? If so then I am very tempted to put in another 100 bucks for this kind of system as our farm only has 18 threads and I am rendering at an average of 2 min for each frame with all of the passes.

StardustLuna,

Yes, for professional work, CPU as compared to GPU rendering is essential for image quality.

The idea of the T7600 is to have a system that has a fast enough CPU for modeling- in this case 3.5GHz, and have the potential of 30 of 32 threads to assign to rendering (Windows needs 2 threads). When I changed from a 4-core / 8 thread Xeon E5 to the T5500 with 12 cores / 24 threads, the large architectural renderings went from 1 hour to 8 or 9 minutes rendering time as there were 22 threads applied as compared to 6.

By the way, last week someone sold Xeon E5-2680's for $300 per pair, so if you keep an eye out you might be able to have the pair right from the start.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

PS: My previous rendering system:

4. Dell Precision T5400 (2008) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB DDR2 667 ECC> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card / Linksys WMP600N WiFi > HP 2711X, 27" 1920 X 1080 and Dell 19" LCD > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit >
[ Passmark system Rating = 1853, CPU = 8626 / 2D= 520 / 3D=10967 Mem= 736, Disk= 901] [Cinebench 11.5 CPU=7.54 OpenGL = 51.89 fps] 10.24.15

And I used this for 5 years, sometimes running three days continuously and never a failure or any data lost.

 

[StardustLuna]

Okay, so if I go with the T5500, do I have to add any extra cooling or fans? I didn't see any listed in your builds so I'm just double checking. If I bought a CPU without a cooler what would be one that you would suggest for this system?

Thank you again for all the info.
~Stardust

 

[bambiboom]

Okay, so if I go with the T5500, do I have to add any extra cooling or fans? I didn't see any listed in your builds so I'm just double checking. If I bought a CPU without a cooler what would be one that you would suggest for this system?

Thank you again for all the info.
~Stardust

StardustLuna,

So, you would use a T5500 and not 7600?

If you buy a T7600 which can use the 8-core Xeon E5-2680 mentioned, the stock CPU cooler is perfectly good.
When buying a "barebones: T7600, verify the number of cooler included.

If you buy a T5500, which can use up to an X5690 6-core CPU at 3.47 /3.73GHz, you will probably need to also buy the 2nd CPU riser / fan board as well one or two coolers. There were two kinds of CPU cooler sold with the T5500. The lower specification CPU's had a cast Aluminum cooler that looks a bit like organ pipes and the one to use with a 6-core is Steel with Copper pipes and looks like an office building from the 1960's. So, you need to make sue you have two of the Steel / Copper ones. These are not expensive, I bought one for my T5500 for only $10.

I'm pleased to help if I can.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[StardustLuna]

bambiboom,

Sorry, I guess I do want the T7600, I was just looking at your specs listed for the T5500 rendering machine. I'm starting to put together a list of the parts you said I'd need. I notice that all of the listings for the DDR3 1600 ECC RAM say 'server only'. Is that technically what we're building or am I looking up the wrong thing? There also seems to be 'buffered' and 'registered' ones so I'm not sure which one I'm supposed to be looking for. Is there a (big) difference?

Also, most of the E5 2680 CPU's say '2.7' GHz, but when I look them up on pcpartpicker it says that they have a max speed of '3.5 GHz'. Is this also correct or is there a slightly different one with a higher speed that I'm not seeing? Please and thank you, I'm extremely excited about the prospect to continue using Qube after graduation.

~StardustLuna

PS: If I wanted to add a RAID controller, what kind should I be looking for? Is there a specific socket/size that it has to be?

 

[bambiboom]

bambiboom,

Sorry, I guess I do want the T7600, I was just looking at your specs listed for the T5500 rendering machine. I'm starting to put together a list of the parts you said I'd need. I notice that all of the listings for the DDR3 1600 ECC RAM say 'server only'. Is that technically what we're building or am I looking up the wrong thing? There also seems to be 'buffered' and 'registered' ones so I'm not sure which one I'm supposed to be looking for. Is there a (big) difference?

Also, most of the E5 2680 CPU's say '2.7' GHz, but when I look them up on pcpartpicker it says that they have a max speed of '3.5 GHz'. Is this also correct or is there a slightly different one with a higher speed that I'm not seeing? Please and thank you, I'm extremely excited about the prospect to continue using Qube after graduation.

~StardustLuna

PS: If I wanted to add a RAID controller, what kind should I be looking for? Is there a specific socket/size that it has to be?

StardustLuna,

I think a T7600, carefully configured is the best cost / performance, and most expandable solution. Also, a lot easier to get done than building from all separate components. Careful shopping will be rewarded.

1. The T7500 can use DDR3-1600 ECC that is registered or unbuffered- but can not be mixed. Registered is standard for servers and common for dual CPU systems as it adds a buffer cycle that helps synchonizes all the threads. I think most T7600 will have ECC registered. My T5500 had registered in at also. As used, registered is much cheaper as there is so much from decommissioned servers. I would suggest starting with 32GB as a minimum and buy 8GB modules so the system could eventually have 128GB. When adding RAM, be sure and follow the pattern in the user manual. It needs to be symmetrical to the two CPU's. If you're starting with a single CPU, then I think the 2nd socket may still need at least 1GB to it- not entirely sure.

2. The Xeon E5-2680 1st version has a base clock speed of 2.7GHz- just fine for rendering, and the first two cores will run at 3.5GHz for modeling.

3. A RAID controller is a good idea for performance, data protection, and to be able to have a lot of drives. I's recommend buying the Dell PERC H310 that was supplied with the T7600 new as you can get all the drivers and detailed installation instructions from Dell. I bought a NOS H310 f($60) for the T5500 and the Passmark Disk score went from 1940 to 2649 on the same drives. If you're going to do add a RAID controller, do it from the start as you have to install Windows to the controller as the boot device.

4. Though they seem expensive< I would reiterate the recommendation of a Quadro GPU for Maya and preferably 4GB or more. A K2200 or possibly the all Diplayport version, the K1200 is minimal, but if the budget can stand it, a used K4200 will have a lot better staying power- you might be able to use as long as you have the system.

Let me know how it goes. You're welcome to send a PM if you like.

Cheers,

BambiBoom