Non-gaming/workstation triple 4k monitors build

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Taylor Landress

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Apr 23, 2015
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Hello all,
I have been looking around for a while and haven't been fully able to decide on parts for a triple 4k monitor build. I'm looking at the nvidia line of gpus such as the Titans but just need some input. We have a budget of 5k and we are wanting to include 3-4k monitors. I am needing the community to help me figure out what we can put together with the 5k budget including hardware and software. The bulk of our work will be mapping programs. Anyone got any ideas? Any help is much appreciated.
 
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For starters

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($552.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus X99-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($269.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($369.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($212.92 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($543.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($543.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 1050W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($181.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell P2715Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($549.99 @ Mac Mall)
Monitor: Dell P2715Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($549.99 @ Mac Mall)
Monitor: Dell P2715Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($549.99 @ Mac Mall)
Total: $4734.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-26 16:46 EDT-0400

Feel free to add some HDDs :)
To all: feel free to edit this build.
 
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The most intensive programs we will be using is a program called Petra (Geological Mapping Software) and probably ArcGIS. We will also be using Microsoft Office. Petra has multiple modules, but the two that we use a lot of memory will be pulling multiple Raster Images stored on a SSD on a server and the other module is a basic mapping module that is less intensive than ArcGIS. There won't be intense 3D modeling/rendering or anything too graphic intensive. I figured since we aren't planning on using it for gaming or even for intensive 3D animation that we would be able to get away with doing the triple 4k....even though its still pretty tasking and costly. I was just told to try to figure it out and I haven't had any experience with 4k yet.
 
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I wasn't aware that the Titan X could handle triple 4k.
 
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^This is what I thought.
Most of what I have seen is either the r290s or the 980s.
 
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SLI will handle triple 4k monitors.
Drawbacks: more powerful PSU required, more heat. Shouldn't be a big problem.
 
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I have a feeling that'll go beyond $5k budget.
 
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The max res is for a single monitor, not total added up. That's the largest monitor out right now, 5k. The 8k one isn't out yet although dp does support it so the gpu would too. They just aren't going to list a spec they can't officially prove. You can run 3x4k on lower gpus (I've seen someone use a 760, I believe it was for trading) with no issues. Don't ask me for the link sorry, I'd just be googling as you are to find it. Sli won't help. Any gpu work from the software is only done on gpu 1 so that second is just useless not being used since you didn't actually need it to run more monitors. Both of those software are single gpu, opengl.
 
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Single 5k monitor will require 2DP connections to run @ 60 Hz. I think single 980 won't hold even two 4k well.
 
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If I add another FirePro it will. I am thinking of leaving a $1500 headroom for 3 4K monitors. And look at the comments below for further detail.



If the OP decides to use something like SolidWorks, AutoCAD, CATIA, Maya, etc. and video editing programs such as AfterEffect or Premiere, then the acceleration (OpenCL on FirePro, CUDA on Quadro) will come in handy. It gives features in SW such as displaying the model in Real Mode, and faster rendering in Ae and Pre.
 
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Okay, I got a bit of idea on what the programs are dependent on, and what the benchmarks are. Just to make sure, please tell me your current system and how it performs.
And also, here's what I think will do well.
2x Xeon E5-2640 V3
Asus Z10PE-D8
32GB DDR4, maybe ECC
1x AMD FirePro W600
32 GB SSD for boot
2TB HDD for storage
Phanteks Enthoo Pro

Someone else has to fill in the PSU. I usually recommend the same stuff as gaming PCs, but I've heard they aren't compatible.
 
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So looking at the Firepro w8100 and it seems like it should work for what we need. Although we may only use AutoCAD occasionally to make models, it will be good to have that acceleration if we end up with more intensive programs in the future. I have seen dual Titans now a couple times on gaming builds I am not sure if it fits as well as the w8100.

k1114 you mentioned someone using a 760 for a 3x4k setup? Would I be able to get away with 3x4k on a lower end card/cards(probably better than the 760)?

 
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Autocad (nor any of those software actually) has gpu acceleration that requires a workstation card. Autocad actually has none. The viewports aren't really counted but they are dx and work better with more performance so gaming cards win. But pro software can't all just be grouped together even from the same company like with AE is cuda only but not many people need raytracing so it doesn't even matter. You want to put much more in cpu there vs pre. All software must be considered on its own. They are not created equally. http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/workstation-graphics-2013/benchmarks,146.html Tom's hasn't updated the charts in awhile but just some examples.

IT guys are going to suggest xeon/opteron/ecc/workstation card. It's just the professional thing to do for your type of work. I haven't really suggested anything specific but if this is a work pc and nothing more, then I would probably go with him. I've had workstations with consumer hardware as well and had no issues. It depends on usage and if you really want to stretch that budget for the best performance. It's just the premium you pay that steer some away from workstation hardware vs the benefits of it.

The k2200 is based on the gm107 which is loosely the 750ti. I won't delve into driver/hardware differences with ws vs consumer. Although the software isn't very gpu intensive, it still uses the gpu and all those pixels will eat vram. Lower end cards will work as is the case with workstation cards performance but it will have more vram that low end consumer cards won't have.

What specs do you work on now? Or pcs you've worked on before? How was the performance? Cpu/ram/gpu/vram/storage usage would be the best thing but most don't pay attention to it. That's really the questions why I haven't suggested anything specific because just saying software is just general info, not really an idea of the workload that is specific to you. Who knows, you may not need much performance so maxing the budget with extra room for the future maybe unnecessary. I don't like to assume anything.
 
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My previous computer ran really well with all the above programs mentioned with an i7-2600, 16gb RAM, NVS 450 and a 250gbSSD. We ran 3 28in monitors. Only issue I have run into is dealing with a cross section module that pulls rasters from a server to correlate. We typically have about 3-4tb of these tif images with roughly 50-100 plotted in the module at a time. Redraw was painfully slow, but not sure if that is more a server issue, which we are trying to remedy with SSDs on the server( have another company that did this and they said the redraw time was loads faster. The only difference now is that my boss wants 3x4k monitors.
 
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Hm... I can't find a reference on the NVS 450. What card is that?

Edit: Never mind, I got some rough idea which architecture it is. Grab a W600, which should be a nice improvement and gives more ports, and if your CPU is having too much loads, maybe grab a Z10PE-D8, and Xeon E5-2630V3 (2x) and that should be a nice workstation for some rasterizing.
 
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So...my old computer I used was at a different company I worked at that ended up having to divest. I bought my old computer for $400 and its sitting in my backroom now. I am about to start working with a new company with new capital and so we have a budget to buy new computers. The guy I will be working with wants triple 4k and I was told to seek out the best we can put together with our budget.

I am aware of the bottleneck, but from what some have said using the SSD is better than using RAID 6. I have mentioned to my boss that we could store the rasters on a SSD box that we could hardwire to our computers directly and run it through the server for any other people that want to access the images. My team will be using the rasters significantly more than the rest of the team so they won't even care about the redraw times.
 
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