Rendering workstation.....

[kbarter]

Hello, I have recently started doing renders of my CAD drawings and the computer I have presently is not really coping very well and therefore am looking to upgrade - I dont know much about building computers and therefore was trying to find a powerful computer off the shelf...

I have found a pc with the following specs:

Windows 7 64bit
Intel Z68 Express Chipset
Intel Core i7 2600K, 3.4Ghz
16Gb RAM
ATI FirePro V8800 GPU
300Gb Intel SSD
1Tb WD Caviar Black HDD

Would this be any good for use as a rendering workstation primarily running modo and solidworks

If anyone has any suggestions of better configurations it would be greatly appreciated

My budget is around about the £2000 mark

thanks in advance

 

[lecosmique]

While building your own may seem out of range, it's really not that hard. By my guess, you will be able to save about $1000 or 635 pounds by building your own. Not sure how the shipping factors in, or pricing in the UK.

I built a machine very similar to that about a month ago, and my total was just inside of $2000: (newegg pricing and partnumbers)

11-139-006 CASE CRSR|OBSIDIAN 650D CC650DW-1 R $189.99
13-131-790 MB ASUS|P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA1155 R $209.99
14-130-604 VGA EVGA|01G-P3-1561-AR GTX560 1G R $249.99
17-139-016 PSU CORSAIR| CMPSU-750AX 750W RT $169.99
19-115-070 CPU INTEL|CORE I7 2600K 3.4G 8M R $319.99
20-145-347 MEM 4Gx4|CORSAIR CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B $85.99
20-226-225 SSD 120G|MUSHKIN MKNSSDCR120GB-DX R $214.99
24-260-047 MNTR DELL|LED 24" U2412M 8MS R $359.99
27-135-247 BD DRIVE ASUS| BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS % $57.99
35-103-099 CPU COOLER CM| RR-212E-20PK-R2 R $44.99

Total was $1850 after discounts, and that is including a 24" IPS dell monitor. I had a Samsung Spinpoint 1TB drive.

I'm not GPU expert, so I can't comment on your selection.

You might consider a different SSD, as the one you have selected is a Tier 8.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/buy-ssd-recommendation-value,3088-6.html

I didn't know a thing about SSDs prior to my build, and found great info around here.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/270102-32-useful-articles-part

I used these tips to set it up:
http://www.computing.net/howtos/show/solid-state-drive-ssd-tweaks-for-windows-7/552.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/124198-user-profiles-create-move-during-windows-7-installation.html

I'm assuming you want to have OS and apps on the SSD, and storage on the Caviar Black. 300GB may be overkill for your SSD. I went with 128GB, and have plenty of room. I guess it depends on your install base.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[kbarter]

Thanks lecosmique - your advice is very helpful, I may try and pluck up enough courage to build it myself...

Thanks again

 

[guanyu210379]

Go X79 mobo + 3930K/3960K + at least 16GB quad channel RAM, if you want to go hardcore rendering machine.

 

[kbarter]

Best answer selected by kbarter.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey