What type of tasks actually require a graphics card in a Workstation Build?

[aces19]

I'm building a workstation PC and I want to know what types of tasks actually would require a decent graphics card. As of now, I think that the integrated graphics on the 6700k should be good, but what tasks do you think would actually require a GPU?

 

[SkillNye]

What type of workstation are you making? Simple everyday tasks or Graphic Design, Video Editing, ect.? If you're doing simply everyday tasks, AMD's APU is better than Intel's integrated graphics. But if you're working with Adobe products and doing video editing, you might want an actual GPU.

 

[JamesSneed]

This is a little backwards having people list potential uses for your workstation. Why don't you just state what this will be used for even if you don't know specific applications.

If you want a list go to Anandtech's bench and see the various things they test:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU15/1248

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

3D rendering, particle models, etc. Depends on the program, some are different than others. Physics simulation, and the like, is always done on the CPU though.

 

[SkillNye]

This is a little backwards having people list potential uses for your workstation. Why don't you just state what this will be used for even if you don't know specific applications.

If you want a list go to Anandtech's bench and see the various things they test:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU15/1248

Were you talking to me?

 

[aces19]

This is a little backwards having people list potential uses for your workstation. Why don't you just state what this will be used for even if you don't know specific applications.

If you want a list go to Anandtech's bench and see the various things they test:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU15/1248

Sorry I didn't list them, guess that was kind of stupid. I will be doing heavy multitasking, downloading 4k+ videos/pictures and probably dealing with a lot of things in over 4k, not to mention the other programs (simple programs, but lots of them) like word, etc, open at the same time. I'm thinking I don't need a GPU, however if I did get one where would I benefit or would I not benefit at all if I am not using lightroom or 3d modeling software?

 

[JamesSneed]

This is a little backwards having people list potential uses for your workstation. Why don't you just state what this will be used for even if you don't know specific applications.

If you want a list go to Anandtech's bench and see the various things they test:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU15/1248

Were you talking to me?

No the OP.

 

[JamesSneed]

This is a little backwards having people list potential uses for your workstation. Why don't you just state what this will be used for even if you don't know specific applications.

If you want a list go to Anandtech's bench and see the various things they test:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU15/1248

Sorry I didn't list them, guess that was kind of stupid. I will be doing heavy multitasking, downloading 4k+ videos/pictures and probably dealing with a lot of things in over 4k, not to mention the other programs (simple programs, but lots of them) like word, etc, open at the same time. I'm thinking I don't need a GPU, however if I did get one where would I benefit or would I not benefit at all if I am not using lightroom or 3d modeling software?

My vote is to go with the on-board GPU for now. I don't see anything that stands out as needing a GPU. When you do this build make sure to leave yourself the option of adding a GPU(case size, PSU) as your needs may change down the road.

 

[Dreznon]

I believe rendering 3D models, animations and such. My friend in college bought a Lenovo 13" from walmart with 4th or 5th generation i3 and is still able to 3D model. I'm sure it can render but the more information (larger his model gets) it will probably be more efficient to open his file in a workstation for fast rendering. A 1 1/2 minute animation in 3ds I seen of his took 15 hours to render and on a workstation. I would not want to think about the equivalent of time converted to just a 6700k alone. I do not remember which program utilizes gpu versus cpu for its information transferring which will also make a difference. I do not have an answer, but with the knowledge of the cheap $300 Lenovo working and transferring that to your situation, you should be able to form a good opinion for yourself.
On the other hand I seen all these kids using old 2009 acers and such on 3ds max and modo running amd so I bought a Toshiba satellite with a i7-2630QM in it and it was insane fast but modo wouldn't load up files after about 2 months of use. It started to work again but only for a day and then did the same thing. The experience modeling was great and no lag, honestly the satellite compared to my desktop with fx8320 and r9-270x. It probably handled better. Always lag with the desktop. It would be fair to say my graphics card has been approved for RMA.

I would say rendering would need gpu

 

[Rookie_MIB]

Sometimes the 3D modelling requires it, but if you're doing video work (processing etc) that's usually CPU intensive. Some of the transcoding programs can leverage the GPU for the task, but that's all determined by the particular software, and you should check with the software you'll be using most in that case before purchasing a GPU for the build.

I'm actually putting together a workstation build myself, but I'm going slightly used, but the price savings was quite substantial.

MOBO: Asus P7F7-E WS. Capable of dual x16 or quad x8 GPUs. $100.00
CPU: LGA 1156 Xeon X3470. $60.00
RAM: 16GB ECC DDR3 Samsung RAM. $30.00

I already have the case and PSU for it (Strider Gold 750w, Antec NSK 4400), just trying to figure out what GPU set I want. Tempted to put in dual 970s just because. All in all, for $200.00 not counting the GPU, it should be plenty potent as the Asus board has quite a nice set of overclocking features and the results on the Xeons have been pretty impressive (3.97ghz!)