Building a New Work PC and I Need Your Guidance Please

richard11992288

richard11992288

richard11992288

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Joined
14 Jun 2012
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24
Afternoon all.

I work as a 3D Designer for a Design Agency. We do a lot of 3D modelling and rendering on a daily basis and we are looking to by myself a new machine. My questions is what spec can I buy (most likely pre built as I don't think they will let me buy the parts and then build it) that is better than my current spec.

Here is my current spec, it is a Dell Percision T5400:

CPU: Intel Xeon E5410 Dual Core 2.33GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR2
GPU: Nvidia Quadro NVS 290 256MB RAM
HDD: 500GB SATA 300
Windows 7 64bit
19" WS Monitor

The applications I use on a daily basis are 3DS Max, Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign. I'm basically looking for a tower and a monitor for about £1200 tops that will beat the above spec. I know I can buy specific Workstations but some of these cost £1700 upwards which isn't in the budget.

From my own research and CPU/GPU charts Ive looked at some of the machines by other companies:

seem to beat my current machine and some a lot high on benchmark charts. I know for rendering I need CPU power and lots of RAM its the GFX side I'm not sure about, in regards to getting a non 3D specific graphics card.

Any links or specs would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks,

Rich
 
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Thanks for the advice.

Theres a slim to none chance of me getting a bigger budget. 5 years ago when the studio got this machine (which I now use) they spec'ed up a machine work £2k and the boss wanted a machine for under £1k. Now you and I both know that's silly as for a proper workstation I need to spend like £2k and get a really good IPS monitor but that wont happen.

Is it at all possible with my budget to spec up a machine that would out perform the above spec? Even if it does break the rule for what a workstation should have i.e. not having a FirePro or Quadro card. If I know there is a spec out there that will yield better performance then the one above I can work with that :-)
 
Intel Core i7 3770
8GB DDR3 1333Mhz Memory
128GB SSD Hard Drive
GTX 560Ti
600w PSU

Would this out perform the old spec? I don't need a big hard drive as everything is saved onto a server so just enough space for the OS and apps that's it.
 
The spec Id go for in an:

i7
12/16gb ram
Quardo or FireGL card
SSD System Drive.

The problem im finding is that workstations I see have the Xeon CPUs which is fine but only have 8GB of RAM and no SSD options.

It seems that wanting that spec id have to build it myself. Which I can do but dont know if work will let me.
 
Hi Sifal thanks for the reply. I will go to Autodesks website and their forums and see what answers I can get.

If I can find a site that lets me pick the parts and they build it that is something I could get them to agree too.

In regards to CUDA, what is it?

I will need an operating system (Win 7 64bit) and a monitor but not Monitor Calibration software. Again I know what I need a decent IPS monitor and calibration tools but work doesn't seem to care and gets us TN Panel Monitors because they are cheaper. Its something I'm working on that paying more for the right equipment is good in the long run and I'm not just trying to waste company cash
 
Hi Jon. I really do understand what yourself and everyone else is saying that I do need a bigger budget for a decent workstation that will allow me to work and render as fast as possible which will in the long term save the company money because at the moment I spend a lot of time waiting for renders along with multiple crashes and the times I have to wait for my machine to catch up with me. But the truth is that even though I know this my work place wont listen because of the cost (I know it doesn't make any logical sense but they wont). While I know the specification I have put up isn't an ideal workstation spec because it doesn't have a Quadro or Fire GL, im hoping that the spec above will allow for a decent performance increase over my current spec.

I am looking around the internet for places wheres I can pick my own spec and get it built for me and see what is the best deal I can get.

In regards to Quardo and Fire GL cards which would you advise I get that will yield a significant increase the Quadro NVS 290 Im currently using?
 
From what Im seeing if I can convince them to let me build the PC myself I might be able to get a good WorkStation set up for £1250. The spec is:

Core i7 3770k 3.5GHz
16GB DDR3 1600MHz RAM
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H MOBO
Gelid CPU Fan
Corsair Force 3 240GB SSD HDD
HP ATI FireGL V5600 512MB GFX Card
OCZ ModStream 700W PSU
Fractal Design R3 Case
24" TFT Monitor
Win 7 Home Premium 64bit

Do you think that will work?
 
Ive found a spec that is with my price rang and have a workstation gfx card. Can you please tell if this spec will yield signification performance increases over my current set up please?

• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit SP1
• Intel Core i5-3450 3.10GHz 6MB Cache (3.70GHz Max. Turbo Frequency) Quad-Core Processor
• Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Quiet CPU Cooler
• PNY NVIDIA Quadro 600 1GB GDDR3 Graphics Card
• 16GB Dual Channel (4x4GB) 1600 (PC3-12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Low Latency SDRAM - 32GB Max. Supported
• 64GB Crucial m4 2.5" SATA 6GB/s Silent Solid State Hard Drive - System Drive
• 1TB Seagate Barracuda SATA 6GB/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive - Storage Drive
• GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H Intel Z77 Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard - SATA 6GB/s & USB 3.0 & 1x Texas Instruments FireWire IEEE 1394a (400) Port
• 600W be quiet! Efficient Power 80PLUS Gold Silent Power Supply - 92% Efficiency, 120mm silent bearing fan & Energy Star 5.0 Certification
• Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium V2 Silent Midi Tower Chassis w/ USB 3.0 & Sound Proofing Material
• 6 Port Internal Card Reader - Accepts microSD and M2 cards without adapters
• 22x DVD±RW with DL SATA Optical Quiet ReWriter Drive

Would this machine be the ideal one?
 
On another note from what I am reading on certain forums is that Nvidia haven't bothered to release any new performance drivers for 3D Studio Max 2012 which doesn't give the Quadro Cards a big performance boost and that a good gaming card would be the way to go because of this fact.
 
hi Oliver thank you for the spec. I think I have found the perfect spec:

Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel x2
23" Dell UltraSharp U2312HM Widescreen IPS LED Monitor - Black
MSI Z77A-G45 Intel Z77 Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard 9
be quiet! Shadow Rock Pro Quiet CPU Cooler
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W)
Cooler Master Silencio 450 Black Midi Tower Soundproof Chassis w/ USB3.0
500W be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER E9 80PLUS Gold Power Supply
Crucial m4 128GB 2.5" SATA-III Solid State Hard Drive
Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 800
Microsoft Wireless Mouse 1000

All this for £1150 built and delivered. Think we have a winner :D
 
Thanks for the confirmation on the spec guys.

Ive had a look at how much space ill need for a HDD.

If I get a 128GB SSD I'm guessing ill actually have about maybe 120 when I view it within windows?

The install size for Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, 3D Studio Max 2012 and Adobe CS5 Design Standard (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign & Adobe Acrobat), the total amount of space it will take up should be about 32GB leaving me with 88GB free. The only other apps I have installed are little programs like CCleaner, Malwarebyte and FileZilla. I do have my music collection on my PC for while I work but that can go on the back up drive. Will 128GB be enough? Nothing is saved onto the machine, all work will be saved onto a server.
 
Thanks for all the info Olivier.

If my estimations are correct then a 128GB SSD will give say 110GB.

Lose 32GB for Windows, 3GB for Max, 8.5GB for CS5 Standard and 10GB for the hibernation file.

So I should have 66gb free. I only have a few basic apps like open office, ccleaner etc as well so lets say 60gb free.

Are my estimations correct?
 
Exsurgo I don't think that will be a problem as the Photoshop work I do is minor, sometimes I edit maps with the brush tool or I resized maps if they are too big. Other than that its mainly 3D Max I use. As for illustrator I just create planograms and cut lines for prototypes which dopiest use much in the way of system resoruces.
 
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