System rig for 3D animator/renderer

alterna88

alterna88

alterna88

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Joined
14 Oct 2009
Posts
120
Location
Swansea, Wales
Hello,

I need help with choice of components for a computer.
I'm a 3D animator, and I need a powerful system to support my work. At the moment I have a custom made PC but my family for some reason want's me to get a new one. Anyhow... I'm firstly not sure whether I can trade in my current PC and build a new one, or I could upgrade the current... But if I were to build a new one could you please suggest the best components? You could say that I'm new to PC building world even though I've helped building my current PC...
As a 3D Person I know that I need a powerful CPU, good RAM and Graphics card. But which ones exactly? Could you please suggest a list of parts for this type of PC? Budget so far I don't know, I want to see what kind of spec would be the best at the moment so that PC would be valid for a few years.

So far I was thinking on getting this as a base but if anyone have better suggestions I'll be happy to hear them.

Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £233.29

Corsair Dominator PLATINUM 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit with DHX Pro Connector (CMD8GX3M2A2133C9) £99.99
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £69.99
Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler £27.49
 
A powerful Cpu and lots of ram is what is needed. Your spec looks good though personally id grab the i7 3280 and head down the 2011 route.

There is one big advantage, upgradability. In July the 1155 socket will be replaced. 2011 however has ivybridge-e coming soon. Also, the 3820 is bottom on the 2011 pack and as good if not better than the 3770k. This means you can easily upgrade to better things. :)
 
Doomedspeed said:
A powerful Cpu and lots of ram is what is needed. Your spec looks good though personally id grab the i7 3280 and head down the 2011 route.

There is one big advantage, upgradability. In July the 1155 socket will be replaced. 2011 however has ivybridge-e coming soon. Also, the 3820 is bottom on the 2011 pack and as good if not better than the 3770k. This means you can easily upgrade to better things. :)
Click to expand...

I see... so you suggest going got 2011 socket then... I'll keep that in mind. Also what is the difference between Ivybridge and sandybridge?

What about Graphics card? Which would you suggest? And the PSU?
I was thinking of getting 2 harddrives one SSD for the system and the other one for the other files.
 
alterna88 said:
I see... so you suggest going got 2011 socket then... I'll keep that in mind. Also what is the difference between Ivybridge and sandybridge?

What about Graphics card? Which would you suggest? And the PSU?
I was thinking of getting 2 harddrives one SSD for the system and the other one for the other files.
Click to expand...

Yes 2011 will be the best route for you. The CPU's on 2011 are Sandybridge-E (Enthusiast) and this year Ivybridge-E. The 1155 socket has Sandybridge and Ivybridge, ivybridge is the upgrade of sandybridge (due to a die shrink).

Ivy is around 5%-10% faster but sit around the sane price point, so a no brainer really.

The CPU's on 2011 are the 3820 (similar in performance and price to the 3770k), the hex core 3930k. Ivybridge-e should include another 4 core, 6 core and 8 core CPU.

On the graphics front, do you do any gaming? If not picking up a cheap NVIDIA card fir CUDA is your best bet. If light gaming a GTX 460 is spot on..

The PSU depends on your GPU. Id say 500w to 600w will cover most eventuallities. A good brand such as XFX, corsair, seasonic and Silverstone would be recommended.

The harddrive setup.is ideal, that's what I have.
 
Hello,
I've sort of picked out the hardware and want to know professional opinion.
I'm no professional so I don't know a lot of things. So feel free to advice alternative options

Here is what I have in mind so far:
Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - OEM
Corsair Dominator PLATINUM 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit with DHX Pro Connector (CMD8GX3M2A2133C9)
Asus GeForce GTX 650 DirectCU 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2)
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD
Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK)
Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2)
Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24B5ST SATA ReWriter - Black (OEM)

I'm not sure if all components will work together, so I might be wrong... please correct me if I am. Also, for 3D rendering Im thinking maybe I'll need more Ram... somthing like 16GB
 
If you go for 16gb of some slower ram, and you will need to change the motherboard to a 2011 socket because the board you have chosen is a 2155 socket. Also i'd take a look at the amd 7850 with 2gb of vram because it should outperform the 650 and is a similar price.
 
Would this be better?
I don't want to go for a slow RAM because I'd need a good RAM for rendering.


Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - OEM
Asus GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Assassin's Creed III & FTP Currency
Gigabyte X79-UD3 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2)
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10)
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD
Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK)
Cooler Master Centurion 5 II Midi Tower - Black
Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2)
Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24B5ST SATA ReWriter - Black (OEM)
 
You do need to think it through bud

Few things to consider is your OS. If it isn't Pro then you are limited to a max of 16GB of RAM no matter how much the mobo can take or you install. Also the software you use and wether it supports GPU acceleration is a factor.

On the 2011 socket you have access to hexcore i7s (not cheap) and with a good mobo you stand a good chance of the ivybridge-E being an upgrade path too. The CPUs dont come with a heatsink so get a good one to OC it. The mobo would like quadchannel RAM too.

Having a budget would really help to be honest. If I was to build a "semi-pro" all round rig I could consider this...........

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - OEM £235.99
1 x Gigabyte X79-UP4 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £209.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £164.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black £119.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
2 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99 (£159.98)
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
2 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel kit (PV316G160C9K) £59.99 (£119.98)
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £1,283.33 (includes shipping : £13.75).



32GB of RAM (half the max allowed by the mobo), kit also overclocks well so ignore the 1600mhz sticker. Mobo has 3 year uk based warranty and a dual BIOS, the 2011 mobos have no IGP so a GPU is needed.

Faster SSD, two storage drives (one as a scratch maybe). Case is nice and sound dampened, gold rated PSU is modular and ample power for overclocking and a single GPU. 7850 can be overclocked nicely, that will aid GPU accelerating in supporting software.......Comes with free games so you can have some fun on it too.

The price could be lowered with tweaking but it gives you an idea. An 1155 socket setup could be cheaper still and has an IGP so the GPU can be ommited initially until you feel you need one. You'll have to weigh the pros and cons to your needs.

Hope this helps, look forward to seeing what you settle on
 
Last edited:
honosuseri said:
You do need to think it through bud

Few things to consider is your OS. If it isn't Pro then you are limited to a max of 16GB of RAM no matter how much the mobo can take or you install.
Click to expand...

With windows 8, the normal version supports up to 128GB, apparently.
Anyway, honosuseri's advice is good & it's a nice balanced build.
It would really help if you could list the exact main programs you use/ think you may use - it can alter the spec quite a bit in different directions.
 
Thank you for all your advices! That was exactly what I needed! =)

In regards to the list of programs I would use:

Maya 2013
ZBrush
Adobe CS6 Suite

Those are the main programs I use when working on films I'm thinking of starting to use Nuke as well but not sure it it'd make any difference.

My main concern is to have a good semi-pro PC that would be up to date for at least 2-3 years (you know how fast they bring out smth new)

My system at the moment is 3 years old, it does the job but I'm scared of doing complex stuff such as hair and cloth simulations... for that I need a stronger PC to render.
 
I personally like stulids build. Unsure on the GPU but it means you can game if it lures you in.

The 3820 will last 3 years easily, more than enough power to do so.
 
Z Brush is mainly CPU - based & I believe mainly single-threaded. So will benefit from a high single-core speed & an overclock.
Maya rendering will be based on CPU multi-threaded performance (usually).
Maya viewport speed will be combination of CPU single threaded performance & GPU performance.
The different CS6 programs will vary. For example I believe after effects mainly wants lots of RAM & quick storage. Many of the programs in the suite can benefit from GPU acceleration on either AMD or NVidia cards.
I think your spec is on the right track to provide a good balance of performance across the range.
 
I see... Thank you for your advices.
Just a random question... Is there any place where I can sell my current custom built PC?? Sort of trade in?
 
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