3d applications AND gaming

DeadSeraph

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Mar 28, 2011
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Hi all. I am currently trying to scope out a PC for my digital media course in September. I am going into my 4th semester now, and I need to upgrade my PC.

Recently a friend of mine who works in a computer store suggested I go with a nvidia GPU because of something called CUDA.

Now I've been using an older PC with a radeon 6670 for the last 3 semesters, and although my PC isn't blazing fast, I haven't really run into any problems. The only time I've encountered issues is with zbrush and that is when I am dealing with high res meshes with multiple parts (we're talking 15 million + polys).

I am ALSO a gamer, and I want a system that can play games as well as deal with my 3d applications (zbrush, maya, and 3d studio max, mostly). I've always been partial to AMD, so I was hoping to go with an 8 core system with 16gb of ram and a 3gb GPU.

So my main question is this:

Is there a real advantage to using nvidia cards for 3d related applications, or am I making too much of this?

I should also add that I would like to reduce render times as much as possible, but I am also on a budget (no more than $1350).

Should I be looking at intel cpu's and nvidia gpu's instead or will the performance difference be miniscule at best?

Edit to add:

This is a pre-built that I was considering. I was going to shave a few options off to save a couple bucks and it turned out to be about $1350 with shipping after all was said and done:

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Solution
The only thing that uses cuda in those software is iray in max. But if you wanted to use a gpu renderer, max also comes with quicksilver that works on both.

You'll save a couple hundred by building yourself or upgrade to have it at the same price.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($199.99 @ NCIX)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.99 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($116.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: Mushkin Stealth 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($123.99 @ NCIX)
Storage:...
Will the workstation applications are are running benefit from CUDA?

There are other ways these applications can use the GPU besides CUDA, and AMD also have the FireGL workstation series of cards designed to get the most from workstation software.
 

DeadSeraph

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Mar 28, 2011
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18,510


That's the issue. I sort of need a gaming pc and a work station in one case with 1 GPU since I am on a budget. For my work, I'm not doing anything overly taxing. My current work consists mostly of filling out my portfolio for entry level 3d positions. So at most I am only dealing with super dense meshes in zbrush, and rarely if ever exceeding 5 million polygons in maya/max.

The bottleneck in my old system was definitely render times. a 30 second animation with minimal lighting/resolution would often take me all night to render (7 hours or more). So I'm hoping to improve on that. Currently, my CPU is an AMD phenom II, so it's quite out dated and I think that combined with only having 4 gigs of ram was slowing things down to a crawl.

I guess in the end, I'm wondering if the nvidia GPU is really going to improve performance in 3d applications all that much, or if I'm ok to go with a radeon 7950 like I want to (with an AMD FX-8350 8 Core Processor Socket AM3+ 4.0GHZ for CPU and 16GB's of ram).
 
The only thing that uses cuda in those software is iray in max. But if you wanted to use a gpu renderer, max also comes with quicksilver that works on both.

You'll save a couple hundred by building yourself or upgrade to have it at the same price.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($199.99 @ NCIX)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.99 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($116.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: Mushkin Stealth 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($123.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.79 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($309.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($104.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($88.88 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $1162.60
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-07 13:16 EDT-0400)
 
Solution