3D Workstation Build

Maxon doesn't appear to support GPU rendering. But the latest Adobe Suite does have Open GL support for some applications.

Probably be best to build around a Xeon platform for better rendering with Maxon. Let me see what I can come up with.

Not really sure what else to blow cash on, room in the budget for the highest end video cards if you want them. R9-290x or a GTX780. Went with a decent mid-range R9-270x 2GB card.

Xeon E3-1225 V3 is roughly equivalent to a i7-4770 but with more features that can help render jobs. No option to overclock though.

i7-4770k and a Z87 motherboard is the another option.

Could get a fancy computer case if you wanted as well.

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1Wx58
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1Wx58/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1Wx58/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1225 V3 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£170.88 @ Scan.co.uk)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI H87-G43 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£72.38 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£124.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card (£158.30 @ Dabs)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.90 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£12.56 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£65.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £661.98
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-02 23:45 GMT+0000)

C4d currently only comes with cpu renderers and adobe software is mostly cpu heavy. The xeon he posted is pretty much an i5 (quad core with no ht) which wouldn't be a good choice. So I would suggest the model above it, the 1230v3 which is only 15£ more and equivalent to an i7. It doesn't have igpu, which is useless in this situation anyways, but you could go to the 1245v3 if you want that. If you want to overclock, you would need to get a k cpu and a z87 mobo.

With your current pc only being 4gb ram, you probably won't even need 16gb. It still has 2 free ram slots if you need to add more later but doesn't hurt to just buy some more now. If you do get above 16gb of ram, you will also need windows 7 pro or higher or otherwise windows 8.

Which adobe suite version do you have? Because with cc they added opencl support for many things which used to be cuda only so am unsure if you should go amd or nvidia.

You still have the budget to add at least a 120gb ssd. I don't think I could ever call any hdd "really nice" but it will just be used for storage.

I would change the case. That one only has usb 2.0 plus it has no air filters. For a cheap case, the corsair 200r would be fine.

I just have to ask what psu is it? Because if it isn't good quality, I wouldn't use it. The specs he posted would want a 500w.

An overclocked i7 would give better performance.

There are a bunch of good cases. I usually go with non flashy cases like 400r or 500r. For a silent case, I'd go with a fractal define r4.

Chuck_Notch,

In a situation of using Maxon and Adobe CS that are quite CPU intensive in the effects processing, but that CS is CUDA acclerated, I would ordinarily consider a Xeon > ECC RAM > Quadro system. However, as you're using the system for games as well, an i7-4770 has a higher clock speed than the equivalent price Xeon and the GTX series provide more CUDA cores per Quidlet, here's an idea >

BambiBoom PixelDozer Cadamodagrapharific iWork Scotsman WalletJoyScream 8000 £®©™?$$_ 3 Nov 13

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/BambiBoom/saved/2IRf

CPU> Intel Core i7-4770 3.4 . 3.9GHz Quad-Core £209.99
Motherboard> ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 £99.29
Memory> Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 £121.55
Storage> Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" SSD £77.38 (OS/Programmes)
Storage> Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM £42.98 (Files/System Image)
Video Card EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB £199.92
Case Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower £79.90
Power Supply Corsair 500W ATX12V £48.03
Optical Drive Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer £12.56
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) £98.99

Total: £990.59

The overall performance of this system should be quite good. I did not have luck with a GTX 285 card in rendering, but I think with tailoring of the settings within the applications, results could be quite good.

If the budget were in the £1200-1400 range, I would suggest a Xeon E5 (LGA2011) ECC/ Quadro system as that could be changed later to a six or eight core CPU, having a wider memory bandwidth, more PCIe lanes, and using CPU-intensive rendering would have improved processing / rendering speeds.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

1. Dell Precision T5400 (2009)> 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB ECC 667> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 / Segt Brcda 500GB > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit > HP 2711x 27" 1920 x 1080 > AutoCad, Revit, Solidworks, Sketchup Pro, Corel Technical Designer, Adobe CS MC, WordP Office, MS Office > architecture, industrial design, graphic design, rendering, writing

2. HP z420 (2013)> Xeon E5-1620 quad core @ 3.6 / 3.8GHz > 24GB ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 4000 > Samsung 840 SSD 250GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 192 sound card > AE3000 USB WiFi // Windows 7 Professional 64 > AutoCad, Revit, Inventor, Maya (2011), Solidworks 2010, Adobe CS4, Corel Technical Design X-5, Sketchup Pro, WordP Office X-5, MS Office

Chris,

If you're using CPU-based rendering/ processing, the more cores /threads the better. If you do heavy processing in video, I would actually suggest buying a used Dell Precision T7500 with a pair of fast 6-core CPU's. That said, the six core i7-4930K is a good one and the LGA2011 simply provides more capabilities and opportunities for upgrades in the future. I recently purchased an HP z420 with a quad core Xeon E5-1620, which runs on the first two cores at 3.8GHz, but I can tomorrow change it for an E5-1650 V2 ($630 US) with six cores, running the first two cores at 4GHz and if I'm adventurous (and wealthy) an E5-2687w V2 eight core ($2,150) ten core E5-2690 V2 (3 /3.6, $2,000), and there will be twelve core,...

The Partpicker list was incomplete and is actually about a £1300-1400 system (an i7-4930K is £430), but if your budget could stand it, for your uses, by all means, the 4930 would be a major improvement in performance and the enhanced ability to upgrade could extend the use of the new system by a couple of years at least.

How about this one >

BambiBoom PixelCannon Videcadaedirendagrapharific IWorkBlazomatic ExtremeSignature 8000+ ®£©™®$™_ 3 Nov 13

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/BambiBoom/saved/2ISm

CPU > Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core £429.59
CPU Cooler > Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing £23.98
Motherboard > Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 £230.99
Memory > Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 £121.55
Storage 1 > Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" SSD £77.38
Storage 2 > Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM £42.98
Video Card > EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB £199.92
Case> Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower £79.90
Power Supply> Corsair 600W ATX12V £55.68
Optical Drive > Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer £12.56
Operating System> Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) £98.99

Total: £1373.52

The ASUS Sabertooth X79 is extremely fast.

Quite a bit more brass proportionately, but in my view, a considerably better value over time> a hot rod- and one you wouldn't need to change for much longer.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Why'd bambi say "that cs is cuda" when a version was never mentioned? CC is fine on amd but other versions will want nvidia.

There really isn't advantages for the sabertooth worth 60£. I'd go with the extreme6. X79 supports quad channel so having 4 sticks of ram will be quad channel which will be faster then 2 sticks which is dual channel. You can never really have too much ram as long as price isn't an issue. But if you don't use that much ram, it is just sitting there doing nothing.

Chris,

To choose a motherboard, I had a look at Passmark benchmarks for the i7-4930K and made note of the motherboards used in the highest rated systems. The ASUS Rampage and X79 Deluxe are prominent among the highest rated systems- but quite a bit more costly, so I chose the Sabertooth, which is also quite highly rated. Upon review, while there don't seem to be results with a GTX 760, I see that the ASRock Extreme 6 in some cases equals or actually produces higher ratings than the Sabertooth>

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-x79extreme6

> and as it is noticeably less expensive at £171, so as much as I like ASUS, ASRock is also very good quality, so I would change my recommendation to the Extreme 6.

And in this case, you might take the £60 motherboard 'savings" and consider applying it towards your very good idea of having 32GB RAM. I listed a pair of 8GB modules to leave slots for additions as the 16GB is for me the minimum. Especially when using really large files such as video editing, plus the inevitable multiple applications that workstation always have going, that you might well end up with 32GB- or even the maximum 64GB in the future. Plus, the 4 X 8GB would use the quad channel RAM advantages. My formula is to give 3GB to the OS, 2GB to each open application, 1GB for Internet, and 2GB for open files. When I do that, as I run 3-5 applications at once, I end up with 18-21GB. My older workstation, the Dell Precision T5400, arrived with one quad core CPU, 4GB or RAM, and a 512MB Quadro (FX580), I changed to 3D CAD and rendering of same, that system became a dual CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1.5GB Quadro (FX4800). In the new HP z420 system, I'm starting with 24GB and a 2GB Quadro (Quadro 4000) while this seems generous today, based on my history and use, I may well have 48 or 64GB in a year and a 4GB Quadro K5000! The i7-4930K / X79 can use 64GB and if you have the system four or five years, you may see it filled to capacity as well.

The Corsair 600W you have at hand may well be the same model in the revised list and a very good choice. My favourite PSU's are Corsair and Seasonic and the Partpicker calculates the "BambiBoom PixelCannon 8000+" as using 423W, so a 600W supply will have plenty of overhead. PSU's are most efficient when the load is about 80% of their rating (600W X 80% = 480W).

Very pleased to give suggestions- I'm so CAD workstation focused this is good exercise in learning something about a wider range of components.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Chris,

All my systems since 2004 have used ECC and for that my preference has been Samsung. I've never heard anything negative about Patriot- and I had good results with Patriot flash drives, and since the memory you've chosen is also CAS 9, it looks like a good choice.

Our friend K1114 commented concerning the choice of the GTX 760 graphics card and I wanted to mention that when you started out the thread listing "main Adobe Suite" as a principal use, I did assume you meant on-board Adobe CS and not CS out of the cloud. That, and your gaming use was the reason for the GTX 760 idea. I for one, will never fling my files into a cloud!

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Chris,

Yes, especially if you have CS6 Master Collection which is about 15-18GB, and that can be running very large video, sound, and graphics files, and with other simultaneous programmes and files, I think the 32Gb can be very useful. I use CS4 MC - much smaller than CS6, and on my Precision T5400 with 16GB a few times I still saw heavy HD activity, which I assumed was a sign of running out of RAM and swapping on the HD. I'm looking at Autodesk Building Design Suite Ultimate which is 65GB and these absolutely vast programmes seem to be the future. If you do go to Adobe CC- cloud computing, the system requirements for CPU power and RAM are much less- it's only being able to handle the file sizes through the graphics card. I don't know a lot about cloud computing, as I'm determined to never use it for cost and security reasons.

One thing CS can't do is use graphics cards in SLI- you can have multiple cards, but they will be working independently. If you might be using very large video files, you might look into a 4GB graphics card.

I'm not knowledgeable in the world of fast RAM, nor the virtues of particular brands, but my understanding is that the highest native speed is 1600 and the lowest conventional latency for DDR3 is 9. By reputation, Corsair, Crucial, Samsung, and Kingston are relbbale, but I've also used Hynix DDR2- a "budget brand- for three years with complete reliability, even though the DDR2 (667) in my system has been seen to run as hot as 90 C! The Extreme 6 motherboard will support 1066 through 1866, 2133, and 2400, but over 1600 is in effect overclocking by manipulating the timing and voltages. Pushing RAM farther can apparently lead to hotter running and instability- probably not necessary in your use. Again, I'm not an expert in RAM.

A very promising system!

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Chris,

Several companies make a 4GB version of the GTX 760, such as >

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 4GB Video Card > about £240-250

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-gigabyte-gtx-760-pcie-30-%28x16%29-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-1085mhz-boost-1150mhz-cores-1152-dport-dvi-d-dv

> and these are supposed to be very competent.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

CC is actually creative cloud not cloud computing. It has nothing to do with cloud computing and really nothing to do with the cloud if you don't use the cloud stuff which is really just online storage and sharing. All the commotion around it is the change to a monthly fee instead of a perpetual license. Requirements are still the same, you install it the same except it is a download only, all your files are on your pc. Software still works the same with the added bonus that they finally added opencl to once cuda only features. I am disappointed that I have to correct you on something that is just so wrong. Don't try to help if you don't know. A wrong answer is worse than no answer.

Fyi cloud computing has no heavy requirements and is really just that you have enough internet bandwidth and a device that can handle the video resolution of your display. It's like a tv feed. You just get video, all the work is done somewhere else. So you can essentially have a super computer anywhere you want, even on small weak devices like current smartphones. You would "rent" only as much computing power as you need. But we are still decades away from this going mainstream because most countries lack the internet bandwidth not to mention the initial capital required to set up such clusters for multiple users. ISPs are struggling just with netflix's bandwidth usage.

Any hardware suggestions are sound thus far, I'll chime in on anything if needed.

k1114,

Thank you for attempting clarification, but as Chuck_Notch was not going to be using Adobe CC, the suggestions made were directed towards the requirements of a conventional use of his stated application > Adobe CS6.

Plus, I think you're not grasping the fundamental concept of Adobe CC. Adobe CC does act fundamentally as cloud computing in all it's aspects > the online ownership and interaction / maintenance of access applications, the file sharing, storage, and that it's functional only by subscription continuation. With all cloud computing there have to be resident access/control/ personalization application(s), and the whole reason for CC- the entire difference from CS6 are the downloaded upgraded applications that are not owned by the user, the 100GB online storage / sharing / networking, that allows close interaction with collaborators, clients, and printers./publishing/ production plus that the access applications are constantly updated. And, it is purely cloud computing in the aspect that if you do not maintain a subscription to the cloud, the access applications are not functional- you don't pay, you can not make new files.

Still, the characteristics of Adobe CC are irrelevant to this discussion as our friend and OP Chuck_Notch did not indicate a future with Adobe CC, but only CS6 and consequently, all system suggestions were oriented towards a strong, conventional CS6 capability at a reasonable cost. that could be also conveniently enhanced / upgraded.

I'm not sure of your motivation to introduce a CS /CC confusion and that you're disappointed in the laborious task of making "corrections" by way of irrelevance, diversion, and mischaracterization. I think you can see the unfortunate, circular logic of the statement, "It [Adobe CC] has nothing to do with cloud computing and really nothing to do with the cloud if you don't use the cloud stuff" Yes, it's a truism> if you don't use the "cloud stuff" it would have nothing to so with the cloud- and you couldn't use it either, because Adobe CC is entirely owned by Adobe and never by the user, doesn't function, and simply doesn't exist without the cloud. It is entirely and fundamentally of, by, and for the cloud. What you have missed is simply the whole reason of Adobe CC's existence and it's difference from CS- and there is a subtle clue in the title > "Creative Cloud".

To some extent Adobe CC would suit me as I alternate between 2D drafting, 3D modeling, and rendering, and find Corel Technical Designer easy to use, and then to CS applications for refinement an publishing, so I can go for a couple of months without using CS, but I would never use the sharing / network. Nor am I such a sophisticated user that my CS4 MC doesn't provide sufficient capabilities such that I need the latest version of everything. I am also happy with Solidworks 2010 and for 2D, AutoCad 2007. The only thing CS4 lacks that I would like is that Dreamweaver CS6 has mobile and touch screen design capabilities and Premiere CS6 is more intuitive and faster to use. The most positive aspect of Adobe CC is that using it doesn't require a lump sum expenditure of $2,500, it would take about four years to spend that on the subscription fees, and the serious users would be upgrading by that time anyway.

Good Discussion!

Cheers,

BambiBoom

You're confusing cloud computing to cloud services. Just because it comes bundled with cloud services doesn't make it any different than any other software with monthly fees. Cloud services is not synonymous with subscription based services. The only real difference in cc is it's a monthly or annually licensed software which has nothing to do with the cloud when not using cloud sharing/storage. It still functions without the cloud. It still exists on your pc til you delete it. You are not using the resources of anyone else.

In fact you can use the cloud services for free with any adobe account and is just an easy all in one signup. File sharing is just behance which you can sign up for without adobe and there are plenty of other similar websites. Any professionals shouldn't solely rely on a single networking service for their work. Online storage is similar as it's just amazon storage and can also be found elsewhere. If you stop paying, you have 90 days to reduce your storage to 2gb of free accounts. Premium features (extra storage and prosite) are just bundled with the cc sub. What interaction/maintenance is different from cs other than monthly vs perpetual activation?

They are continuing to sell cs6 for the perpetual license aspect. If you have a company or individual who keeps up to date then it's cheaper to pay for cc than cs6. It's also cheaper for students or others who may not need it for a long periods of time. You, yourself would fit in the category. So it's not a bad idea at all. Sure it's called creative cloud but a name is just marketing and they are trying to push their cloud services. You can ignore features you don't use. So really for most people, it's just the next version of adobe suite with a change in license. This is not to cause confusion but on the contrary: for clarification. Adobe will continue this licensing with future products and he won't be with cs6 forever. It's also for people searching the internet and falling upon threads like this to find answers for their workstations.