budget 3D modeling CPU help.

TheBunk

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Looking for a 3D modeling build for around $1000-1200, all in. I'm new to building/component picking, but I've done a bit of research and I realize that for a modeling pc, CPU is king...and that I'm totally confused. So I've come to you good people to ask for help, and try to get the biggest bang for my buck. Most of my time is spent modeling on Rhino, so I figure that single core processing is most important and rendering would be the second priority. I found the FX-8350 is probably the most performance I could get to keep my budget, but I was thinking of splurging on a Xeon E3-1230V2. I would get substantially better single core performance, and with an added benefit of ECC, but would lose rendering speeds and would have to recalculate my budget for GPU and the rest. Basically, I want to figure out whether or not it's worth spending the money on a Xenon with a budget build, when I can possibly better spend my money elsewhere. Please help a brother out! Cheers!
 
Solution


Intel does more per clock than AMD. AMD is good for a budget rig, but Intel is still faster.

TheBunk

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Quadro sure looks sweet, but not on my budget, heh.
 

TheBunk

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Is there even a point of going for the k600? I'm on a tight budget, so would I get better performance for price point of k600 in a gaming card?
 

TheBunk

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Is there even a point of going for the k600? I'm on a tight budget, so would I get better performance for price point of k600 in a gaming card?
 

TheBunk

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The k600 1gb is relatively cheap and comparable to a gtx 650 ti boost in price, I had the gtx on my radar before the quadro information fell into my lap. I know this budget is pretty much non-existent for a "workstation" build, but I thought, for an extra 30 bucks I could have an actual workstation card....assuming it actually performs better than a gaming card at the same price point.
 

TheBunk

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I think that's the plan, it's way to easy to spend a little extra on every component and then completely blow your budget. FX-8320 good starting point?
 

SkizzFX

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Yeah go with the 8320 because it's just a lower clocked 8350.

Also I would recommend a workstation graphics card. (quadro or firepro)
 

TheBunk

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could I get away with a quadro k600?
 

SkizzFX

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Most likely unless you're doing uber heavy things.
 

sirstinky

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Workstation cards and graphics cards to the same things- turn data into a viewable image (video game, picture, CAD graphic, movie). That's it. How they do it is basically the same, but the difference is in the fine details. In a nutshell workstations cards are more expensive because they are designed to be very accurate and precise- they also process a lot more data (hence some have lots of RAM) and have to do it as precisely and accurately as possible. You wouldn't want artifacts or lags in an HD feature film or errors in rendering a highly detailed 3D model right? Gaming cards are designed to do one thing: turn data into polygons and pixels and shadows as quickly as possible, hence high GPU and RAM clock speeds. Their drivers are also different. You could use a gaming card for modeling, rendering, and CAD stuff and get away with it, but you wouldn't do it to the full potential, and in the same way, a workstation card wouldn't give good performance in games despite having uber amounts of RAM bandwidth and shaders. For that reason, you can't base performance on the specs alone.

It's up to you whether to get a GeForce 660 or the k600. For what you're doing, go with the Quadro.
 


so any modded drivers for something like a regular gaming GPU that will allow it to run like a workstation card?
 

logainofhades

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Here is a build far cheaper with similar performance. Even room now for monitor if needed. :)
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($243.08 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($77.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($89.54 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($92.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($192.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Tempest 210 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($65.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($137.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1050.11
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-22 20:20 EST-0500)
 

sirstinky

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I don't think the drivers are interchangeable between them, and even if they were, it still wouldn't perform like a dedicated gaming card. The drivers are designed around the hardware and the specific functions of the card, and it's at the hardware level. There's a high probability you'd have issues. Diesel fuel doesn't work in a gasoline engine, and if you put gasoline in a diesel, you'd have an explosion.
 

TheBunk

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Any particular reason why you went with the Xeon for this build? I ask because I was considering throwing a Xeon into the build, but thought that it would be a waste of money to have an entry level Xeon, when I could spend the money on 8 cores and higher clock speed.