Need help finishing 3D animation & rendering build

Mark Sashegyi

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Apr 23, 2014
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Here is the setup I have thus far. I'm torn between GPUs as I'm not entirely sure which would serve me best for animation and rendering(no gaming).
I've narrowed down to EVGA GTX 680 4GB, the 690 4GB, PNY GTX 580 1.5GB, and the GTX 780 3GB. I also considered the Quadro 4000 2GB n ATI FirePro V7900 2GB but I read that the GTXs outshine the Quadro in performance tests and that the FirePro isn't compatible with some of the programs I intend to use(Maya, 3DS, Poser Pro, After Effects, etc.)
However I am open to any and all suggestions.
Also the case I've chosen worries me a bit as the number of 2.5" & 3.5" drives are pretty minimal. Is this something I should be heavily worried about? I've considered the Phanteks Enthoo Series Primo ATX Full as an alternative.
S/N: I do plan to upgrade to 32GB RAM shortly in the future.
Thanks.
[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3xpFl) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3xpFl/by_merchant/) / [Benchmarks](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3xpFl/benchmarks/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80633i74930k) | $565.98 @ SuperBiiz
**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-cpu-cooler-h80i) | $89.98 @ OutletPC
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-X79-UP4 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gax79up4) | $239.99 @ SuperBiiz
**Memory** | [G.Skill Trident X 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f31600c7d16gtx) | $164.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw) | $149.99 @ NCIX US
**Storage** | [Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw) | $149.99 @ NCIX US
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st3000dm001) | $104.99 @ NCIX US
**Case** | [Silverstone RV03B-W ATX Full Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/silverstone-case-rv03bw) | $134.05 @ NCIX US
**Power Supply** | [Corsair RM 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-rm1000) | $184.99 @ Best Buy
**Optical Drive** | [Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lite-on-optical-drive-ihas124-04) | $19.98 @ OutletPC
**Wireless Network Adapter** | [TP-Link TL-WN881ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/tp-link-wireless-network-card-tlwn881nd) | $18.93 @ B&H
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1823.86
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-23 23:30 EDT-0400 |
 
Solution
Just a bit of advice: Don't even consider the 690. It only has 2gb of vram per gpu, and I think you're gonna need more than that. And even if you don't, it's way too expensive for its performance. The 780ti is a great option (cheaper than the 690). 770s and 680s are the same, so just look at which one is a bit cheaper. I don't reccommend going for special cards (quadro, firepro) because they're a lot more expensive and will perform about the same in many cases (Tom's has recently published a review about that kind of Pro cards, btw).
I would recommend either a 780ti, a Titan/Titan Black, or an R9 290. Either one has its own pros and cons:
780ti: Fastest gpu and cheap, 3gb
Titan: Rally fast, more expensive, but 6gb and double precision...

Mark Sashegyi

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Apr 23, 2014
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Thanks. And if I get any of these, do you recommend the standard "stock" versions or do I get the cheaper overclocked/windforce/etc. ones? I heard those burn out faster(not entirely sure but they must be cheaper for a reason).
 
Just a bit of advice: Don't even consider the 690. It only has 2gb of vram per gpu, and I think you're gonna need more than that. And even if you don't, it's way too expensive for its performance. The 780ti is a great option (cheaper than the 690). 770s and 680s are the same, so just look at which one is a bit cheaper. I don't reccommend going for special cards (quadro, firepro) because they're a lot more expensive and will perform about the same in many cases (Tom's has recently published a review about that kind of Pro cards, btw).
I would recommend either a 780ti, a Titan/Titan Black, or an R9 290. Either one has its own pros and cons:
780ti: Fastest gpu and cheap, 3gb
Titan: Rally fast, more expensive, but 6gb and double precision calculations
Titan black: Fastest gpu, 6gb ram, very expensive
780: Not so fast as the rest (very fast still), 3gb, cheap.
770: Very good gpu, both 4gb or 2gb versions,
R9 290: Really fast gpu, 4gb ram, a lot of memory bandwith, cheap, hot. Be careful to choose a non-reference cooler.
AMD and nVidia have differences on their drivers, so one might be better than the other (I prefer nVidia drivers, personally).

I know i practically didn't mention the cards you chose, but:
680: The same as 770
690: Explained above
580: Too old, wouldn't recommend it for a new build
780: If 690 is within your budget, you should pick a 780ti then.


About the build itself:
That PSU is really big, are you going to use 2 or 3 way sli in a future?

You should pick faster ram (2133MT/s), and use 4 sticks (4x4gb or 4x8gb) to use the quad channel capability of that platform. Animation, editing and the like can really use fast ram in quad channel configuration, its not very expensive and will help a lot.

That cooler, I don't have experience with it, but are you planning to overclock the cpu? If you have the money, maybe you could use a bigger one. If your tower case can accomodate it, maybe an H100i?
 
Solution
Yes, but it depends on the application/program OP will be using. Maybe he won't be using all that vram, depending on the models...
Also, about the "more precise", that's only if he's willing to use the double precision mode, and in programs that can make good use of that, and he would be sacrificing a lot of performance in order to use double precision...

Overall, I'd get the 780ti or the r9 290.
The titan or titan black ONLY if he's sure he's gonna need 6gb of vram or going to use double precision. On normal use, it's not "better" than the gaming gpu's, as it shares the same drivers and capabilities, except for that feature.

EDIT: Here's the review I was talking about: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/specviewperf-12-workstation-graphics-benchmark,3778.html
 

Mark Sashegyi

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Apr 23, 2014
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Thanks, much appreciated insight, I'll definitely look into getting a bigger cooler and I initially had the Corsair
AX760 Platinum for my PSU. Do you think that is enough?

As far as the RAM I was going to get the 1866 sticks with CAS 10 but the I thought the CAS of 7 on the 1600 I currently have would provide a great boost in performance. Or is that more for gaming than rendering?
Also, would buying two 2x8GB yield the same as 4x8GB when it comes to quad channel configuration?

As far as the graphics card, I think you guys have pretty much sold me on the Titan 780Ti. That's the main one I've been hearing about since I began my research. However, would you recommend buying a cheaper overclocked one or a more expensive non-overclocked one? I don't really know the difference other than the boost in Mhz.

Also do you recommend I overclock? Will I see a huge difference in animation and rendering capabilities. I've never done it and I heard it drains the life span of your parts quicker.

Thanks again for all your help.
 
I don't recommend the overclock yet, as I don't consider it to be neccessary, but as you grow more confident and want to get more power out of your system, you will probably do it, and it will be a good way to get more performance out of your money.
For 1 graphics card, the AX760 is more than enough, and will leave you with some headroom for overclocking. If you want to add a second card in the future (probably won't be neccessary) you might want a 850W PSU.

About the cards, just choose the one you like the most, they are basically the same. The only real difference is the cooler and the price, the rest is just personal opinions. ASUS, Gygabite, MSI, EVGA, Saphire, PNY (...), all of them are great brands, and you will most surely have no problem. Choose the one with the best cooler, or the one with the best customer attention, or the cheapest one.
 
About the ram, quad channel means you will get the most out of your ram if you use 4 sticks. About the latency, 1600MT/s CAS 7 is slower than 2133MT/s CAS 9.
If you get a good quality set of sticks, you might even lower the latency manually a bit.
Another option is to try to increase the speed of your 1600 sticks (RAM overclocking is usually safe, just need a little patience).
I personally reccommend Gskill, they have lots of different models.

To know what the latency numbers mean:
2*(CAS Latency)/(Frequency in MT/s)= Latency in seconds.
The lower the latency in seconds is, the better.
Still, with similar latencies or slightly higher latency, a higher transfer rate might be even faster (for example, 2133 CAS 10 will probably be better than 1600 CAS7)
 

MalakiArtook

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i always get the factory oced card because they hand pick them to oc because if their quality.They dont try and overclock a psu that might not be able to handle it. Also, if you want to save a few bucks you could just get a noctua cpu cooler that will perform better than the h80 for $30. less. Noctua is the pinnacle of PC cooling. The 1000w corsair is great. It will allow for future sli if you so choose and having a larger psu just puts less strain on it.
 

Mark Sashegyi

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I just finished looking over that review and the R9 290x seemed to outmatch the GTX 780Ti in nearly every program EXCEPT Maya which may end up being my most used of any of those in that review. I may go with the 290x nonetheless as it just does marginally better with many other programs.

As far as RAM, I'll take your advice. And G Skill was the one I chose, just have to go higher in speed. Thanks.
 

Mark Sashegyi

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Thanks, I'll look into that. Those $30 may go long way as I need to get more RAM and potentially SLI in the future.