Upgrading to a New 3D Rendering System

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mistro

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Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next 2 weeks

Budget Range: $500-$1000

System Usage: 3D rendering, animation, audio, computer graphics, Gaming.

Am I buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: (Motherboard-not sure), Processor (8 cores at 3.5+ GHz is preferred) , Hard Drive, RAM, (Case-not sure). See my additional comments below for details.

Do I need to buy OS: Yes (windows 7 Professional)

Location: City, State/Region, Country - New York City

Parts Preferences: I'm seeing if it's even necessary to buy a new case and Motherboard or simply upgrade my processor. If I go for a new case, I prefer a CoolerMaster screw-less case similar to what I have now (I forgot the model and I don't see it written), I always used ASUS for my motherboards and never regretted any of them. I'm also partial to Intel processors. I would also like to get an SSD because I been told a slow hard drive can bottleneck a system and I'm going for more speed.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Not now but maybe later

My Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Currently I have an ASUS P5QL Pro Motherboard running a Q6600 quad core processor at 2.4Ghz with 4Gigs of RAM and windows XP SP3. My ASUS motherboard can support a 64bit system. I can max it out to 8 Gigs of RAM. If there is a processor that I can stick in here as an upgrade to get much faster performance, that would save me some bucks but I am open to just build a new rig.

Also I have an EVGA GTX 760 2gb graphics card and a Thermaltake Smart M 850W PSU and 2 1TB external hard drives on my current machine. I also have a Creative Blaster Live sound card that's been serving me well for years but I'm thinking of leaving that on my current machine and getting a new card that has the same specs if I buy a new case and motherboard. If I build a new system (case and Mobo) I will be putting the GTX 760 and the 850W PSU into the new one so I already have those parts.

I want to build a dual boot system so I can upgrade to windows 7 professional and keep my XP on a separate hard drive for my older 32bit software.

Why am I Upgrading: I am currently on a 32bit system that is limiting me in the field of work that I do. With XP, I cannot get more than 3.5Gigs of RAM. I want to have the capability to have at least 8-32GBs of RAM. I use a lot of trees and plants in my 3D scenes and even when using proxies, my current machine cannot handle it. There are also some software (like ToonBoom and various programs that can only run with a 64bit OS) that I cannot run on a 32bit machine and I'm tired of missing out. But most importantly, speed is a major factor for my 3D rendering business and I need more power.

BTW the programs I use the most are: Sketchup Pro 2014, Thea Render, Xfrog, Blender, Adobe programs (Photoshop, and I plan on doing some heavy work in Premier and after effects in the future) and my most played games are MS Flight Simulator X Deluxe edition with various add-ons, Call of Duty, SimCity and I plan on getting the GTA series for PC one day.

Any help is appreciated.
 
Solution
Beezy
i7/xeon e3 1230/FX 8 core will all render 3d animation wonderfully.

if you can afford a xeon or i7 + new motherboard that would be ideal.
otherwise the FX 8 core will do fine, its just as good just less efficient.
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Beezy

Beezy

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i7/xeon e3 1230/FX 8 core will all render 3d animation wonderfully.

if you can afford a xeon or i7 + new motherboard that would be ideal.
otherwise the FX 8 core will do fine, its just as good just less efficient.
 
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Solution
C

Calnin

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You could start with these to consider:

AMD:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($83.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($52.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $978.89

Intel:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($247.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($86.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($52.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($58.40 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1003.29
 
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k1114

k1114

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Were you going to reuse the hdds?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($322.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($22.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($142.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($134.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $933.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-29 18:38 EDT-0400
 
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mistro

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Thanks for your replies.
Beezy- What motherboard(s) would you recommend to go with the i7 or E3? BTW, I will only get an Intel CPU.

Calnin- I already have my graphics card (EVGA GTX 760 2 Gb) If I needed one, I would only get an NVidia card because I use CUDA in my 3D renderings and Radeon can not help me. As stated to Beezy, no AMD for me.

Excuse me if this is a dumb question but would having a quad core that has hyperthreading mean I will see 8 cores listed in my render program? How effective would that be in contrast to having 2 quad cores at 3.2+ GHz without HT or overclocking but giving me 8 solid cores?
 
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C

Calnin

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If you're going with a locked CPU, a H97 motherboard would be enough. Just make sure it supports the amount of ram you're adding in.

If you're going with an i7 4790k, get a decent z97 motherboard like the asrock z97 extreme4 or something that would support a decent overclock.

Answering your question, a quad core with hyper threading will show up as 8 threads.
 
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Beezy

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this, i like ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI for motherboards.
 
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k1114

k1114

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It won't have 8 cores but it's 8 threads. Ht is only ~20% better performance so it's a lot less than having actual cores. But the number of cores does not mean better performance. As is the case with the fx 8350 (8 core) vs the i7 4790k (4 core), the i7 is 20-30% better in mutlithreaded workloads because of the difference in architecture. Ghz is the same way, as both cpus are similar speeds. Cores and ghz can only be compared when they are the same architecture.
 
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mistro

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This is why my original intention was to build a dual quad core system. I would rather have 8 real cores at a decent speed than 8 threads from 1 CPU with HT that is inferior in computation quality. I'm only open to 1 quad core with HT because of budget. But I am open to learn about any single quad core CPU that can give me the same computational value as a high end dual setup. Even if I have to go a little over budget, my aim is to get as much crunching power as I can. The polygon count and lighting in some of my work is very demanding. I heard of some CPUs with 16 threads etc. but this is all new info for me to digest and learn about.
 
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Calnin

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It really depends more on the strength of the CPU itself. 8 threads can be better than 8 real cores (i7 vs fx 8350). Of course they're at different price points and what not. If budget allows, maybe consider the i7 4930k. A system with that is much more expensive than a normal i7 system, but it offers 4 more threads, I believe, over the i7 4790k.
 
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k1114

k1114

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You don't have the budget for anything higher than a quad core i7 build. You want a ferrari but can't afford it. I did try a 6 core build at first because I thought without a gpu and psu you might be able to get below $1k but I went over. A dual quad core build is about the same price as a 6 core but less performance because those low end xeons are low clocked and no ht.

In the end, how many cores or ghz doesn't mean anything. The only thing that matters is performance.
 
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mistro

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I'm actually considering the i7 4930k and am looking at compatible motherboards. They range from $199-$600. So far the cheapest Asus board that I'm looking at is the asus p9x79 LE. I know it's gonna go over budget if I go for that processor. But I'm a firm believer in you get what you pay for. When I built my current rig back in 2008, I also went over budget but did not regret it as the system is still working fine to this day and I still have room to upgrade. If I have to save another $200 or so dollars, so be it. But I am not 100% sold on the i7 4930k yet. I'm still seeking other alternatives to stay within budget if I see a worthwhile solution.

 
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Beezy

Beezy

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For 500-1000 the best you can get is an i7 or an fx 8320/8350. If you wanted a 1000 dollar CPU alone then we can set you up with an Intel 6 core (12 threads ) which would be ideal. But we all have a budget. Personally in benchmarks my fx always beats an i7 in raw compute power and in physics based operations . I know for a fact both those things help in renders. Best bet is probably an i7/Xeon equivalent. Also look into a strong GPU as well as aot of programs are using GPU accelerated rendering alongside CPU. So look into the programs you use to know what's best for you exactly.
 
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Calnin

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I think it's the 4960x if I'm not mistaken... But that's quite a bit more expensive than the 4930k... If i'm understanding the question right.

Otherwise if its going the other way in the price range, then the 4790k. Or xeon chip.
 
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k1114

k1114

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The 4960x is overpriced at $1000. You can just oc a 4930k to the same speed or even get 2x6 core for $800. A dual cpu mobo is 300 so that's only 100 more than a single. But those are 2.1ghz so not a big increase over the 4930k. From worst to better:

8350>1231v3>4790k>4930k>2x 2620v2

Other cpus in between aren't worth the price, so those are also the best value at each price point.
 
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mistro

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Well... for the first time in my PC using history (about 15 years) I have built my system almost from scratch without shop assistance save for doing a post test at Micro Center before leaving the store with my new motherboard. It's a good thing too because the first motherboard did not pass the post test and they promptly made the exchange. The little front panel pins and wires always scared me but I finally did some reading and observing and got it figured out. Maybe laughable to some of you but a big milestone for me. I can't believe that little panel been holding me back from building all on my own.

This is what I bought:
i7-4930k and an Intel cooling fan
Gigabyte x79-UP4 Mobo
16GB of Crucial Ballistix RAM
Crucial MX100 256Gb SSD

I ended up using my case instead of getting a new one: Cooler Master CM 690
All other parts Hard drives GTX 760 etc. are from my former build so I save a lot because of that. But please note the Motherboard is a placeholder and will become my backup when I get an ASUS board that I really wanted but could not afford right now.

I will be getting windows 7 Professional 64bit. This kept me right within budget too. I only spent about $1,170. Micro Center is a cool place with good prices. It sure feels good to see 3.4GHz clock speed and 12 threads on my system. I'm coming from 2.4GHz on a quad so a new world for me.
 
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