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New System specs for 3d Animation & Rendering

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  • Processors
  • Hewlett Packard
  • Memory
  • Storage
  • CPUs
  • Rendering
  • Xeon
  • Graphics
  • Prebuilt Systems
  • Graphics Cards
  • 3D
Last response: in Systems
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September 1, 2014 5:41:14 AM

I had opted for HPZ420 with the foll specs; Processor:Xeon E51650V2, 32GB DDR3 Ram, 1GB Sata HDD, Nvidia Quadro K4000 Graphic Card and got an offer by HP for $4300. Dell suggested a change with the processor to Intel Xeon Processor E5-2620 v2 and the price the gave was $2500. I am not sure which way to go. It all boils down to if Xeon E5 1650V2 Vs Xeon E62620. .Ofcourse I like the DELL Price, but have a feeling, there could be a catch in the processor they offered.Could you please help me make a decision between these two?
My bottom line is fast rendering and smooth zooming at high meshes, both with Maya.

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September 1, 2014 6:01:36 AM

Both are good for parallel processing apps like Rendering and 3D animation. The catch is, 2620 is 2.6Ghz max while 1650 is 3.9Ghz, so that's a direct drop of 1.3GHz of clock speed, which'll not really be ideal for 'fast' processing. But the price gap is significant. Now if you really want fast rendering and smooth zooming power, then getting the 1650 v2 for a premium will make more sense. But, if you can suffice with some slower processing, which'll be equally thorough, but just not as fast, then 2620 v2 is a good deal.
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September 1, 2014 6:33:38 AM

For rendering, the 1650 V2 will be a lot quicker; the clock difference is very large.
MeteorsRaining makes a good point about the price difference, but the lower clock of
the 2620 will definitely be noticeable with apps like Maya that almost always have
single- threaded GUIs.

Which leads me to an obvious question: do you need ECC RAM? If not, then an oc'd
3930K, 4930K or 5930K will be a heck of a lot cheaper, faster, and (at least with the
X79 CPUs) leave you with enough spare cash to go for a K5000 instead (or more RAM,
etc.) And btw, fit an SSD for the C-drive, not a rust spinner. Makes a huge
difference to app start times, responsiveness, etc. Recommend a Samsung 840 Pro, 850
Pro, or other equivalently good quality SSD (on the used market, for saving pennies,
there's the OCZ Vertex4, Vector, or older Samsungs like the 830, 840, or even the
newer 840 EVO would do fine).

Summary: if you need ECC, then IMO the extra cost of the 1650 CPU is definitely
worthwhile. The clock drop to the 2620 is just too much, not worth the cost saving.
And remember: finishing renderings faster means less power consumption, which in the
long term makes up for the higher CPU cost of of the 1650.

If you don't need ECC, then consider an oc'd 3930K or 4930K. Or indeed even a 3960X
or 4960X, both are quite affordable now, especially on the used market (I bought a
3960X for 245 UKP, runs at 4.8GHz no problem, faster than a ten core XEON, never
mind the wimpy 6-core 1650!).

Naturally, the latter option implies building your own system, but the end result
will be cheaper & far more powerful. Same applies to GPUs - I bought a used K5000 for
only 515 UKP, and a used Quadro 6000 for just 550 UKP.

Ian.

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September 1, 2014 7:02:59 AM

MeteorsRaining said:
Both are good for parallel processing apps like Rendering and 3D animation. The catch is, 2620 is 2.6Ghz max while 1650 is 3.9Ghz, so that's a direct drop of 1.3GHz of clock speed, which'll not really be ideal for 'fast' processing. But the price gap is significant. Now if you really want fast rendering and smooth zooming power, then getting the 1650 v2 for a premium will make more sense. But, if you can suffice with some slower processing, which'll be equally thorough, but just not as fast, then 2620 v2 is a good deal.


Thank you very much MeteorsRaining. Based on your analysis, I emailed Dell that I will prefer to go with only 1650v2. I got an offer again for Dell Precision T3610 with 1650v2 for $2900, thats $1433 lesser than the HP guys. So going with Dell is a no brainer with the 1650v2 now. Probably someone in HP goofed up or trying to pull a fast one, just like Dell guys who said that T3610 doesn't come with a k4000 card earlier.
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September 1, 2014 7:29:31 AM

mapesdhs said:
For rendering, the 1650 V2 will be a lot quicker; the clock difference is very large.
MeteorsRaining makes a good point about the price difference, but the lower clock of
the 2620 will definitely be noticeable with apps like Maya that almost always have
single- threaded GUIs.

Which leads me to an obvious question: do you need ECC RAM? If not, then an oc'd
3930K, 4930K or 5930K will be a heck of a lot cheaper, faster, and (at least with the
X79 CPUs) leave you with enough spare cash to go for a K5000 instead (or more RAM,
etc.) And btw, fit an SSD for the C-drive, not a rust spinner. Makes a huge
difference to app start times, responsiveness, etc. Recommend a Samsung 840 Pro, 850
Pro, or other equivalently good quality SSD (on the used market, for saving pennies,
there's the OCZ Vertex4, Vector, or older Samsungs like the 830, 840, or even the
newer 840 EVO would do fine).

Summary: if you need ECC, then IMO the extra cost of the 1650 CPU is definitely
worthwhile. The clock drop to the 2620 is just too much, not worth the cost saving.
And remember: finishing renderings faster means less power consumption, which in the
long term makes up for the higher CPU cost of of the 1650.

If you don't need ECC, then consider an oc'd 3930K or 4930K. Or indeed even a 3960X
or 4960X, both are quite affordable now, especially on the used market (I bought a
3960X for 245 UKP, runs at 4.8GHz no problem, faster than a ten core XEON, never
mind the wimpy 6-core 1650!).

Naturally, the latter option implies building your own system, but the end result
will be cheaper & far more powerful. Same applies to GPUs - I bought a used K5000 for
only 515 UKP, and a used Quadro 6000 for just 550 UKP.

Ian.



I'm damn impressed. Thank you so much for your deep analysis and recommendation. Regd the system assembly, I would not take the risk of assembling a system as I am not tech savvy like you, but far from it. I didn't know what ECC was, thanks to you, now I hope I know and I just saw, that's included in the price offered. You are bang on target with your SSD recommendation for the C drive, I had a 512GB in the spec. but removed it to reduce the cost. After reading your response, I am seriously considering a midddle path. Can you help me with what would the minimum I need with Maya, AE, Realflow, PS, on Win 7 OS? Would 256GB be good enough? Regd the GPU, I'd love quadro k5000 but its simpy 2x of K4000 and I want to restrict the system cost to less than $3333.
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September 1, 2014 8:59:20 AM

I'm a bit unclear of what Dell and HP guys are offering you, please elaborate the 2 builds with their specs and prices separately. Go with the 1650 v2 build (with K4000 ofcourse), the one you get cheaper. Also, factors like memory speed, weather its ECC or not, Storage options also matter a lot. But they were explained by mapesdhs rather brilliantly, kudos!

I'd always love the opinion to build a own PC over getting a pre-built one. But we're here to help you out rather than forcing you into the benefits of building your own PC. ECC memory is really useful when you want absolutely no error in calculations. Its a useful feature in workstation class builds, your included.

SSD is what I'd get first, then a regular HDD. It'd increase the access times and responsivenes, once again explained decently by mapesdhs. Storage wise, a 120GB will be enough to store the OS and some main programs in it, but not recommended as the C drive option in major 3D modelling builds. Get atleast 250GB, it'll help in getting some free space for the drive to breather while housing the whole of C drive.

My 500GB houses all VFX and rendering softwares, OS, project files (they take the bulk of the space as they're in excess of 2-4GB per file), and still have about 275GB free, and I do use Maya, 3Ds Max, C4D for VFX tasks. A 250GB is enough in your case, though a 500GB will likely suffice for all storage, project files included, you can always put the end output (or the data) on a seperately purchased HDD.

You will obviously get better performance with K5k, but that doesn't make K4k weaker in any terms. Its a very solid Graphics processor and will manage the floating points operations required for Maya with ease.
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September 1, 2014 9:44:36 AM

MeteorsRaining said:
I'm a bit unclear of what Dell and HP guys are offering you, please elaborate the 2 builds with their specs and prices separately. Go with the 1650 v2 build (with K4000 ofcourse), the one you get cheaper. Also, factors like memory speed, weather its ECC or not, Storage options also matter a lot. But they were explained by mapesdhs rather brilliantly, kudos!

I'd always love the opinion to build a own PC over getting a pre-built one. But we're here to help you out rather than forcing you into the benefits of building your own PC. ECC memory is really useful when you want absolutely no error in calculations. Its a useful feature in workstation class builds, your included.

SSD is what I'd get first, then a regular HDD. It'd increase the access times and responsivenes, once again explained decently by mapesdhs. Storage wise, a 120GB will be enough to store the OS and some main programs in it, but not recommended as the C drive option in major 3D modelling builds. Get atleast 250GB, it'll help in getting some free space for the drive to breather while housing the whole of C drive.

My 500GB houses all VFX and rendering softwares, OS, project files (they take the bulk of the space as they're in excess of 2-4GB per file), and still have about 275GB free, and I do use Maya, 3Ds Max, C4D for VFX tasks. A 250GB is enough in your case, though a 500GB will likely suffice for all storage, project files included, you can always put the end output (or the data) on a seperately purchased HDD.

You will obviously get better performance with K5k, but that doesn't make K4k weaker in any terms. Its a very solid Graphics processor and will manage the floating points operations required for Maya with ease.


Thank you very much for your time & analysis. Its very helpful. The detailed specs of DELL & HP (copy paste from their offer ) is as under. My gut feeling is to go for DELL (but I eagerly await for your opinion), but I have a doubt in the fact that their website and their earlier specs said that they can only give Xeon e5 1650v2+K2000 combo in Dell Model T3610. On my insistance on K4000, they recommended me Dell Model T5610 (but with E5 2620 v2+K4000 Combo). After reading your response I insisted on Xeon e5 1650v2, they later sent an offer with Model T3610 with e5 1650v2+K4000 combo (a change in their earlier stand) and thats their latest offer at $2900. The question arises . Can the T3610 685W Chassis technically support K4000? There could be a reason why earlier they could not offer this combo. Am I reading too much into this? I will go with your suggestion of 250GB SSD, I agree with you (and ofcourse with mapesdhs) on this.

HP is offering Model Z420 with the below specs@$4333

DELL SPECS- PRICE 2900$
Components

1 Dell Precision T3610 685W Chassis
1 Intel Xeon Processor E5-1650 v2 (Six Core HT, 3.5 GHz Turbo, 12 MB),Dell Fixed Precision
T3610
1 No Dell Tera2 Remote Access host card for the Wyse P25 Zero Client
1 Boot drive or boot volume is less than 2TB
1 32GB (4x8GB) 1866MHz DDR3 ECC RDIMM
1 500GB 3.5inch Serial ATA (7,200 Rpm) Hard Drive
1 Heatsink
1 8x Slimline DVD+/-RW Drive
1 Power Cord
1 Chassis Intrusion Switch
1 3 GB NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (2DP and 1DVI-I) (2DP-DVI and 1DVI-VGA adapter)
1 Internal Speaker
1 Dell (TM) MS 111 USB Optical Mouse
1 US/European (QWERTY) Dell KB212-B QuietKey USB Keyboard Black
1 Dell Applications for Windows 7
1 C1 SATA 3.5 Inch, 1-2 Hard Drives
1 Non RAID
Software
1 Windows Live
1 PowerDVD Software not included
1 Dell Precision T3610 Resource DVD
1 Windows(R) 7 Professional 64 bit (English)
1 MUI Windows 7 Professional (64Bit OS) Resource DVD
1 No Productivity Software
1 No Out-of-Band Systems Management
1 Dell Backup and Recovery Basic
1 Adobe Reader 11
1 Dell Precision Optimizer
1 Dell Data Protection | Protected Workspace
1 Visit www.dell.com/encryption
1 Dell Data Protection Security Tools Digital Delivery/DT
Service
1 Client Installation - Qty 1
1 3 Yr Next Business Day Onsite Service
1 # Limited Warranty: Extended Year 2 - 3 (NBD)
1 # Limited Warranty: Extended Year 2 - 3 (POW)
1 # Limited Warranty: Initial Year (NBD)
1 # Limited Warranty: Initial Year (POW)
1 Dell ProSupport for Software, No DDPE Encryption SW

HP OFFER @ $ 4333
HP Z420 Workstation
1
260000
260000
HP Z420 Country Kit
HP Z420 600W 90% Efficient Chassis
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64bit OS
HP Single Unit Packaging
1TB 7200 RPM SATA 2nd Hard Drive
HP USB Keyboard
16X SuperMulti DVDRW SATA 1st ODD
HP Processor Air Cooling Kit
HP 3/3/3 Warranty
HP Z4 Fan and Front Card Guide Kit
NVIDIA Quadro K4000 3GB DL-DVI(I)+DP+DP 1st No cables included Graphics Special
Intel Xeon E5-1650v2 3.50Ghz 12MB 1866 6C CPU
32GB DDR3-1866 ECC (8x4GB) Unbuffered RAM
HP USB Optical Scroll Mouse
HP Elite Display E241i 24-inch IPS LED Backlit Monitor
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a c 80 } Memory
a b G Storage
a c 239 à CPUs
a c 146 U Graphics card
September 1, 2014 10:02:50 AM

Well K4k's max TDP is 80W, so 685W will handle the whole system with ease, I just searched that model up and it clearly shows all the features which you've been given are actually selectable (as far as I can see) from a basic customizable model.
Reference: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/precision-t3610-works...

Dell seems to be the right choice here, everything fits into a powerful processing rig, at a reasonable price. I'd support Dell here :) 
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September 1, 2014 10:38:06 AM

MeteorsRaining said:
Well K4k's max TDP is 80W, so 685W will handle the whole system with ease, I just searched that model up and it clearly shows all the features which you've been given are actually selectable (as far as I can see) from a basic customizable model.
Reference: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/precision-t3610-works...

Dell seems to be the right choice here, everything fits into a powerful processing rig, at a reasonable price. I'd support Dell here :) 


Thank you very much. Your suggestion has helped very much.
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a c 80 } Memory
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a c 146 U Graphics card
September 1, 2014 10:40:23 AM

Glad to help :) 
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September 2, 2014 10:11:59 AM


Just get the better CPU if you can. ;) 

Ian.

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