Is this a decent parts list for a 3D rendering system (with Blender)?

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R

roger_parker

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Sep 7, 2014
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I'm building a new PC mainly to do 3D rendering with Blender. I wanted to get as much VRAM and as many CUDA cores as I could in a ~£1000 machine. No OS because I'll run Ubuntu. Also, I've already got monitor, keyboard & mouse. I also want to have enough power and a large enough case in case in future I want to get another graphics card to run in SLI.

So, does this system look like good value for my aim? Have I forgotten anything?

I might also play the occasional game on it as well.

Thanks

Graphics card: Palit GeForce GTX 780 6GB GDDR5 PCI-E 3.0 HDMI JetStream
http://www.dabs.com/products/best-value-palit-geforce-gtx-780-6gb-gddr5-pci-e-3-0-hdmi-jetstream-9GG7.html

CPU: INTEL Xeon E3-1230V3 3.3GHz LGA1150
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-BX80646E31230V3-Quad-Core-Processor-3-3GHz/dp/B00D69PY1C/

Motherboard: Asus Z87-A USB 3.0 Motherboard (4x DDR3, ATX, 2x PCI Express 3.0/2.0x16, Intel, 6x SATA 6.0Gbps)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Z87-A-Motherboard-Express-2-0x16-6-0Gbps/dp/B00CXK57MG/

RAM: Corsair CML16GX3M2A1600C10 Vengeance Low Profile 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 Mhz CL10 XMP
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CML16GX3M2A1600C10-Vengeance-Profile-Performance/dp/B007TG8QRW/

SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5 inch Basic SATA Solid State Drive
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-250GB-Basic-Solid-State/dp/B00E391OX6/

PSU: Be Quiet 600W Pure Power L8 Rifle Bearing Fan APFC 80+ Bronze PSU
http://www.dabs.com/products/be-quiet-600w-pure-power-l8-rifle-bearing-fan-apfc-80--bronze-psu-9BQ7.html

Case: Gigabyte GZ-G2 Gaming Case Plus with USB 3.0 Ports & 2 Front Fans
http://www.dabs.com/products/gigabyte-gz-g2-gaming-case-plus-with-usb-3-0-ports---2-front-fans-7YDY.html

Thermal paste: Arctic Cooling MX-4 4g Thermal Compound
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Cooling-MX-4-Thermal-Compound/dp/B0045JCFLY/

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-120mm/dp/B0068OI7T8/
 
Solution
MeteorsRaining
More VRAM does not increase the number of CUDA cores, and what is more critical is the core's speed, go for the best 3GB 780, ie, the EVGA SC ACX.

You don't need an af cooler with a Xeon. Also, you can get 100MHz more (1241 v3) for 10 more bucks, which'll increase performance. You don't need a thermal paste too, the CPU comes with one.

600W is ok for a single GPU but won't be enough power for SLI in future, get atleast 850W from EVGA/ XFX/ SeaSonic/ Antec.

You'll need faster memory than 1600Mhz to render faster, atleast 2133MHz or 2400MHz.

I hope you've a HDD handy as 120/250GB won't be enough for complex rendering program data and output (not the program itself).

Something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price...
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MeteorsRaining

MeteorsRaining

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Jul 27, 2014
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More VRAM does not increase the number of CUDA cores, and what is more critical is the core's speed, go for the best 3GB 780, ie, the EVGA SC ACX.

You don't need an af cooler with a Xeon. Also, you can get 100MHz more (1241 v3) for 10 more bucks, which'll increase performance. You don't need a thermal paste too, the CPU comes with one.

600W is ok for a single GPU but won't be enough power for SLI in future, get atleast 850W from EVGA/ XFX/ SeaSonic/ Antec.

You'll need faster memory than 1600Mhz to render faster, atleast 2133MHz or 2400MHz.

I hope you've a HDD handy as 120/250GB won't be enough for complex rendering program data and output (not the program itself).

Something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£226.77 @ PC World Business)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£82.00 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory (£142.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£55.14 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Dual Classified ACX Video Card (£400.73 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£43.19 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£94.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1045.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-07 14:07 BST+0100
 
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Solution
R

roger_parker

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Sep 7, 2014
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Thanks for your reply.



You're right, VRAM != # CUDA cores. But I've read that the amount of VRAM determines the max scene size that can be rendered by Blender, so it's important to have as much VRAM as possible. Also, which metric on the page below is the core speed that you're talking about? It looks like the Palit outperforms the EVGA all round no?

http://www.gpuzoo.com/Compare/Palit_NE5X780H10JB-1100J__vs__EVGA_03G-P4-2782-RX/



I'll look into the cooler, but I read reviews on Amazon where people were saying the supplied one was useless. I thought I'd read on this site as well that I should get one. And the thermal paste has better reviews than the supplied stuff.

As for the extra 100MHz, the price difference is £35 so I don't think I'll need it because there's not going to be much load on the CPU, the GPU will be doing most of the work. Also, both processors only support up to DDR3-1333/1600, so no point getting 2400MHz because I'd have to overclock, and I doubt it'll be a bottleneck anyway. I don't know how easy this will be under Ubuntu either.



Hmm, this calculator recommends 555-605W for SLI with 2 GTX 780s. I might up it to 650 though.



Yeah I'll get a 1TB HDD if I need it (I might be able to scavenge one though).

Thanks for your ideas.
 
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S

sora

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It seems decent but I would get an XFX or Seasonic power supply and I also would stay with 8GB of RAM.
 
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MeteorsRaining

MeteorsRaining

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Jul 27, 2014
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For GPU, what resolution will you be working at? And what resolution will be the scenes? Yes VRAM does limit the amount of processing a GPU can do with a particular size, but they'll largely depend on what resolution you're working at and the reso of the scenes as well.
PS: You're comparing the wrong GPUs, that EVGA has 993Mhz clock.

Palit is a good choice, no doubt, but EVGA is generally the best in terms of all round performance for GTX, also, CUDA core speed will make an impact on the amount of time it takes to render the scene (not the size of scene). There's a 6GB version of EVGA which's really fast (core speed wise) but its a pretty penny, 50 Quids more than what I and you chose, so yes you can go on with Palit, the difference in render times will be in seconds so that won't bother much.
NOTE: Just by looking at the core clock, you can make out EVGA is faster.

The supplied coolers are good enough, and definately not useless, I'd advice you try out the stock and monitor the temps for a few days, if they go above 72C on full load, you can consider going with af ones. Yes af thermal compound will be obviously better, but isn't required till you OC (which you can't do on this CPU). I wouldn't advice wasting money on that.

As for CPU, yes won't make any sort of difference as the main software you use is mainly GPU intensive (IT DOES USE CPU), you can go on with that. Blender uses CPU too but its not the kind that you require a 4Ghz one for optimum performance so that's good.

More memory is speed is always good for faster renders, especially if you engage in clothes, fluids, scluptures, etc which use up CPU too. 1600Mhz won't bottleneck, but 2400MHz will be faster, Also, you just need to enable XMP or set the timings and speed manually once from BIOS, that's it, Software has no role in that. Will save you a sec or 2 in heavy scenes.

Enabling XMP Profile 1 is more like a click of a button than OCing.

Forget the calculator, 650W is IN NO WAY going to be enough for 780 SLI. This's the best reference for PSU requirements and I strongly recommend you follow it:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

HDD is easy and cheap to get so no need for any advice there.



 
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R

roger_parker

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Sep 7, 2014
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I think you're right. You might have convinced me :) My priority is to be able to quickly render scenes at a lower resolution. Once I'm happy I'll probably spin up some GPU-optimised AWS instances to render the final animation. So I guess core clock speed is more important to me than VRAM.



Makes sense.

I might bump it up if it's simple to do then. I had ummed and ahhed about it. There's a 2400MHz which is only about £3 more (Kingston HyperX Beast).

Thanks, I'll check it out.
 
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