Need help deciding on my 3D rendering build.

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mattkrause

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So first off I am currently on a Mac Pro at my office, and am looking to go full-time freelance next year. I'm a motion designer/editor, and a typical session for me looks like this: rendering something in C4D while animating in After Effects or editing in Premiere, while streaming a podcast or music in the background.

I put together a build that I think would out perform a Mac Pro. I need all of your help because admittedly, I haven't built a PC since the early 2000's and I may have screwed this list up..

Any suggestions on ways to improve/reduce my budget would be appreciated. I had to add the sound card and 8TB drive separately because they didn't have them listed. If you have any questions please ask them and I'll try to reply quick!

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NhKnvK

Housing: RAIDMAX Narwhal ATX-920WBTI Black/Titanium Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156322
CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2697 V3 2.6GHz 14-Core Processor ($2549.99)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_RD 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.99)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.75)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Professional EATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($269.98)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($68.99)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($68.99)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($68.99)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($68.99)
Storage: Sandisk Extreme Pro 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($199.95)
Storage: HGST Ultrastar He8 HUH728080ALE600 (0F23267) 8TB 7200 RPM 128MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Helium Platform Enterprise Hard Disk Drives ($652.99)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($578.99)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($578.99)
Sound Card: Musiland Moli 24Bit / 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card ($81.98)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX
Power Supply ($177.99)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit) ($139.89)
Wireless Network Adapter: Intel 7260HMWDTX1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($48.99)
Monitor: Asus PQ321Q 31.5" Monitor ($1386.99)
Total: $6932.45

Thanks in advance!
 
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jtabb1256

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What is your total budget? Getting a lot of cores is smart.

Also, for stability, getting a titan x would be better than 2 980's. Also, dx12 (which is in windows 10 only) is said to fix this, but it still may be a problem: VRAM sharing with the sli'd GPUs. Normally, if you have 2 GPUs with 3GB each, you'd only have 3GB to work with. Dx12 is said to now enable you to have 6GB to work with (as you would initially think it would work). Not sure if dx12 is doing what people said it would though.

Make sure your software is compatible with windows 10. Several programs are having problems on win 10.

Also, some integrated audio cards are great. I'd check if the one you selected is much better than Asus's stock one.
 
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mattkrause

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Thanks for the heads up! My Budget is at max $7500.

So holy crap the Titan 12GB card looks amazing! Is it really worth the $500 extra for the GDDR5 upgraded one?

After reading a few support forums it looks like most of my programs are working stable except for Premiere Pro. Is it a better option to use 8.1 for now and wait for 10 to be more stable? It looks like Dx12 is 8.1 compatible, although I wouldn't have to worry about the VRAM sharing if I have 1-12GB GPU do I?

 
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jtabb1256

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The titan x is the newest of the titans. It is currently the best single GPU. This one card is not as powerful as 2 gtx 980s in sli, but it is a cheaper option and definitely more stable (something that I'd think is really important on a computer that you depend on for work)

The titan z is a dual gpu card, but older and could have similar driver problems that using sli may cause. I think it is 2 titan blacks.
And titan black is newer than titan.
Anyway, if you get a titan, get the titan x.

Now, if a professional card is the way to go is the question:
"The Titan X would be better than the Quadro K6000 because it is a 900 series GPU instead of 700 series. That means less heat and power draw a the very least besides HDMi 2.0. The other 900 series cards have not worked with Ray Tracer from CS6 since it's legacy now and not been updated with CC 2014. I suspect it wont with the Titan X cards but the latest NVidia drivers may have addressed that. However the Titan X works fine for GPU acceleration in all other applications in the Adobe suite."
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1832013

"Right now the 900 series cards are testing fine with the MPE engine and acceleration. I have not seen any limitation including effects. So I am not sure where people are running into problems. AE acceleration is ray tracer and on the way outs. Dont expect Nvidia to maintain the version AE left at in the drivers and I would be surprised if any new cards work with it since Adobe is done updating it. Very few use it at this point and C4D with Octane is far better especially for the GPU acceleration."
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1581679

Since you said you are using C4D, the titan x will be perfect for you :)


And about OS selection: If you've used mostly used mac, and not really windows, then I'd say get the newest version of windows.
Windows 10 is still really new, so it's probably just a few months until it is stable with your programs. However, it does have several security things that people are questionable about.
Windows 8.1 is a nightmare for most people who used windows before it, but if you're new to Windows, it's a great OS.
(There are add-ons that make 8.1 look more like 7 and subjectively easier to use on a computer such as "Start8")
Windows 7 is my personal favorite, but it's getting old.
You said you built a computer in the early 2000's, so it probably ran Windows XP, which 7 is really similar to.
 
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mattkrause

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You hit the nail on the head, the more stable the better. The Titan X is looking like a great option, thanks for that. I don't use ray tracer anyways since it really is outdated and slow now.

"Back in the day" I was using XP, and from what I can tell 8 was designed for touch PCs which I couldn't care less about. So It sounds like 10 will be the way to go!

Thank you for all your help!
 
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jtabb1256

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It would. A case is a personal preference. I always suggest watching a quick video review of it before buying it because you may see something you don't like. The case I put in the part list is probably the easiest to work in and has great construction, build quality, and reviews.
 
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mattkrause

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Thanks for putting that list together. I'm going to do without the sound card since the motherboard has a good one onboard. The HDD was just a great deal for 8TB and it's on sale right now. It's either that or I'm considering purchasing an 8TB G-Raid.
 
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jtabb1256

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The thing about one disk being 8TB is that if it dies, that's a lot of data gone. Maybe you should use a couple 4TBs. You probably know what you have to do for storage more than I do.

By the way, the SSD that I put in there is THE fastest SSD (except for a pci slot base intel one that is super expensive).

And the case I have in that list is quiet-focused. If you don't care about quiet / need more build room / want a window, I'd suggest the Phanteks Enthoo Pro.

Also, what about drive bays? Can you reuse the ones from your mac?

Also, that part list has 4 more ram slots open if you want to upgrade to 64GB ram later on.
 
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jtabb1256

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Could you post some pictures of this beast whenever you get it together? XD

And if you want a cleaner look if you get a windowed case, you could get a liquid cooler such as the corsair h110i gt or the kraken x61 (both of which are overkill if you aren't overclocking)

Also, the PSU I suggested is just a little cheaper. It's actually a little less efficient, so if you want to get what you had before (the EVGA p2 1000W 80+platinum), go for it :)

P.S.: This is also a fantastic gaming machine. You can play 4k games on this pretty easily. :)
 
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mattkrause

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Thanks for putting that SSD in there, as well as the quiet case! My wife will greatly appreciate that haha.

I will definitely be upgrading to 64GB eventually, so that's great! I won't be over clocking for now, but I'll keep those in mind!

I actually don't own a Mac of my own right now, which is why I want this rig to be amazing. I'm currently working for a larger company with amazing equipment, so no transferring drive bays for me! I guess that means the only thing I need in this yet is a Blu Ray/DVD bay?

I'll definitely post a picture of it once it's built! I plan on gaming on this for sure, what else am I going to do while rendering? ha
 
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jtabb1256

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Sounds great! And I guess an optical drive really is all you're missing. An additional intake fan on the front may be helpful for maintaining positive air pressure.

Another simple thing I just remembered: Do you have a mouse and keyboard? :)
 
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