PC or/and render box for 3D (maya), VFX (nuke) and video editing (adobe set) under 6000$

kidziman · Nov 27, 2015

Hi,

I decided to ask you guys for ideas, since you seem to be more advanced in hardware than I am. Here I provided the copy/paste template and I will describe what do I need.

Approximate Purchase Date: ass soon as possible

Budget Range: 6000$ for PC only

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 3D rendering, 3D workflow (Autodesk Maya), VFX workflow (The Foundary Nuke, Adobe After Effects), video editing (Premiere Pro, up to 6K resolution), VFX rendering, gaming

Are you buying a monitor: Yes (but have another budget for that)

Parts to Upgrade: meybe all, I have this specification at the moment:
Procesor: Intel Core i7-4770K CPU 3.50GHz Intel Core i7-4770K CPU 3.50GHz
graphic card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 Nvidia GeForce GTX 770
motherboard: Asus Z87-plus Asus Z87-plus
RAM: 4x Corsair Vengeance 4GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance 4GB DDR3
Power supply: Corsair CS750M Corsair CS750M
cooling system: Fractal Kelvin S24 Fractal Kelvin S24
Hard disks:
- system - Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series 256GB Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series 256GB
- data - Western Digital 2TB Western Digital 2TB
Monitors: One samsung (I don't know the name but need to change it anyway because it is getting worse and worse every day), second one is NEC MultiSync P221W NEC MultiSync P221W

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: http://www.komputronik.pl/ http://www.morele.net/ (1 dolar is 4 Polish zloty) but I don't mind selecting items from English sites, so the price will be as said.

Location: Poland

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: (1680x1050, would like to have one 1680x1050 and the second to be 4K reference monitor - for color grading)

Additional Comments: I will write something more about what I want. The main thing is, that I'm doing more and more of CGI (using Autodesk Maya). The workflow is ok for now (but probably could have been better) but the render times of single frames (IPR just to see the results) or batch rendering the whole thing takes too much time by now. That's the main thing I would like to improve. The secon thing I would like to improve is the time I wait for the video previe editing/making VFX. While I put many effects on the clip, it take too long to make a preview. I would also like to edit footage in 4K and even 6K resolutions, which is really hard now. I made some research and it seems like that is mostly the CPU job (whole that stuff I mentioned - from Maya, only Vray RT and Iray RT use GPU acceleration, I mainly use mental ray by now but of course I can change to Vray RT - used some Vray before). From VFX applications also only a few effects can use GPU acceleration, also the VFX rendering isn't the main concern because I haven't got problems with i taking too long (meybe also because I create lots of effects in 3D, not in Nuke, so the 3D takes a lot but exporting Nuke composition not). I don't know if I can write some more in this matter, probably you know it better.
I should meybe write what was I looking at. So, first I looked at the PNY Quadro M5000 8GB graphics card PNY Quadro M5000 and it seems fine and good price/quality item. The question is, what procesing power can I get in that price focusing only on procesors? I mean, I can change to Vray RT in maya, but what advantage can I take from that? Is it worth having something better, but usable only in some circumstances or it is better to have something a bit worse but usable anytime? I'm confused about procesors, as I don't really know which ones should I choose, but also found something like comprocesors (for example http://ark.intel.com/products/75798/Intel-Xeon-Phi-Coprocessor-3120P-6GB-1_100-GHz-57-core) and at this point I can't even figure out how it works. I found some info, that it is like graphic accelerators, close to nVidia Tesla line. but meybe I'm wrong? If it will work with all kinds of processes that would be a nice hardware to have I think. As it comes to memory, I thought that 64GB will be ok for that purposes but now I'm not sure. Anyway, I found something like http://www.corsair.com/en/vengeance-lpx-64gb-8x8gb-ddr4-dram-2666mhz-c15-memory-kit-black-cmk64gx4m8a2666c15). Motherboard, also that's my guess - https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/X99S/. Disk space - I would organise it to have one SSD with system and applications and a Raid for the data. SSD meybe http://ocz.com/consumer/vertex-3-sata-3-ssd (if there are some better, it could also be), for the Raid http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-Barracuda-inch-Internal-Drive/dp/B006H32Q3S but any other that you think is better is meybe better. I haven't choose some particullar rest of the set, so the power supply, case an cooling system, but I'm sure the cooling system and the power supply need to be more then needed (had some problems because of these two guys in the past).

I know that's a long post but if you came to this point and would like to help me, I would really apriciate it! And sorry if my English was at some times poor, I was trying my best

Ps. If anyone of you know some good 4K reference monitor for video collor corecting, I would also be glad to hear any ideas. (I found something like this for example, it can be also used on set so that's an advantage https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/smartview4k

Best regards,
Michal

kanewolf · Nov 27, 2015

A Phi coprocessor uses specially coded software to take advantage of it. Unless you know that the commercial software you are using supports Phi, then it is of zero value to you.

You are probably looking at a workstation class box. @bambiboom will probably be along with a recommendation. It will generally be something that is Xeon E5 based.

kidziman · Nov 28, 2015

Oh I see, thatnks for that. So probably only accelerator that matters is some kind of GPU. I found this page: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/AutoDesk-Maya-2013-GPU-Acceleration-166/ and some other pages also claim, that it would be the best way to make something balanced, since I need render as well as workflow acceleration. This particullar page is dominated by AMD firePros, but it is 2 years old now so I don't know, how good the info is. I looked into the e5 procesors also, I found something that may be ine the price range and seems quite good, it is: http://ark.intel.com/products/64583/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2680-20M-Cache-2_70-GHz-8_00-GTs-Intel-QPI. Ofcourse you probably know it better so if I'm wrong please correct me. Also, if anyone of you know how well it can behave, I've found some not too expensive viewport accelerator like http://www.develop3d.com/workstations/caustic-series2-ray-tracing-acceleration-boards. Is it worth anything? I think that probably the budget will be slightly bigger, but I would sell my current computer anyway so can add something like 1000$.

That ray tracing accelerators seems to be out of stock so no matter anyway.

kanewolf · Nov 28, 2015

GPUs are definitely what can speed things up. The latest Quadro Mxxxx series -- http://www.nvidia.com/object/compare-quadro-gpus.html will provide the best performance. An M4000 or above.

The "big boys" can sell you a prebuilt workstation if you are interested, Dell, HP both have workstations that will come with 3 years of support if you don't want to DIY.

bambiboom · Nov 28, 2015

Michal,

In my view, your applications are very demanding of the high performance from the CPU: rendering and video processing can use as many cores. threads as possible, there needs to abe alot RAM, the GPU must be fantastic for 4K and an extremely fast disk system. The best generel system would have two Xeon E5-2600 processors of at least 6-cores, 64GB of ECC RAM, as Kanewolf mentioned, a Quadro M-series GPU, and possibly an M.2 or PCIe SSD main drive and several mechanical hard drives running on Controller card.

I've made a quick list from Komputronik:

BambiBoom PixelCannon Modavidearendeditgrapharific iWork TurboPolskilicious Signature Extreme ModelBlast 9000 ®zł©$$™®£™©zł™_11.28.15

CPU: (2) Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2640 v3 (20M Cache, 2.60 / 3.4GHz) 8 core> 9498zl 4749 zł each ($2355)

http://ark.intel.com/products/83352
http://www.komputronik.pl/product/246151/Elektronika/Cz%C4%99%C5%9Bci_PC/Intel%C2%AE_Xeon%C2%AE_Processor_E5_2640_v3_20M_Cache_2_60_GHz_8_core.html#

CPU Cooler: (2) Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler > 638 zł ($158 ea.)

http://www.komputronik.pl/product/91642/Sprzet_komputerowy_/Podzespoly/Noctua_NH_D14.html

Motherboard: ASUS workstation Z10PE-D8 WS> 2549 zł ($632)

http://www.komputronik.pl/product/247573/Elektronika/Komputery_Serwery/ASUS_workstation_Z10PE_D8_WS.html
Memory: 64GB (8x 8GB) Samsung DDR4-2133 8GB/1Gx72 ECC/REG CL15 Server Memory > 3272 zl ($811.)

http://www.komputronik.pl/product/254826/Elektronika/Cz%C4%99%C5%9Bci_PC/Samsung_8GB_DDR4_ECC_REG_2133Mhz.html

GPU: Quadro M4000 8GBVideo Card > 4199 zł ($1,049)

http://www.komputronik.pl/product/300321/Elektronika/Cz%C4%99%C5%9Bci_PC/PNY_Quadro_M4000_8GB.html

Disk 1: Samsung 850 Evo 500GBSATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) > 697zł ($172).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148820&cm_re=crucial_mx100-_-20-148-820-_-Product

Disk 2,3 (2) WD BLACK SERIES 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive > 1154 zł ($286)

http://www.komputronik.pl/search/pl/run/showProducts/1/hide_boxes/1/searchString/V0QlMjBCbGFjayUyMDJUQg==/category/14508/?query=WD%2BBlack%2B2TB

Optical Disk: Lg Blu-Ray BH16NS40 289 zł ($72)

http://www.komputronik.pl/product/185173/Sprzet_komputerowy_/Podzespoly/LG_Blu_Ray_DVD_-_RW_Blu_ray_BH16NS40_bulk_black.html

Power Supply: Corsair RM 850W CP-9020056-EU Power Supply > 659 zł $16350.

http://www.komputronik.pl/product/205895/Sprzet_komputerowy_/Podzespoly/Corsair_RM_850W_80PLUS_GOLD_modularny_ATX_wiatrak_135mm.html

Case: Lian Li PC-A75X Big Tower - czarny> 979 zł ( $253)

http://www.komputronik.pl/product/205427/Sprzet_komputerowy_/Podzespoly/Lian_Li_PC_A75X_Big_Tower_czarny.html

_______________________________________

TOTAL = 23 933 zł (= $5,935. )

This provides 16 cores /32 threads for rendering /processing. The E5-2680 v3 you mentioned would be perfect for this use, but they are 8 790 zł or $2,180 each ($1,800 each in the US). The cost of the above system with E5-2680 v3 would be 32 015 zł or $7,490. If you could buy them in the US the cost would be $6,640 and there is not a lot of VAT /import costs that might be worth trying to do. I think the speeds of the E5-2640 v3 are still a good balance given the number of cores /threads. The first two cores of the Xeon E5-2640 v2 run at 3.4GHz which is not bad for 3D modeling especially with a good GPU, and the remaining cores run at 2.6Ghz, which is good for rendering. The new Quadro M4000 (8GB) is excellent, similar performance to the previous Quadro K5200 (8GB) which in the US costs $1,800 is double the cost of the M4000. In 3D, the M4000 is similar to a GTX 960, but is running the special visualization high anti-aliasing, viewport, and 12-bit color drivers. In my view you must have a Quadro or Firepro GPU for this use. If the modeling in 4K becomes difficult, a second M4000 can be added, providing two GPU's and 3,328 CUDA cores. The disk system is not that strong- there probably should be a RAID card- such as the LSI 9341-4i and a set of mech'l drives. The CPU cooling listed is probably more than necessary, the CPU's are only 90W and liquid cooling is not necessary. It's also noisy.

Anyway, there is something to start the conversation.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3490 / CPU = 9178 / 2D= 685 / 3D= 3566 / Mem= 1865 / Disk= 2122] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 772 OpenGL= 99.72 FPS] 7.8.15

kidziman · Nov 30, 2015

Hi!

Thanks for the large answear, I didn;t expact that. I really apreaciate that. So, first thing, the prices - probably getting it from US won't give me that much, the 6000$ budget I gave is incl. VAT price, but as a company I can get rid of it, so the real cost of the procesor http://www.komputronik.pl/product/246146/Elektronika/Cz%C4%99%C5%9Bci_PC/Intel%C2%AE_Xeon%C2%AE_Processor_E5_2680_v3_30M_Cache_2_50_GHz_12_core.html will cost me 7146zł instead of 8790 (23% VAT), so that is like 1786$. When I ship it from states I will need to pay 1800$ + shipping. But I put the incl. VAT price so it will be easier for us to menage something (probably the tax regulations are different in different countries).

The build you provided really suits me. It seems like really professional and well set. I have some questions though, and you probably know the answers

1) What's the advantage to mount two weaker procesors over one better? I mean, is there for example a way to manage jobs between them? Or two of them are faster?
2) The disk system - if I would like 4TB disk space on the raid, how many disks should I buy? And what disks, the ones that are listed? I found that Raid card for 930zł (http://www.superstorage.pl/product_info.php?products_id=668). That's is probably the only thing I may change by now, since I think it can really spped up my work, especially editing? How about for example putting 2 SSDs, one for system and applications, another on for current project works? It is probably cheeper, because the SSD listed is around 700zł (500GB). Oh, and would the power supply be enough for the raid? I once hear a story that whole raid went down because there was not enough energy.
3) The cooling - I had a problem with my computer (i7-4770K CPU), because it overheated and that was why I need to mount the liquid cooling system. Meybe I caould only buy some better tower cooler? Anyway, since I have the liquid cooler and I can add one exchange unit to it, should I use it for cooling or the tower coolers are just better?

Probably these are all questions. Everything looks really well for me. I would only consider some disk changes (as you also mentioned). Tell me what you think about that.

Many, many thanks

Michal

bambiboom · Nov 30, 2015

Michal,

You are very welcome- a very interesting project.

And you are also very lucky that businesses may purchase without VAT. When looking at the Komputronik site, I noticed the price "netto" and assumed this was the price without tax.

1) What's the advantage to mount two weaker processors over one better? I mean, is there for example a way to manage jobs between them? Or two of them are faster?

As you are using some of the most demanding applications: 3D modeling /animation, rendering, and video editing / processing, on the same system, all the systems must be strong. Fortunately, rendering and editing (Premiere) may use all the processor threads available. When I render on my dual 4-core system (8-cores /16 threads, I assign 12 threads to rendering. If I had a single 4- core, I could use perhaps 4 or 5 threads. The processors work in parallel. However, as the number of cores increases, the clock speed drops. one could buy a single 12-core Xeon. The fastest is the E5-2690 v3 which is 2.5 /3.5. which costs 8 528,46 zł netto. But, the E5-2640 v3 is 8 cores at 2.6 /3.4Ghz and 3 860,98 zł each or 7 722 zł total. And there is 16 cores- which is +1/3 or +4 cores /+8 threads at a very similar speed for - 846 zł less. More cores at about the same speed for less money. Also, the dual socket socket system means that you might after two years, replace the dual 8-cores CPU's with for example dual 12 cores at a higher clock speed. The ability to expand is doubled.

2) There are two uses for the disks. one is to swap the system files to RAM and the processors and the other use is to store files. In my system I have a 480GB SSD (Intel 730) which is very fast and reliable. In one partition is Windows and programs and the other has all my projects files- about 55GB. Then I have a 1TB mech'l drive (WD Black) to store old projects and large library files that are not used often. This method has worked very well as almost all the work is done using the SSD and then I have a copy on another drive. I also backup to an external drive (WD Blue 500GB) that only runs when backing up. If the computer fails, I could plug that drive to my other system and continue working with very little interruption.

I've thought about your use and various complicated arrangements of OS/Application and scratch disks, RAID 1+0 and so on. However, those configurations were all too complex to setup and maintain and in the end, I think a super-fast PCIe SSD- a big one- that backs up to a pair of 4TB mech'l drives in RAID 1 and an external archiving drive may be the best arrangement.

1. Intel 750 Series AIC 800GB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDPEDMW800G4X1 (OS/Applications partition and a partition for the current projects) this is not the NVMe version ($1,100) but still Fast, fast, fast.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167361&cm_re=intel_750_800gb-_-20-167-361-_-Product

2. LSI 9341-4i

3. 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 ST4000NM0023 4TB 7200 RPM 128MB Cache SAS 6Gb/s 3.5" Enterprise Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive (notice the 128MB cache instead of the usual 64MB)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W021H6292&cm_re=seagate_constellation_es.3-_-22-178-306-_-Product

4. StarTech SAT3510BU3 Aluminum / Plastic 3.5" BlackSuperSpeed USB 3.0 SATA Hard Drive Enclosure w/ Fan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707227&cm_re=startech-_-17-707-227-_-Product

I have one to of these and it works really well. I like the switchable cooling fan.

and add to it:

5. Western Digital RE WD4000FYYZ 4TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Enterprise Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W00ZD1376&cm_re=wd_re-_-22-236-350-_-Product

However, you know you needs better than I know them. If you want ultimate performance there could be separate OS /program and scratch disks SSD's and some form of RAID 1 +0 running on a RAID controller.

Yesterday I added the second X5680 CPU and +6GB RAM to the Dell Precision T5500 which changed the Passmark CPU score from 9178 to 14361. I was curious as to the comparison to a pair of E5-2640 v3. Those score an average of 14773. The numbers look somewhat similar, but having 50% more cores and DDR4- 2133 instead of DDR-1333 will make a tremendous difference in rendering speeds as compared to faster clock speeds.

If you like, I will have a look around at monitors. I should learn about the current professional level color-correcting ones.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

kidziman · Dec 1, 2015

Hi,

so I'm pretty sure I will try something like you said (if I will find some money

). Found that disks to be nearly the same price (excl. VAT) in Poland. There are also a 1,2TB disk, what do you think about it? The price is a bit better compared zł/GB. Meybe if I will be short I will decide not to mount the Raid, so only that 2 disks and one Intel SSD (that's 950zł saving but always something). I think that fast SSD may be the best thing to do now. By the way, the Raid controller is 6Gb/s or 6GB/s? Because at the page I found it says 6Gb/s.

Anyway, if you could also look at the monitors, it would be great! I think there is some difference between the video color grading/reference monitors and photo editing monitors. The one that I have (NEC MultiSync P221W http://www.necdisplay.com/p/desktop-monitors/p221w-bk?type=support) seems to be more like photo moniotor. I now need true Video grading 4K moniotor. I know some very good ones, but they are quite expensive (like quite quite, for example this one from sony, with true HDR http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/898437-REG/Sony_30_PVM_X300_4K_TRIMASTER.html) but that's not how much money I can spend on the monitor unfortunatelly

I'm also making a little search, and if there will be a better choice in fullHD monitors but with better colors, I will probably go with that. Oh, I have'nt said the price probably, I don't want it to be more than 10000zł (2500$) but also searching for the cheeper ones.

Ps. For example, this one looks quite good, but it's only 1080p http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/735978-REG/Sony_LMD_2110W_LMD_2110W_21_5_Professional_LCD.html and this http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1082835-REG/blackmagic_design_hdl_smtv4k12g_smartview_4k.html which is UHD but not that large)

Best regards,
Michal

kidziman · Dec 1, 2015

Also, the thing might be, that the graphic card has an display port output and many professional monitors has SDI and HDMI inputs (or only SDI). But that can possibly be gone over I think.

Another PS. This one also looks really fine but it's quite expensive though http://www.shopfsi.com/CM171-p/cm171.htm

And anothe PS. sorry for that

Most of the monitors I've found can also be a field moniotors, that's why for example 12bit can be used when plugged to the camera or so. I also do recording so I sometimes may jsut get the monitor and use it on the fileds as I can't get 2 of them at this point. But I don't need to be a fild monitor of course.

I've also found this article, which may be helpful: http://jonnyelwyn.co.uk/film-and-video-editing/affordable-colour-grading-monitors-2/

bambiboom · Dec 1, 2015

kidziman :

Michal,

The 1.2TB Intel 750 is I think the No.6 fastest SSD today- really amazing. Since the time I saw the amazing speed of Intel 750's, and the price is less every day, I think it makes sense. I have believed for a long time that PCIe SSD's are the future.

M.2 is also amazingly good and can be less expensive per GB. There are quite inexpensive PCIe M.2 adapter cards and if I could use one of these in the HP z420 I'd be very pleased :

SAMSUNG SM951 M.2 512GB PCI-Express 3.0 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZHPV512HDGL-00000 - OEM > $334

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W032J1030&cm_re=samsung_sm951-_-20-147-426-_-Product

If I could use one in the antique Precision T5500 that would be fantastic as that has an SATA II 3GB/s controller. I'm trying to install the PERC H310 6GB/s controller which is very highly rated but that could never approach the potential of M.2.

If very fast disk performance is possible using a simple solution, I would prefer it. That is why I have only a fast SSD , single storage drive, and isolated /external backup that is run only when backing up. Using enterprise level drives such as the Intel 730, WD RE, and Seagate Constellation ES.3, I've had good performance and haven't lost data.

If you mean the LSI 9341-4i controller:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118233&cm_re=LSI_9341-4i-_-16-118-233-_-Product

> it is listed as "12Gb/s". However, I don't know and the user comments complain about it. However, I think complaints may be because these controllers are difficult to have everything setup correctly.

Monitors: I've only ever seen Eizo monitors a couple of times but once was an AVID editing suite in Santa Monica, CA where they were editing feature films. Really impressive. Have a look at:

http://www.eizoglobal.com/products/eizo_4k_monitors/index.html

Not inexpensive but the 31" 4K color-correcting post-production monitors costs about 1/3 the cost of the Sony.

And the 24" is close to your budget:

Eizo ColorEdge CG248-4K 23.8" Widescreen LED Backlit IPS Monitor (Black) > $2,749.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1138068-REG/eizo_cg248_4k_23_8_hardware_calibration_lcd.html

These have both DisplayPort and HDMI inputs.

With a 24" one, you could run the image in full screen and have a second, inexpensive 24" monitor for the menus and clips.

I haven't read reviews of these exact models, but the Eizos I've seen had the best image quality I saw anywhere at the time- (that was before 4K).

Cheers,

BambiBoom

kidziman · Dec 1, 2015

I've found it in Poland for 10261 inc. Tax, so about 2565$ http://monitory.mastiff.pl/monitory-1/cad-cam/monitory-eizo-coloredge-cg248-4k.html That could be nice. Tomorow I'm going to find all the stuff for the work station and start to buy things up. When the station will be ready, I will post some shots, also I will try how it gets better with rendering compared to the actual system I own. Many thanks for all the help, that really helped!

bambiboom · Dec 1, 2015

kidziman :

Michal,

That's all very good news. The system you're making should be excellent or as we say in Santa Monica, "bardzo fantastyczne i wszystkie wspaniałe".

Yes, Let us know how you progress on the project. I would especially appreciate your opinion of the Eizo monitor if you use it, which I thought about ever since I saw them.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

kidziman · May 8, 2016

Hi,

I've finally made it, decided to go with some vendor stuff, since I have their everyday help and advice when something goes wrong. And I was a bit afraid to do this workstation alone. So I've bought Dell Precision tower 7910 with specs more or less simmilar to what we;ve spoke about:

2x Intel Xeon E5-2640 v3 2,60 GHz
128GB (16x8GB) 2133MHz DDR4 ECC RDIMM
NVidia Quattro M4000
2 1TB Intel SSD - one for system and mobile RAM (if needed

) and one for programs and program's scratch (many wideo editing and VFX softwares creates their own files for preview purposes, can also place there demanding projects)
SAS SSD in Raid 5 of total space 3,6TB

I've also bought an UPS for the tower and main monitor (I decedid to go with HP Dreamcolor Z27x) and an external disk for backup (WD My Book 6TB).

So far I've just played some games (and liked it). But first test I'm going to make in some 2 days or so. I will do rendering tests (measured time of render in Maya with Vray on old computer) and also editing and color grading Red camera materials (R3D) with Davinci Resolve (on old computer I gained 3fps/second with full res 5K). Will let you know soon.

I also have one more thing to solve, since my vendor is not working on weekends I will ask here. The computer have problems booting. I checked that it only happens when I plug multiple monitors, when I have only one everything goes right. The problem is strange, one time it jsut stucks at Dell logo, sometimes monitors don't even swith on. Meybe you know what can be the case. Is it possible that the problem is with power? I plug the computer an HP monitor into UPS and other monitors into wall outlet.

bambiboom · May 8, 2016

kidziman :

kidziman,

It appears you have a very good specification and the Precision T7910 should have good performance and very good reliability.

The first item that comes to mind regarding your booting problem is that the UPS is undersized for the T7910 which has a 1300W power supply. I was given a UPS from a office that closed and which rana single 130W CPU Precision with a 550W PSU. When I tried the UPS on my T5500 with two 6-core 130W CPU's and an 875W PSU, it would not start and sounded an alarmto signal that the system was not protected.

I use isolation transformer power conditioners by Powervar and OneAC for my systems. these have power conditioning and RF filters, and super surge protection- made for hospital equipment and industrial controls. They're very expensive new- the computer-level ones cost $900-$1600- and huge 3-phase industrials ones can be $50,000. I buy 8A ones for $100 on Ebay. The prices drop as they're replaced regularly= probably every two years. But. they're very well made- I have an 11A OneAC that has been running 24 hours per day which 2011. My problem in Los Angeles is not outage but instead dirty electricity (RF) that varies in voltage- in my house it can be 109V to 125V. Someday I will try a UPS again, but I have never lost data to power outage and will probably have to experience that first before I change!

I've not seen the HP Dreamcolor Z27x, but that is a good series and I actually like my HP 2711x more than the Dell Ultrasharp as the 2711x has no anti-reflection coating and the colors are contrast appear much cripsper even though that is 1920 X 108o and the Ultrasharps are 2560 X 1440.

But, congratulations on the new system- very good choice.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

PS> [Since the original thread, I bought a Precision T3500 for $53:

Precision T3500 (2011) (Original) Xeon W3530 4-core @ 2.8 /3.06GHz > 4GB (2X 2GB) DDR3-1333 ECC > GeForce 9800 GT (1GB)> WD Black 500GB
[[Passmark system rating = 1963, CPU = 4482 / 2D= 609 / 3D=805 / Mem= 1409 / Disk=1048]

> and spending $143 plus some parts lying around from other upgrades:

3. Dell Precision T3500 (2011) (Rev 2) Xeon X5677 4-core @ 3.46 / 3.73GHz > 12GB (6X 2GB) DDR3-1333 ECC > Quadro 4000 (2GB) > PERC 6/i + Seagate 300GB 15K SAS ST3300657SS + WD Black 500GB > 525W PSU> Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > 2X Dell 19" LCD
[Passmark system rating = 2751, CPU = 7236 / 2D= 658 / 3D=2020 / Mem= 1875 / Disk=1221]
[PT9 BETA > Passmark system rating = 2696, CPU = 6595 / 2D= 636 / 3D=2391 / Mem= 1811 / Disk=1203]

The performance for CAD is very good as the Xeon X5677 has a better single-threaded performance than the X5680 in the T5500. My plan is to sell the T5500 and T3500 and assemble an HP z620 with a pair of E5-2690 8-cores at the end of the Summer. the HP z420 (E5-1660 v2) will get a Quadro M4000 and the K4200 will go to the z620.]

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