building a workstation to run 3ds MAX

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thekid29

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I don't have a solution. I just what to thank mdocod for being on this forum. I have bilt computers over the past ten years specifically for Autodesks 3-D Studio MAX . Now reading mdocod's remarks I know now that I am a mere student, not remotely the master. So here I find my self humbeled and very grateful to find one who's opinion I may rely on for a very important build.

I am a 3-D artist creating fine art as opposed to commercial content.My work can be found at rsda.smugmug.com .

I mainly create 3-D prints but I intend to extend into the realm of animation. I plan on building a system for that purpose.
My budget is around $3,,000 but I'm willing to spend more. I just need a good metric to justify making the additional price increase. I'm thinking of a single Skylake system and a Titan graphic card but after reading your posts I realize I'm just guessing here.

Would you please offer a suggested build and help me to help myself not waste my money,

Most appreciative,

Richard Sher

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okcnaline

okcnaline

Splendid
Nov 17, 2013
8,083
5
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Hm... You're in Los Angeles?

So you're looking for a build. Lemme see what I can do.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2620 V3 2.4GHz 6-Core Processor ($404.99 @ Newegg)
CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2620 V3 2.4GHz 6-Core Processor ($404.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z10PE-D8 WS SSI EEB Dual-CPU LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($543.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) Registered DDR4-2133 Memory ($145.98 @ Directron)
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($182.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: NVIDIA Quadro M4000 8GB Video Card ($889.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 1050W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($155.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $3012.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-04 18:52 EST-0500
 
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thekid29

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No, I used to live there but left in 1997. I lived in Tamarindo, Costa Rica for the past five years but now I'm near Sun Valley, Idaho, ...It's a long story, "Que Vida." (that means, what a life) I'm going to look at your build right now. Thank you very much.

R
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thekid29

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Thank your for your reply,

I'm limping along on a old consumer I5 laptop (used to belong to my high school daughters after my slightly better laptop got stolen..as I said, I lived in Costa Rica. Their national sport is theft by the way)
You can see the kind of work I do here. It's different, somewhat unusual.
rsda.smugmug.com

Thanks,

Richard Sher
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thekid29

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Do you think it may be a good idea to increase the RAM, especially with dual CPU's?
RAM is so important to handle large textures with high polygon count models.
Thank you for this. There build seems well though out. One question though. What is it about this case that makes you choose it?


Richard


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k1114

k1114

Titan
May 2, 2010
14,240
93
75,540
I'm guessing like 8gb ram and igpu so this would be a huge step up. The main question was what renderer. The reason I ask is a gpu renderer is much faster but maybe not compatible with certain materials you are using. Max comes with iray and quicksilver that are gpu accelerated, otherwise default and mental ray are cpu only. In the case of a gpu renderer, you can drop down to a single cpu, cheaper mid tower, cheaper mobo, cheaper psu, only have to buy one cooler and put more money in the gpu. In the case of a cpu renderer, a lower quadro can still handle high poly count and let you spend more on cpus. So you can see it has a big impact on the part choice.

It doesn't look like you are using any advanced lighting. A lot of it looks like simple photoshop but it's like the experimental 3d graphics back in the 80s/90s when tech first started appearing and also being limited by hardware performance. I know I'm kinda going off topic now but it seems to be influenced by like 70s psychedelic and I can't think of the right word, but the strange creepy things like fantastic planet.
 
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thekid29

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Well put , I grew up in the 60's..big Neil Young fan.
I used to study at Cal Arts and woked with the Nam June Piak/Abe video synthesizer.
Also used the Buchla 200 audio synth (analog of course, wild device, Google it sometimes.)
as a control voltage source to supply wave forms to the video.
Life was so simple back then, no Evil Empire, just good friends we had ...along the way.

I will use Mental Ray and Iray mainly. There is so much ability with in that render.

Richard
 
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thekid29

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Yes, $100 buys a lot where it matters most. RAM is our friend, you know.

Also, can you or your mates recommend a good shop to build this computer?
I found a company called : http://www.titancomputers.com/
I spoke with them and they seemed knowledgeable and fairly priced.


Thank you again for this conversation. It's good to have found you.


Richard
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k1114

k1114

Titan
May 2, 2010
14,240
93
75,540
Prebuilts will cost a bit more, I tried a similar config as okcnaline (with 32gb ram +$100) and it was $600 more. If you don't want to build, I'd still suggest buying the parts separately and just taking it to a local pc shop. They won't charge much to build it but it's not hard, you could do it yourself.
 
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thekid29

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I built several computers many years ago. I guess I could but the nuances like configuring BIOS, installing the CPU fan, just being careful could sap my energy.It may be the best solution though.
First I need to get the components dialed in.

Best,

Richard
 
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