LaurentCoiffier,
It appears that in your use, ZBrush is the primary use, given that in animation, the source for all content is the animation program. It's also one of the most demanding kinds of program with the millions of polygons creating huge files. ZBrush is also entirely CPU-based, and can delegate tasks to as many CPU cores as available. However, most animation rendering will be GPU-based.
The following concept is based an entirely new system, based on a Supermicro Superworkstation so as to provide a dual LGA2011 motherboard to increase future expansion potential. the upgrade to a second 8-core CPU could add two or more years to the use. This provides a case, dual LGA2011 motherboard, CPU coolers, and power supply such that the user need only plug in the CPU's, RAM, GPU's, and drives. This simplifies the hardware decisions and makes configuration very fast. the cooling is designed for server-level use and these systems are rated to be very quiet. The cooling solution is designed to accommodate a heavier thermal load than is proposed in that this may use 2X 160W CPU's plus 3X 200W GPU's in reference to the use of Telsa coprocessors.
The key to this idea is employing used CPU's. By using depreciated CPU's, a much higher specification is possible and funds are released for other purposes. There are tests that indicate that in some applications, including Premiere and After Effects, additional cores do not contribute to processing efficiency, but on the other hand, Solidworks is so well-multi-threaded that every core added improves performance, so the full utilization is on the horizon. I've purchased quite a number of used Xeons that were used up to five years and never had a failure.
For the best long-term potential in a cost /performance context, the proposed system is assembled using a single Xeon E5-2687w v2. As this is 8-core @ 3.4 with a turbo speed of 4.0GHz, this has among the best ratios of single-threaded performance. The average Passmark CPU Mark is
16633 with a Single Thread Mark of
2059. the comparable scores for the i7-4930K are
13058 /
1996. ZBrush will benefit from the greater number of cores, higher calculation density, and single-thread performance. The system is proposed to be assembled initially with a single Xeon E5-2687w v2 with a potential to add a second CPU and additional RAM in the future. The RAM (DDR3-1866 ECC registered) is specified in 8X 8GB modules so CPU1 has two complete RAM channels. The second CPU then can have a matching, balanced RAM complement for a total of 128GB. On the Supermicro X9DA motherboard a pair of E5-2687w v2's has a CPU Mark up to
26646.
The GPU is the requested Titan X. The Pascal Titan X is a brilliant performer, however, in my view, it would be best to wait for third-party versions with better cooling solutions. Mr. Kagouris has a good idea to use a pair of GTX 1080 as there are two GPU's, more total memory and CUDA cores than a single Titan X.
BambiBoom PixelCannon Zebrushagrapharific iWork TurboSignature Extreme ModelBlast 9800 ®©$$™®£™©™_9.13.16
Case /Motherboard / CPU coolers / Power supply : Supermicro SuperWorkstation SYS-7037A-I Dual Socket LGA2011 Xeon 900W Mid-Tower Workstation Barebone System (Black) > $740
http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/tower/7037/SYS-7037A-i.cfm
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=SY-737AI
CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2687w v2 Eight-Core Haswell Processor 3.4 /4.0GHz, 20MB LGA 2011 CPU,150W > $2,000 (used about $1,000 each)
http://ark.intel.com/products/76161/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2687W-v2-25M-Cache-3_40-GHz
Memory: 64GB (8x 8GB) Samsung DDR3-1866 8GB/512Mx8 ECC/REG CL13 Samsung Chip Server Memory > $488 ($61ea.)
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=D3-18R8GS2
GPU 1: EVGA 06G-P4-3791-KR G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX TITAN BLACK Superclocked 6GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card > $1,125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G28N6256&cm_re=Titan_X-_-9SIA24G28N6256-_-Product
Disk 1: SAMSUNG SM951 MZHPV512HDGL M.2 / 512GB Internal Solid State Drive (AHCI)(SSD) > $309 (Amazon)
PCIe M.2 Adapter: Lycom DT-120 M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter (Support M.2 PCIe 2280, 2260, 2242) > $22
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38/ref=pd_lpo_147_lp_t_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BXP759K2XTHDRYCWFRY4
Disks 2, 3: 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 ST3000NM0023 3TB 7200RPM SAS3/SAS 6.0 GB/s 128MB Enterprise Hard Drive (3.5 inch)> $364 ($183 each) (Files, Backup, System Image)
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=ST3000NM23
Optical Disk: LG 16x Internal Blu Ray/DVD/CD Burner Writer Drive + Software > $92
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7252W34113&cm_re=blu_ray_drive-_-0Y6-000N-00005-_-Product
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit English (1-Pack), OEM > $139.
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MSFQC08289
_______________________________________
TOTAL = $4,279
Cheers,
BambiBoom
CAD / 3D Modeling / Graphic Design:
HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 (6-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz) / 32GB DDR3 -1866 ECC RAM / Quadro K4200 (4GB) / Samsung SM951 M.2 256GB AHCI + Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) + Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > Logitech z2300 speakers > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)
[ Passmark Rating = 5581 > CPU= 14046 / 2D= 838 / 3D= 4694 / Mem= 2777 / Disk= 11559] [6.12.16]
Analysis / Simulation / Rendering:
HP z620 (2012) (Rev 2) 2X Xeon E5-2690 (8-core @ 2.9 /3.8GHz) / 40GB DDR3-1600 ECC) / Quadro K2200 (4GB) / HP Z Turbo Drive (256GB) / 800W > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > HP 2711x (27" 1980 X 1080)
[ Passmark System Rating= 5322 / CPU= 19777 / 2D= 741 / 3D = 3887/ Mem =2290 / Disk = 13426 ] 9.2.16