Upgrading old workstation to vr and mod-high gaming capability - would like to keep 10 bit color + xeon

Sclave,

Sorry, this will be long.

It's a very good approach as the T3610 is modern enough to be able to concentrate the costs into a higher level GPU, disks, and more RAM. I would mention that there are currently new Precision T5810's with the E5-1650 v4 (6-core @ 3.5/4.0GHz) at Ebahh resellers for less than $1,400. But, the final configuration ends totalling quite a bit. I did this assessment:

Workstation: Dell T5810_3.3.17

Dell Precision T5810 Workstation - 1 x Intel Xeon E5-1650 v4 Hexa-core (6 Core) > new $1,313.45

____http://www.ebay.com/itm/122344806164?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

RAM: 8X DDR4-2400 ECC unbuffered: 8X Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory $600 ($75 Each)

____https://pcpartpicker.com/product/D8Z2FT/crucial-8gb-1-x-8gb-ddr4-2133-memory-ct8g4wfd8213

Drive 1: Samsung 960 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ B&H)

____https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ZNBrxr/samsung-960-evo-250gb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-mz-v6e250]

Drive 2: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive[/url] ($177.89 @ OutletPC)

____https://pcpartpicker.com/product/FrH48d/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz75e500bam

GPU: PNY NVIDIA Quadro P4000 8GB PCI-Express Video Card ($841.99)

____https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=PNY-P4000

____________________________________________________________

System: $1,313.45
Parts: $1,749.71

____________________

TOTAL= $ 3,063.16

Case / Chassis /Power Supply /Motherboard = $598

T5810 / E5-1650 v4 / Q M4000 = 15289 (STM= 2378)

That would be a very good performer and more future-looking but I believe that your T3610 can approach this performance using the upgrades you mention- plus some tuning, more RAM, and an M.2 drive.

Before making changes to the T3610, consider installing the free trial versionog Passmark Performance Test and running the tests. It will be very satisfying to compare the before and after:

HP z620 (Original) Xeon E5-1620 4-core @ 3.6 /3.8GHz) / 8GB (1X 8GB DDR3-1333) / AMD Firepro V5900 (2GB) / Seagate Barracuda 750GB + Samsung 500GB + WD 500GB
[ Passmark System Rating= 2408 / CPU= 8361 / 2D= 846 / 3D = 1613 / Mem =1584 / Disk = 574 ] 7.13.16

Analysis / Simulation / Rendering:

HP z620 (2012) (Rev 3) 2X Xeon E5-2690 (8-core @ 2.9 / 3.8GHz) / 64GB DDR3-1600 ECC reg) / Quadro K2200 (4GB) + Tesla M2090 (6GB) / HP Z Turbo Drive (256GB) + Samsung 850 Evo 250GB + Seagate Constellation ES.3 (1TB) / Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium PCIe sound card + Logitech z313 2.1 speakers / 800W / Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > > HP 2711x (27" 1980 X 1080)
[ Passmark System Rating= 5675 / CPU= 22625 / 2D= 815 / 3D = 3580 / Mem = 2522 / Disk = 12640 ] 9.25.16 Single Thread Mark = 1903
[ Cinebench R15: CPU = 2209 cb / Single core 130 cb / OpenGL= 119.23 fps / MP Ratio 16.84x] 10.31.16

BIOS: Yes, absolutely upgrade the BIOS to the lastest. Dell.com will download a litlle *.EXE program specifically for the T3610. Click on "run as Adminsitrator"

Windows: You should not have to reinstall Windows nor any program when chaging the CPU>

GPU: Very smart choices, both CPU and GPU. The principal office workstation is being upgraded from an HP z420 -the HP equivalent to the Precision T3610 (= single Xeon E5 v2), from HP z420 > E5-1660 v2 / 32GB / Quadro K4200). to an HP z620 > E5-1680 v2 / 64GB / Quadro P2000).

I've debated about the P2000 vs. P4000 and decided the P2000 is acceptable for the level of use- 2D CAD, 3D modeling. There are not many results but the P2000 Passmark benchmarks for both the P2000 and P4000 are astoundingly good at their respective price levels:

P2000: Passmark G3D: 9995, 8221, 8194 the average results for GTX 780 Ti are 8904 and for GTX 1060: 8749. Tthe Quadro K4200 in use now scores 5078.

P4000: 13218, 10856, 8644 the average results for P5000 is 10575 and for M6000- 10301, so the P4000 can better the $5,000 former flagship model .Quite amazingly good.

NVIDIA considers the P4000 is the entry level for VR and of course will maintain the 10-bit color depth.

PSU: The T3610 power supply is 425W and will be no problem with the 105W P4000.

Memory: For your use, I'd recommend adding RAM to 32GB and consider 64GB or if not now, leave slots to do so by increasing the module capacity. As the file size is so large in VR, and to keep smooth motion everything should happen in RAM, and disk swaps should be avoided.

Installing the CPU: The E5-1650 series is possibly the best cost /performance Xeons ever. Mounting will require thermal paste. Recommended: Arctic Silver 5. Watch a couple of YouTube videos as to how to do it.

How I do it:

1. Clean both the CPU surface and the bottom of the heasink carefully with denatured alcohol.

2. Make a quite thin X (diameter of a thin insulated wire) of the paste across the CPU and then spread it as evenly as possible using an old business card. Clean up any excess.

3. Set the heatsink, checking the proper orientation onto the mounting posts which have springs.

4. Tighten the screws in a diagonal pattern- like car wheel nuts- and only a bit at a time. The idea is to put a symmetrical load on the screws- an even pressure across the mating surfaces. The final tightening should be firm but not the grip of death.

Overclocking the E5-1650 v2. For your use, consider the benefits of overclocking the E5-1650 v2- which is principally improving the single-thread performance. Almost every program relies on the speed of the first CPU core. Today, users of Solidworks with very complex projects are changing their dual Xeon workstations for essentially a fast i7-7700K gaming system, but using with a Quadro instead of a GTX. The i7-7700K- 4-core @ 4.2 /4.5GHz has the highest average single-thread performance.

This is very easy to do- just a slider that changes the multiplier and another that adds some voltage. the goal with the office E5-1660 v2 (6-core@ 3.7 /4.0Ghz) was to improve the single-thread performance. the original Passmark rating was 2098. After some experience, the current configuration changed the multipliers from x38 to x42 for all cores and +35.15625mV (there is a selection of preset amounts) was added- a very modest amount. The 1660 is now running on all cores at 4.192GHz and the single thread rating is 2324. On Passmark, the highest average single thread mark for a Xeon E5- the E5-1680 v4 at 2200. This has been completely stable the last five days although the temperatures under load are slightly higher (+2-4C peaks) and I have set the z420 fans one mark higher in BIOS.

The E5-1650 v2 average single thread mark is 1960. Using Intel Extreme Tune on the 1650 v2, a friend has set all 6-cores to x43 and added +35.15625. All cores are running at 4.3Ghz and the single-thread is 2375 and he reports complete reliability over three days including stress testing. For you use, though, given the high continual load running VR, it might be wise to consider 4.1GHz on all cores unless the thermal protection can be uprated.

If you try it, take very small small steps and have the Tuning utility run the benchmark each time which will indicate the thermal load is acceptable.

Disk: You didn't mention the disk choice, but this may a circumstance that can benefit from an M.2 drive. For the T3610, the choices are limited to AHCI and the Samsung 950 Pro running on it's "Legacy BIOS" which adds an NVMe BIOS module. FOr this use, load the OS.programs in one partition and the applications, libraries, etc in a scond partition. the partitions will not affect the speed not logenvity of the memory, but keep a clarity to the file organiztion. I use an M.2 (AHCI) in two systems and really don't notice an improvement over SATA SSD drives, but if VR loads libraries in the way games do, the disk should be as fast as possible. However, that said, I tried Oculus Rift at my local particle accelerator and they were running it off a Dell Latitude laptop. P.S. VR is very interesting, and has fantastic applications, but I'm sorry to say I experienced motion sickness for the first time ever except for a very brief twinge seeing "Avatar".

An interesting project. What find of work are you doing?

Cheers,

BambiBoom

PS:

Current System:

HP z420 (2015) (Rev 3) > 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 + Logitech z2300 2.1 speakers > 600W PSU> > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit >> 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)
[ Passmark Rating = 5581 > CPU= 151906 / 2D= 838 / 3D= 5098 / Mem= 2853 / Disk= 11559] [6.12.16] Single-Thread Mark = 2324 [4.4.17]
[Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1031cb / Single Core = 142 cb / OpenGL= 127.39 fps / MP Ratio = 7.24x] 3.2.17

Proposed Replacement:

HP z620 > E5-1680 v2 (8-core@3.0/3.9GHz) running all cores at 4.3GHz / 64GB DDR3-1866 ECc registered / Quadro P2000 5GB / HP Z Turbo Drive 256GB (Samsung SM951 AHCI) + Intel 730 480Gb + 2X Seagate Constellation Es. 3 1TB (RAID 1) / ASUs Essence STX sound card + Logitech z2300 2.1 speakers > 800W PSU > windows 7 Ulitimate 64-bit >> 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)

The E5-1680 v2 was unlocked from new and designed to run at 4.3Ghz, having a thermal maximum of 85C as compared to 72C for the E5-1660 v2. Quite a number of users run these at 4.4 and 4.6GHz- and at 4.6GHz, the single thread rating will be as high as the i7-7700K. There was one brave fellow that ran an E5-1680 v2 at 5.7Ghz!

The goal was to change from the 6-core modeling system + 16-core rendering system to a single system having a fast 8-core to accommodate both modeling and CPU rendering. I expect the total cost for the z620 "upgrade" including an unused E5-1680 v2 and new z620 case/ chassis to be about $2,400. That total is expected to be -$700 to the value of the two systems to be sold. In effect, the upgrades returns an $700 profit,.