Workstation for 3d animation

And3r,

There are three approaches to a 3D animation and rendering system: one kind makes the 3D modeling the priority. another makes the rendering /effects processing, and the third tries to have both animation and rendering work as well possible.

As you can imagine, the system that specializes may not be as versatile in other uses and the configuration that attempts to make everything process quickly is also the most expensive and will not be quite as good for the individual uses.

In general, My idea would be to make the system fast in the uses that are done in real time- the modeling, and have the automated sequences- processing / rendering be fast, but recognize that a few minutes overall is not as important when the system is working automatically. For this approach, my suggestion is to use a processor with as high a single-thread performance as practical, 64GB of RAM, an M.2 main drive, and GTX 1080Ti.

The thing is, by the end of August - 6 weeks from now, there will be a set of new processors including the AMD Threadripper series and various new Xeon Gold. there is also a worldwide shortage of fast graphic cards.

However, that said, here is a list that should have quite a good performance and reliability for your uses. The prices are from German suppliers:

3D Animation and Rendering Workstation_16 July, 2017

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (€328.00 @ Caseking)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (€87.99 @ Aquatuning)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME Z270-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€163.98 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (€136.11 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (€136.11 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€159.19 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Western Digital - BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€135.69 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card (€569.90 @ Caseking)
Case: Thermaltake - Suppressor F51 (Windowless) ATX Mid Tower Case (€107.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: Corsair - 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€121.64 @ Mindfactory)
Optical Drive: LG - WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer (€84.59 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro Full - USB 32/64-bit (€160.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)

Total: €2191.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-16 16:11 CEST+0200

This is over the budget and is somewhat a compromise in that the system should be running 64GB of RAM, the main drive is better as an M.2 such as the Samsung 960 Evo, and the GPU is better as a GTX 1080Ti. This system would however, have very good performance and the additional +32GB of RAM, Samsung 960 Evo, and a second GTX 1070 could be added later.

But, as mentioned, there will be some very good new processors very soon and the AMD Threadrippers are less expensive by far than equivalent Intel CPU's and I suggest waiting if possible.

Another approach, which has had very good results for me since 2010 is to buy and upgrade a used workstation. An HP z-series or Dell Precision has been designed and built for long duration, full load use and even used ones are very well supported by the makers- drivers and etc.

A couple of months ago I assembled using a new CPU, case /chassis/power supply, GPU and used RAM and drives from a previous system:

HP z620_2 (2017) (Rev 1) > Xeon E5-1680 v2 (8-core@ 4.3GHz) / z420 Liquid Cooler / 64GB DDR3-1866 ECC Reg / Quadro P2000 5GB / HP Z Turbo Drive M.2 256GB + Intel 730 480GB + Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB / ASUS Essence STX PCIe sound card / 825W PSU / z420 Liquid Cooling > Windows 7 Prof.’l 64-bit > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) / Logitech z2300 2.1 Sound
[Passmark Rating = 6322 / CPU rating = 17178 / 2D = 852 / 3D= 8998 / Mem = 3017 / Disk = 14227 / Single Thread Mark = 2339 [7.3.17]

Notice the E5-1680 v2 which is an 8-core Xeon @ 3.0 /3.8GHz ($1,723 new) that can be overclocked to 4.3GHz. The Single Thread Mark of 2339 is close to Intel i7-6700K (=2349) which is only a 4-core. This was for awhile the highest rated HP z620 in the Passmark test results. Total cost without the monitor or sound system was about $1,800- about EUR 1570.

This system replaces:

HP z420_2 (2015)(Original) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 /4.0GHz > 16GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K600 (1GB) > WD Blue 500GB
[ Passmark Rating = 3330 > CPU= 13680 2D= 797 / 3D=860 / Mem= 2558/ Disk= 1253]

Purchased as "new, open box" for $938 in 2015

At a total cost of about $1,900:

HP z420_2 (2015) (Rev 5) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 (6-core @ 4.2GHz) / 32GB DDR3 -1866 ECC RAM / Quadro P2000 (4GB) / HP Z Turbo Drive M.2 256GB AHCI + Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) + Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> Creative SB X-Fi Titanium + Logitech z2300 2.1 speakers > 600W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)
[ Passmark Rating = 5920 > CPU= 15129 / 2D= 855 / 3D= 9030 / Mem= 2906 / Disk= 13576] [6.12.16] Single-Thread Mark = 2354 [4.20.17]

The Xeon E5-1660 V2 is standard 6-core @ 3.7/4.0GHZ and is another that may be overclocked. This was also the highest rated z420 for some time.

Many people do not like the idea of used equipment, but with workstations, the parts are designed for extreme durability under full load- the same conditions as for servers. This method requires more effort and research, but the cost to performance results ae far better and the reduced cost of the basic components means that better, state of the art GPU's, drives and more RAM are possible. Readers on this forum refuse to believe it, but out of eight systems done in this way since 2009, I have not had a single component of any kind fail, nor any data lost.

Cheers,

BambiBoom