VFX - Rendering RIG, i7 vs dual Quad Xeon

[kajjin]

hey, im looking to build a rig for visual effects and rendering and im looking at what would be my better option, what would better meet my needs for the best price, 2x Quad Core Intel® Xeon® Processor E5420 or an i7 920-940....

i have about $ 2500 for processor, motherboard, RAM(at least 6gb, preferrably 12), video card(9800gt i think), case, Power supply, heat shrinks-coolers... I also would be overclocking the i7 so i dont know if i would need anything else to run it smoothly...

Could you guys recomend me a rig for this? and do you know what would be better for my money the 2xquad core or the i7 OC ?

Thanks!!

 

[nitron]

My first VFX sytem was dual CPU 2 core quad xeon. I'm working of Fusion5, Shake PC, dpsVelocityX, Edius5, Avid and AE.

I decide to upgrade the i7 920. The result was almost 38% faster than my previous system.

Then I go ahead go for the i7 940. I have no regrets whatsoever. The i7 940 gave me a boost of 46 faster than my quad Xeon. I was so surprise.

I using Cinema 4D 11 and Max 2009. Impressive fast rendering, FXing, and editing. I only the cheap Nvidia 9800GT graphic card.

DVD, Bluray editing and authoring with the i7 920 and i7 940 is so stinkin fast. Everything seems like real time or even faster than real time in some situation.

I bought my whole system from the company called Velocity Micro. I never regret my buying choice. It took me 6 months to go with this company. At first I consider BOXX, but Velocity Micro convinced me more with the price, fast and smooth running system.

For $2500, kajjin, go with the i7 920, or add a couple hundreds more for the i7 940.

You will not regret it.

Nit

 

[cjl]

An overclocked 920 would be the best choice especially for bang for the buck right now. If you really want stupid fast though, the dual socket i7 should be coming out in not too long.

 

[xthekidx]

The Nvidia GT200 processor is designed to assist in rendering and transcoding of graphics and visual effects which greatly speeds up these processes. I am not sure if ATI has cards that do the same thing, but the best GPU for that would be the GTX 295 which you should get cuz it sounds like you have the cash.

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard and Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Combo - $559
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.156586

EVGA 017-P3-1291-AR GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 (448 x 2)-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - $505
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130449

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

2x OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $340
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365

COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055

ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - $7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020


Total: $1796 before shipping and before Rebates.

You didn't say you needed hard drives, so I am assuming you have that covered, as well as Media drives, but if you don't, these can still fit in your budget of $2500.

If you thought you might get another GTX 295 later, you should go with the Corsair 1000hx PSU to cover that. Overclock the i7 to 3.6-3.8ghz with that cooler should be fine. Don't buy the i7-940, its not worth it, they are the same chip with a locked 20x multiplier vs 22x multiplier.

 

[xthekidx]

I feel like I should warn you; that rig will be noisy with those high powered graphics and such. The HAF case is like half mesh and so it doesn't block any sound at all, you will hear everything that is going on in your system. If you want quiet, look at the Antec P182 full tower case. Its not flashy but its quiet and quality built, and you could add noise dampening foam to the inside of it to make it quieter still.