Post-MacPro VFX system advice

[tp311]

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking to upgrade from my 2007 mac pro to a beefy workstation and i need some advice. on everything. I'm going to wait it out for WWDC just to see if they upgrade the Mac pro but i'm almost prepared psychologically to make the jump back to windows for affordability and power.

I work in the VFX industry and I need some real CPU power with a very solid GPU for all the new gfx accelerated goodies out there now. I'll be using this for the usual high end apps (nuke, maya, CS6 premiere and AE, mari, pftrack etc etc) but NO gaming - this is a workstation.

I've been looking at OriginPC (originpc.com), the hp z620 and z820, mach V, and obviously crossing my fingers for some new miracle mac pro at a good price point. Similar specs with these models seems to vary widely in price though and some say that this or that is wildly overpriced while others sing songs about how much bang for the buck you get (i'm aiming this at originPC)

What I'm shooting for is:

Intel xeon e5 16 cores with 2.7 or more ghz
minimum 32gb ram - more?
quadro 2000 or any gfx card that will make interactive rendering and gfx accelerated tasks a breeze
usb 3.0
at least one SSD for boot drive
sizeable 2nd hard drive (2 or 3tb)

also:
compatibility with my two apple monitors (2008 24" lcds)

Configuring something like this on Origin's site ends up at around $4.5k but on hp's site $10k. what am i missing? I'd rather not build my own but if there's a way to make a system like this for a reasonable price - sub $4k then I would consider it. Also if i've made poor choices with the list above feel free to tell me I'm a fool and offer a better configuration!

Thanks
Thomas

 

[lasvideo]

I have been an editor for 30 years and the following suggestions are based on my recent experiences as a beta tester for Adobe CS6.
If you work in the VFX industry you need to maximize the power of the Adobe Mercury Playback engine with fast CPUs (check), 64GB of ram will better serve your CPUs, and you will get better performance with the Nvidia 4000 card.
What you haven't addressed is media storage. You really need a high speed raid array to work with Premiere Pro CS6. They aint cheap. But if you are in the industry you should be able to afford the tools you use daily.
I am getting the HP Z820 for about $10,5000 and a Caldigit HD Pro 2 16TB array for $8,5000.
I wouldnt consider building a system because thats not where my skills ly.