Chaos Corona Forum
General Category => General CG Discussion => Hardware => Topic started by: Peeter on 2016-03-15, 19:51:29
-
Hi guys,
I'm thinking about getting a new workstation. Please, have a look at this configuration.
Mainly I will use it to model with Autocad/Rhinoceros, and render with max and corona.
Could someone give me some advice? I'm not sure about going for a Quadro 4gb, maybe it's too expensive and I don't know if it is worth it.
PD: I have some ram memories from the last PC so I just need 16gb this time.
Thank you in advance!
(http://s15.postimg.org/f1s04tl2z/config.jpg)
-
Hi,
on first look, good :- ). Would work, but some advice nonetheless:
Forget the Quadro, if you're working in 3dsMax, or most mainstream applications today (even including most CADs like Autocad, Revit,etc...), there is almost null benefit in going with Quadro for its OpenGL specialized driver.
Quadro cards still have many other benefits but they don't apply to 3D work. If you're interested, they are double-float precision for precise scientific calculations, 14bit lut support for very precise color managed pipeline (usually Hollywood level VFX, or medicine field), and ECC buffered ram for small error corrections in scientific calculations and to enable working in large clusters (super-computers).
Therefore, go mainstream depending on your needs. If it's just 3dsMax + Corona, anything will do. Really, even low-end. GTX 960/970 are absolutely great. Go higher if you have some additional interest only such as real-time engines or gaming.
Go 32GB ram. You write you have some already, so make sure these are compatible (able to run on same clock and timings).
Corsair H75 is weak, rather poor choice for close-looped water coolers. Buy either proper CLC with 2x140mm setup ( Corsair H100i, NZXT Kraken,FractalDesign Kelvin 24, Alphacool NexXxoS,etc..) or just proper Air Big Tower like Noctua NH-D15.
I do suggest to swap Seagate for WesternDigital. This is all based on statistic for longevity by BlackBaze, which arguably puts them at higher use threshold than regular users, but it's still good benchmark for which are more reliable. Seagate ain't it.
Here you go:https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliability-stats-for-q2-2015/
Also, alas, don't go for 1TB when the price for 3TB is so cheap these days. 1TB is less than I use for textures. And you will want to fit textures, models and projects on it. 1TB is too little.
Your PSU is OK. It's not the best choice though, and rather unorthodox. I would suggest going for more reliable brands as Seasonic, Super-Flower, (top choices), Enermax, Corsair, Silverstone (just as good).
Additional advice: You might be budget-conscious, so in this case, ignore this advice, but I've been working with 256GB SSDs for long time, and it's sub-optimal. It's ok if you keep to 3dsMax and Photoshop and bunch of other stuff. The moment you had some video editing, real-time engines (Unreal4), managing 256GB becomes a hassle and you will be constantly shuffling files around. If you can spare additional budget, 500GB is the way to go.
-
Not a MOD in this section, so I'll just ask someone to move this into HW section :- ).
-
ECC buffered ram for small error corrections in scientific calculations and to enable working in large clusters
Actually this is a widely spread misconception. When it comes to bit errors, having one that would cause "small error" is extremely unlikely
edit(Juraj): sorry :- ( I edited this post, and I meant to quote...ehh...
-
a
Actually this is a widely spread misconception. When it comes to bit errors, having one that would cause "small error" is extremely unlikely
You are taking me for wording, you know well I meant small error(in layman speak, 'bit error' falls into 'small error' subgroup)=any kind of data corruption that happens, not that it creates necessarily issue in running application.
I didn't wrote any misconception, you're simply being pedantic. There are people out there who think data corruption could affect their rendering, and some high-profile names in this industry, who buy ECC memory thinking they're more stable, but I am not exactly that type of illiterate...
-
Thank you for your recommendations Juraj!
Finally I decided to go for this computer:
- Intel Core i7 5820K 3.30Ghz
- MSI x99A SLI PLUS USB 3.1
- G. SKILLS RIPJAWS V RED DDR4 2400MHZ 4X16GB
- Noctua NH-D15
- Samsung 850 EVO SSD SERIES 512GB SATA3
- WD Green 3TB SATA3 64MB
- ANTEC PERFORMANCE ONE P100 USB 3.0
- TACENS RADIX VII AG 700W 80Plus Silver
- MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4GB GDDR5
I have tested it and results are simply incredible in comparison with my last computer...
Thank you again!
-
Looks great :- ) Enjoy