Author Topic: Advice on new Workstation for beginner  (Read 20997 times)

2015-10-01, 16:23:19

David Males

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Hey guys,

As I am new to this forum and also to PC hardware I would like to ask for advice with "low" budget Workstation.
I am freshly graduated architect, and because I found most joy in visualization part of the industry, I would like to focus on that for now.
I use mostly Revit, 3dsmax and Corona(have to learn vray though for the basics), and also Adobe package.

The problem is, that my laptop is crazy slow even for "learning" part, so I am looking for and advice on workstation for about 1000-2000 E(of course the cheaper the better).
 I think you guys here have pretty good opinions on hardware and also are pros from the industry (juraj - btw I love your work:D).
 From the threads I have already searched through, quadro and xeon decisions might be too expensive for my budget and intention.
Also, I have no experience on overclocking whatsoever, but I am free to hear any advice on that.

Anyway, I will be thankful on any comment.

Thank you for your time,

Kind regards,
David

 

2015-10-01, 17:35:53
Reply #1

David Males

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Ok, so I spent some time and tried to make some setup. So far I've configured this (I think it is a bit too expensive and powerful maybe ... but well at least it will last longer)

Power-source: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 - 120E
Motherboard: MSI X99S XPOWER AC - 310E
Processor: Intel Core i7-5930K - 640E
Processor Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120V ver.2 - 55 E
Graphic Card : EVGA GeForce GTX980 Ti Superclocked - 710E
RAM: Kingston 32GB KIT DDR3 2400MHz CL11 HyperX Savage Series - 230E
Harddrive for OS: SSD disk Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB 7mm : 51,90E
Harddrive Storage: WD Red 2000GB 64MB cache - 100E

With Box and Wifi card it's rounded at 2300E ..

It is a bit over what I expected, maybe too powerful for me now.. What do you guys think?

Thanks





2015-10-11, 09:46:39
Reply #2

Jann

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Hi. Sorry for the late reply, I'll just point out the parts I'd change and reasoning behind it.

Motherboard: MSI X99S XPOWER AC - 310E - Just get a cheaper board like MSI X99 SLI Plus, or Asus X99-A. They get the job done, and since you're not overclocking much(if at all) will be mostly the same.
Processor: Intel Core i7-5930K - 640E - the i7-5820k is basically the same for rendering. It just has less PCIex lanes, and slightly lower base clock. With a small overclock (which most boards can do automatically) they even out, but 5820k costs a lot less.
Processor Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120V ver.2 - 55 E - Better get a good air cooler like Noctua nh-d14(d15) or spend more on a better AiO unit. Just triple check for sizing, as it can be a problem to fit some of them.
Graphic Card : EVGA GeForce GTX980 Ti Superclocked - 710E - Good, but if you want to save on something a 970 is enough for work.(actually even lower/older cards are ok, like 760)
RAM: Kingston 32GB KIT DDR3 2400MHz CL11 HyperX Savage Series - 230E - Ram speed doesn't really affect render times. Just be sure they come in 8Gb per stick, so you can later upgrade to 64Gb if necessary.
Harddrive for OS: SSD disk Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB 7mm : 51,90E - V300 is bad. Get something from Intel, Samsung, Crucial. I'd also suggest 240Gb and up if possible.

And don't worry about Xeons and Quadros. While some Xeons make sense in dual cpu configurations, the Quadros are just over hyped and worse than most gaming GPUs(at least in 3dsmax).

2015-10-11, 14:08:39
Reply #3

Noah45

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Too much power? Never....

Simple, Just get an i7-5960X OC'd to 4.5. Base your system to support that, done.



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3DMax 2020/Corona Version: 6DB

2015-10-11, 14:41:40
Reply #4

romullus

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Harddrive for OS: SSD disk Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB 7mm : 51,90E - V300 is bad. Get something from Intel, Samsung, Crucial. I'd also suggest 240Gb and up if possible.

I was about to purchase V300 240GB, but after some google searching, it looks that there's big lottery with that disk.
Now i'm looking at Sandisk plus 240GB.  How about it? Mind you i'm on very tight budget and this is my first ssd ever.
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2015-10-11, 18:23:13
Reply #5

Juraj

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The Sandisk is fine, looks quite reliable and of course...the price is hard to beat.

Still, I would add those 10 dollars/euros and get Samsung 850Evo, if at least for the writing speeds with out constant auto-save in 3dsMax.
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2015-10-11, 18:44:28
Reply #6

romullus

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In my country it's 20 eur. between those two disks, but yeah, writing speed difference is significant. OTOH i don't feel that i have problems with 3ds max's auto save, even with my turtle hdd :]
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2015-10-11, 19:11:47
Reply #7

Juraj

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You think you don't have problem :- D You will talk differently after you install SSD :- )
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2015-10-14, 11:25:52
Reply #8

Jann

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I'm all for Samsung same as Juraj. Have been using them since the 830 series.

2015-10-14, 12:51:17
Reply #9

StephenMF

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Just get a computer that runs the latest games... then you are good to go for 3D/rendering.

Look here for inspiration.
https://www.mm-vision.dk/computer/vision-plus-computere

I have bought my last 4 computers from them, they are the same as would build myself (more or less).

I am sure you can find something similar where you live

2015-10-14, 16:55:29
Reply #10

David Males

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Hey guys,

thank you very much for your replies, very much appreciated. I took some notes:) And also Stephen, thanks for that website, I am currently in Denmark so I will think about it. The prices seem decent, considering double priced on similar "build your PC" websites. But I think I wanted to have that feeling when you build your PC and it runs smoothly and you are proud of it :D

I would like to ask one more thing, about the wifi adapters. Is it better to buy more expensive motherboard with wifi slot and PCI adapter, or simple use Usb one?
I have not much experience on this, as I have only had laptops for now. Is there a big difference in signal power ?

Thank guys:)

Kind regards,
David


2015-10-14, 18:25:59
Reply #11

David Males

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Graphic Card : EVGA GeForce GTX980 Ti Superclocked - 710E - Good, but if you want to save on something a 970 is enough for work.
Processor Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120V ver.2 - 55 E - Better get a good air cooler like Noctua nh-d14(d15) or spend more on a better AiO unit. Just triple check for sizing, as it can be a problem to fit some of them.

Ok, I might go for 970 then, With EVGA which one should I pick, SC, SSC or FTW? I have read some forums and I can't decide because I don't really understand, just that FTW has some kind of a backplate for better heat distribution, the price is more or less the same SC -380E, SSC - 400E, FTW+ 430E
And about Noctua cooling, on the site I am checking the socket 2011-3 is not listed, or is it the same with 2011?
Also, they offer Cooler Master Hyper 103 with the most of the motherboards, is it crap or it should do fine ? And maybe I can upgrade it to Noctua one later

Ok so so far I am here:


What do you think about it ? Anyway, now I might have some space for upgrading processor to 5960X , + 600 Euro approx. , or do you think I should stick with this one for now and maybe
upgrade it later on?:)
As you can see I also went for only 16gb of RAM for now(with higher frequency and lower CL) and I will upgrade it when needed. The price is now €1 550, I might be able to decrease it to €1300 without tax on my brother's company.

Thanks for your comment anyway:)
« Last Edit: 2015-10-14, 19:50:36 by DurkL »

2015-10-14, 21:14:35
Reply #12

fkoehler

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Hi,

Is there any particular reason for choosing the Western Digital Purple? This line (purple) is designed for surveillance purposes (fast writing of data and slow reading speed).
I would suggest WD Black (5 year warranty) if it suits your budget or Blue if you want to save for now. The Red ones are suited for NAS and the Green ones are best suited for backups.

Cheers

2015-10-14, 21:22:59
Reply #13

David Males

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I just placed it there so I can see the final price, haven't done much research on HDD:) But thanks for the info, I had no idea haha

2015-10-14, 22:29:56
Reply #14

Juraj

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It's so quite unbalanced at the moment imho.

Why did you choose the gimmicky motherboard ? And the cheapest computer case ?

And why the "industrial" range of Noctua for PC fans ? Do you know how loud they are ? The 3000RPM should be a hint... Get the regular ones. These ones aren't meant for workstation at all.

You need more of "ANY" memory, because 3D doesn't care... at all. So ignore latency numbers and frequency. Look at price.

This need some serious and complete overhaul, but I don't have time today.
« Last Edit: 2015-10-14, 22:33:56 by Juraj_Talcik »
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