New PC build

[Falango]

So now that I'm done school, and found some work, it's time to build a new PC. It will be used for very high detail and high polygon 3D modeling and rendering. It will also be serving as a game rig. Here is what I have planned out. I'd like to get feedback from people.

Intel i7 930 2.8ghz LGA1366 processor
Asus P6X58D-E motherboard
12GB DDR3 Corsair RAM
2X EVGA GTX 470 625mhz 1280MB graphics cards
Corsair 750W power supply
Coolermaster Haf 932 case
Water cooling
2X 25.5" Asus VW266H monitors w/ HDMI, DVI, and component connections
64 bit Windows 7
Intel X25 80GM SSD drive

I'm sticking to a pair of good powerful cards, rather than going with a workstation card, because this will still be a gaming rig. Eventually, plan on adding more RAM once it's needed. The one thing I'm wondering though, is the CPU the weak point of this build right now? Should I go up to the 960? Reason why I question that, is because the 960 is twice as expensive. If it will really make the difference, I'll do it.

I'm also going to toss in a 500gb hard drive I have in my current PC. I also have a 2TB external, so storage is no problem. My current PC will be getting Windows 7, and another 6 gigs of ram and act as a render rig.

Any feedback and suggestions are more than welcome. I'm looking to build this thing in a few weeks.

EDIT: Just read that the P6T X58 caps at 12GB of ram, so new one is on the list.

 

[ajv915]

Sounds impressive. What's the application that your going to be using that for? High polygon 3d modeling sounds a lot like design work. What software you gonna pair it up with?

 

[jred321]

sounds like a crazy computer. no need for optical drive(s)? how much storage space does your software take up while doing its thing? i know you are going to do the SSD plus the 500gb. is that enough? would there be a benefit to getting a faster local hard drive to help with rendering times?

 

[Falango]

I primarily use Maya, but will be working with 3DS Max as well. I also use ZBrush. Those 3 would be the heaviest programs it would use.

 

[Falango]

sounds like a crazy computer. no need for optical drive(s)? how much storage space does your software take up while doing its thing? i know you are going to do the SSD plus the 500gb. is that enough? would there be a benefit to getting a faster local hard drive to help with rendering times?

It will be enough. The SSD will hold the installed programs (my most used 3D ones), and the projects will be sourced from the 500gb. Finished projects will get moved to the external to free up disk space. If somehow it's not enough, I have another 3TB of storage between the render rig, and an external.

 

[jred321]

are you doing this commercially or for fun?

 

[Falango]

Commercially. Most of my work is contract based so I would be working both at a studio and at home.

 

[jred321]

nice. now it makes sense why you want such a hardcore machine. time is money

 

[Falango]

Exactly. Alot of time is lost testing renders, lighting, and shading. I also need something that can handle big, complex scenes. I like to get my detail out of the modeling, rather than textures, so I need something that can handle 10 million+ polygon scenes without slowdowns.

 

[prof15]

Nice!! so what is the total cost I bet that it cost you less than 1000, thats what I love about PC's the freedom you have to make your computer as powerful as you want, for less money than what you will pay at retail stores. I see that you use your computer for work too.. now days some ppl in your situation would have spent thousands of dollars to buy an apple jut because it looks cool and what not..

 

[Falango]

Actually, it's alot more. The graphics cards are $700 alone. I'm willing to pay good money for this though. The savings in time and quick renders will pay back more than the cost of the computer. I'm spending thousands to set myself up for an easier future.

Pretty sure I've decided to go with the GTX 470s, and the 960 processor. The only thing I'll really need to do later, is add another stick of ram. Definitely sold on the monitors, that's no question.

 

[prof15]

Actually, it's alot more. The graphics cards are $700 alone. I'm willing to pay good money for this though. The savings in time and quick renders will pay back more than the cost of the computer. I'm spending thousands to set myself up for an easier future.

Pretty sure I've decided to go with the GTX 470s, and the 960 processor. The only thing I'll really need to do later, is add another stick of ram. Definitely sold on the monitors, that's no question.

Oh ok... that make sense then. So how much ram do you have at the moment?

 

[isbre]

Like Canon and Nikon Ati and Nvidia are closing in on each other, but for graphics and 3D modelling I would still go with Ati.

Asus VW266H is a good TN monitor, but it's still TN, and like all TN monitors they have very fast response time but have only 6 bit color, bad viewing angels and are good(/Meant) for gaming only. IPS panels are much more desireable.

The 960 will shorten rendering times a bit, but probably it won't be worth the cost.

 

[Tsuru]

IIRC there's no technological differences between the LGA-1366 i7 CPU's so "upgrading" to a "better" chip will only net you a clock increase. You're still getting Turbo-Boost and Hyperthreading in the 930. You'll probably want to confirm that though.
One thing I would be worried about is support for the SLI configuration with Maya and other 3D programs. I haven't checked recently but past history with SLI (or Crossfire) and non-game programs has been pretty checkered. If you know it works I'd go for it otherwise I'd stick with a single card solution.
ATi vs nVidia: ATi has historically better DX support whereas nVidia is historically better with OpenGL support. Maya swings both ways so it's not a deal breakers. If your other programs support only one API you may want to reconsider your video card brand.
You mentioned that you would "just add another stick of ram" when the time comes. Keep in mind that the new i-core CPU's all have memory controllers built into the CPU and it's the chip that determines your memory support. (The motherboard just determines the number of physical slots) The LGA1366 i7's are all triple-channel memory CPU's. Meaning, while you can just add a single memory module, the most efficiency will be achieved by adding 3 identical modules at a time. If I've misunderstood your remark, I apologize and retract

 

[hazeXban]

Get the 930 and OC it, these OC like crazy, you could hit 4 Ghz on WC.

 

[Falango]

Lots of great info guys, I appreciate it. I wasn't even aware of TN and IPS monitors! After reading about them, I'd love some IPS monitors, but I can't spend that much on monitors right now. It's quite the difference in price!

Thanks for the tip on the memory too. I was gonna go with a single 12gb stick. But I'll split it amongst the channels now.

Maya and nVidia have had some compatibility issues in the past. I haven't heard about any such problems with their latest lineup, but I didn't think about zbrush or max, since I use Maya far more than those. I'll research it more though.

I'm still on the fence with the processor. I'll check up on the hyperthreading though.

 

[Tsuru]

Currently the largest memory module you're going to be able to source for a decent price is 4GB so there's your 12GB (3 channels x 4GB each = 12GB)
You might be able to source larger but it would be prohibitively expensive.

I'm not so much worried about nVidia's support of your products for your 3D apps. There will probably be a program and or driver update that will take care of the problem. It's the support for two cards that has been tricky in the past. If you're fine with the idea of having dual card support for gaming but being able to only use one card for rendering (worst case scenario) then you should be fine.

 

[Falango]

I don't think I'll be too worried about that. Maya batch rendering is more CPU intensive than gpu, so I should be ok.

To answer a question earlier, I'm only on 2gb of ram right now . Last rebuilt for this computer was 3 years ago, before I got into 3D.

 

[janet986w]

So now that I'm done school, and found some work, it's time to build a new PC. It will be used for very high detail and high polygon 3D modeling and rendering. It will also be serving as a game rig. Here is what I have planned out. I'd like to get feedback from people.

Intel i7 930 2.8ghz LGA1366 processor
Asus P6X58D-E motherboard
12GB DDR3 Corsair RAM
2X EVGA GTX 470 625mhz 1280MB graphics cards
Corsair 750W power supply
Coolermaster Haf 932 case
Water cooling
2X 25.5" Asus VW266H monitors w/ HDMI, DVI, and component connections
64 bit Windows 7
Intel X25 80GM SSD drive

I'm sticking to a pair of good powerful cards, rather than going with a workstation card, because this will still be a gaming rig. Eventually, plan on adding more RAM once it's needed. The one thing I'm wondering though, is the CPU the weak point of this build right now? Should I go up to the 960? Reason why I question that, is because the 960 is twice as expensive. If it will really make the difference, I'll do it.

I'm also going to toss in a 500gb hard drive I have in my current PC. I also have a 2TB external, so storage is no problem. My current PC will be getting Windows 7, and another 6 gigs of ram and act as a render rig.

Any feedback and suggestions are more than welcome. I'm looking to build this thing in a few weeks.

EDIT: Just read that the P6T X58 caps at 12GB of ram, so new one is on the list.

Thanks you for the post.
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