3D Workstation - Phase 1 Build

T

TheTyrant

Gawd
Joined
Feb 3, 2003
Messages
684
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
- 90% - 3D Modeling/Animation, Rendering, Compositing, Editing.
- 10% - Some Gaming


2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
- $1400 - Tax/Shipping Included

3) Where do you live?
- Austin, Texas

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Case, Motherboard, Power Supply, CPU, RAM, Air Cool heatsink, Video Card.
* I do plan on doubling Memory in the future - So if I get a 2stick Kit - I can double it in a couple months, same goes for the video card - I would like to SLI another video card in the future.


5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
- Corsair P128 CMFSSD-128GBG2D 2.5" 128GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

6) Will you be overclocking?
- Not initially - Probably won't in the end, but not really sure if I need/want to.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
- 23" LCD - No need to purchase another monitor right now.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
- Within the next month

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
- SLI Support

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?

- I have Windows XP Pro 64bit - I want to upgrade to Windows 7 Pro 64bit.
=============

This machine is apart of Phase 1 of my rework of my small cluster at home. Currently I have some old P4's that I use for rendering, and my main workstation laptop. This machine that I am building won't be my endall workstation, for Phase 1 - I will use this workstation as my temp. workstation, sell off the laptop and purchase 1 render node. Once funds are available for the purchase of the Main workstation, my budget will be quiet large then, and I will move this machine over to be my Render Manager/Render Node.

============
Current Wish List Build -

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Model #:Nine Hundred
Item #:N82E16811129021


GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Model #:GA-P55-USB3
Item #:N82E16813128425


EVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card


CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply


****Intel Core i7-875K Lynnfield 2.93GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Unlocked Desktop Processor BX80605I7875K
Model #:BX80605I7875K
Item #:N82E16819116368

### Not sure if I want to go this or the recently price drop of the Intel Core i7 950 @ 3.07GHz.

*****


G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL
Model #:F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL
Item #:N82E16820231311


Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
Model #:FQC-00765
Item #:N82E16832116758


Thermaltake Silent 1156 CLP0552 92mm CPU Cooler For Intel Socket LGA1156
Model #:CLP0552
Item #:N82E16835106139


============


Thank you for your time, I take forever on purchase hardware, too much research and tweaking.. Would like some feedback before pull the trigger on purchasing this machine. Thank you so much.
 
When does Phase 2 happen?

Anyway, biggest issue is the case: The Antec 900 case is pretty cramped compared to other cases out there. I highly recommend this case instead since it's roomier and provides the same amount of cooling as the Antec 900 but cheaper:
$70 - Cooler Master CM690 II ATX Case

CPU wise, I do not recommend the i7 875K at all since it's not worth the extra $50 over the Core i7 860:
$280 - Intel Core i7 860 CPU

In fact since the Core i7 875K does not have a HSF at all, once you factor in the cost of a HSF, the Core i7 875K is $80 more than the Core i7 860. The 875K is clocked only 133Mhz higher than the 860. So totally not worth the $50 let alone the $80 for it.

If you still want a HSF, I recommend this significantly better HSF instead:
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156

GPU wise, I'd spring the extra cash for the 1GB models considering your high resolution:
$230 - Gigabyte GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 1GB PCI-E Video Card

As for the recent Core i7 950 price drop, yeah I can see how that's gonna be an issue. Ok, note this: the Core i7 860 + the Gigabyte mobo you chose is only $400 combined. The Core i7 950 + the cheapest decent X58 mobo will cost roughly $500 combined.

The only real advantage that the Core i7/X58 route now has over the Core i7/P55 route is two more RAM slots.
 
BIOSTAR T5 XE CFX-SLI LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813138162
$134.99


COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN3 CM690 II Basic Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811119215
$69.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817139006
$109.99


GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814125333
$229.99


Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders
Item #: N82E16832116758
$139.99


CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M4A1600C9
Item #: N82E16820145261
$199.99


Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I7860
Item #: N82E16819115214
$279.99

===========

Subtotal: $1,164.93

I took your suggestions and built this out, feedback?
 
Wouldn't go for that Biostar mobo considering that for the same price you can get a Gigabyte mobo:
$140 - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 Intel P55 ATX Motherboard

PSU wise, I'd spend the extra $5 for the higher quality Antec:
$115 - Antec Truepower New TP-750 750W PSU
 
Danny Bui said:
Wouldn't go for that Biostar mobo considering that for the same price you can get a Gigabyte mobo:
$140 - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 Intel P55 ATX Motherboard

PSU wise, I'd spend the extra $5 for the higher quality Antec:
$115 - Antec Truepower New TP-750 750W PSU
Click to expand...

With that board will I be able to SLI two of these in the future? I would like the ability to have atleast SLI in the future, and even Tri-SLI depending when I will be able to have a stable GPU 3d Render. I just want to make sure that SLI is possible with that Gigabyte board you suggested.

GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814125333
$229.99
 
TheTyrant said:
With that board will I be able to SLI two of these in the future? I would like the ability to have atleast SLI in the future, and even Tri-SLI depending when I will be able to have a stable GPU 3d Render. I just want to make sure that SLI is possible with that Gigabyte board you suggested.
Click to expand...

Double checked and unfortunately that mobo does not support SLI.

Check out this mobo instead:
$125 -MSI P55A-G55 Intel P55 ATX Motherboard
 
Here is another option:

Where I work I get a discount on Dell and Lenovo hardware:
The benefit of this would be that I wouldn't need to pay for it all upfront. Work pays it, and then I would just pay it off over time. And plus this won't be my main workstation come the following year, so this machine could easily be a Render Manager/RenderNode..

Thoughts?

So I could get the following for $1,394.58(includes shipping & Taxes)

Studio XPS 8100


  • Intel Core i7-860 processor(8MB Cache, 2.80GHz)
  • 12GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz-2X2GB/2x4GB
  • nVidia GeForce GTX260 1792MB GDDR3
  • 1TB Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive 7200 RPM
  • Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
    I would purchase Windows 7 Professional, 64bit and fresh install to remove bloatware on system.​
 
Don't do it, it is not overclockable and they make upgrading a pain in the butt.

Building the list for you, hold on. :)
 
MSI X58 Pro-E -$189.99
More x16 lanes are always good, especially if your computer is a rendering rig. This board supports tri-SLI, so you can upgrade if needed.

CM690II Basic - $69.99
Very nice case, extreme cooling and good looking. I have one also and I love it. :)

i7 930. - $284.99
If cooling is provided, this chip will clock like crazy.

Gigabyte GTX 460 - $189.99x2
Get two of them, especially when you are running a 3D workstation. 768MB should be fine since IMO rendering does not require much memory. Correct me if I am wrong.

Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 6GB $119.99
I like Mushkin when it comes to memory, it is also a on discount for now.

SeaSonic X650 Gold $139.99
Needless to say, this is the best PSU on the market. With it's gold certification this thing can support even 3 GTX 460s with an overclocked i7. I know a handful of people who has one of these and the efficiency is just amazing. It is now on a $40 discount so this one is a killer deal.

Thermaltake Frio - $59.99
Yeah, maybe not the best cooler on the market but this one comes with 2 stock fans, and they make this cooler a killer straight out of the box.

Total: $1244.92

For OS, you can get it for free on one of those programs on Microsoft. I forgot which but I know it is possible. :)
 
Last edited:
I think I am going to go with this build:

MSI X58 Pro-E -$189.99

CM690II Basic - $69.99

i7 930. - $284.99

Gigabyte GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 1GB PCI-E Video Card
Switching out for this card instead. I can always add another GPU later.

(x2) Gigabyte GTX 460 - $189.99

(x2) Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 6GB $119.99

SeaSonic X650 Gold $139.99

Thermaltake Frio - $59.99
===========

If anyone wants to try a full build with a budget of $1500 - Go for it, I am up for suggestions based off these builds.
 
$280 - Intel Core i7 860 CPU
$125 -MSI P55A-G55 Intel P55 ATX Motherboard
$340 - 2 x G.Skill Ripjaws F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$460 - 2 x Gigabyte GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$150 - XFX XPS-850W-BES 850W Modular PSU
$70 - Cooler Master CM690 II ATX Case
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
$140 - Windows 7 Professional 64bit OEM
---
Total: $1595 plus tax and shipping.

Gets you 16GB of RAM right off the bat. I also listed the correct pricing for the 1GB GTX 460. Finally I went with a significantly larger PSU for future expansion. The XFX 850W is based off the same platform as the Seasonic X-650 so performance is fairly similar.
 
Definitely get an X58 and go lga 1366 for the extra ram slots. This is a workstation, correct? That means 24gb of ram should be possible. I really think you'd be making a mistake by going 1156. I second getting a GTX 460. I also recommend picking up 3 or 4 Samsung F3 1tb drives for a RAID 5 array. At least get two in RAID 1 - a workstation NEEDS data redundancy. The F3's are cheap on newegg right now.

Also, forget the Antec 900. No cable management, fills with dust, pretty small, etc. Make sure the case supports extended ATX (SSI) boards so you won't shoot yourself in the foot in the future. I recommend a Coolermaster HAF-X, Corsair 800D, or one of them Zalman cases that Kyle likes. Hot-swappable drives are nice on a workstation.

Why not get a Corsair PSU for half the price? It's the same thing.
 
I agree, go with the build I gave to you. There are way, WAY more upgradability on a LGA1366 rather than a 1156. More PCI-ex lanes, memory slots, and of course, you can always upgrade to those 6-core monsters.
 
ordovician said:
also recommend picking up 3 or 4 Samsung F3 1tb drives for a RAID 5 array. At least get two in RAID 1 - a workstation NEEDS data redundancy. The F3's are cheap on newegg right now.
Click to expand...

I have a Data Storage Server on my network that I will be saving everything to - also I will have weekly backups to a off-network external drive. I will have only 1 development SSD in the machine for now, which I already own.

lkiller1231 said:
I agree, go with the build I gave to you. There are way, WAY more upgradability on a LGA1366 rather than a 1156. More PCI-ex lanes, memory slots, and of course, you can always upgrade to those 6-core monsters.
Click to expand...

I do plan on going with your build - I am pushing my Phase 2 build out further into next year. So I need this machine to extend its girth.
 
2ln9wky.jpg

Subtotal: $1,334.90


Gearing up to purchase this tomorrow. I need any last minute feedback.

* I chose to go with just 1 GPU for the build, I will upgrade at a later time when needed. I cut the card to get a second monitor here soon.
 
Ya the Gigabyte x58a looks like a better board. I will pay the extra money to get that 3 year warranty.
 
lkiller1231 said:
I agree, go with the build I gave to you. There are way, WAY more upgradability on a LGA1366 rather than a 1156. More PCI-ex lanes, memory slots, and of course, you can always upgrade to those 6-core monsters.
Click to expand...

Holy shit what fucking crack are you smoking.. There both just like everything else currently on the market marked for EOL thus what you can upgrade to is pointless (unless you are going to be doing a major upgrade in the next 3 or so months).

Danny's build is much better bang for buck then the x58 build & will last just as long.
 
TheTyrant said:
So wait, what is the best build to go with for $1500?

I am torn between these choices.
Click to expand...

To address some of the critcisms/notes that others have said about the X58 route:
- The key advantage that the X58 route does have over the P55 route is that extra 2 RAM slots. So it really depends on your future needs/wants: Will you need 24GB of RAM in the future or will 16GB of RAM last for quite a while?

As a follow up to that, is that extra 8GB of RAM and two RAM slots worth the extra $70 (MSI) to $90 in CPU+mobo costs over my P55 build?

In addition, there is the issue, that's only have come to light in the past month or so, of X58 mobos and RAM detections issues:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1546247

- More PCI-E lanes. This is really only useful if you're actually going to use those PCI-E lanes. It's already been shown that even with powerful GTX 480 at PCI-E x4 speeds, there's virtually little to no difference. So for a dual GPU setup, those extra PCI-E lanes won't really help that much at all. Now if you were planning on using a triple or even quad video card setup or were planning on using a true hardware RAID controller or two, then yeah, the extra PCI-E lanes will also help.

- Six-core CPU upgrade. That's a bit more tricky: The cheapest Core i7 six-core CPU is $900. There hasn't been any announcements of future and cheaper Core i7 LGA1366 Hex-core CPUs. Can you personally spend $900 on a desktop six-core CPU?

Shouldn't be too hard to figure out which route you should take.

If you do want to continue with the X58 route, I recommend these changes:
- Go with the Coolermaster HSF that I recommended earlier. It's better bang for the buck value than the Trio.

- PSU wise, ditch the Seasonic. It's a great PSU but for the same price, you can get a PSU based on the same platform but offers more power and is cheaper:
$130 - XFX Black Edition P1-750B-CAG9 750W Modular PSU

- Go with this CPU + mobo combo link to save about $35:
$460 - Intel Core i7-930 CPU + Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R X58 ATX Motherboard Combo
 
Danny Bui, thank you for the help.

To answer your questions:
Will you need 24GB of RAM in the future or will 16GB of RAM last for quite a while?
16gb is probably my limit for this box, so no need for me to go with that other build.

Can you personally spend $900 on a desktop six-core CPU?
I don't see the need at this moment.

Now I am leaning back on this build:

$280 - Intel Core i7 860 CPU
$125 -MSI P55A-G55 Intel P55 ATX Motherboard
$340 - 2 x G.Skill Ripjaws F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$460 - 2 x Gigabyte GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$150 - XFX XPS-850W-BES 850W Modular PSU
$70 - Cooler Master CM690 II ATX Case
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
$140 - Windows 7 Professional 64bit OEM
=======================

I might remove one of the GPU's and use that money on a internal HDD and a DVD Burner, and $$ towards a 2nd monitor. I can always add the GPU at a later time. And plus, this machine might be phased out by Q2 of 2011 and turned into a Render Manager/Node, and I will be building a Larger Budget build.

If there are any changes to your build, that would squeeze more computing power, and plus which HDD to go with that would be best just for storage.. OS will be loaded onto a SSD.

Also, what do I buy to enclose the SSD in my machine, currently its in my laptop, not sure what enclosure would be best.
 
Danny Bui said:
- PSU wise, ditch the Seasonic. It's a great PSU but for the same price, you can get a PSU based on the same platform but offers more power and is cheaper:
Click to expand...

I would normally agree with this but I would advise caution if you are the type of person that views their purchases as long term investments.

Cheaper PSUs is not always better. When I was doing an analysis two years ago as someone living in Brooklyn where energy costs are high, the savings I could get from drawing power more efficiently made the 80 silver seasonic M12D more cost effective than cheaper bronze PSUs from vendors like Corsair and so on after three years of estimated usage (ended up being effective in two years).

Where the OP lives is vastly cheaper than New York but his electricity demands are far higher than myself or the average enthusiast user. He needs to take the time and run some estimates on how long he intends to keep the PSU as a rendering node and whether or not he is better off with the Gold psu instead of the Silver psu.
 
Some changes to my build in light of some new information I've recieved:
- I'd spend the extra $5 for this motherboard + OS combo due to the higher quality of the motherboard:
$270 - Asus P7P55D Pro Intel P55 ATX Motherboard + Windows 7 Professional 64bit OEM Combo

- In light of mutantmagnet's recommendation/word of caution and the fact that the XFX 850W has certain issues that I forgot about (my bad), I have found a very good combo deal as a compromise between mutantmagnet, lkiller1231 and my recommendations :
$360 - Gigabyte GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 1GB PCI-E Video Card + Seasonic X750 Gold 750W Modular PSU Combo

That combo deal drops the X-750 down to the price of the X-650 yet is still more than enough power for your setup, especially now that you've dropped the second card.

- The price of the HSF that I recommended earlier has gone up but there's a combo deal right now that combines it and the slightly faster Core i7 870 for the same price as the HSF and the Core i7 860 before:
$315 - Intel Core i7 870 CPU + Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156 Combo

- I recommend these drives just for storage:
$70 - Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$120 - Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA HDD

- As for the SSD enclosure, that's a bit more tricky. Did you mean that you wanted a way to install the 2.5" drive in a PC case? If so, this bracket might do the trick:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994085
 
Can I get an updated build...

Same budget - Try to stay around $1500 - but I am ok with going a bit over.

Would prefer - 1 x GeForce GTX 470
* With the option to upgrade to TRI-SLi in the future.

Would prefer - Intel Core i7 950
* looks to be the best performance per $

I would like to have atleast 12gb memory.

I already have:
HD - but include a general 500+< Internal HD for backups.
Monitor
Keyboard, Mouse


Thank you.. cheers
 
I highly recommend waiting until Intel's Sandy Bridge CPUs are available on January 5th. It's only a few weeks away. Those Sandy Bridge CPUs will be faster clock for clock than Intel's current Core i7 lineup while being able to OC very high. In fact, it's been shown that a Sandy Bridge CPU can hit 5Ghz on AIR. If the price leak is true, you can get the i5 2500K for around $253. That's cheaper than the i7 950 and you can get a significantly higher OC on top of the faster clock for clock speed.

So all in all, you're better off waiting until then for an expensive PC build.

Even if you were buying this month, as I pointed out 3 months ago in this thread, a Core i7 950 route is not the best bang for the buck route at all.
 
Damn. I wanted to get this before Xmas, but I will wait. And circle back with you to finally pull the trigger on this machine. Honestly I should wait, but I have the money now. So hard not to spend it...
 
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