Hey guys, I'm trying to build a PC for the first time and Im brand new to all this so theres a few things i had some questions about if anyone out there can help me out. My intention for the computer will be to run Rhinoceros 3D in unison with Grasshopper, as well as rendering software (not sure which one yet, probably Flamingo or Brazil to start, vray or mental ray in time). All these are available in a bundle on the Rhino website so I assume they are all done by the same company. I have done some research and here is the build i came up with. My question lies in the Video Card. It seems i opened a can of worms looking into this one and all i have managed to do from reading threads and posts is confuse myself. Some people say Quadro is the way to go and some say i can get by on a Geforce GTX. Will either one of these work for what i am trying to do? Is there a noticeable difference between the two? my fear is that i spend all this money on a new powerful PC and it does not perform the way i would like because Im a noob at building computers. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, Im still learning. Thanks!! **CPU** | [Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor] **CPU Cooler** | [Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler] **Motherboard** | [Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard] **Memory** | [Avexir Core series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory] **Storage** | [Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive] **Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive] **Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video **Case** | [Phanteks Enthoo Luxe ATX Full Tower Case] **Power Supply** | [Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply] **Optical Drive** | [Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer] **Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)] **Monitor** | [AOC e2752Vh 60Hz 27.0" Monitor] **Wireless Network Adapter** | [TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter]
What's your budget? Because for that kind of work X99 platform is the way to go now. What you have picked out there is a gaming rig. Which will perform some of those tasks ok, but if you're looking at reducing rendering times and the like I'd look at the new 6-8 core Intel processors.
Hey thanks for your response. My budget is right around $2000 with some wiggle room. Forgive me for my lack of knowledge here, but what is the X99 platform? What are the advantages? Do i have to change my motherboard in order to be compatible with a 6-8 core processor? I just ordered my motherboard yesterday but the order has not processed and i can still cancel it. I appreciate the help, thanks a bunch!!!
I would change that H100i for H105 and that 1600mhz ram for at least 2133mhz CL9, ideal 2400mhz CL10 ram. btw X99 is the new LGA2011-3 motherboard chipset. EDIT: this Rhino3d uses only 1 core mostly, so a stock 4790k would be faster then stock 5820k, but plugins like that Brazil, vray are all multicore aware.. http://wiki.mcneel.com/rhino/rhino5videocards Quadro benchmark, well they obviously recommend quadros for it, but overall any newer nvidia openGL gpu will do http://www.simplyrhino.co.uk/rhinotraining/pny_quadro_test.html
Yeah to go X99 you'd need a different motherboard and RAM. The new 5000 series processors are 6-8 core and the RAM is DDR4. You're probably getting close to 2 grand with the build you have so going X99 might take you over the top.
I'd say your currently selected CPU should be fine for 3D modeling. Also, a more "basic" motherboard would suffice too, such as the Asus Z-97 series. The one you picked is more custom build for gaming / overclocking. I think you should go for the Quadro graphics card. I'm running Autodesk Inventor at work (3D mechanical design software) and used to have a Geforce card on my work PC. Now I have a Quadro K2000 GPU and the difference is very noticeable. Even if Inventor doesn't need or use all the bells and whistles as performance is desired over realistic visualization most of the time. edit: also, if you don't want to overclock, the non-K version of the CPU would be be the better pick. Furthermore, you don't need a Z97 chipset motherboard... A work PC needn't be OC'able IMO.
Autodesk CAD programs don't benefit too much from Quadros until you start working with really complex models. While there are a few "display quality" issues that may be present on consumer grade cards (more of an artificial limit), it depends on the OP if an investment in Quadro/FirePro cards are worth it as a half decent one is easily over budget already. Modeling doesn't require much horsepower, its the rendering that requires it. A mild overclock is fine but you'll want to burn in test it for 24-72hrs to make sure its rock stable afterwards. The benefit of overclocking boards is often not the ability to overclock but the ensured quality of the board since they usually are better binned. My team uses Inventor (2014 & 2015) and it crashes extremely often on 100% stock machines that are rock solid otherwise. We use a cluster of machines to render and to be honest small (~20%) overclocks probably help in the end due to the fact that they allow our stuff to finish quicker. The chances of the program crashing due to bugs is higher than something due to a properly done and tested overclock. Iterated designs also mean we can through more stuff, even if there is a crash. Just some tips from experience, as we are a small team, maybe professional environments will demand higher risk aversion. Also to the OP, if this is your primary workstation AND storage solution, I would suggest an additional drive for RAID 1. If you already have a secured storage then that's fine. I do suggest you check if your rendering plugins use CUDA, OpenCL, or plain old CPU. If they use CPU only, get a X99. If OpenCL, you'll have to debate between a FirePro or some form of GK110 Quadros since the GK104 variants don't do too well in that. If its CUDA, just stick as many Nvidia cards in as you can, the more cores the better, though you might want to check if your projects will overburden the VRAM (and therefore require Titan cards). Some good cards to pick up now would be the 780Ti's if they are on sale if you need CUDA, Titans if you need the additional VRAM, and obviously if your plugins don't use the GPU, just grab any 750Ti or something energy efficient and spend that money on a 6/8 core 2011v3 CPU, unless you need a Quadro/FirePro... Then it'll be safe to assume you need a much larger budget.
True, was just using it as an example though. OP is planning on using other software where having a dedicated workstation GPU could make even more difference. Plus I really would not overclock workstations personally, the performance needs to come from the components themselves (= multicore CPU, good GPU, enough memory). It might run fine OC'ed 99 out of 100 times, but what happens when the system crashes 100/100 time? I wouldn't take that risk.
X99 is the PC enthusiast version of cpus and motherboards. If you are going the workstation route I would go towards a x99 build with like the entry level or mid range 6 core cpu as far as graphics go It depends on how the software utilizes the graphics. I would go either with a quadro or a titan card since this is a workstation computer. Also I would go with a workstation motherboard such as this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132263
i think most of what you are planning is good for CAD, the big question is the graphics card like you said. I run cad at work on a cheap optiplex 760 and 7010 with 4GB of ram in winxp 32bit with more or less no problem, and i'm pretty sure the models i work with are orders of magnitude greater than what you would be doing. what definitely helps is the graphics card, mine currently is a quadro fx2000. With the quadro line, it has settings that have been tested with the various software manufacturers to be compatible/compliant. so on paper you want to use a quadro card. but i have also run my CAD using really low end small form geforce 7000 series graphics cards, and believe it or not they are a great improvement over onboard graphics on those dell computers. so if you choose a geforce model graphics card i am quite certain it will do quite well with anything especially a gtx970. to get a comparable quadro card to the gtx970 you are going to pay big bucks. whether that money for a quadro card yields an improvement that's worth it i don't know. if you don't see your cad software listed by nvidia, or your cad software doesn't say specifically what graphics card/driver has been tested then I say go with the Geforce GTX. and i just noticed you said modeling, not sure if you meant doing CAD. but i would look into your software you intend to run and see what their requirements are. If it's just openGL or something like that, then stick with geforce since it supports openGL. it's when the software is using something not handled by the geforce driver/hardware/software which is only available in the quadro line is when it makes sense to choose the quadro. so start looking up your software you intend to run and see what the manufacturer says and what benchmarks they've done such as http://wiki.mcneel.com/flamingo/performancetuning http://wiki.mcneel.com/rhino/rhino5videocards
