Build for 3D/Motion Graphics

[MacMan]

6 core is not necessary for me.

I believe the main performance increase for rendering will have to do with my vid card? If this is the case should I get lets say 2 GTX250s and SLI them? (booting into windows for rendering) and just switch over to OSX for normal everyday stuff (knowing OSX doesn't support SLI).

It would be nice to have a computer that will last me a while and at least perform better than the current mac pro quad cores/perform at the same level as the dual quad. (Mac Pro 2009 model)

In terms of processor, is there really any benefit from using an i7 over a Xeon other than the ability to use ECC Ram on the Xeon (and I believe the ability to exceed 16gb of memory?)

Thinking about this has made me wonder if getting a current gen (not the one coming out this August) quad core mac pro and updating the Ram/Vid card would be better.

Again using Cinema 4D and the Adobe suite is my primary usage for this computer, and of course SC2..

If you want to do the rendering in OS X just go with a more powerful video card.

The ability to install more than 16GB RAM is dependent on the chipset, not the processor. So P55 motherboards max out at 16GB, X58 motherboards currently max out at 24GB of RAM.

 

[cakemonster]

I think a P55 board (P55-UD5) with a i7 875 and a very nice graphics card would be a great setup for you for under $1400.

My build was $1000...

A GTX 285 would work well (and cheap used now), and the 5000 series ATI cards are starting to get better supported. The 400 series nvidia cards are not supported yet, but hopefully will be soon. SLI not supported on Macs, so just get one good card and drive two monitors...

I have a mac pro at work (last gen), and actually prefer my hac. Runs just as well, no problems, no hiccups. Do hardcore OpenGL based 3D modeling...

My hac (4 cores/8 threads) is just as fast or faster as the 8 core mac pro (8 x 2.26) at everything except totally threaded apps that use all 8 cores.

Up to you, but half the cost or less.

 

[tonyGriggs]

6 core is not necessary for me.
I believe the main performance increase for rendering will have to do with my vid card?

Hi, kclam. You're wrong on that point. Your real-time rendering will rely heavily on the GPU on your video card. Any software rendering--like the kind Cinema 4D does--will rely heavily on your CPU and RAM. The more cores and RAM you have and the higher CPU clock speed the better, although keep in mind that going for anything above 4 cores right now isn't exactly cost-effective. And you're better off starting with, say, 4GB or 8GB of RAM and adding more later once you determine that you actually need it.

--
tG

 

[kclam]

6 core is not necessary for me.
I believe the main performance increase for rendering will have to do with my vid card?

Hi, kclam. You're wrong on that point. Your real-time rendering will rely heavily on the GPU on your video card. Any software rendering--like the kind Cinema 4D does--will rely heavily on your CPU and RAM. The more cores and RAM you have and the higher CPU clock speed the better, although keep in mind that going for anything above 4 cores right now isn't exactly cost-effective. And you're better off starting with, say, 4GB or 8GB of RAM and adding more later once you determine that you actually need it.

--
tG

thanks for the clear up tG. and thanks cakemonster/mac man for the info

Any suggestions as to what to get? My school has Mac Pros (2009) dual quad with 12gb of ram. So I am trying to shoot for a build that can perform at that level.

Would it be smart/reasonable to get a MB that supports dual xeon processors and just start out with 1 (was thinking the E5620 2.4 ... but that isn't really a high clock speed) and add another one later on if need be?

I apologize if my questions seem noob-ish ... haven't built a computer/kept up to date with them (desktops) since 2003 ...

 

[tonyGriggs]

Any suggestions as to what to get? My school has Mac Pros (2009) dual quad with 12gb of ram. So I am trying to shoot for a build that can perform at that level.

The question really isn't what level the machines can perform at, but instead the level at which you need them to perform.

When you're doing work at school, say in C4D, open the activity monitor and take a look at how hard you're hammering the processor and RAM. Do this when you're both a) working with a large geometry set loaded interactively in your C4D session and b) when you're pounding away at all the cores with a heavy render.

Is the processor pegged? Are you using all the cores? How much of the 12GB of RAM is in use?

The great thing is you already have machines you can use to test in exactly the way you'll use your new machine. Once you have these answers, it should help you towards figuring out your base line on the new system.

--
tG

 

[cakemonster]

I agree with TG.

Figure out what the bottleneck to performance is for your utilization...

If it is RAM, pick RAM...
If it is CPU, get a good one...
Is the code threaded...ie...does more cores make a difference, or it is just clock speed/architecture...if so an I7 will trounce the mac pro (mine does for things that used 4-6 threads or less...)
If it is GPU, and not much CPU, then spend your money on graphics...

Realistically, with a modern GPU over $150 and an I7 of any type, RAM will be the thing that slows you down the most IF YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH and go to SWAP/virtual memory. For computations my i7 is as fast as the mac pro (almost), but it only has 8 GB of RAM, while our mac pro has 20GB, hence, if that is the bottleneck that would be the one benefit of a X58 over P55 as you can get 6 x 2 GB which is cheaper than using 4GB chips x 4 for example in a P55 setup...

As far as dual processor etc, I would keep it simple for your first build and go with something that you know will work, rather than trying to be bleeding edge. Build something that will be very fast, allow you to do your work rather than spending the next 3 months hoping it might work.

My suggestion of:

Processor: I7 875 (4 cores, 8 threads)
MB: Gigabyte P55-UD5 or P55(NOT A)-UD4P as both have 889a audio
Memory: 8-16 GB G skil eco (figure out how much you need)
GPU: GTX 285 (used if you can find it), or if nvidia 4xx supported soon go with that...
Optical: In my Sig
Power supply: 700 watts or so to give you headroom for mild OC
Cooler: Scythe Mugen

Check this for baseline...

http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/06/ ... te-pc.html

Build 3

But substitute a P55-UD5 if you can find one...

and more ram if you can afford it (4GB sticks)...

Would be a kick butt machine that would feel snappier than the mac pros you are working on for most things...

This would come in under $1500 easily and be a very nice machine... I throw around huge models on my hackintosh, it is only for very large FEM computations that I use my Mac Pro...

 

[kclam]

Hey guys, sorry I haven't responded in a while.

I am currently working on final projects, but I was able to test the school machines.

I was mistaken with what computers my school has. They don't have 8core mac pros, they have 2.66 quad cores with 12gb of ram.

When I went off to render in Cinema 4D, CPU was up to 100%, ram only about 5gb.
(15 seconds of animation took around 5 hours to render, but only because I had to turn down the shadows and such ... would really like to be able to utilize Area shadows...)

So it seems as if the bottleneck would be the base clock speed of the processor.

Assuming I went with the i7 980x, how much would that build cost? (Reason why I'm looking at going the 980x route is that AE CS5 is able to render multi frames simultaneously)



I was looking around and found these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6883227251

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=4149

Looks like it'll be at least a 2k venture?