Hardware recommendations
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Now that is impressive!. I use a single 40" LED LCD monitor and thought that was pretty "bling". I need to step it up - maybe three 40" screens and a lounge chair!
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Hi,
I'm looking to get a new desktop workstation for architectural design and rendering work. I considered getting a small render farm but I haven't a clue about programming or setting something like that up, and with my experience with vray for sketchup - it doesn't seem to support render nodes too well without bugs. So a single workstation it is, unless somebody has some better insights!?
I use the following programs:
sketchup - (of course!) multiple instances open - the more the merrier!
vray for sketchup
lumion3D (isn't too relevant with my current setup but would like to start working with it)
autocad
photoshop
3DSMAX rarely...
Might start using one of the GPU rendering software (wasn't relevant with my current setup)so generally I need this computer to handle both live previews of what I'm working on and also for rendering as quickly as possible using multiple cores.
One optional example spec I came by is the dell XPS 8300 (around 1700$ not too expensive I think):
Intel Core i7 2600 (3.4ghz)
8GB 1333MHz DDR3
1.25GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 560
Windows 7 64bit Home premium
2TB 7200rpm HDMy questions:
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For the above mentioned programs I use, will the Nvidia Geforce GTX 560 make me happy? maybe a different geforce would be better? I keep reading and hearing about the Nvidia Quadro's that are more expensive, slower in some instances and faster in others, but I haven't had a chance to see one in action with the programs I use. If a quadro were recommended, which would it be? price differences?
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for a singular workstation, would there be any point in getting a different processor/dual processor from the Xeon family rather than an i7? I know they handle more memory, but aren't i7s the fastest these days? And would I need a special motherboard to get Xeons to work better than a single i7? How many cores can I get running on a dual processor setup, Would I need any special arrangement for that? I have no in house programmer on hand...
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Motherboards!? they are rarely mentioned anywhere anymore. I imagine a motherboard would make a difference... Are there any general recommendations, or rules of thumb or magic numbers to look for?
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Would it make a difference if I got Windows Professional vs the Home version? Would I need XP mode for any of the programs above?
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Anything I should reconsider with the above specs that would really make a big improvement?
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Halroach,
Your example setup looks good to me. I'm using a Dell XPS as well and am quite happy with it (specs are in my sig below). It was the best PC available at the time without trying to do a dual cpu system (also I had no special GPU needs as you do with Lumion).
A few thoughts...
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You might consider more memory for your system. 8 gb is good and you may start there with the option to get more later. However I find that it's not terribly uncommon for me to use up most of my memory if I have a couple things going like a render and photoshop or 3ds max and some video editing or that sort of thing.
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Your HD. Consider how you'll back things up and how you'll eventually replace it. Having all of your resources on the same HD as your OS is a bit risky in my opinion. There are lots of options now with SSD's for the OS and a few programs and regular HD for data and such. My setup is this. I have mirrored 1tb drives in my PC but i don't really use them atm other than for the OS and programs. I have a NAS with mirrored 1TB drives with all my data so if a drive crashes there's no down time. I also have 2 external HD's. I'll back my data up to an external every month or so and then replace it with the other drive with is in a fire safe. So worst case scenario, if someone steals everything off of my desk or there's a huge fire, I lose about 1 month of data.
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Dual xeons should make for a faster system but I don't see them so I'm guessing there's an issue there. Probably it's the fact that your cost would go up quite significantly. But if you need the fasted single computer you can get, look into it at least. Maybe post on Tomshardware.com and see if those folks know more about it.
-Brodie
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Halroach,
All of the things Brodie states are good advice, one company I have been very satisfied with in the past is Xi computer. I bought my current computer from them about 3 years ago and have been very happy with it. Also, they were very helpful with determining what I needed based on what type of work I do. I dont know if this is still the case, but when I bought mine it was much cheaper than Dell or HP and they do offer good customer support as well.
jon
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More memory is good. I have 16Gb and it is noticeable. I also have the same processer you are looking at. As for Dell, the only thing I can say is they are not what they used to be. I have had 6 dell machines fail just out of warranty in the last two years - both laptops and desktops. All failures were motherboard related. My Dells that date further back worked very well.
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I just built a machine on HP with a 6 core i7, 12GB of RAM, and a 3GB NVIDIA card for less that $1,600. Shop around before buying the Dell.
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@valerostudio said:
I just built a machine on HP with a 6 core i7, 12GB of RAM, and a 3GB NVIDIA card for less that $1,600. Shop around before buying the Dell.
What he said. Dell is not on my favorite list. My HP's so far, are running great.
Why stop at 12Gb of Ram? That Nvidia card should work well!
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Thanks for all the replies.
I'm currently looking into the following spec - a bit different and better than the Dell XPS:Motherboard - Asus Gen3 P8Z68-V Pro Chipset Z68
Intel Core i7 2600k
CORAIR H60 (cooling..)
SSD OCZ Agility 3 120GB
Western Digital 1TB Sata33 7200RPM
Corsair Vengeance 16GB 1600Mhz CL8 4x4GB
Gigabyte Nvidia Geforce GTX560 Ti !GB GDDR5 Overclock Edition
Win7 ProI have the option to change the Nvidia Geforce into an NVIDIA Quadro 2000.
Does anyone have any hands on experience with Quadros?
After reading a lot online I think I'll stick with the Geforce which should cover all the programs I use "equally"... !? -
I use a quadro at work. It's nice but I'm not sure there's really much advantage to it. If I were spending my own money I'd go with the Geforce.
-Brodie
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Don't forget Sketchup is only capable of using 1 core so the clock speed is very important. I have 3.1Ghz and Sketchup runs really well.
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Ya, the 2600k he mentioned has a 3.4 clock speed which is quite high for modern processors and has a turbo mode of 3.8 which I believe SU could take advantage of.
-Brodie
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I would buy a new Ivybridge i3 or i5 which go up to about 4.2ghz(more if you overclock). I would be interested to see a sandybridge vs ivybridge comparison at the same clock rate, for sketchup. i7's extra cores are useless for sketchup, except for perhaps exporting animations.
I'd also buy 2+ hard drives (one for apps, one for files), 8gb fast ram, a quality motherboard, best video card I can afford that isn't stupidly loud (or get some headphones), quality (gold) powersupply, quality (PVA or IPS) monitor. It's usually better value buying a cheaper CPU/motherboard combo every 2 years than it is to buy the best and keep it for 4 years.
I just got a new HP Z400 computer... watercooled 6-core (12 if I use hyperthreading) Xeon 3.2GHZ, and a Quadro 4000, 16gb Ram and a SSD. (gloat)
However, there's not a HUGE amount of difference between this and my old Core 2 Duo 2.2ghz. It seems that the new CPUs are designed to be fast for 64bit apps, which Sketchup isn't. Getting more RAM doesn't really help, for the same reason (unless you're using other software at the same time).
I think the video card (6600gtx 320gb to a 2gb quadro) had a bigger impact. The geforce was supposed to be one of the more reliable video cards out there, but I did get some playback errors and crashes (usually when offsetting or dividing faces) and the screen would 'cut in half' quite a lot, if objects or origin points are placed too far away from the camera in one scene. The Quadro seems very smooth and has hardly crashed..maybe once in the last month or two. I haven't tried the equivalent Geforce but I'm happy with a quadro (though I wouldn't buy it with my own money!). Quadros are supposed to be Awesome for 3DSMax.
In terms of capacity I can work with about 2 million edges at once, but it's a bit choppy..I tend to hide/unhide a lot. And that's being careful with components (every leaf is a component, for example). 5 million edges is about the max for one scene, but you can use a lot more with hiding/unhiding groups/components.
Exporting JPGs also tops out at 3000 pixels on large models, but I've gone to 5000 pixels on simpler ones.
I take large models into 3ds max (2012) and they are still very choppy to rotate, so I dont think sketchup is inefficient software.
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a Xeon doesn't help much (SU is not aware of), 8 kernels don't help much (SU is single threaded), a Quadro FX doesn't help much (SU uses OGL v1.5), 16GB RAM doesn't help much (SU is 32bit)... simply because SU is not taking advantage of it.
the fastest i7 (in the sense of clock frequency) and a mid-range GeForce delivers the best bang for the buck, nothing else.
Norbert
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