Help me figure out this computer build (if you know what you're talking about)

[BluetoothBoy]

Could you guys who have decent or pretty nice computers (and 3D modeling software) perform a test for me? I'm trying to figure out the best parts to use to build a PC that is optimal for 3D modeling and video editing/rendering. So, here's what to do: open the 3D program, and subdivide any object until it can't be subdivided any more - probably 'cause your computer crashed. Then post here how many faces it had and what CPU, GPU, and motherboard you're using. Note that I'm trying to build a computer that will run OSX and Windows, so any suggestions should take this into consideration.

Thanks forums!

Ignore that, we're now talkin' parts.

[Ad Bot]

[Blockzillahead]

Get an i7 and a Quadro K5000

[Treynolds416]

wtf

Just look up benchmarks or something, or ask people who know what they're talking about cough megathread cough
Just how useful do you think a random (and tiny) sample size of vastly different system, settings, programs, and benchmarks is going to be?

[Pie Crust]

370 triangles before crashing on Anim8or.
AMD Sempron x3200 1GHz
NVidia GeForce 130 (I think) nForce 430

[BluetoothBoy]

Get an i7 and a Quadro K5000

A bit more than I'm willing to pay...

wtf

Just look up benchmarks or something, or ask people who know what they're talking about cough megathread cough
Just how useful do you think a random (and tiny) sample size of vastly different system, settings, programs, and benchmarks is going to be?

Quite useful, actually. Maxing out the abilities of a program like Blender gives me a pretty good idea of the user's computer ability, and rather than have a bunch of different people tell me I should get this because of X and Y reasons, I can decide based on the performance of pre-existing computers. Benchmarks are great, but they don't tell you everything. Real life product testing with varying devices is what'll get me the data I need to make a decision. Maximizing price versus performance is really important for me, as I can't afford to spend a ton on a computer, yet I basically need a new one to do the stuff I want to do for my college portfolio efficiently.

370 triangles before crashing on Anim8or.
AMD Sempron x3200 1GHz
NVidia GeForce 130 (I think) nForce 430

Sorry, dude, that's not even decent... My current computer gets many times that in performance already.

[Axo-Tak]

370 triangles before crashing on Anim8or.
AMD Sempron x3200 1GHz
NVidia GeForce 130 (I think) nForce 430

I can handle the MinifigRig v4 on Blender, even with my toaster.

[heedicalking]

yea benchmarks are nice but your idea for a benchmark is completely handicapped. You talk about wanting a 'rendering computer' but you aren't even testing rendering. Rendering benchmarks exist already, so just look some up and have people download and use those.

[BluetoothBoy]

yea benchmarks are nice but your idea for a benchmark is completely handicapped. You talk about wanting a 'rendering computer' but you aren't even testing rendering. Rendering benchmarks exist already, so just look some up and have people download and use those.

I never said I was looking for a rendering computer... Also:

Benchmarks are great, but they don't tell you everything. Real life product testing with varying devices is what'll get me the data I need to make a decision.

As in, I want to make a decision based on specific findings I've gotten on the internet. Easiest way to do that? Ask yourself. Finding an entire collection of people who have done the same thing or similar to what I'm asking wouldn't be easy - if even possible.

[Axo-Tak]

Something to point out:
Gaming cards (Nvidia: GeForce; AMD: Radeon) are designed for the highest possible FPS. These are designed for gaming. If you are desperate and you aren't buying GPUs for a business, you can use this for 3D modelling; note that this is sort of unsupported when using CAD software like AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, or SolidWorks.
Workstation cards (Nvidia: Quadro; AMD: FirePro) are designed for high precision rendering of high amounts of polygons. These are designed for 3D modelling software.
GPGPU cards (Nvidia: Tesla; Intel: Xeon Phi [coprocessor with many cores, able to do lots of raytraces]) are for parallel computation.

By buying a workstation card, you are digging your money into a hole unless your computation projects are productive. You, and probably the rest of the forum, do not need a GPGPU card.
The GTX Titan is a funky exception, I sort of don't know where to place it. The Titan Z is an exception, it seems to be a Workstation/GPGPU card.

[BluetoothBoy]

Something to point out:
Gaming cards (Nvidia: GeForce; AMD: Radeon) are designed for the highest possible FPS. These are designed for gaming. If you are desperate and you aren't buying GPUs for a business, you can use this for 3D modelling; note that this is sort of unsupported when using CAD software like AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, or SolidWorks.
Workstation cards (Nvidia: Quadro; AMD: FirePro) are designed for high precision rendering of high amounts of polygons. These are designed for 3D modelling software.
GPGPU cards (Nvidia: Tesla; Intel: Xeon Phi [coprocessor with many cores, able to do lots of raytraces]) are for parallel computation.

By buying a workstation card, you are digging your money into a hole unless your computation projects are productive. You, and probably the rest of the forum, do not need a GPGPU card.
The GTX Titan is a funky exception, I sort of don't know where to place it. The Titan Z is an exception, it seems to be a Workstation/GPGPU card.

Thank you, this is helpful information. It's a good thing I don't plan to do AutoCad, SolidWorks, or Inventor work ever.

Do you have any suggestions for (fairly) low cost CPUs and/or motherboards that are would work well with workstation cards (namely Nvidia, as it is most widely supported for what I do and is probably what I'll get)? Keep in mind that I want to be able to dual boot OSX and Windows (has to be Intel at a minimum).

[Axo-Tak]

Thank you, this is helpful information. It's a good thing I don't plan to do AutoCad, SolidWorks, or Inventor work ever.

Do you have any suggestions for (fairly) low cost CPUs and/or motherboards that are would work well with workstation cards (namely Nvidia, as it is most widely supported for what I do and is probably what I'll get)? Keep in mind that I want to be able to dual boot OSX and Windows (has to be Intel at a minimum).

I'm not sure. The Mac Pro is probably the only desktop Mac without an integrated or soldered GPU, and it seems to be using the special AMD FirePro D300/D500/D700 cards that I can't seem to find a place to buy them on.

Find another person, I am not sure how to set up a Hackintosh with these constraints.

[espio100]

I think quadcore 1.5Ghz and 4 gigs of ram will do the job.

[Treynolds416]

A little bit of friendly advice: you don't know what you're talking about
I'm not saying that because I'm mean, I'm saying it because it's true. You don't know what computer parts you want, so it follows logically that you don't know how to quantify what you want. Trust me and heedicalling, asking for benchmarks from the forums is useless. Tell us your max budget so we can get a better idea of what kind of hardware you could get.

[BluetoothBoy]

A little bit of friendly advice: you don't know what you're talking about
I'm not saying that because I'm mean, I'm saying it because it's true. You don't know what computer parts you want, so it follows logically that you don't know how to quantify what you want. Trust me and heedicalling, asking for benchmarks from the forums is useless. Tell us your max budget so we can get a better idea of what kind of hardware you could get.

You're right, I don't really know much about the computer parts. I just figured asking people to perform a task I would be doing regularly (and practically, of course) would be a good place to start.

Anyway, here's what I'm shooting for; a modeling/HD video editing/music making/rendering computer - and being able to play some games wouldn't be a half-bad bonus either.

My budget was about $600, but it looks like I may have to up that a tad. My brother, who has built his own computer and knows a fair amount of stuff about the workings of computers built one on PC part picker, which managed to come in at around $600. However, I may need to slightly upgrade my processor and GPU from what it was, by the sound of it. Here's a small list of personal requirements (tell me if any just won't work):

2 TB minimum HDD (no SSD, I don't have that kind of money)
Intel processor and Intel compatible parts - needs to be this, dual booting OSX and Windows
Minimum 2 GB video ram
Minimum 8 GB ram
$600 - $700 price range, if possible

Here's what I remember having on the one my bro and I built on PC part picker:

Intel i3 4340 (upgrade?)
8 GB ram
Gigabyte motherboard (I don't remember which one, but it was in the $100 ballpark for price, so I know it wasn't super low-end. My brother chose this one because of its compatibility with OSX).
Nvidia 650 (upgrade?)
NZXT case (220 I think it was?)
Corsair 430W power supply (this should be fine, unless I somehow exceed 430W rating with this build).
2TB 3.5" Seagate Barracuda (should be fine)
Some random Wifi card, basically the least of my concerns at the moment.

I might be forgetting something, but that's what I remember.

[Treynolds416]

I think for what you're doing the cpu is probably more important the the gpu, so I would change the GPU to this
I would normally suggest that you change the cpu to an i5-3350P but it seems to be out of stock on newegg
You could probably still go for an i5-4670k and stay under $700, but it's a little pricey for your build

Aside from cpu/gpu your build is probably fine, your brother is georges
Actually, I would suggest upping to a 500W psu just for some overhead