Building a new system. Looking for suggestions.

[Vilandra]

Hi everyone. Im new here on the board, and was told this is a great place for info regarding tech help. Heres my current situation....

My old system died on me a few months ago, and im looking to either purchase a new one, have a PC shop build one for me, or just build one myself. I do a lot of 3D animation, compositing and rendering, so as of now, here are the parts im looking at.

Dual Intel Xeon Processors. Either the E5420's, E5450's, or the X5482's.

4 Gigs RAM (DDR2 667-800Mhz)

nVidia GeForce 8800GT

I already have a 16x dual layer DVD writer (IDE interface)

I also already have 2 older ATA hard drives

And of course ill need a case.

So the problem right now is finding a dual socket mobo, and a nice case for everything to fit in. Would anyone have some sugestions on a mobo for this setup? Since this is the first time im going with Xeon's, its my understanding that they require a server board, and a server case, (or even a full tower?)

Ive gotten a quote from an online workstation company (Boxxtech.com) for $3k on a nice dual xeon with the specs listed above. The local PC shop hasnt gotten back with me on a quote, so obviously they dont want my business. For some reason, mentioning this kind of system to local shops leaves me hanging with no help.

Any info on a mobo would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[MarcVenice]

I wouldn't pay double the price for 500mhz more between a e5420 and a e5450. The latter will probably be ridiculously expensive so not even worth looking at imo.

Btw, have you looked at mac pro's ? Not sure about american prices, but probably around 3-4k for dual quads, 4gb of ram and a 8800gt or something similar. Just figured I'd at least have to throw that out there.

You'll need a s771 mobo, don't know much about those, so I don't feel comfortable making any suggestions. All I can say is that not all s771 come with pci-e 16x slots, which you might want to have instead of a pci-e 8x slot.

As for the case, I 'think' all you need is a atx compatible case, like a midtower incase you don't want something huge. Motherboards seem to be the same size as regular ATX mobo's. Depending on how many HD's you want to run, and if you want to be able to hotswap them, some cases might not work for you.

Some more knowledgable people will pop in soon I guess, and if you need SPECIFIC motherboard help, ask on the motherboards forum.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

You'll most likely need a socket 771 motherboard. And a full tower/server case.

I'd recommend the E5410 for cost reasons (you're buying two!) At 2.33GHz and $285 for each.

Since the E54XX series is a 45nm, you may have to get certain motherboards that can support it. A server motherboard runs $200-400.

Why not get 8GB of RAM? Since you could probably use it...

You don't really need an 8800GT, a workstation card (quadro or FireGL) would probably be better.

I think the compatibility list for your cases is an SSI-type or Extended-ATX motherboard, (12x13) so the cheapest one is this:

HEC full tower

and you can add some fans. The higher-end cases run $180-400, such as a silverstone TJ-07 or Cooler Master Cosmos.

OF COURSE I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

I'm pretty sure that server boards are longer than normal ATX boards? Like 12 x 10 versus 12 x 13 or something. (all in inches)

 

[MarcVenice]

Thing is, I checked some server cases, and those said they were microatx and atx compatible, no mention of server boards ? Could be me though, like I said, not to knowledgable about serverboards. Look at this one for example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813182097 it's a ATX server motherboard, with 12x10 dimensions. Not all server mobo's are the same though.

Reason she probably ain't getting 8gb of FBDIMM it's a little more expensive then regular ddr2 800mhz ram. 2 sets of 2x2gb should cost 350$ total or so, so I suppose it's not that much. And would probably help with her kind of applications. I keep assuming it's a she btw, hopefully I'm not wrong in doing so

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Ah, ok. What do you think of the workstation cards idea, marc?

 

[MarcVenice]

Yeah, he/she didn't mention gaming, but I kind of assumed gaming was also something that would be done with that system, or a 8800gt would be pretty futile. If any applications he/she uses takes advantage of a firegl/qaudro, then it might indeed be wise to get a 2.33ghz xeon qaudcore instead of a 2.5ghz and spend the money saved on a firegl/qaudro. No clue which card to get though.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

I dunno, the good GDDR3 memory starts coming in around $200, but that's only 128mb... Oh, and you're spelling quadro wrong

 

[Vilandra]

Actually, im a "he", but thats ok. Its not the first time since I use the name "vilandra" frequently... although I should think about a better one.

Ok, now to answer some questions....

I have looked at the MAC Pro desktops, but ive never used a MAC before, and all the software I have is for PC. But doesnt MAC have a way of running PC stuff?

Whatever mobo I decide to go with will of course need pci-e 16x. When I talked to the local PC shop, they were having a hard time finding a dual socket board, and a tower for it. They were telling me about the Antec 550w triton case (I think thats what its called), but some reviews have said dual socket mobo's dont fit.

The reason I mentioned the E5420's and higher, was because they were showing some very impressive Cinebench scores for rendering, and that is one of the main things I was looking since, since I use Cinema 4D. However it does seem rather rediculous to spend an extra $1k for 2.8Ghz, vs. 2.5 Ghz.

After speaking with other Cinema 4D users, and a wide variety of CG guys, I came to the conclusion that the Quadro FX cards would be a waste. Apparently, you can only benefit from them if you are using CAD programs, or something along the lines of Maya, however I was assured that the 8800GT would work just fine (if not better) than some of the lower and mid range Quadro cards. (also comfirmed by cinebench in OpenGL)

Now that RAM.... going with 8 Gigs isnt a bad idea. I was thinking along the lines of 4, but its something ill defintely look at doing. I think the biggest issue right now is a motherboard, because I dont know what to look for other than LGA771, pci-e 16x, and of course dual socket.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Well, some motherboards will need a BIOS update because of the 45nm CPUs... That's all I can think of.

Are you doing this yourself then?

 

[MarcVenice]

I have issues with au or ua, I seem to spell qaud wrong all the time, I'm not dyslexic or something, it's just something that ain't properly working in my head

And sorry for the she thing Vilandra, it just sounds rather female-ish Like I said, for specific motherboard questions, use the motherboard forum, some people there won't even have to think twice on what the best motherboard would be for you, and what kind of case you will need to go with it. General Hardware is just that, general hardware, and yours doesn't really qaulify as general

Mac's do have ways of running PC stuff btw, it's called Boot Camp and virtualization software, like Virtual Machine. Here's a rather old article from anand, http://anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2740&p=10 I'm sure a thing or two have changed by now though, which probably made things even easier and better working then back then.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

you spelled quad wrong again... My this is getting OT.

 

[Vilandra]

Ok, thanks. I'll ask over in the mobo forum.

blueacolyte... as of now, it looks like I might have too, but I was hoping I could get it built, and have a nice warranty to go with it.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

That's great! Now I know I can do this! I'm never paying for a pre-built computer again!

Good luck vilandra.

 

[Skooter]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813151100