Help me design my rendering rig

[morkus64]

Budget is around $3200, and we want it delivered built (i.e., don't suggest I buy the parts myself - I'd do it, but the bosses would like a warranty). Probably needs to come from dell.

Option 1:

Studio XPS 9100 Studio XPS 9100 9100H [224-8766]
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Professional, 64Bit, English W7P61E [318-0455][330-6097][330-9083][420-6436][420-6576][420-7938][420-9691][420-9841][421-2087][421-3645][421-4047][421-4117][421-4582][421-4652][421-5577][421-5739][421-5953][421-6194]
Processors Intel® Core™ i7-990X processor (3.46GHz, 12MB L2 Cache) RI7990X [317-6571]
Memory 24GB Tri Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 6 DIMMs 24G136D [317-4904]
Keyboard Dell Consumer Multimedia Keyboard SMMK [331-0659]
Monitor Dell ST2420L 24"W Full HD Monitor, 24.0 VIS, VGA Cable supplied only ST2420L [320-9337]
Video Card Single 1GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 450 GTS450 [320-2178]
Hard Drive 1.5TB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200 RPM, 32MB Cache HDD 1500S [342-1299]
Mouse Dell Laser Mouse 6BTNLM [330-1158]
Network Card Add 2 USB 3.0 ports CAGEUSB [330-9084]
Modem No Dial Up Modem Option N [313-3137]
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader AAREAD [410-0547]
Optical Drives Blu-ray Combo Drive (8X BD-R, DVD+/-RW) with DVD+R double layer write capability BDCOMBO [313-9731][421-3844][421-4542]
Sound Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio XFIB [313-7358]
Speakers Bose Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System 92933 [A4092933]
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook DSTART [410-0450]
Security Software McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months MCEM15M [410-0569]
Hardware Support Services 1 Year In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis T1O [420-8878][923-9307][933-0390][934-8750][950-3337][950-9797]
Datasafe DataSafe 2.0 Online Backup 2GB for 1 year DSO2G [421-4356][927-2357][988-0099]
Trusted ID Trusted ID, ID Monitor, 3 Year Subscription, Digital Delivery CSTID3Y [421-6597]
Buyback Plan TechForward Guaranteed Buyback® Plan for your new PC


Option 2:

My System Details
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional, 64Bit, English
Deep Space Black - 1KW Power Supply
Intel® Core™ i7-980 Six Core Processor, 3.33GHz, 12MB Cache
Alienware™ High-Performance Liquid Cooling
1 Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 6950 - AMD CrossFireX™ Enabled
12GB DDR3 1333MHz (3x 4GB) Triple Channel Memory
1TB - SATA 3Gb/s, 7200RPM, 32MB Cache HDD
Single Drive: 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

ST2320L 23-inch Full HD Widescreen Monitor
Alienware Multi-Media Keyboard
Alienware Optical Mouse, MG100
My Accessories
AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue
Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
My Services & Warranties
No Onsite System Setup
Also Included
Alienware Area-51
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader

Option 3 - design me a better rig for the price! Will be used for AutoCAD, Revit, Photoshop, Illustrator, Sketchup and for rendering mainly. Budget ~$3200 Would like a ~24" monitor included.

Thanks!

 

[morkus64]

Oh, also audio and blu ray not really important. And don't need a terribly large HDD - 1TB is more than fine

 

[DaveSimmons]

What program for rendering? A sandy bridge i7-2600K beats those for 3DSMax. Add 16 GB RAM (4 x 4) and 1 TB drive, done for under $2K.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

i7 2600K
16 GB RAM

 

[morkus64]

Not 100% sure of the rendering program. Some rendering from Revit, some from Sketchup into Maxwell or vray perhaps.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

then its the same

i7 2600k
16 gb ram
a nice sized SSD would be nice
1+tb HDD

 

[morkus64]

What about the video card?

 

[CptCrunch]

Will this be a stand alone rendering machine (as in you send it render jobs and thats all it does) or will you be doing the rendering on it?

 

[morkus64]

I'll be doing 3d modeling / BIM and rendering on it.

 

[CptCrunch]

That raises the cost since you need a graphics card, because all Dell systems will require a Precision workstation instead of an optiplex desktop. Good news is that they are built like tanks.

Heres the best deal I can find without any negotiation with Dell and no real "sale." http://i.imgur.com/buvMR.png. Has dual quad core xeons @ 2.4ghz, 12gb ram, 1TB, and a AMD FirePro V5900.

 

[CptCrunch]

Heres an optiplex that has an i7 2600k, 16gb ram, 128gb SSD with dual Radeon 6450 cards. May do okay for you on the graphics side. http://imgur.com/2gucD Bonus: You can buy 2 of these for the price of the dell workstation above

 

[mfenn]

For that kind of green, you should be looking at a workstation class machine, not amped up gamer machines. Workstation machines come with business class warranties and support (none of that return to depot crap). A Dell Precision T1600 or an HP Z200 with a Sandy Bridge-based Xeon, Quadro, 16GB of RAM, and 24" monitor should be right around your budget.

One hint is to call up Dell or HP Business (Small/Medium or Enterprise, whichever fits you) and negotiate. 30 minutes on the phone could save you a decent chunk of change or get you a free upgrade.

 

[mfenn]

That raises the cost since you need a graphics card, because all Dell systems will require a Precision workstation instead of an optiplex desktop. Good news is that they are built like tanks.

Heres the best deal I can find without any negotiation with Dell and no real "sale." http://i.imgur.com/buvMR.png. Has dual quad core xeons @ 2.4ghz, 12gb ram, 1TB, and a AMD FirePro V5900.

That is not bad at all. No monitor though.

 

[morkus64]

Should I be concerned at all about Revit or Vray or anything having compatibility issues with the hardware? I imagine it's all fine, I just have no experience with workstation hardware.

 

[morkus64]

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/cert?siteID=123112&id=16391880

 

[T_Yamamoto]

get the Workstation Z400

thats what my school has for CAD and photoshop, etc.

totally amazing!

 

[mfenn]

Should I be concerned at all about Revit or Vray or anything having compatibility issues with the hardware? I imagine it's all fine, I just have no experience with workstation hardware.

A workstation (with Quadro) from HP or Dell has a much higher chance of being certified than some random consumer machine. The Quadro 2000 is certified for Revit and AutoCAD.