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I have less than $1000 to put together a decent computer for 3D rendering and photoshop/flash artwork.

I already have these components I can harvest from my current computer:

GPU: PNY XLR8 9800 GTX (It's a couple years old and will MAYBE have to replace. Been having occasional crashing issues that I haven't yet ruled out the GPU causing)
PSU: EarthWatts 500W

Possible components I'm looking at getting:
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9103858&cm_re=six_core-_-19-103-858-_-Product

MoBo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138318

Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313121

HDD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

OS:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

I've never built a computer before and just know the basics I learned in my PC repair class. I just went with what wasn't too expensive and seemed like it would all work together. Any suggestions or something I'm missing? Will I need a better cooling system than the fan that comes with the CPU? I've still got a bit of room in the budget if there's something I'd do better not to go cheap on. Hoping to have something leftover to get a second monitor.

What kind of 3d rendering are you referring to? Are you just talking about modeling and the performance of your 3d program while you're modelling (ie what you're seeing on the screen as you work) or are you talking about rendering fully animated scenes into movie files?

For actual final rendering of 3d stuff into video footage... the CPU is by far the most critical part (actually the GPU basically does squat all in this sort of rendering). CPU and RAM... get the best CPU with the most cores you can afford and load up on RAM.

Photoshop rendering will still be mostly CPU based but I believe CS3 and CS4 versions actually have code which can use your video card to help out.

Really though, any kind of rendering be it photoshop, video, audio, 3d work... CPU is the most critical factor.

Preferably both the performance of the program and the final rendering, as it will be on the same computer. I don't have a separate server to render on (yet!).

How about I switch out the 1075T for a 1100?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103913

The Phenom II's seem to be the only series of 6-cores that wouldn't kill my whole budget outright.

I went with 8 gigs of ram rather than maxing to 16 because the computers in my college's animation lab only have 4 and they seem to handle everything we do rather well, I figured 8 would be more than enough. Can always go out and grab another 8 later if needed.

Raw cores are the way to go for pure render. AMD has the lead right now on cores-per-dollar,...but Intel's new Sandy Bridge is still too much for it. The Phenom II X6 beat the 2500K in exactly one test (multithreaded POV-Ray 3D rendering). In all other tests, the 2500K absolutely crushes the 6-core Phenom, even though it only has 4 cores. Yes, it's that good.

So here's the recommendations.
CPU - 2500K ($225) Best bang-for-buck on the market right now, bar none. Comes with HSF, easy overclock to 4GHz just by turning it up.
MLB - GIGABYTE GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 ($170) - MicroATX Z68-based board with lotsa hookups for expansion and upgrades later.
RAM - F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL ($80)
HDD - Your choice ($90)
OS - I still prefer Win7 x64 Pro ($140) over the Home Premium ($100) version, but it is really a personal choice (and Home Premium is always upgradeable to Pro later)

Total: About $650-700 (depending on OS choice) without tax.

What's that? I left out the GPU? Yep. I did that on purpose. With the Z68 motherboard, you'll be able to use the integrated Intel graphics processor that's right onboard the 2500K CPU. It will be pretty slow compared to your (unreliable) 9800GTX, but it will also consume a lot less power (putting less strain on your 500W PSU) and you sound like you won't be using the system for any kind of serious gaming anyway. The fact that the board is MicroATX will give you additional power savings, making your smallish PSU last even longer.

Also, you'll be able to use Quick Sync for ridiculously fast transcoding. Rowr.

--Patrick

If there's a Micro Center store near you, the 2500K can be had for $179 right now.

How about this newegg DIY deal?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.644166

Sandy Bridge core, but different components. Seems to have about the same capabilities though. I can try running with only 4 gigs memory and add more if I find it slowing me down. Only problem is I don't see a DVI-out, so would definitely have to use the old graphics card, or add a new one.

That combo deal is no longer available.

--Patrick

Well, I'm torn. I brought both component lists to my animation teacher and he was insistent the Phenom II would work better than the Sandy Bridge for my purposes, but his reasoning was over my head. But I trust him to know better about it than me. It may ultimately come down to a coin toss. Or if I happen to find a significantly better deal on one over the other.

New Phenom II-based build, taking Patrick's recommendations into consideration for the rest of the components.

CPU - Phenom II X6 1100T ($200)
MLB - GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H ($100)
RAM - F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL ($80)
HDD - Same ($90)
OS - Same ($100)
PSU - Antec Earthwatts 750W ($90)
GPU - TBD

I added in a more powerful PSU to give me more wiggle room in adding in components later on, such as upgrading the GPU, plus adding DVD drives and such into consideration. I probably should have mentioned, I DO want it to be able to play games on the side. Not necessarily at max settings on next years newest games, but I fully intend to play Skyrim when it's released.

Oh snap, new deal, looks VERY similar to Patrick's build! These things don't seem to last long, hoping it stays up by Saturday.

Your build is very similar to the parts I want to eventually put into my miniserver when I upgrade it, but I am choosing the parts in that build for a rather esoteric, specific use (keeping it all AMD and deliberately choosing the Phenom II because it is the last processor which will support the 3DNow! instruction set). However, for the tasks you plan to do (rendering, Photoshop) the Phenom II will not, I repeat, NOT* be faster than the 2500K build I mentioned earlier.

Your teacher is correct when he says that the Phenom II x6 is faster than the i5/i7 for rendering, but I think he might be comparing it to the previous generation of i5/i7 processors (Nehalem/Westmere) and not the current Sandy Bridge family (ie, the 2500K). Show him this article (especially this page), it goes into plenty of detail and has lots of benchmarks. It might convince him OR it might enable him to point out the flaw in my logic. Either way, I'm interested.

--Patrick
*Very likely not, according to the benchmarks. I would say the 2500 beats the PhenII in probably 95-97% of all tests. Especially gaming.

You've convinced me to go with the 2500k, and I'm going to go ahead and take the plunge on this DIY deal I've found. It comes with:

-the 2500k
-Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3
-Corsair Vengeance 8GB memory
-Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD
-A 650W power supply
-A new ATX case
-A DVD burner
-A free Steam code for Shattered Horizons (not that I was particularly wanting it but hey free game)

All coming to about $606 after tax, with free shipping. I'll have to wait for my next check before I can buy the OS and maybe a new graphics card but I don't want to wait longer and lose this combo. This seems like the closest combo deal to your build that I can possibly hold out hope for, and with the extra components I can keep my current computer completely assembled. Never hurts to have an extra computer to keep as a back-up or to set up for network rendering.

That's a nice looking combo. It's a shame I can't take advantage of it myself at the moment, else I'd be tempted (by the hardware, not the game). make sure you let us know how it turns out. And let me say that I know I come across a little insistent in my recommendations, but that's only because by the time I finish my research for this kind of thing, I'm usually pretty convinced, and I don't *ever* enjoy telling someone, "I told you so," after they've just sunk $2k into something that ends up being second-(or even third-)best. I'm always open to someone proposing a better solution, so long as they can back it up (I got lawyers in my lineage, it's only natural).

--Patrick
(First post from iPod touch. Not too difficult, just small)

I completely trust your recommendations, thank you very much for your help I wouldn't have even known to look for the Sandy Bridge otherwise, and the DIY deal was too good to let pass if I had waited until Monday to get back to my teacher on that. The comparisons seem to back you up and I know the others you've helped ended up happy with it. If he did have a good reason, I'm willing to bet at worst case scenario the actual practical difference wouldn't have been anything I would notice on my small-scale operation.

Either chip I would have gone with, it's going to run circles around my current computer's Pentium 4, which I think was the important point.

David said:

Either chip I would have gone with, it's going to run circles around my current computer's Pentium 4.

Click to expand...

True dat.

--Patrick

I am still completely impressed with the first i7-920....

The tower and most components just arrived today, and I'm antsy to set it up, but unfortunately the DVD drive shipped separately and will arrive in another day, so I can't install anything on it until that gets here.

I had nearly forgotten the importance of the DVD reader. The whole thing is initially useless without it since I can't install windows.

You can install Windows from a flash drive if you've got one 4GB or larger. (Assuming you've got another computer to read the DVD with.)

The computer is up and running with Windows 7 Ultimate (obtained from a friend with a spare copy) and it seems pretty sweet. I can't DO much with it at the moment due to no internet (posting from laptop using a MiFi card) but playing around with Blender 3D portable on it showed some promise. Once I can get Softimage on it I'll make some screencap videos comparing the old and new computer rendering a complex scene.

It looks like I'll have to be getting a video card anyway, Mudbox refuses to open without an ATI or Nvidia GPU. Also having minimal success with the games I've installed; Mount & Blade: Warband crashes after 5 minutes of playing and The Sims Medieval has reached a point where I can't progress further without causing a BSOD.

Any recommendations for a specific GPU under $200 to go with my build?

For Mudbox? Get a 5850 1GB card, your choice (Gigabyte has one for about $185, there have to be others).

--Patrick

hey while we are on the topic, I have a ati 4850, should I be looking to upgrade to something newer?

Why are you looking to get rid of the 4850?

--Patrick

haha, no reason, I was just curious if it was time for an upgrade.

Honestly? If you can't point to something specific that the card isn't doing for you, then probably not. Same is true for most computer components.

--Patrick