New Build for Game Design/3D modeling...

First post here...
I really only signed up for this one question, but upon further review, this site is pretty kick-***! I may stick around and learn/help a bit...


So...Hi. Thanks for having me. I have a small/medium puzzle to solve. Who wants to work through it with me?

I start school in June and I am going to need a decent build. Obviously I am researching now, yet it seems moot with the potential IB release in about 3 days. HOWEVER... With the IB release in mind, and a build expected in about 6-8 weeks... Help me navigate this correctly. Budget for complete system is $1200-$1500.

BACKGROUND:
I am a print/web designer and I also do a lot of 3D modeling and animation work. I start school for my MFA in June and will need to be able to run a 3D modeling application, a game engine and probably a series of adobe product concurrently. And being a game designer (in training) I will also be gaming on the machine. I'm not one to squeak out every ms of refresh rate while gaming (I am usually on the PS3), however, I am concerned about lag while rendering full volume lighting and scene effects in my animations and the workflow in the engine (UDK or Unity) while developing levels.

Currently I've been eyeballing a build with an LGA 1155 Z77 for an i7 Sandy bridge with a the ability to contain 32MB (4x240). As for the other components... later on that. Just MB/Processor for now... And maybe case/fan concerns for cooling/venting.

HOWEVER....
Upon recent review of my preferred hardware site I am seeing the LGA 2011 coming down in price and the capability of those boards increasing the max memory to around 64MB. I have also heard that the IB-E is expected to be LGA 2011 (April release of IB will be 1155, correct?) Maybe I have already answered my question within this post, however, I will pose it anyways...

Should I look to complete the build using the LGA 1155 or the LGA 2011?

So many other questions and comments surrounding this, however... lets start with that. Thoughts? ...And thank you.

-CF

I think a Z77 higher end mobo, 32 GB of ram and an i5 2500k would serve your needs.

Do you have any parts at present that could go into the build? Your applications would benefit from a 2011 6core build but getting that inside your budget might be tough.

Ivy bridge-e is slated for the fall I believe.

Bosco said:

I think a Z77 higher end mobo, 32 GB of ram and an i5 2500k would serve your needs.

Click to expand...

For his uses, a 2600K would be min. Most of the programs he is talking about will take advantage of hyper threading.

I agree with SoulCatcher... Max/Maya and UDK/Unity along with Premier/After effects (for post) are going to gobble up the hyper threading. An i5 would barely get me up and running at a comfortable speed.

I debated the 6 core / 64MB / 2011 option but yeah that balloons me to well over 2k. But it may be worth the investment.

No.. Anything I have for components are old and from the late 90's early 2000's. My last "build" was a scream machine running two PIII 850 processors in a server tower and 512 MB of ram LMAO. It's been a while! I've been in "laptop" mode for the last 10 years or so. I want a work station again.

For what you do, the 3D modeling and animation, I would go 2011. Before you do though, be sure your applications can use that many cores though. A bit outside of this, but while you are checking for CPU core use, is to see if the applications you use can be hardware accelerated by the video card (CUDA).

Id also start out with 16GB of ram unless you know already you use more.

EarthDog said:

...A bit outside of this, but while you are checking for CPU core use, is to see if the applications you use can be hardware accelerated by the video card (CUDA).

Id also start out with 16GB of ram unless you know already you use more.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure on the CUDA specs, but here are the three main programs I would use:

3DS Max
http://usa.autodesk.com/3ds-max/system-requirements/

UDK
http://forums.epicgames.com/threads...ve-Been-Updated-DirectX11-Minimum-Specs-Added

Unity
http://unity3d.com/unity/system-requirements.html

8MB recommended on a 64-bit system for Max, 8MB recommended for content development in UDK and Unity is just vague on their specs posting it is up to the user to decide based on complexity.

I dont know what does what either, though I believe 3DS Max supports many cores and CUDA acceleration.

3DS Max will burn through anything on the market right now.

It looks like 2011 is the way to go for you.

Hopefully one of the X79 guys can chime in. I know some of the X 79 boards had issues at one time.

It also looks like UDK takes advantage of GPU power so you will want a good Nvidia card. 680?

So I don't think you'll make your original budget.

I7 3930K $600.00
2011 MoBo $300.00
Nvidia 680 $540.00

Fun build though.

Soulcatcher668 said:

So I don't think you'll make your original budget.

I7 3930K $600.00
2011 MoBo $300.00
Nvidia 680 $540.00

Fun build though.

Click to expand...

Some better prices:
i7 3930K $499.00 @ Microcenter (in-store price)
2011 MoBo $210.00 - Intel BOXDX79TO @ Newegg (8 RAM Slots)
Nvidia 680 $500.00 - EVGA 02G-P4-2680-KR GeForce GTX 680 @ Newegg (Out of Stock)

Yeah.. I have been putting together a build on the newegg "wish list" page...
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15011334

I am pretty sure I will go with the 2011 just for the upgrade possibilities.

I'm not sure if I want to go with a HDD or a SSD... Faster/quieter boot drive with the SSD or cheaper by going with the HDD... That's pretty much the choice, correct?

Phlume said:

I'm not sure if I want to go with a HDD or a SSD... Faster/quieter boot drive with the SSD or cheaper by going with the HDD... That's pretty much the choice, correct?

Click to expand...

Run both. 120 gig SSD for programs that you run all the time and O/S. HDD for file storage.

I don't know much about the thermaltake cooler. Are the reviews good?

DaveB said:

Some better prices:
i7 3930K $499.00 @ Microcenter (in-store price)
2011 MoBo $210.00 - Intel BOXDX79TO @ Newegg (8 RAM Slots)
Nvidia 680 $500.00 - EVGA 02G-P4-2680-KR GeForce GTX 680 @ Newegg (Out of Stock)

Click to expand...

...Yeah I saw that Evga... all of the 680's on that site are out of stock. Thanks for the tip on the prices, but this MoBo doesn't have PCI 2.0 and it also only allows for 2 SATA 6Gb/s. Also.. it only allows for 64GB/RAM... But it is a good price, thank you.

I see there is a Microcenter in Boston... I'll have to stop in after work and see. I've never been to one.

Soulcatcher668 said:

Run both. 120 gig SSD for programs that you run all the time and O/S. HDD for file storage.

I don't know much about the thermaltake cooler. Are the reviews good?

Click to expand...

Not sure on the thermaltake, but it looked like a pretty decent cooler for the price and I figure with a rig like this I'll need some sort of cooling system in there! I also got the Tom's Hardware favorite case with the 5 fans (Rosewill BLACKHAWK)

As for the storage, I have 2 TB external that I store all of my clients info and personal data on so the SSD could theoretically be the "only" drive in the system... but they are pricey!

Also... I am noticing that the i7 3930 has a listing of "Maximum memory" and shows only 32GB. HOWEVER, this thread: http://communities.intel.com/thread/27351 mentions the same question and has conflicting info. Whats the word here... can the 3930 run 64 GB of ram? I ask only because I have a MoBo on this build with a capacity of 128GB

ALSO... What about moving to a XEON??? Thoughts on that over the i7?

Oh... and thank you for all of the assistance thus far. My wallet is empty, but my brain is full!