C4D System I'm Building - Need Your Expert Opinions

[Elysid]

So, basically my criteria in order of importance for this build is based on what i'm going to use it for.

1) Cinema 4D Rendering / Animation
2) Multitasking - Switching between Photoshop / Illustrator / After Effects / Dreamweaver
3) Some light gaming (I game for 15-20 minutes a session / 1-2 times a day)

I don't intend to overclock unless I have to, and I'm basically aiming for stability over maxed out performance. I don't intend to have any liquid cool systems so will avoid overclocking unless I really have to (which i don't anticipate happening for the first few years)

System Configuration

Intel i7 3.4Ghz 2600k
ASUS P8P67 Pro
EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570
12 GB Kingston DDR3-1333 (3x4GB)
Kingston 256GB Ultra SSD (Primary Drive for OS and Key Apps)
2TB Wester Digital Caviar Green 2TB SATA Internal Drive
Corsair HX 750W Power Supply
Cooler Master Storm Enforcer Mid Tower ATX Case

Opinions and Advice are welcome.

Misc
Dual Samsung 23 inch Syncmaster SA300 monitor
DVD Drive / Gaming Keyboard / Mouse etc

My Budget is between - $2000 - $2500 (I'm in India so prices for components are 10-20% higher then listed in the US)

Thanks in advance

 

[oynaz]

PSU is overpowered. 400-500 watt is plenty.

 

[lehtv]

ASUS P8P67 Pro

Buy a Z68 chipset board. You won't need dual-GPU support so unless the more expensive models actually have something you really need, just get P8Z68-V LE, Asrock Z68 Pro3 Gen3 or similar.

EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570

I would buy a different brand, just for better cooling. It'll stay quieter if it has a dual-fan (asus, msi) or triple-fan (gigabyte) cooler.

12 GB Kingston DDR3-1333 (3x4GB)

Sandy Bridge wants dual channel RAM. Also make sure it's 1.5V or lower.

Kingston 256GB Ultra SSD (Primary Drive for OS and Key Apps)

I'd change the SSD to Crucial M4 256GB or Samsung 830 256GB. They're known to be reliable and high performing.

Corsair HX 750W Power Supply

It is indeed overkill, but 400W isn't enough for GTX 570. 500W is. E.g. Seasonic S12II 520W, XFX 550W, Antec Earthwatts 500W, Seasonic X-460.

Cooler Master Storm Enforcer Mid Tower ATX Case

Way too much cooling for your needs, to be honest. Since it's mostly a work PC, I recommend building a quiet rig. The way I did it: Fractal Design R3 (Antec P280 would work too), add a few fans (3-5 total), quiet the fans down with a fan controller, and use MSI Afterburner software to quiet down the video card fan. If needed buy a quiet aftermarket cooler for the CPU.

 

[Elysid]

Actually made a few changes to the specs after shopping around:

Updated Specs
16 GB Corsair Vengence 1600 (4x4GB)
Asus NVIDIA GTX 570
Corsair Gaming Series 600W Power Supply (GS600) - good call on the overkill, i had wanted to setup a SLI but that's not really practical as i'm not a hardcore gamer
Corsair Graphite 600T Mid-Tower Case


Honestly finding the right motherboard has been the most difficult choice for me. I went for the ASUS P8P67 Pro B3 Revision simply because I've had good experience with ASUS and also I like the look of the new BIOS and the potential to overclock it at some point (even though i'm quite conservative when it comes to overclocking). Also the CINEBENCH and other benchmarks for ASUS P8P67 Pro are decent. Basically it gives a lot of bang for the buck (on board bluetooth is a nice addition and the updated soundcard is another + against it) and with the B3 Revision hopefully most of the issues it did have been ironed out.

It's also available here (in india) at the moment and time is a factor as i need the PC built within the next few days.

 

[lehtv]

I went for the ASUS P8P67 Pro B3 Revision simply because I've had good experience with ASUS and also I like the look of the new BIOS and the potential to overclock it at some point (even though i'm quite conservative when it comes to overclocking).

All of these points are covered by P8Z68-V LE as well, but it costs less and supports SSD caching as well as integrated graphics. You could make a small partition on the 256GB SSD to use just for caching the 2TB HDD (or buy 128GB+128GB, might be simpler to set up). And integrated graphics is useful for secondary monitors, and you did list you have two monitors. If you run both monitors with the GTX 570, it won't downclock and downvolt to idle values, instead it'll run at 3D full clocks and volts all the time even on desktop, and hence run hotter and make more noise.

 

[Elysid]

All of these points are covered by P8Z68-V LE as well, but it costs less and supports SSD caching as well as integrated graphics. You could make a small partition on the 256GB SSD to use just for caching the 2TB HDD (or buy 128GB+128GB, might be simpler to set up). And integrated graphics is useful for secondary monitors, and you did list you have two monitors. If you run both monitors with the GTX 570, it won't downclock and downvolt to idle values, instead it'll run at 3D full clocks and volts all the time even on desktop, and hence run hotter and make more noise.

Ahh..., so which motherboard would you suggest? The ASUS P8Z68-V LE doesn't seem to be available here...

I am searching for available Asus motherboards and the only one i can see is a Asus P8Z68 DELUXE-GEN3 which is a LOT more expensive.

Just to give you an idea, the ASUS P8P67 Pro is going for approx $198. Whereas the Asus P8Z68 DELUXE-GEN3 is a whopping $384!

Edit...

Found a ASUS P8Z68-M PRO which is going for approx $200 though...so that could be an option.

ASUS P8Z68-M PRO vs ASUS P8P67 Pro B3 Revision

 

[Elysid]

Hmmm...a quick review and it seems you're dead right lehtv...

The Z68 chipset board is definitely a better option for me. The ASUS P8Z68-M PRO in particular.

I appreciate being steered the right way

 

[lehtv]

No problem P8Z68-M Pro is a nice board, and though it is microATX it has all the connectivity that most people need. I would however find out what other Z68 boards are available. Asrock and Gigabyte make decent affordable boards.

 

[DooKey]

I believe your rendering and animation do better with more cores. In that event I'd recommend an X79 system.

 

[Elysid]

I believe your rendering and animation do better with more cores. In that event I'd recommend an X79 system.

Price becomes an issue.

 

[jpeyton]

I believe your rendering and animation do better with more cores. In that event I'd recommend an X79 system.

Considering the current price differential, I would recommend against X79.

I would recommend you don't get the HX750 or the GS600. Both are manufactured by CWT and are not Corsair's best PSUs. You want a Seasonic-made Corsair PSU; any of the following will work:

AX-650 – Seasonic
AX-750 – Seasonic
AX-850 – Seasonic

HX-520 – Seasonic
HX-620 – Seasonic
HX-650 – Seasonic

TX-650 – Seasonic
TX-750 v2 – Seasonic
TX-850 v2 – Seasonic

Alternatively, you can just buy a 500W-600W Seasonic PSU if you have that available, or a similar wattage XFX PSU (all made by Seasonic).

Antec's Neo Eco line, and Antec's HCG 520W and 620W are also Seasonic-made.

 

[Elysid]

Considering the current price differential, I would recommend against X79.

I would recommend you don't get the HX750 or the GS600. Both are manufactured by CWT and are not Corsair's best PSUs. You want a Seasonic-made Corsair PSU; any of the following will work:

AX-650 – Seasonic
AX-750 – Seasonic
AX-850 – Seasonic

HX-520 – Seasonic
HX-620 – Seasonic
HX-650 – Seasonic

TX-650 – Seasonic
TX-750 v2 – Seasonic
TX-850 v2 – Seasonic

Alternatively, you can just buy a 500W-600W Seasonic PSU if you have that available, or a similar wattage XFX PSU (all made by Seasonic).

Antec's Neo Eco line, and Antec's HCG 520W and 620W are also Seasonic-made.

thanks for the tip - I can't find a price list of any on local online sites so i'll have to ask my dealer directly tommorow. If the price differential isn't too much i'll definitely opt for it. A good PSU makes all the difference (and i say this having had experience with a bad one once).

 

[tynopik]

my understanding is that if you're doing much video work, you want at least 2 hard drives, so you can read from one and write to the other

harddrives don't multi-task that well

 

[Elysid]

my understanding is that if you're doing much video work, you want at least 2 hard drives, so you can read from one and write to the other

harddrives don't multi-task that well

I have 2 harddrive setup. 1 SSD which will have a 64 GIG SSD cache and hold the OS and important apps, there will also be a secondary 2 TB 7200 SATA Western Digital to handle bulk of storage.

Also, while I will be using Cinema4D most of my work is still motion and modeling. There will be some animation but no fully fledged video editing.

 

[tynopik]

I have 2 harddrive setup. 1 SSD which will have a 64 GIG SSD cache and hold the OS and important apps, there will also be a secondary 2 TB 7200 SATA Western Digital to handle bulk of storage.

IF you were going to be working with large video files, you wouldn't be able to fit them on the SSD, especially after putting the OS and important apps on it

Also, while I will be using Cinema4D most of my work is still motion and modeling. There will be some animation but no fully fledged video editing.

but you aren't, so it doesn't matter

 

[mfenn]

I have 2 harddrive setup. 1 SSD which will have a 64 GIG SSD cache and hold the OS and important apps, there will also be a secondary 2 TB 7200 SATA Western Digital to handle bulk of storage.

There's no real point in doing SRT with a 256GB SSD. You might as well just put everything that you can on the SSD in the first place.

 

[Elysid]

There's no real point in doing SRT with a 256GB SSD. You might as well just put everything that you can on the SSD in the first place.

The SSD will end up holding :

- Windows 7
- Adobe Suite CS5 ( Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, After Effects, Premier)
- Cinema 4D
- Terragen 2
- Windows utilities
- Maybe 1-2 Games

I figure with all that i'll have around 130Gigs free. (I'm basing this on my current configuration where i have a 250GB OS Partition)

I'll probably set a 60GB Smart Cache on the SSD and then load most of my games on the 2TB SATA HD. I only play them occasionally so after a few runs they will probably show 20-35% speed boost.