• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Help with an Avadirect workstation build

M

morkus64

Diamond Member
Sort of continued from another thread, but things have changed wnough to merit a new thread, I believe...

Going to recommend to my boss to buy our new workstations from AvaDirect instead of wasting a ton at Dell (holy hardware markup, batman!). I've got the basics down. It'll be this: http://www.avadirect.com/workstation...asp?PRID=20664

with

CPU: Xeon E3-1245
GPU: Quadro 4000
RAM: 16GB (or 24GB but that doesn't seem to be an option)

I think this should do us fine for an architectural modeling and rendering station, though if anyone has any recommended upgrades, I'd appreciate the advice.

What I really have questions about are all of the fiddly bits - which specific memory, which case, PSU, etc - if any of that really matters that much. Also trying to decide on a ~24" monitor.

Looking to keep the rig under $2800! If it's closer to $2500 that's even better. Thanks!
 
Last edited:
I'd go with the first, just because the second is on the obsolete socket 1366.

Edit: Can you save some money and go with the 1230 or 1240 instead? You don't need on-chip graphics, and what difference does 100MHz make?
 
FYI, this is still the same acquisition, so it should be posted as an update to the other thread. The old thread doesn't die when you post a new one, so you have two threads to watch now.

No way in hell would I whitebox a production machine. Specs are the third, maybe second most important consideration for such a box. Support is first and price/performance can fight for second.
 
mfenn said:
FYI, this is still the same acquisition, so it should be posted as an update to the other thread. The old thread doesn't die when you post a new one, so you have two threads to watch now.

No way in hell would I whitebox a production machine. Specs are the third, maybe second most important consideration for such a box. Support is first and price/performance can fight for second.
Click to expand...

Sorry - just preferred to keep it separate because now it's looking like this will actually be two different orders - Dell for now, avadirect for later.
 
Hello Morkus64,


As an AVADirect employee I can tell you that I receive many requests for a workstations with the intention to create 3D models, manipulate photos, and edit video. Through my personal experience, and professional, I can tell you that the processor is the second most important component to consider; the graphics card will always come first. That being said, you can easily get away with the socket 1155 XEON, over the 1366. There is also increased performance over Intel's Sandy Bridge chipset through the PCI-Express 16x lanes that you can use to your advantage.

I vote http://www.avadirect.com/workstation...asp?PRID=20664

🙂
 
AVADirectJoe said:
Hello Morkus64,


As an AVADirect employee I can tell you that I receive many requests for a workstations with the intention to create 3D models, manipulate photos, and edit video. Through my personal experience, and professional, I can tell you that the processor is the second most important component to consider; the graphics card will always come first. That being said, you can easily get away with the socket 1155 XEON, over the 1366. There is also increased performance over Intel's Sandy Bridge chipset through the PCI-Express 16x lanes that you can use to your advantage.

I vote http://www.avadirect.com/workstation...asp?PRID=20664

🙂
Click to expand...

AVADirectJoe, I'm sorry, but you are mostly wrong about the first use case that you mentioned and just plain wrong about the others. Just because a task deals with images does not automatically mean that the graphics card is the limiting factor.

The CPU is the most important piece of the puzzle for video editing and photo editing. This is followed closely by the memory and storage subsystems. The GPU doesn't even come close.

In terms of 3D modeling, yes the GPU can make a difference, but most of the actual work is done in preview mode with a sustantially reduced poly and effect count. The final render is still done on the CPU.
 
mfenn said:
AVADirectJoe, I'm sorry, but you are mostly wrong about the first use case that you mentioned and just plain wrong about the others. Just because a task deals with images does not automatically mean that the graphics card is the limiting factor.

The CPU is the most important piece of the puzzle for video editing and photo editing. This is followed closely by the memory and storage subsystems. The GPU doesn't even come close.

In terms of 3D modeling, yes the GPU can make a difference, but most of the actual work is done in preview mode with a sustantially reduced poly and effect count. The final render is still done on the CPU.
Click to expand...

You're right, the CPU does take most of the workload for a majority of video editing applications that exist today. I should not have come off so bias toward the GPU workload; the CPU is still a very important factor, and the most for popular applications. There are very few applications out there (Premiere Pro, Lightroom ) that take advantage of the CUDA and GPU transcoding capabilities that Nvidia graphics cards provide. A powerful GPU will help with compression, motion estimation algorithms, and multi-layered edits/effect. Mostly on-the-fly features that can keep you going in mid-project without large delays.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top