Building a computer

[simonj]

So I got a bit of money left over and I thought that I'd spend it on a new computer.

Currently I'm on a laptop, Macbook Pro Core 2 Duo and 4Gb ram, but I feel it's letting me down when doing simulation and rendering (and the occasional gaming).

So my first thought was "A new stationary computer." I looked at the Mac Pro's but I decided they are just to expensive, and I can't really seem to find anything to justify the price. Normally I just think "Mac OS X" and an Apple computer is worth the extra bucks in my case, but since I will use this computer almost exclusively for simulation/rendering I don't really care if it's running Mac OS X.

"Get to the point already!"

Yes, I will.

I'm looking for some opinions on what to prioritize when building a new computer, maybe I have to much of a general lack of knowledge, but hey, that's why I'm here. I'm very fond of working in Houdini, and the computer will most certainly do 99% of simulation and rendering with Houdini/Mantra.

Processor— Speed vs core-number?

Should I go for, lets say 2 quad-cores (for an 8-core machine) with a bit lower speed, or should I spend all the money on one processor, but which is a bit more expensive?

for example,

2 x Intel Xeon 2,26GHz (Quad core)

or

1 x Intel Core™ i7 Quad Processor i7-975 3,33GHz

?

-

What does memory speed matter in terms of simulation/mantra? How much is overkill, or should I go for as much and as fast memory I can afford? I find 12Gb DDR3 1600mhz for the same price as 6Gb 2000Mhz, is that step really necessary?

-

Video card? Do I really need an awesome one? How much does the video card help mantra?

-

I understand I have a lot to learn, I have a friend who will help me with a lot of this stuff, but he doesn't work with computer graphics in any extent and I thought I'd get some thoughts from a community in the business.

(Also, it's totally fine to point me to a 200-paged pdf with the comment "just read it yourself", really, all help is welcome )

[dan_cgi]

Hi Simon, I had some good advice from some users here at odforce on the following thread;

hope this helps

Cheers

Dan

[simonj]

Hi Simon, I had some good advice from some users here at odforce on the following thread;

hope this helps

Cheers

Dan

Ah, thanks, that helps

So then I'll probably try to get an 8-core machine, I don't want to wait until the 6-core "gulftown" processor is out. And 8 cores should be well enough.

Edited November 2, 2009 by simonj

[postezz]

Hi Simon,

About the CPU , you should know -for rendering you will use on 100% as many cores as you have,but in many other areas the software still doesn't use all the cores but one.So you'll need the best from both worlds.From what you suggested i think you better go with the 2x4 solution and to overclock it to the max .About the ram if you are serious with the simulations stuff you better go with more than 6.I don't have an opinion about the video, i use a gamers one from nvidia and i am pretty satisfied with it, i hear very bad things about the ati under linux and for graphics at all.Hope i helped!

cheers

[simonj]

Hi Simon,

About the CPU , you should know -for ren...

Well, as far as I know I work mostly with application that support multiple processors, so I guess that choice (2x4 core) is the best in my case, a little worried about overclocking, and I will probably not do that before I learn a lot more about it (don't want to wreck a pretty expensive processor).

Thanks for the advice

I will keep this thread updated with my progress, and if everything goes well, finally some render and simulation "benchmarks" compared to my older computer.

Any other tips in this quest for speed is very welcome!

[simonj]

Alright, so it has been a couple of busy weeks but I have now ordered the components for the computer.

Here's the list, haven't bought a PSU or chassis yet, and will not do that until I get the components.

Hard drives:

1 Intel X25-M SSD 80GB. Will use as bootdisk.

2 Older 7200RPM 500Gb drives. Will serve as storage for now.

Processor:

2 Intel Xeon E5520 2.26Ghz. Went with the 8-core setup since after reading countless discussions about this I realized that there alot I can benefit from 8 cores. Will they be faster than an overclocked Intel i-920 (4-core ~3.6ghz)? Not in all cases but in the ones I care about.

Memory:

4 DDR3 1066Mhz 2GB ECC. Will start of with 8GB memory, this will leave two memory slots free and I have room to put in two additional memory sticks when the time comes. I think ECC is worth it, since if it can resolve one single crash in 5 years the extra dollars will be worth it.

Motherboard:

1 Asus Z8NA-D6. Seems to be a good dual-socket board, but isn't expensive as hell. Has room for 24Gb registered memory, and 48gb unregistered.

Graphics card:

1 MSI GeForce GTX 260 896MB. Will work well for now, if I find a need for a better card that's just a matter of upgrading.

I'll probably buy the chassis and PSU in a local store during the weekend, and receive all components in the beginning of the next week. I'll come back with the results!