New computer for octane render

[clausgs]

HI

i am very new to octane render and will invest in a new computer for running different software.
octane render standalone
auto desk inventor
auto desk 3dmax
photoshop
gimp
sketchup

The main rendering projects will be furniture render, room setup render.
i need suggestions for what hardware to buy.
specially for
mother board
CPU
RAM
video card (I expect to buy 1 or 2 cards from the beginning).
Hard disk
power supply

Can any one pleas give me some suggestions. my budget is about 2000 to 4000 USD.??

Thanks in advance...
Claus

[glimpse]

hi, Clausgs.

here's something for You to consider:
(check prices at Your place =)

take an APU (CPU with integrated GPU) instead of CPUonly. If You're looking to start with two cards take a bit higher end consumer motherboard (based on Z77 & PLX PEX 8747) with four PCIe in order to expand later. get some meaty CPU cooler inder to push some frequency a bit higher as some proceses in Octane are still single threaded.

for around 200$ You could find 3570k APU that has iGPU hd4000 (for ~300$ there's an unlocked 3770k with a higher cache & HT enabled). with good air cooler You can easily reach somewhat 4,5ghz. if it's enough resolution from these You'll hook up the monitor and leave You discrete GPUs to work with Octane. in this case You get responsiveness even if Your system is rendering & a spare PCIe for aditional card.

as for GPUs it depends on Your needs. I'd probably step for 670 4gb if You're looking to get bigger scenes. curent (kepler) architecture is abit more efficient compared to fermi - less energy to be consumed & less heat produced (but not as effective: 580 outperforms 680 in speed a bit) one more thing is You can put bit more textures in Keplers too. 670 is probably best bang for You buck, but if You can pay more 680 is there. if 2gb of vRAM is enough there is even 690 (that are two 680 'gleud'up)

depending on Your MotherBoard, GPUs & future plans take a PSU. Don't forget to look for RAM. Multiply Your GPU's vRam by factor of 4, add some space for operating system and other programs (if 670/680 in the rig, put more than 16gb - even 32gb is good idea if You want to do some other stuff while trying to get bigger scene into GPU =)

so, there's some ideas from me, but I believe other might have something to add too.
hope that will help a bit =)

cheers

[clausgs]

HI glimpse

Thanks for a very interesting post.
I did not think about the APU idea at all and that is a very good idea, for sure a i7 3770k ivy bridge cpu / apu.

not so sure about what mother board to use, brand? and type? one that have enough PCI (you suggest 4 x PCI's)

PSU i guess i need to get up to 1200 to 1500 w

RAM for sure 32 GB then later I can expand to 64GB. any special RAM to look for, brand, type??

GPU for sure 670 or 680 with 4GB, any special brand, type to look for, ??

will i need a liquid cooling systme for this rig you think???
I do not expect to do any overclocking, as stability are more important than speed..

Again thanks for the big help with this, hope to get a reply from you on above.
Claus

[glimpse]

if You google up for z77 plx pex8747 You should find some information about available products - it's not so much motherboards from makers with this configuration. to make a good decision You have to look on Your own needs as these do differ a bit, basically on I/O conectivity and additional extras, sometimes the layout (ATX or even EATX be aware when You purchase the case for Your rig =)

here's a good read on that with breakdowns and comparisons side by side =) http://www.anandtech.com/show/6170/four ... s-and-evga

for RAM it is a ceiling for z77 based motherboards - it's 32gb. if You want more You have to go different direction & buy diff CPU/chipset combination to be able to put 64gb (any six core 39xx with x79 or even Xeon if that's not enought..) for GPU workhorse I see no point of doing that as CPU that will cost twice more will add no benefit at all unless You're doing CPU rendering a lot too.

for RAM I would take any, no need to go for the best, as You probably will fell no difference at all even if spending twice as much. Stick with four 8gig plates to fill the available slots and that's all. One thing to be aware of is the heatsink size. depending on the cooler & motherboard You're going to choose You might face up the problem as RAM's heatsink might interfere with CPU cooler. You can go for closed loop systems to eliminate the problem.

as for GPU it doesn't matter so much. Let's say if You buy EVGA, You get good customer support as that is what their are know for.. etc. if You lean toward Kepler line (6xx) I see no need for watercooling. unless You want to get more silence using 120 or 140mm low spining fans, but that is costly..

If You're looking for stability don't do any Overclock for GPUs at all - In best case scenario You'll probably gain only ~5% boost, but if You reach thermal limmits Your cards will throttle down way more.. in the end 'cause of all that I've just mentioned You'll even render longer, not shorter.. pluss You influence longevity of Your cards too.

when You have the list of cards/motherboard/cpu You can easily figureout/calculate what PSU to buy. If that was me I'd probably take some Corsair 1200i - pricy, but.. there are cheaper solutions, but to be honest for me that's the only part that goes with my HDDs from system to system, so why to save on that if You can easily reuse it later?

hope that helps.

cheers

[clausgs]

HI glimpse

Thanks for very detailed and good information from you. i must admit that i do not understand all as I am not an expert in hardware.
So I visit the biggest DIY computer market today here in Bangkok where i live.

And i got a total setup like below.

Mother board
ASUS P8Z77-V Premium
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6144/asus ... therboards
(500 USD)

CPU / APU
i7 3770k ivy bridg
(340 USD)

GPU
MSI GTX 680 2GB (about 670 USD)

RAM
G.SKILL DDR3 Ripjaws Z Quad Channel
8GB x 4 = 32GB

HD
Seagate 2TB

PSU
1200w

CPU Cooler
Model :: Thermaltake Frio OCK
http://www.computeandmore.com/productlist.php?id=1601

Monitor
Samsung 27" inch LED, full HD

Mouse, keyboard
wireless, logitec

DVD drive
Standard type

Tower / case
It is a very big box, have no idea if it is good or not, it have 2 x USB 3.0 on the top /front.
It have a special docking station for a Hard disk on the top surface build in.

The shop will assemble all hardware.
All cost about 2846 USD.

What do you think about this, will this system work and be stable. is there some components that i should upgrade or. I did not get much support from the guys in the shop as they mostly only speak Thai, and the translation from my wife was not that good too.
I am going to order the whole packaged tomorrow, and the shop have promised to have everything running with in 3 to 4 hour's.

Here is a link to a retailer in Bangkok that sell hardware, so here you can see what is mostly available on the Bangkok market.
http://www.computeandmore.com/pricelist.php

Would really appreciate you comments.

Again thanks......

BRG.
Claus S

[clausgs]

HI

by the way, with this setup I will have video out on both the mother board and also on the video card, witch one to use??
Or I should use 2 monitors??

I mean when I do not use the video card for octane render then i would like to use the power of the video card, fx for games and picture editing software. I guess I will then need to have the monitor plugged into the video card.???

How to do this best.
Brg.
Claus S

[glimpse]

HI

by the way, with this setup I will have video out on both the mother board and also on the video card, witch one to use??
Or I should use 2 monitors??

I mean when I do not use the video card for octane render then i would like to use the power of the video card, fx for games and picture editing software. I guess I will then need to have the monitor plugged into the video card.???

How to do this best.
Brg.
Claus S

You don't need to run two monitors =) just conect Your monitor to motherboard, leaving discrete card emty & enable some functionality..if You need the power for games or other task it will be available, no need to Your monitor conection..

here's more about that http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77 ... 174-2.html & http://www.anandtech.com/show/5728/inte ... -biostar/3
read more online about that if You're interested in gaming and other stuff related to this.

As for Your chosen motherboard http://www.asus.com/Motherboard/P8Z77V_PREMIUM/
That's a premium & very costly. majority of users here probably be agains such, but if You're looking to use the rig as Your main pc the i/o conectivity and features (thunderbolt, integrated mSata ssd just to name few) might be worth the price..if You're going to use them. If not, well, there's a bit less expensive cards, but considering the PLX chip providing 32lanes (4 x8 for Your discrete GPUs) the price will not be very low either..

so it's up to You. You can read some reviews online googling Your exact model & trying to look would are the alternataves that people offer in Your case =)

[glimpse]

Mother board
ASUS P8Z77-V Premium
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6144/asus ... therboards
(500 USD)

GPU
MSI GTX 680 2GB (about 670 USD)

CPU Cooler
Model :: Thermaltake Frio OCK
http://www.computeandmore.com/productlist.php?id=1601

Monitor
Samsung 27" inch LED, full HD

The shop will assemble all hardware.
All cost about 2846 USD.

http://www.computeandmore.com/pricelist.php

Overall the price is high, but considering Your 27" monitor & components You've chosen it's reasonable.
as I've said before it's up to if You're going to use all the features.

One thing You have to be aware of is the resolution & conections of Your monitor.
The conections on Your chosen motherboard allow:

Integrated Graphics Processor
Multi-VGA output support : HDMI/DisplayPort/Thunderbolt ports
- Supports HDMI with max. resolution 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
- Supports DisplayPort with max. resolution 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz
- Supports Thunderbolt with max. resolution 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz

as for CPU cooler..it's a bit flashy. for my personal taste, bit too much, but it does the job. some say it's a bit loud, but considering You probable GPU setup in the future You will not hear it when these kick in under load.

One thing to upgrade in this list for sure is GPU take 4gb 680 instead of 2gb version!

[glimpse]

another option =)

* sort out bit more simple Motherboard, lets say from the same asus
(like p8z77m pro - should be more than twise cheaper)
* downgrade the CPU to 3570k
the performance difference between this & 3770k is at most ~10% for highly optimised multithreaded workloads, if runing on the same frequency.
* & put two 670 4gb cards.

in comparison to Your rig You loose two pcie expansion slots, a lot of input/output extras, but..
with what You save on MotherBoard, CPU, PSU, GPU..
You can add additional GPU..

here is rough list:

* smaller case,
* less powerful PSU,
* more performance on GPU rendering
(compared to one gtx680)

I doubt that You would feel any difference in CPU..

for sure, expansion on this rig is more limited, if You would like to increase GPU Rendering power, You should change the graphic cards. So it's up to You and You future plans regarding to upgrading philosophy: want to add or change =)

cheers

p.s. what are You running now? =)

[clausgs]

HI glimpse

Again thanks a million for all the very useful information you give me.

GPU
The shop tell me that they do not have a GTX 680 with 4GB, so i guess i have to stick with a 2GB version.
Other choice here??, I can get a 690 4GB but that will increase the price with 500 USD. I can not find a 670 4GB card also.??
Any other suggestion's?

Mother board
The shop showed me another mother board also with 4 x PCIE, but they was placed very near each other so It will not be possible to add 2 GPU's side by side. what about a mother board with only 3 x PCIE, will that work, i guess yes but the max GPU i can add in is 3,, correct.
They have other mother board with only 2 x PCIE like the ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE

Virtu MVP
I read some of the links about this, and to me it sounds like some kind of software to control this. Do this software come as part of the CPU, GPU or mother board.?
Is this easy to setup??

Monitor
If i decide for a HD resolution monitor i will never be able to take advantage of the possibility of 2560 x 1440 that both GPU can handle. I guess that both rendering software and games now a days are kind of prepared for the high resolution 2560 x 1440. So i guess that I will go for a 2560 x 1440 monitor, i would like to have both LED and IPS.
Am i correct in saying that i need this MVP to be able utilize both GPU's in my system?

PS.: I just have a laptop as I just moved here to Bangkok and did not bring my desktop.

Claus