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I'm putting together a list of components for a new Octane render system I aim to purchase in the next week or so. Can anyone interested advise on these specs and let me know if it sounds like a good option? I'm probably going to go with scan.co.uk.

i7 4790k Overclocked & Water cooled
Motherboard - not sure which
16gb 2133MHz ram
240gb Samsung Evo system drive
3tb 7200 storage drive
Fractal R4 case
2xTitan Z (water cooled if they can do this).
1xGTX 970
Power supply to suit, 1200 watts?

Any of your thoughts most welcome..

nice rig, Grain.

As for motherboard get PLX powered (as natively Z97 is going to provide only 20 lanes..) might be enough, but I don'w see a point bottle necking entire system to save 50Eu

Case is nice & silent (& I love it's elegant minimalistic look), but it doesn't have too much water-cooling potential, better look for other options or thing of external radiator as a solution if You prefer that case =)

16GB migh not be enough in some cases if You wish to maximise 6GB potential of GPUs as in some cases You need a lot of system ram, pluss You'll probably be running other apps in the background =)

Power supply might be enough for Octane, but I would consider getting 1500W just to be sure that some parts don't starve in certain processes =) pluss if You going to water-cool You probably going to OC entire system too..

Overall nice system =) though I don't know if I would add 970, unless You having big screens =).. X97 should be capable to power screen for light usage (I use inbuilt GPU while rendering =)

& if You end up using TZs with 970 only 4GB of effective vRAM will be visible..if You put Your screen, let's say for demanding workflows/apps in TZ..You can select 3xGPUs to render & one to be dedicated to render job..

If..You're going to stay on air, I'd consider getting two TitanZs only, as that way spacing them every 4th slot (2x physical spacing is norm on X97 boards) would leave extra gap to breath..

Consider the fact that TitanZ has axial fan & it dumps half of heat load back to the case.. - You need to provide plenty of fresh air into case to remove that: two good fans in front & single on the side would be a good strategy..but try to dust filter side fan =)

tho lower spinning fans & one in the back (slower spinning) should be used to take air out =) airflow matters, as You can start loosing performance if cards reach certain temperature target it start throttling down itself..

watercooling is an option & good one, as TitanZ is triple slot card out of the box, water-cooling would give You a possibility to shrink down bracket to two slot only =) this way in capable motherboard You could add 4 of them later if You wish..

if You would consider this kind of route later =) remember that You would need second GPU too =) in this way good external rad is welcome options as You have plenty of options to expand (what is not going to be very simple if You make a loop inside =)

just some thoughts to consider =) drop some more questions or ideas if You wish to get some feedback =)

cheers

Wow, another sterling response there Glimpse, thanks for that.

Thanks for the Mobo advice, I'll make sure it's a PLX model.

The R4 is a nice case, I've got it for my current system and love it - can you recommend one similar that would be a better fit for water cooling and airflow?

The external radiator sounds very useful but a bit hardcore for my purposes - essentially I just want a super minimal discrete workstation sitting under my desk getting on with business.

Thanks for the tip about not needing the 970, I didn't realise I could use half a titan as a separate monitor card but that makes sense. Also cheaper build and better airflow so that's all good really.

It's funny, ram wise I am always using AE and C4D and rarely encounter any bottlenecks with 16gb but will look at this again now that I'm not considering the 3rd GPU.

hi (again) Grain,

Yeah, a bit of extra is surely worth for mono, You'll have a possibility to house 4 physical cards later if You wish so..who knows, if You don't need those maybe fast NVMe drives =)..

Fractal has very good quality & like You I really love their design (minimal, elegant, etc.) The problem with other water-cooling capable box's is that they look terrible (guess that's a matter of taste & preference - subjective of course). Overall You might not have a lot to choose from..that's the reason why I offered to consider external cooling solution.

if You haven't phased out external cooling idea, You might have way more case to choose from =) as You don't need radiator compatibility, clearing & airflow to think about.. companies like AquaComputer has very good combos (pump/res & rad) for those who don't want to mess too much, then You can buy some stands..all is the left simply to put few waterer blocks & hook the tube =)

if You don't want to go this rouse think Corsair is somewhat one of the best options to go for & Yu can easily find those cases in Scan store..there are better quality, better looking (again, subjectively speaking) cases from companies like case labs..but not everyOne can justify spending few hundred $ for a case =) so I think we can rule this out..

970 is awesome card & especially after latex tweaks of Octane's code they start to perform better & better =) but as I said, You don't need this if You go dual TitanZ, 'cos You are going to have 4GPUs & You can use one for screen only =) ..the thing to remember, that if You plug a screen, You'll consume some vRAM depending on resolution I guess.. somewhere in the region of 300-500MB, if You would be rendering on all 4GPUs (including the one where You've plugged the screen) You'll have that much less of total vRam in Your disposal =) as scene should fit into every portion of vRAM (4places if You own TitanZ).

then again, You can always go & plug into motherboard itself as those CPUs have iGPU inside, that means for simple parts You can utilise inbuilt GPU to do some simple work if You wish so & leave all vRAM & all power of Your discrete GPUs to render something =)

as for RAM I've personally got 32GB & only on very rare occasions see more than 20GB in use, but..from personal experience - s&^* happens when You need it most.. when You're ons stress & working on the most demanding project..-spending a bit extra & getting as much RAM as You can possibly fit (& that's 32GB) is a wise choice to avoid some issues later..

last but not least, You can try to make a loop inside R4, but You'd probably have 3 separate rads, loot of mess with tube routing..or have to modify the case itself what is not worth unless You're really into it =) 750D from Corsair might be the closes case in terms of stylistics & it's a bit more flexible in mounting water-cooling components =)

hope that helps =) frop some more Qs if You have =)