[fi3er]

Hi and happy 2018 to all !
I am looking into buying a new workstation, optimised for the below workflow:
Modelling in Rhino 3d & rendering in MR, hires images 10.000 x 10.000 (for printing large format at 300 dpi), with lots of hi-res displacement maps and SSS.
May I have your feedback on the below machine please:

CPU:
Overclocked Intel® Core™ i9-7980XE 18 Core (2.60GHz @ up to 4.6GHz)

Motherboard:
ASUS® PRIME X299-A: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6 GB/s, RGB Ready

RAM:
128GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (8 x 16GB)

HDD:
500GB SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3200MB/R, 1900MB/W)

GPU:
11GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti - DVI, HDMI, DP

POWER:
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET

COOLING:
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler

OS:
Genuine Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit

£
4750

couple of questions:
- Is it safe to get the CPU overclocked or is there a risk of unstable system (the vendor does the overclocking so it will be done professionally)?
- the GTX 1080 Ti costs pretty much same as Quadro P4000, which one is better in your opinion for both modelling in Rhino and GPU rendering? (I am thinking about getting second GPU once MR provides full functionality, so will have two of these)
- And finally, regarding the CPU, do you think that dual Xeon system would be a better choice in regards to cutting down render times?

thanks a lot!

Dan

[arcmos]

Nice machine!

For GPU rendering definitely the 1080Ti. More Cuda cores equals faster rendering.

I would change:
Mainboard built for 4 GPUs (MSI X299 XPOWER GAMING AC)
1080Ti with Hybrid or watercooling (GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SEA HAWK X)
Stronger PSU (for Multi GPU)
CPU watercooler (be quiet! Silent Loop 240mm)
Big case

Dmeyer has listed some nice CPU scores. Check in the forum. Maybe with a Threadripper 1950X you can save a little money. Not 18 cores but still 16.

[seghier]

look at https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/p ... rorion9000
but i don't know about the price

[fi3er]

@seghier
yes can`t find the price either. The case looks horrendous tho

@arcmos
thanks a lot for the feedback!
- you are right,will get stronger PSU once getting the additional GPUs, later this year..
- the vendor unfortunately doesnot offer water-cooled GPUs
- regarding the CPU water-cooler, here their options, any good? Corsair H80i V2 CPU Cooler/ Corsair H100i V2 CPU Cooler/ Corsair H110i CPU Cooler
- the Case is thisone, do you think its big enough? https://www.nzxt.com/products/h700i-matte-white

- re motherboard, do you think the Asus SAGE would work? https://www.asus.com/uk/Commercial-Serv ... X299-SAGE/

thanks!

[arcmos]

Uhh, nice case. I’m heading to this case for me:
http://www.thermaltake.com/Chassis/Cube ... design.htm


This case has a lot of space for 4 GPUs with Hybrid watercooling like this:
https://www.evga.com/products/product.a ... P4-6598-KR
https://hardforum.com/threads/fun-build.1889442/

CPU coolers are good.

For the motherboard ask dmeyer. There are some heat issues with the i9. That’s all I know. I think I’m going for AMD CPU.

[dmeyer]

This spec is generally fine as it is but is going to be pretty limiting for both overclocking and any future expansion.

Strongly recommend getting a higher capacity PSU if you intend to add any additional GPU, or even for overclocking. The i9 draws a ton of power when overclocked. Personally I would use a 1200w PSU in this system if i planned to both overclock it and use 2 1080Ti.

The x299 Prime is fine for stock speeds or mild overclocks but the weak VRM design of it will limit you to perhaps 4 Ghz. If you like Asus, the Rampage VI is a better bet. The best x299 overclocking boards are the EVGA x299 FTW and Dark.

Noctua makes great air coolers but again if you're serious about overclocking then do a Corsair H115 or similar.

[fi3er]

thanks dmeyer

- will get stronger PSU
- for the watercooler will get Corsair H110i as thats the highest spec they have

the motherboards that are available from the vendor are:
- ASUS® PRIME X299-A
- ASUS® ROG STRIX X299-E
- ASUS® ROG RAMPAGE VI EXTREME
- Gigabyte X299 UD4
- Gigabyte X299 AORUS Gaming 3

I dont know anything regarding motherboards, but judging by the cost difference, the Rampage is the most advanced one. So will go with thatone unless you think Gigabyte ones are better

Also, do you think its worth paying extra to get 3000mhz RAM, or should I just stick with the default 2666mhz?

thanks so much for your help. £5k is a lot of money for me to spend on a machine, so your expertise is really appreciated as it helps me to get best possible setup.

[dmeyer]

thanks dmeyer

- will get stronger PSU
- for the watercooler will get Corsair H110i as thats the highest spec they have

the motherboards that are available from the vendor are:
- ASUS® PRIME X299-A
- ASUS® ROG STRIX X299-E
- ASUS® ROG RAMPAGE VI EXTREME
- Gigabyte X299 UD4
- Gigabyte X299 AORUS Gaming 3

I dont know anything regarding motherboards, but judging by the cost difference, the Rampage is the most advanced one. So will go with thatone unless you think Gigabyte ones are better

Also, do you think its worth paying extra to get 3000mhz RAM, or should I just stick with the default 2666mhz?

thanks so much for your help. £5k is a lot of money for me to spend on a machine, so your expertise is really appreciated as it helps me to get best possible setup.

If those are your choices I'd definitely get the Rampage. If you're looking to overclock and/or multi GPU it will be the best of the bunch. It's only weakness is the VRMs can get hot but that can be mitigated with airflow or VRM coolers if it gets out of hand.

As for RAM, if Maxwell is your primary app you won't notice any real difference between 2666 and 3000 on x299 chipset.

[arcmos]

If you have to choose between ASUS and Gigabyte Mainboards, choose ASUS. I recently built a rendernode with a Gigabyte Mainboard and I wouldn't do that anymore. Updates, BIOS flash is better (my opinion).

[fi3er]

hi arcmos,
I assume same goes for the 1080ti?

I can choose from either 11GB Nvidia GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti or 11GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE GTX 1080Ti,
the price difference is £86 extra for the Asus one but I guess I am getting more stability?

or not worth throwing money at that?

thanks

[dmeyer]

hi arcmos,
I assume same goes for the 1080ti?

I can choose from either 11GB Nvidia GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti or 11GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE GTX 1080Ti,
the price difference is £86 extra for the Asus one but I guess I am getting more stability?

or not worth throwing money at that?

thanks

That ROG card takes up 2.5 slots due to the cooler design. Personally I would not give up a third slot like that for the marginal if any performance boost.

[arcmos]

Dmeyer said it. I once made this mistake

The manufacturer of the graphic cards isn’t that important. I had good experiences with Asus, Gainward and PNY.

[fi3er]

So I have ordered the below in the end. Sould arrive end next week. Lets see how high it flies:

thanks a lot for your help @dmeyer & @arcmos !

Case
NZXT H700i MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (WHITE)

Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™ i9-7980XE 18 Core (2.60GHz @ up to 4.6GHz)

Motherboard
ASUS® ROG RAMPAGE VI EXTREME: DDR4, 6Gb/s, CrossFireX/SLI, WIFI - RGB Ready

Memory (RAM)
128GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (8 x 16GB)

Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti - HDMI,

M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3200MB/R, 1900MB/W)

Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET

Processor Cooling
Corsair H110i Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler

Thermal Paste
EK-TIM ECTOTHERM THERMAL COMPOUND

Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence

Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Price £5,229.00 including VAT and delivery

[arcmos]

Nice build!