Workstation advice

[eaclou]

If you're comfortable with overclocking (and there are TONS of online resources to help) I would go with the i7 920 and clock it up to about 4GHz.

It will perform exactly the same as a 960 at the same clocks, but costs so much less.

An i7 920 box would be the best "bang for your buck". a dual-CPU system would perform better but cost disproportionately more.

Also, I'm more and more in the camp that a gaming graphics card does a perfectly adequate job for 1/10th of the price. An HD 5850 is a vastly more powerful card than any workstation card under $1000.

You can put together a very powerful desktop for <$1200, and put that saved $1000 or so towards something else, or for your next desktop in 2 or 3 years.

[imashination]

What he said ^^

[Selwyn84]

Thx alot!

I'll go for the HD 5850.

I never overclocked before and I'm a bit afraid of ruining my processor.
I guess I would need special cooling ? The i7 920 ist about half the price of the 960.

[InfernalDarkness]

I concur as well, and will second (or third) the lack of any need for a Quadro/FireGL these days. A decent Geforce will keep up (and in Win7, surpass) the same-chip Quadro, and save you a ton of money too.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Maya is 64-bit native under Windows; not so under OS-10, so all that extra RAM would be wasted if you did end up with an Apple. Some people get by fine using 32-bit, but most of my scenes these days won't even open on a Mac.

[Selwyn84]

Thx for all the information. You helped me alot.

I'm just not 100% sure about the i7 920 compared to the 960. Basically they are no different except for the GhZ (2,66 vs 3,2) and the price ( 250 € vs 500 €)
I never over-clocked a system before - so i'm a bit worried.

Will the i7 920 run stable at 4 Ghz ? And will it be faster than the 960 ?

I'm planning on getting the Corsair Hydro Series H50 Water Cooler - it cost's 60 € (80 $) and from what I read is great for overclocking.

I do a lot of Keying in After Effects and need a system that can run stable through really long render times.

Another question is the Raid Configuration. I am thinking of using Raid 10 with 4 x 1TB Drives. Raid 0 is a bit risky. Some of my Video Projects get really huge and I have a lot of footage to store.
I read that it's best to have a separate drive for OS and apps and then a Raid configuration for footage etc. Will a single drive (none Raid) be enough for OS or will I have a power boost with a raid0 config for OS ?
These are now my current Specs:
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 4 x 2,66 GhZ
MB: Asus P6T WS Professional, X58
Memory: Corsair XMS3 Dominator DIMM Kit 8 GB DDR3 -1600
Graphics: Radeon HD 5850
HD: 4 x 1TB , 7200 RPM - in Raid 10
Windows 7 professional X64
Apps I often use: After Effects, Premiere Pro, Cinema 4D, 3Ds Max and Maya

I really appreciate your advice and feedback . Thx a lot !

[biliousfrog]

I'm running a 920 @ 4.2ghz with an H50 on a Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5, it has been rendering non-stop since 24th December and it is still at a fairly constant 62 degrees.

It's the first computer I've overclocked and it was supposed to be pre-overclocked when I bought the mobo+CPU+RAM but I ended up having to do it myself. I followed a PDF from Gigabyte explaining how to overclock the board with some recommended settings and it was a piece of cake. The PDF has been linked to by me in previous posts regarding overclocking the 920 so you should be able to find it, it's readily available on google too.

Gigabyte boards come with an application called EasyTune which offers some preset over clocks - up to 3.4ghz I think. The app runs in windows and applies the settings on reboot so you don't have to tweak the bios if it scares you.

Something to bear in mind is that you're likely to run into more problems with 12gb RAM and high overclocks. I'm using 6gb at the moment but I might have to add another 6gb after this project. To ensure that everything is stable I'm planning to down-clock to around 3.8ghz, maybe a bit lower.

[Selwyn84]

thx. the 920 it will be.

How about 8 GB and oveclocking - any troubles?

[pbraganca]

thx. the 920 it will be.

How about 8 GB and oveclocking - any troubles?

If you were to set up 8Gb on a 920 mobo you would not take benefit of the triple-channel. I guess you don't want to do that. I think the you probably want to take into account 6GB or 12GB and nothing in between. (For example 9Gb could go on 3x 2GB + 3x 1Gb - but you would be wasting all the slots not maxing out your ram).

[Selwyn84]

If you were to set up 8Gb on a 920 mobo you would not take benefit of the triple-channel. I guess you don't want to do that. I think the you probably want to take into account 6GB or 12GB and nothing in between. (For example 9Gb could go on 3x 2GB + 3x 1Gb - but you would be wasting all the slots not maxing out your ram).

OK so 6GB or 12 GB would be best.

Something to bear in mind is that you're likely to run into more problems with 12gb RAM and high overclocks. I'm using 6gb at the moment but I might have to add another 6gb after this project.

Now why would 12 GB be a problem when overclocking the i7 920 ?
Totally new to overclocking...

Thx for all your help - I really appreciate it.

[CKPinson]

Everything they've said- just finished my build: i7 920, p6t del v2, Corsair XMS3 DDR3 6GB, and ordered my HD 5850 from Newegg so I am currently using an older Geforce 7 series. O/Cing the 920 is fairly easy, I've found a lot of info on the web. I had to adjust my memory clock in bios as it had the wrong speed. Here is a guide for o/cing (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-920-overclocking_11.html#sect0)
Mine is just under 3.5, stable, stock air without changing voltage but just like they say in the guide you must manually set all volts etc because in default/auto mode the bios will adjust them without your knowledge and can lead to heat issues. I've read that 3.8 is possible but am happy where I'm at. 4.0=liquid cooled and pain in the toosh for rookies!

[biliousfrog]

OK so 6GB or 12 GB would be best.



Now why would 12 GB be a problem when overclocking the i7 920 ?
Totally new to overclocking...

Thx for all your help - I really appreciate it.

It's only a problem when really pushing it, there's a lot of factors involved with OC'ing and it puts strain on all of the components. When you increase the amount of RAM you increase the strain on the motherboard and PSU and the amount of heat generated inside the case. Without getting too technical somone once compared it to juggling, you've only got two hands and the more things you try to juggle the more likely you are to drop something.

3.8ghz seems fairly common with 12gb RAM and decent cooling, it's still a very reasonable OC.

Just one more thing, get a D0 stepping version of the CPU. They are only a fraction more expensive but tend to remain slightly cooler and more stable.

[Selwyn84]

Thx!

You guys really helped me out ! Great forum! :applause:

This is now the final system:

Intel Core i7 920 - I'll try to overclock to 3,8 GhZ
Cooling with Corsair H50 Hydro Cooling
ASUS P6T WS Pro
12 GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator 1600
Sapphire Radeon HD 5850
WD Digital VelociRaptor 10000rpm 150 GB for OS and Apps
4 x Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB in Raid

I hope this machine will kick ass and render light speed (compared to my notebook ) :thumbsup:

[CKPinson]

Honestly the VelociRaptor shows marginal gains over the WD Cavair Black 2TB Dual Processor HDD. And it's larger and cheaper, price per byte! There is a good build article at Maximum PC. Still not sure about the SSD, they are pricey!

[imashination]

Dump the raptor, either just stick a large 7200rpm drive in there or get a small cheap SSD. The raptors used to be nice, but theyve since been relegated to a pointless limbo category where theyre neither faster or chaper than the alternatives.

[SanjayChand]

What is your budget?

That is an important thing to know.

If you are willing to spend the money on a dual xeon system, then that will obviously be faster than a single core i7 (in most circumstances, I presume). And since you do alot of rendering this will help quite a bit.

Also, I am of the minority opinion that a quadro is worth the extra cost over a geforce card.
Even then one can find a quadro fx 3500 off of ebay for $150. It is older tech but works great with Maya and other apps.

[Selwyn84]

Maximum 2000 € = 2 887,6 US$
I think hardware prices are much higher in Europe than in the US, cause with my current system

Intel Core i7 920 - I'll try to overclock to 3,8 GhZ
Cooling with Corsair H50 Hydro Cooling
ASUS P6T WS Pro
Radeon HD 5850
Case, Hardrives,OS, etc... i reach 1800 €... :argh:

[biliousfrog]

Maximum 2000 € = 2 887,6 US$
I think hardware prices are much higher in Europe than in the US, cause with my current system

Intel Core i7 920 - I'll try to overclock to 3,8 GhZ
Cooling with Corsair H50 Hydro Cooling
ASUS P6T WS Pro
Radeon HD 5850
Case, Hardrives,OS, etc... i reach 1800 €... :argh:

yeah, that sounds about right unfortunately.

[CKPinson]

My recent build: (note: avoided all shipping and tax charges)

Zipzoomfly.com=i7 920 plus free avatar game for $285.99 US
Chiefvalue.com (basically Newegg)=Asus P6T DELUXE V2 $259.99 US
Newegg.com=OCZ GOLD 6GB 1600 RAM and WD Black 1TB HDD 7200 $249.98
Total=$795.96
Already had a DL DVD Burner, Geforce 7 series GPU, Thermal Take Tsunami Case and 650 BFGTECH Dual SLI PSU from previous build- will probably buy a new case and PSU if these don't holdup but so far they seem to be fine, Replacing the GPU with HD 5850 or similar later in this month so that'll be about $300.
Picked up WIN7 Pro 64 BIT for $29.99 from M$ with Student discount that ends soon.

[Selwyn84]

The i920 costs in Austria without shipping at cheapest 360 US Dollars. And i only buy from discount hardware stores.
The HD Radeon 5880 around 370 $...
Asus P6T - about 380 $

Amazing how the prices differ from country to country.

I was thinking of shipping from somewhere cheaper - but customs and shipping fees are not worth the trouble and i might have problems with the taxes.

e.g. i just compared the new imac prices:
in the Austrian Apple Store the i7 24'' costs 3170 US$ (student discount !) compared to 2,399 US$ in the US Store (no discount) . So thats nearly 800 $ difference.

Zipzoomfly.com=i7 920 plus free avatar game for $285.99 US
Chiefvalue.com (basically Newegg)=Asus P6T DELUXE V2 $259.99 US
Newegg.com=OCZ GOLD 6GB 1600 RAM and WD Black 1TB HDD 7200 $249.98
Total=$795.96

You're system would cost a lot more here. :eek:

[CKPinson]

O- that stinks- I have a coworker from Austria and said everything over there is expensive!

[jipeg]

If its not too late, you should really consider a small SSD instead of Raptors (they really make a lot of noise). I just finished to build my computer and i do have a 80G intel X25M for OS and a Raptor 150g for storage. Everything is unbelievably fast just because i added a SSD drive. Even my After Effects precalculations are extremely fast. I also have a an external 1TB hard drive.

Also if you are not going to play on that machine, in my opinion choose the Quadro FX1800. With this card i get more frames in my 3ds viewport and also i get more benefits with After Effects and Photoshop. Personally i don't see any reason to buy graphic card optimised for gameing if you are never going to play with it. Nowadays you can even get a pro card for 200$ which are optimised for 3d. Also keep in mind that those gaming cards need a lot of power which means that you will have to buy a more powerfull power supply and also find a way to reduse the heat in your case.

What i bought last week:
Intel Core i7 920 - I managed to overclock it very easily (first time oc)
Corsair H50
Fx 1800
6G Ram
Intel x25m 80g SSD
raptor 150G 10000x

[imashination]

Quadro FX1800. .... also i get more benefits with After Effects and Photoshop

For example?

[InfernalDarkness]

46° is just fine; precisely what my Phenom X4 is at this very moment, in fact. But that's under almost no CPU load. Load it up with a render or game and check your temps again...

I'd be more worried about stability than heat, at first. If the system stays stable but gets a bit hot, you'll be fine. If your system starts crashing, then it doesn't matter how cool the CPU is! Stability vs. speed is the main factor in overclocking; most CPU's can handle 70° for a time without burning out, or higher. I've had this Phenom up to 90° for hours on end without burning it out; but at that temp, stability was iffy.

[Selwyn84]

If its not too late, you should really consider a small SSD instead of Raptors

Thx for the advice, but i decided on going with normal 7200 RPM and set up RAID 0.

Now I just overclocked my system for the first time in my life and i'm a bit worried.

I followed a tutorial in youtube and it worked fine. I'm now @ 3,8 Ghz and 46 ° C.

I guess thats fine ? Any advice on monitoring software ? I'm running win7 64bit.

thx guys - i'm really happy with my new system.

[Selwyn84]

I'm now at 4.2 GhZ and according to BIOS 37 ° C - woooo - my cooling is working.

I just don't get why my RAM's supposed to be 1066 MhZ - i have 1866 Mhz modules ?

[Selwyn84]

46° is just fine; precisely what my Phenom X4 is at this very moment, in fact. But that's under almost no CPU load. Load it up with a render or game and check your temps again...

I just tested with Cinebench and maximum Temp was 76 ° C @ 4.19 GhZ. Is this safe?
I've been running Crysis with no trouble.

thx

[biliousfrog]

Realtemp is a fairly standard monitoring tool: http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

[CKPinson]

That temp is high- don't think you're supposed to go past 68 c. Mine is running turbo at 47ish with virus scan only running at 2.8, haven't gotten in the bios yet- have to research settings more on stock cooling- only want to get in the 3's and I'm happy- what kinda cooling you using?

[CKPinson]

Ran Prime 95 64 bit, 8 threads and at 100% Load I reached 85 C temps. No failures or errors though.

[Selwyn84]

Went down to 3,6 GhZ and 38 ° idle.

I followed this tutorial - it's in German but the screenshots help if you are using an ASUS MB.

http://www.hardwareoverclock.com/Intel_Core-i7-920_Overclocking_Anleitung-3b.htm

Cinbench - max 63° - i think i stick with 3,6 - to max 3,8

what kinda cooling you using?

I'm using a Noctua Cooler. It's huge but it is kinda loud.
http://www.noctua.at/inc/imageviewer.php?item=34&pnr=0

[Selwyn84]

Ran Prime 95 64 bit, 8 threads and at 100% Load I reached 85 C temps.

Ran Prime 95 64 Bit too and maximum 72 ° C and stable.

[CKPinson]

Yeah, I dropped turbo V and got my temps down- don't wanna get a new cooler just yet-

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