Computer Spec's Feedback

#1

I hope that this is an appropriate request…

I am a professional visual artist in the fine arts and with the help of my son I would like to build a new computer for 3D modelling. I have been using a Mac Pro but it does not provide enough power for the work that I am trying to do.
The programs that I primarily use are: Modo, Zbrush and 3D-Coat.

Any feedback/advice on the following spec’s would be much appreciated.

Motherboard ASUS Z9PE-D8 WS
CPU (2) Intel Xeon E5 2690
GPU FirePro W8000 4GB
RAM (64GB) (2) Corsair Vengeance CMZ32GX3M4X1866C10R 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3
DVD Samsung SH-222BB SATA DVDRW Drive OEM
SSD (512GB) Samsung 830 Series 512GB SSD Retail Box
HD (2TB) (2) Western Digital WD Green 3TB WD30EZRX
PSU Silverstone Strider ST1000G Gold Evolution
CASE Corsair Obsidian 800D Case
CPU Cooler (2) Corsair Hydro Series H80
Additional Cooling Lian Li BZ-502B Intake Cooling Kit Black

Thank you in advance
Rod Taylor

#2

You could build a faster machine for less money. If your main desire is to model in 3D (the fact youve got modo and zbrush listed as your main apps) Then throwing in more and more CPUs wont help a great deal, instead you should concentrate on getting the fastest speed you can. For the most part, all those Xeon CPU cores will sit there idle. Youll likely have a better experience with a 4GHz+ 4 or 6 core chip, than with a dozen 2.9GHz cores. In short, grab a much cheaper i7 CPU.

Ditto with the gfx card, a $1500 gfx card is overkill when most of your speed bottlenecks will be CPU-bound. Im not going to suggest a specific card, but keep in mind once you hit $500, diminishing returns kick in very rapidly. Modo, zbrush and 3d coat are all perfectly happy with regular consumer gfx cards, theyre not particularly written to take any advantage of ‘workstation’ cards.

If you do the above, then youll also save significantly on a smaller case, lower wattage psu, less cooling systems etc.

#3

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