Which computer is best for Blender Cycles Rendering.

I currently own a Velocity Micro with Intel core i5-2320 CPU @3.00 GHz, GeForce GTS 450, with 8 mg ram, 1 TB . If I were to upgrade to a computer for $4,000, which one should I get so it will work best in Blender Cycles? I won’t be playing games on it. I am interested in an already built computer, not one I build myself.

I did a little research on the web. I got two quotes below, and I can’t figure which one would be better because the more expensive one only has one GB memory in the graphic card whereas the cheaper one has three GB.

Hopefully, I’m allowed to post these two price quotes here. Also, the sticky thread in this forum GPU Rendering with Cycles - Complete Guide has a link: http://www.systemagnostic.com/faqs/ that doesn’t work.
[TABLE=“width: 800”]

MILLENNIUM PRO

Details

Orientation: Standard ATX

Standard Color: Black

The ORIGIN Difference: ORIGIN PC Millennium Pro - Unrivaled Quality & Performance

Variable Mounting: Standard

Case Lighting: Remote Controlled Multi-Colored LED

Case Fans: ORIGIN High-Performance Ultra Silent Fans - Black

Motherboard: ASUS X99E-WS

System Cooling: ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 120 Sealed Liquid Cooling System for 2011 Socket

Processors: Intel XEON E5-2630 v3 Octa-Core

Power Supply: 850 Watt Corsair RM850

Power Supply Sleeved Cable Color: Black Individually Sleeved Cables

Graphic Cards: Single 3GB NVIDIA Quadro K4000

Memory: 32GB ECC Registered 2133MHz (4X8GB)

Operating System: No OS (Installation not supported by Origin PC)

Operating System Drive #1 (Primary): 500GB ORIGIN PC Approved Hard Drive

Operating System Drive #2: None

Hot Swap Bay Drive #1: None

Hot Swap Bay Drive #2: None

Hot Swap Bay Drive #3: None

Hot Swap Bay Drive #4: None

Hot Swap Bay Drive #5: None

Hard Drive Cage: 5 Bay Hot-Swap Cage

Optical Drive One: None

Audio: On Board High Definition 8-Channel Audio

Networking: Onboard Network Port

ORIGIN Maximum Protection Shipping Process: ORIGIN Wooden Crate Armor

Warranty: 1 Year Part Replacement and 45 Day Free Shipping Warranty with Lifetime Labor/24-7 Support

ORIGIN Recovery: ORIGIN Recovery USB3.0 Flash Drive

Evolve Part Upgrade Service: No Part Upgrade Service

Free ORIGIN T-shirt: ORIGIN PC G8 T-Shirt XL

Web Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer


Total:
$3,846.51

[/TABLE]

[TABLE=“width: 800”]

DESCRIPTION

GENESIS PRO X2

Details

Orientation: Standard ATX

Standard Color: Black

The ORIGIN Difference: ORIGIN PC Genesis Pro - Unrivaled Quality & Performance

Variable Mounting: Standard

Case Lighting: Remote Controlled Multi-Colored LED

Case Fans: ORIGIN High-Performance Ultra Silent Fans - Black

Motherboard: ASUS Z10PE-D8 WS

System Cooling: Dual ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 120 Sealed Liquid Cooling Systems

Processors: Dual Intel XEON E5-2630 v3 Octa-Core

Power Supply: 850 Watt Corsair RM850

Power Supply Sleeved Cable Color: Black Individually Sleeved Cables

Graphic Cards: Single 1GB NVIDIA Quadro K600

Memory: 32GB ECC Registered 2133MHz (4X8GB)

Operating System: Genuine MS Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit Edition

Operating System Drive #1 (Primary): 500GB ORIGIN PC Approved Hard Drive

Operating System Drive #2: None

Hot Swap Bay Drive #1: None

Hot Swap Bay Drive #2: None

Hot Swap Bay Drive #3: None

Hot Swap Bay Drive #4: None

Hot Swap Bay Drive #5: None

Hard Drive Cage: 5 Bay Hot-Swap Cage

Optical Drive One: None

Lower Unit: Cryogenic Cooling Support

Audio: On Board High Definition 8-Channel Audio

Networking: Onboard Network Port

ORIGIN Maximum Protection Shipping Process: ORIGIN Wooden Crate Armor

Warranty: 1 Year Part Replacement and 45 Day Free Shipping Warranty with Lifetime Labor/24-7 Support

ORIGIN Recovery: ORIGIN Recovery USB3.0 Flash Drive

Evolve Part Upgrade Service: No Part Upgrade Service

Free ORIGIN T-shirt: ORIGIN PC G8 T-Shirt XL

Web Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer


Total:
$4,435.38

[/TABLE]

The thread that ikari is talking about is the one I started because I’m doing a computer build right now. For around 4k you can build a beast instead… but that’s if you want to take on the build yourself, of course. I will post all details once I finish mine :slight_smile: Parts are a few weeks away from coming.

Well, now I’m obsessed with building it myself. A bucket list thing, I suppose. I’m not a gamer, but I do spend a lot of time with Blender. I need to read more posts here about builds for Blender use. Too many builds elsewhere are game oriented. I also need to watch more Youube videos showing how to build it. Some make it seem easy to do, others don’t. Is it okay (safe)
o use a magnetic screwdriver when building a computer?

I spent the last few days on the pcpartspicker web site. Since this will be my first computer build, I thought I’d try and get some feedback here about my build choices. That web site makes it very easy to select the parts. But I want to know if you see something wrong with my choices. I want it to handle Blender, be easy to put together, and be expandable if I can get it to work.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZTghYJ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZTghYJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($569.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($94.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($303.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($128.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Travelstar 1TB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.00 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB Video Card ($998.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 900D ATX Full Tower Case ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2838.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 22:48 EDT-0400

Hi Blanco111, nothing wrong with last system but you cant compare it with the first two systems.
These are state of the art systems with latest components.
The Quadro cards are not needed from Blender and they are very expensive.
The Titan is overpriced look for the GTX 780 6 GB or wait for the GTX 980/70 8 GB.
May you can mix it, latest hardware with ASUS X99E-WS, DDR4 RAM, Xeon 8 core and GTX 780 6 GB.
You can start with 16 GB RAM and add more later when you need it.
DDR 4 RAM is very expensive because it is brand new, may the prizes goes down in the next month.

Cheers, mib

I really appreciate you taking the time to make your suggestion. Especially since I don’t know what I’m doing.

The GTX 780 6GB was not listed on the PCpartpicker web site. I wonder why. Why is the GTX 780 6GB so difficult to find? A lot of 3GB versions, though. Doing a web search, I did find a 6 GB 780 6
GB graphic card for $800 ($200 Less than the Titan above.). Are you saying they’re comparable?
Will the GTX 990/70 8 GB cards be that much better? How much do you think they’ll cost?

There are two Xeon 8 core processors on the PCpartpicker:

Xeon E5-2630 V3 2.4 GHz $660
Xeon E5-1680 V3 3.2 GHz $1,890 (out of my price range)

Which one were you referring to?

I watched a Youtube video on the ASUS X99E-WS. I didn’t understand most of what the guy was saying, but the mobo seemed pretty state of the art to me. And he said it will work with DDR 4 RAM.

Are you saying they’re comparable?

Yes, nearly same speed, look at my benchmark thread:

Will the GTX 980/70 8 GB cards be that much better? How much do you think they’ll cost?

Not better but more memory for the same prize, less power consumption.
The GTX 780 6GB getting rare, found some on amazon.com too.

Cheers, mib