I have a use it or lose it budget for a new PC (has to be PC not MAC unfortunately). I’d like to configure it for the best blender performance possible. I configured this on alienware/dell - thoughts?
Alienware is heavely overpriced, other companies will get you the same for far less money. Anything from Asus, Lenovo is pretty good and generally almost any other company out there will do. I would advise to steer clear of Acer - lacking in the build quality department.
Also if the OP gets the parts and builds his PC himself, it is possible to save around 100 euros more on top of that 300.
Looks okay, I wouldn’t buy it from Dell/Alienware though. You’ll severely overpay.
Anything from Asus, Lenovo is pretty good and generally almost any other company out there will do.
A computer is more than the sum of its parts. Maybe you should check out what people have to say about customer support at Dell and what they have to say about Asus/Lenovo.
Don’t make my same error, to get an OEM computer. For pre-built computer, probably only Asus is good (more upgrades available, better cooling setup, etc… ). Hp, Dell, Mac, etc… are better for dual cpu workstation (but always overpriced… ).
Normally, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a do-it-yourself gaming PC, but not everyone wants the hassle, nor has the time to learn the ins and outs of a well-balanced machine. Coming from Macs, going pre-built is likely the way to go here.
Anyway, I’d give AVADirect a try.
From what I’ve read, some rendering engines like Cycles play nice with Nvidia GPUs, so a GTX 670 would naturally be a great fit. Throw in an i7, 16GB or RAM, an SSD for the OS, and whatever HDDs you desire and you’re good to go.
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I would not buy a Overclocked card for Cycles, 500 Watt is minimum for system with GTX 770.
You cant add anything to this mainboard because of MiniATX, it is smart and small but not really a workstation board.
But if you don´t want to add something a really nice case and system.
I started building my own PCs simply because the customer support from Dell was so atrocious. I.e. send back a computer with a fried CPU, get one back with a lower end CPU and a HDD with half of the storage capacity. Demand our original parts back, get told that the HDD had problems. Start a lawsuit, get the HDD back and a new (correct) processor, only to discover that the HDD works fine and that personal documents have been accessed since it was sent in. Yeah, I’ll never buy anything from Dell ever again, and I’ll never buy anything other than a laptop pre-built for as long as I live.
If most of the parts in your computer are new lets say from 2012-2013 then windows 8 because it is a new OS and will be supported for a longer period of time. If you don’t need windows specific programs or games then go with a new distribution of Linux.