Best Hardware for Blender

Hello!

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?

Thanks,
rich

Alienware X51:
Alienware X51 ANDRR2 1 [210-AANM] 1

Processor:

4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4770 processor (8M Cache, up to 3.9 GHz) 7RPX5N 1 [338-BCBX] 146

Operating System:

Windows 8, 64-bit, English W8HMAE 1 [619-ACJV] 11

Memory:

16GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600Mhz 16GB2D 1 [370-AAMQ] 3

Hard Drive:

256GB SSD SATA 6Gb/s + 1TB SATA 3Gb/s (5,400RPM) 16MB Cache 256SSD 1 [400-AALL] 8

CD ROM/DVD ROM:

Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW) DVDBR 1 [429-AACU] 16

Video Card:

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 670 with 2.0GB GDDR5 GTX670 1 [490-BBFD] 6

1TB SATA 3Gb/s (5,400RPM) 16MB Cache 256SSD 1

5400 are low end HDD, even with SSD “cache”. you better get top consumer hdd for work.

But everything else looks okay?

-r

Looks okay, I wouldn’t buy it from Dell/Alienware though. You’ll severely overpay.

I’ve only ever bought Macs - Who would you recommend for PCs?
-r

Hi, this asus is about 300 € cheaper with about same hardware and you have a second PCIe slot for separate display/render card.

http://www.asus.com/Desktops/G10AC#overview

Cheers, mib

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.

THat’s a stylish machine!
On the graphic card side, I need to stick with NVIDIA for best Blender performance, correct?

-r

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.

Question on the OS - which should I choose?

Windows 7
Windows 7 Professional
Windows 8
Windows 8 Professional

So many choices :slight_smile:
-rich

is the GTX 670 currently the best?

-r

Thoughts on this?
-r

CHRONOS

Bitfenix Prodigy (White)
Exterior: Not Painted
Truly Custom PC’s. Want a component that is not on our site? Call or email us and we will include it in your system.
Blue LED
Standard Case Fans
MSI Z87I
ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 120 Sealed Liquid Cooling Systems
Overclocked Intel Core i7 4770K Quad-Core (4.0GHz-4.4GHz), 8MB Cache
500 Watt Corsair CX500
Single 2GB NVIDIA GTX 770
ORIGIN Professional Graphics Card Overclocking
16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 2133Mhz (2x8GB)
Genuine MS Windows 8 Professional 64-Bit Edition
512GB Samsung 840 Pro Series
14X Blu-ray Burner (No DVD/Blu-ray Playback Software Included)
On Board Audio
Linksys Wireless-N USB Network Adapter with Dual-Band
ORIGIN Wooden Crate Armor
3 Year Part Replacement and Free Shipping Warranty with Lifetime Labor/24-7 Support
ORIGIN Recovery USB Flash Drive
No Part Upgrade Service
ORIGIN PC T-Shirt XLarge
Razer BlackWidow Ultimate 2013
Razer Mamba

I would get more than 2Gb of vRAM

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.

Cheers, mib.

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.

Any one know which is best?

I’m not totally sure about this - - - but

I think that Windows 7 is easier if you want to duo-boot with a version of Linux. I don’t think this makes much difference in turms of Blender.

Looking through this, the Alienware ccomputer clocks in at half the price of the Asus - sso I’m not sure how the Asus is better value.

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.