Need help with upgrade options

Hi, I’m fairly new to blender though I’ve been in 3d a long time. I’ve been getting more into Archviz type work lately and my computer doesn’t seem up to the task anymore. I’m trying to do some full interiors in Cycles, but they’re erroring out on memory when I use my GPU and painfully slow using the CPU. Here are my specs:

AMD FX-6300 3.5 GHz CPU
20 GB Memory
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 motherboard (full sized ATX case)
Zotac GTX 750 ti GPU
Corsair 1000 watt PSU

I’m not sure if I can eek any more power out of my current setup or not. If I do, I’d like it to be an upgrade that will carry over into a future rig (like a GTX 1070 or something, though I’m worried about bottlenecking).

I could do a cheap new motherboard that supports two video cards, but that could be a waste of money and also the bottlenecking problem.

Alternatively I was looking at those crazy 32 core Xeon server workstations people are throwing together relatively cheaply and they’d support several GPU slots down the road.

Just need some help figuring out my options right now so I can keep moving forward.

Thanks!

you should be able to slap in a gtx 1070 with out any hassle.

your cpu is a bit on the slow side, so if there is an upgrade for your socket, then i think i would get that if your going budget.

the best option would be a new mobo, cpu and ram. the psu is plenty. unless you plan on cpu rendering, a 32 core thing wont do you much good. its the single threaded performance that really makes the difference.

Your Current CPU: 1407 single core rating
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+FX-6300+Six-Core

Recommended: 2351 single core rating
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-6700K+%40+4.00GHz&id=2565

for mobos, i like asus, but thats up to you. the Z and X chipsets are considered the high performance intel flavors.

Thanks Daedalus, yeah i’ve been doing some research and it seems like a new CPU on my socket is a waste of cash. I’m thinking my best bet is to go with a gtx 1070 right now and overclock my CPU to reduce some of the bottlenecking. After that the next move will be to get a new mobo and cpu like you said. Thanks for the help.

i forgot one little issue, what case do you have?

a well vented case is required for high performance, high load. full size atx doesnt really say much. most stock cases dont cut it, and “silent” cases are the bane of gpu’s.

i know someone who stuffed a HD 7870 in one of those silent cases for a lightly used presentation pc. didnt last a year… now he wont even put the side back on.

I’m using an Antec Eleven Hundred Super Mid Tower. Hopefully this is big enough. Everything I’ve got right now runs ice cold in it. It says that it’ll support up to 4 gpu’s. After I get a 1070, my next upgrade will likely be an intel CPU, mobo, memory, and 1 or 2 more 1070s. I just need something right now to give me an acceptable boost that’s not gonna be thrown away in the near future.