# Upgrading my machine for CGI/Gaming



## hearthacker (Apr 22, 2013)

Hello,

I'm a CG artist who likes to do photoreal CGI and also like to occasionally play games. I'm planning to upgrade my motherboard, processor, RAM and graphics card. I have answered the questionnaire first and then  posted what I plan to buy. Kindly let me know if its a good buy.


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1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games are you going to run? (Stupid answers like 'gaming' or 'office work' will not work. Be exact. Which games? Which applications? Avoid the word 'et cetera.')
Ans: High end CGI Rendering. Apps include Maya, 3ds max & realtime renderer KeyShot. Games would include Battlefield 3 & 4, Crysis 3 & F1 2012.

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then mention this too.
Ans: Overall Budget is about 50K. Can extend to 60K.

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: Not in the near future.

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Windows 8

5. How much hard drive space is needed?
Ans: I already have a 500 GB hard drive along with three 1TB external drives.

6. Do you want to buy a monitor? If yes, please mention which screen size and resolution do you want. If you already have a monitor and want to reuse it, again mention the size and resolution of monitor you have.
Ans: I already have two 19" Samsung monitors with current resolution of 1600 x 900.

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy or which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: Monitor, Hard Drive.  

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: Next month.

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: I built the current system I own.

10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?
Ans: I am currently putting up in Bangalore and planning to buy it online, preferably FlipKart cos of the EMI option.

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: Kindly advise me if I need to buy a new cabinet. I currently have a "Antec" cabinet which I bought when I was in the US. Not sure if its enough for the new components in terms of size. Also, my current power supply is the OCZ 600W. Will I need more?
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I'm currently planning to buy the following components.

Intel 3.5 GHz LGA1155 Core i7 3770K Processor
ASRock Z77 Extreme 6 Motherboard
G.Skill RipjawsZ DDR3 16 GB (4 X 4 GB) PC RAM (F3-12800CL9Q-16GBZL)
ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce GTX650 2GB 2 GB GDDR5 Graphics Card

Like I said, I will be using it do CGI renders & Gaming. Should I go for it or opt for some other hardware components?

Thanks for all your help
~Nitin


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## ASHISH65 (Apr 22, 2013)

Amd FX 8350 - rs 11500

Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 - rs 6900

Sapphire 7970 3 GB - rs 27000

G.Skill RipjawsZ DDR3 16 GB - rs 8000

Cooler master hyper evo 212 - rs 2100

Corsair 400r cabinet - rs 4500

Total - rs 60,000

Good luck


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## harshilsharma63 (Apr 22, 2013)

FX 8350 is the best BFM chip for multi-threaded work. It comes very close to i7 3770k and costs half of it. ALso, good 990FX motherboard will be much cheaper than good Z77 motherboards.

FX 8350 (11500)
Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 (7000)
Asus GTX670 2GB (27000)
G.Skill RIpjawsX 8GB (4100)
Corsair 400R (4900)
CM Hyper 210 EVO (2200)

total: ~56000

> Your PSU is good.

> Optional: Samsung 840 PRO 128 GB SSD (~6500)

> Which Antec cabinet do you have?

> Nvidia card will be better IMO because of availability of CUDA.


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## shivakanth.sujit (Apr 22, 2013)

harshilsharma63 said:


> FX 8350 is the best BFM chip for multi-threaded work. It comes very close to i7 3770k and costs half of it. ALso, good 990FX motherboard will be much cheaper than good Z77 motherboards.
> 
> FX 8350 (11500)
> Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 (7000)
> ...



 Good config. if budget permits, go for an ssd.( the one suggested above ). The performance difference is well worth the money.

 @harshill What is BFM??  

Shiva


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## ASHISH65 (Apr 22, 2013)

^best for money


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## ParaXite (Apr 22, 2013)

harshilsharma63 said:


> FX 8350 is the best BFM chip for multi-threaded work. It comes very close to i7 3770k and costs half of it. ALso, good 990FX motherboard will be much cheaper than good Z77 motherboards.
> 
> FX 8350 (11500)
> Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 (7000)
> ...



Just asking out of curiosity, why did you suggest a GTX 670 over a 7970?


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## Sainatarajan (Apr 22, 2013)

Are you planning on dual monitor gaming?

Go with ASUS M5A99X R2 PRO @ 10k .


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## shivakanth.sujit (Apr 22, 2013)

harshilsharma63 said:


> FX 8350 is the best BFM chip for multi-threaded work. .





ASHISH65 said:


> ^best for money



You cant have 2 best's one after another in the same sentence.   

Shiva


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## harshilsharma63 (Apr 22, 2013)

@paraxite: I didn't suggested 670 user 7979, I suggested 670 over an ati card. Nvidia has got the best and most mature gpu computation platform; cuda; which is extensively used in softwarer such as mentioned by op.


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## ParaXite (Apr 22, 2013)

harshilsharma63 said:


> @paraxite: I didn't suggested 670 user 7979, I suggested 670 over an ati card. Nvidia has got the best and most mature gpu computation platform; cuda; which is extensively used in softwarer such as mentioned by op.



yeah thought so..thanks!


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## rajatGod512 (Apr 22, 2013)

@hearthacker , I have a i7 2600k and it is a beast in rendering and is quite fast both in After Effects and also in 3DS Max. Try and get a high amount of  VRAM on the gpu  and try to add a SSD later it helps a lot .


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## hearthacker (Apr 23, 2013)

Thankyou All for your valuable replies! 

I have a question regarding the suggestions.

As mentioned by @paraxite, Nvidia is usually the choice of GPU for CGI app & Plugin support so thats what I am looking to buy. Will the Nvidia GPU work properly with the Asus M5A99FX motherbord with the FX 8350 Processor?

Also, I did a search for ASUS GTX 670 on google and it brought me to the FlipKart page of  ZOTAC GeForce GTX 670 2GB. Is it the same one?

If yes, I'm thinking about AMD FX 8350 + ZOTAC Nvidia GTX 670 + G.Skill 16GB + Asus M5A99FX .. sound good?



@rajatGod512 - Flipkart says they have discontinued the i7 2600k, so I think the i7 3770 3.4 GHZ which is almost the same price would be a good choice.


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## vickybat (Apr 23, 2013)

*@ hearthacker*

Hello mate. 

After checking out your requirements, i can safely conclude that you do not need workstation cards for your purpose.
Now considering the applications you are going to use, i would like to start first from keyShot. KeyShot is basically a *cpu based renderer* and does not use much of gpu resources.

Tech Specs - KeyShot

Since you are using 3DS max , and may use the much acclaimed iray renderer, then getting a CUDA based card is advisable. 3ds max + iray has immense cuda support *but not keyShot*.

*i.imgur.com/M1MryYv.png

So better get an FX 8350 for your purpose and you'll benefit from multithreading here. The FX will decently fit in your budget and will let you do 
all the work the 3770k can and that too at a much lower price point. Its also a future proof gaming cpu.


Now about MAYA, its completely open-gl based and does not use any form of gpu compute. It uses open-gl api's to render. Neither cuda, nor open-cl.
It seems nvidia kepler cards perform better in MAYA than amd's GCN cards. Check below:



Spoiler



*i.imgur.com/K3mVgB3.png

*i.imgur.com/EmazHCN.png

*i.imgur.com/JMjxpqO.png

*i.imgur.com/DayQK9F.png

*i.imgur.com/Iik2F4m.png

*i.imgur.com/uqWP8NT.png

*i.imgur.com/mPgHBLc.png

*i.imgur.com/sWJNK9H.png



So as you can see in the above spoiler, all of nvidia cards are performing better than their amd counterparts.

For keyShot, you may not need a powerful gpu, but you do for maya. It will significantly speed up rendering times.

*So imo, a gtx 670 or 680 will be best for you if paired with an FX 8350 cpu.*

Feel free to ask any queries that you have mate.


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## avinandan012 (Apr 23, 2013)

@op check local street prices

most of the times local store prices are way better that flipkart.


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## hearthacker (Apr 23, 2013)

vickybat said:


> *@ hearthacker*
> 
> Hello mate.
> 
> ...



@vickybat -- WoW! Thanks a lot for that info dude! Very cool!

So, as illustrated by the spoilers, it would be better to go with a nVidia card.  So, we're sure that the nVidia GPU (GTX 670) will work fine with a ATI motherboard (Asus M5A99FX) and an ATI CPU (AMD FX 8350) ?  

Also, will the 600W PSU work for the above config? I will be buying a new Cabinet for this config.

Thanks!!~


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## Cilus (Apr 23, 2013)

600W PSU is fine and there is no compatible issues between AMD CPU and nVidia GPU.


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## hearthacker (Apr 23, 2013)

Awesome! So, I guess the final config would be ::

Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 
G.Skill RipjawsZ DDR3 16GB
GTX 670
AMD FX 8350
BiTFenix Merc Alpha Cabinet (This was the only cabinet NOT out of stock on flipkart)
Deepcool ICEEDGE 400XT Heatsink / Fan

The total comes out to be about 66K which is a bit out of the budget :/ But I think everything comes at a price and one must pay in order to get the desired hardware components


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## harshilsharma63 (Apr 23, 2013)

^ I would suggest corsair 400r as the cabinet.

^ I would suggest corsair 400r as the cabinet.


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## hearthacker (Apr 23, 2013)

@harshilsharma63 -- I guess I will have to find it locally or wait till FlipKart gets it in stock.


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## Sainatarajan (Apr 23, 2013)

Try Mdcomputers.....


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## ASHISH65 (Apr 23, 2013)

op wants emi option


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## Sainatarajan (Apr 23, 2013)

ASHISH65 said:


> op wants emi option



Then FLIPKART is the only option I think.


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## harshilsharma63 (Apr 23, 2013)

hearthacker said:


> @harshilsharma63 -- I guess I will have to find it locally or wait till FlipKart gets it in stock.


If you are sticking to FK for EMI option, you can purchase at least the cabinet from somewhere else. 400R is a great cabinet.


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## hearthacker (Apr 23, 2013)

harshilsharma63 said:


> If you are sticking to FK for EMI option, you can purchase at least the cabinet from somewhere else. 400R is a great cabinet.



Yep! I think I will order the cabinet from mdcomputer and the rest from flipkart


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## Sainatarajan (Apr 23, 2013)

Nice idea...


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## hearthacker (Apr 24, 2013)

The corsair 400R cabinet is not avilable locally or online, even on MDComputers .. Any other alternatives to that?


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## harshilsharma63 (Apr 24, 2013)

hearthacker said:


> The corsair 400R cabinet is not avilable locally or online, even on MDComputers .. Any other alternatives to that?


theitwares, primeABGB, or ask a local shop-walla to order it for your.


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## hearthacker (Apr 24, 2013)

harshilsharma63 said:


> theitwares, primeABGB, or ask a local shop-walla to order it for your.



Cool. One bad thing about being relatively new to bangalore is that I have no idea where these computer-walla shops are.. Will try and find out a suitable cabinet this weekend


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## harshilsharma63 (Apr 25, 2013)

hearthacker said:


> Cool. One bad thing about being relatively new to bangalore is that I have no idea where these computer-walla shops are.. Will try and find out a suitable cabinet this weekend


This is the situation for which this thread was created. I hope it will help you.


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## vickybat (Apr 25, 2013)

hearthacker said:


> Cool. One bad thing about being relatively new to bangalore is that I have no idea where these computer-walla shops are.. Will try and find out a suitable cabinet this weekend



Go to S.P road mate. You'll find tons of shops. Golcha computers is the one to look out. P.M our forum member *d3p*. He'll help you out.


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## gagan_kumar (Apr 25, 2013)

if u want help we are always ready at Bangalore.......


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## hearthacker (Apr 26, 2013)

gta0gagan said:


> if u want help we are always ready at Bangalore.......



Thanks a lot mate! Will surely seek you out once I'm back from my 2 week vacation.  ..



vickybat said:


> Go to S.P road mate. You'll find tons of shops. Golcha computers is the one to look out. P.M our forum member *d3p*. He'll help you out.



Thanks for the tip!!  Will go to SP road soon.!


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## hearthacker (May 26, 2013)

Alrighty!! Its time to order stuff! Got my Corsair 400R cabinet today from SP Road in Bangalore.

Heres what I have narrowed 

AMD FX 8350 
ASUS CROSSHAIR V Formula Motherboard
Asus NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 4 GB GDDR5 Graphics Card 
G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) PC RAM (F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL) 
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Cooler 

Will be using my exisiting monitors and the 300GB HDD. I have a OCZ 600 Watts PSU (will it be enough?)

Thanks~


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## harshilsharma63 (May 26, 2013)

hearthacker said:


> Alrighty!! Its time to order stuff! Got my Corsair 400R cabinet today from SP Road in Bangalore.
> 
> Heres what I have narrowed
> 
> ...


That PSU is fine.


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## hearthacker (May 26, 2013)

Awesome!

One more question ::

I'm currently opting for ASUS CROSSHAIR V Formula Motherboard, I also have the option to go for the M5A99FX PRO R2.0 or the ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX. What are the major differences between these board and will it be a big deal if I'm gaming or doing CGI rendering?


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## harshilsharma63 (May 26, 2013)

hearthacker said:


> Awesome!
> 
> One more question ::
> 
> I'm currently opting for ASUS CROSSHAIR V Formula Motherboard, I also have the option to go for the M5A99FX PRO R2.0 or the ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX. What are the major differences between these board and will it be a big deal if I'm gaming or doing CGI rendering?


When sabretooth and formulae are in the equation, m5a99FX pro automatically gets out. Crosshair has better overclocking support and mush better onboard audio and Intel LAN, but the sabertooth is like 7k cheaper! I vote for Sabertooth.


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## hearthacker (May 26, 2013)

Awesome! So i guess I will go with your recommendation of the Sabertooth! ..


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## harshilsharma63 (May 26, 2013)

hearthacker said:


> Awesome! So i guess I will go with your recommendation of the Sabertooth! ..


Whai for more replies.


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