Best Graphic Workstation

[tvmed]

Hi All,
I am trying to buy a brand new Dell Workstation but I want to know what specifications are needed, enough & best for graphic
please.

I need workstation for graphic designer who works on Adobe CS5 collection, After Effect, Maya, Premier, 3D Max for designing the promos and animations. I have the following specifications of workstation & want to know whether is it ok for graphic or not:

Processor Two Intel® Xeon® Processors E5-2630 (Six Core, 2.3GHz, 15M, 7.2 GT/s,Turbo)
Operating System Windows 7 Professional,SP1, No Media, 64-bit, English
Productivity Software Microsoft® Office Trial, MUI
Energy Efficiency Option No Energy Star
Memory 16GB, DDR3 RDIMM Memory, 1600MHz, ECC (4 x 4GB DIMMs)
Graphics Dual NVIDIA Quadro NVS 510, 2GB, 8 MON 8 mDP
GPU Computing None
Multi Select Video Adapters Display Port to VGA Adapter
Hard Drive Configuration C1 SATA 3.5 Inch, 1-4 Hard Drives
Hard Drive RAID RAID 1
PCIe Hard Drive Controller None
Hard Drive Controller Integrated Intel Controller, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 0/1/10 (8 ports)
Boot Hard Drive 1TB, 7200 RPM 3.5" SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive
2nd Hard Drive 1TB, 7200 RPM 3.5" SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive

I am waiting for a proper solution.

BR
Fahim

 

[Jad Chaar]

Well, having 2 Xeon E5s with a weak GPU and little RAM means the PC is aimed at computing tasks, not graphic design. Would you mind building your own machine? It allows for more customization is cheaper, and has a much wider range of options. I am also more familiar with building custom workstations rather than prebuilt (Dell, HP, etc.) workstations. Would you like to build your own or stick with Dell or HP?

 

[St1ckM4n]

Those graphics cards suck, as you're using a server builder rather than workstation. You only need one six-core CPU.

 

[tvmed]

Well, having 2 Xeon E5s with a weak GPU and little RAM means the PC is aimed at computing tasks, not graphic design. Would you mind building your own machine? It allows for more customization is cheaper, and has a much wider range of options. I am also more familiar with building custom workstations rather than prebuilt (Dell, HP, etc.) workstations. Would you like to build your own or stick with Dell or HP?

Thanks for your reply. please if you could help me that In order to have good graphic design what specifications a machine should have: RAM, GPU, Processor etc? If the problem is solved by building customs ones then no need to go with DELL, HP but should have at least which specifications??? Waiting for reply ASAP.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Well, HP and Dell can suite your needs fine, but I always recommend building a machine since it is cheaper and is much more flexible. What is your budget? How many monitors will you be running? What resolutions will you be rendering your projects at? If you arent using Adobe CS6, I wouldnt recommend spending much on the PC, but on the other hand, you are also running Maya and 3DS Max. What versions of Maya and 3DS max will you be using?

 

[tvmed]

Well, HP and Dell can suite your needs fine, but I always recommend building a machine since it is cheaper and is much more flexible. What is your budget? How many monitors will you be running? What resolutions will you be rendering your projects at? If you arent using Adobe CS6, I wouldnt recommend spending much on the PC, but on the other hand, you are also running Maya and 3DS Max. What versions of Maya and 3DS max will you be using?

Thanks for the reply. Our budget is around 2000 - 2400 USD per workstation. Maximum would be 2 monitors and following resolution & softwares will be used:
LCD size more than 24inch
3d Software- 3d studio Max 2013
Render resolution- HD 1920
Adobe Master Collection 6
Adobe Design Collection 6 (illustrator-photoshop-indesign) ME
Maryam Farsi Navis
After Effect Package Plugin
Cinema 4D –vision 14

I would be waiting for your help & reply for best solution.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Ok, so you are running 2013 Max, CS6, Maya, and Cinema 4D. You are gonna need some power under the hood for those programs. The good thing is that you are only rendering at 1920x1080, which still requires powerful components, but will not need the absolute best.

I did some research and the workstations offered by HP and Dell are not impressive for their price. I really recommend you build your own, since it is cheaper, and you can get a ton more performance. With Dell and HP, all what you are paying for is the support. Would you mind if I recommend components for building your own PC? Or are you set on buying an HP or Dell?

 

[tvmed]

Ok, so you are running 2013 Max, CS6, Maya, and Cinema 4D. You are gonna need some power under the hood for those programs. The good thing is that you are only rendering at 1920x1080, which still requires powerful components, but will not need the absolute best.

I did some research and the workstations offered by HP and Dell are not impressive for their price. I really recommend you build your own, since it is cheaper, and you can get a ton more performance. With Dell and HP, all what you are paying for is the support. Would you mind if I recommend components for building your own PC? Or are you set on buying an HP or Dell?

Yes, For sure I will be very thankful if you could recommend me components for building own PC? Please let me know & waiting ASAP.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Alright. I got something together:

Some stuff is from Newegg, and some is from Amazon. This is because some parts that I think are best were sold out at one retailer:
CPU: Intel Core i7 3930K The Hyper 212 Evo cooler will allow you to reach 4.5GHz, which really helps in Photoshop CS6 performance.
Motherboard: ASUS P9X79 Pro
RAM: Kingston Hyper X. Make sure when you place this RAM kit in quad channel configuration. You can look at the motherboard manual for more information.
GPU: nVidia Quadro K2000 ($400) or the nVidia Quadro K4000 ($800).
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB This will be your primary drive.
HDD: WD Black 2TB This will be used as the scratch drive for photoshop. You can partition it into different quantities and make it into 2 drives, one for photoshop scratching (1.5TB) and the other partition for backing up files (500GB). 1000GB=1TB by the way .
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
PSU: Corsair HX750
Case: Antec P280

The grand total of the build works out really nicely. The Quadro K2000 (2GB of GDDR5 @128bit) brings you to the lower spectrum of your budget of $2000. The Quadro K4000 (better performance and 3GB GDDR5 @ 192bit) will get your budget of $2400 (higher end of your spectrum). The higher memory bandwidth will probably help in demanding applications, but if you are just creating advertisements and arent doing hardcore work, then the K2000 is more than enough . The case adds about $100 to the budget (sorry, I forgot it), but that is no big deal if you are going with the K2000. Also, you may need a DVD drive for installing software ($20).

Keep in mind, when building your own PC, don't install drivers from the disc, install them from the manufacturers site (you may have to use another PC to download them to a thumb drive). The drivers you need for your motherboard are chipset, USB3, and graphics drivers. Watch these videos on how to build a PC, they are phenomenal:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Good luck on your build. My final question is do you have peripherals (mouse, keyboard, monitors)?

 

[tvmed]

Alright. I got something together:

Some stuff is from Newegg, and some is from Amazon. This is because some parts that I think are best were sold out at one retailer:
CPU: Intel Core i7 3930K The Hyper 212 Evo cooler will allow you to reach 4.5GHz, which really helps in Photoshop CS6 performance.
Motherboard: ASUS P9X79 Pro
RAM: Kingston Hyper X. Make sure when you place this RAM kit in quad channel configuration. You can look at the motherboard manual for more information.
GPU: nVidia Quadro K2000 ($400) or the nVidia Quadro K4000 ($800).
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB This will be your primary drive.
HDD: WD Black 2TB This will be used as the scratch drive for photoshop. You can partition it into different quantities and make it into 2 drives, one for photoshop scratching (1.5TB) and the other partition for backing up files (500GB). 1000GB=1TB by the way .
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
PSU: Corsair HX750
Case: Antec P280

The grand total of the build works out really nicely. The Quadro K2000 (2GB of GDDR5 @128bit) brings you to the lower spectrum of your budget of $2000. The Quadro K4000 (better performance and 3GB GDDR5 @ 192bit) will get your budget of $2400 (higher end of your spectrum). The higher memory bandwidth will probably help in demanding applications, but if you are just creating advertisements and arent doing hardcore work, then the K2000 is more than enough . The case adds about $100 to the budget (sorry, I forgot it), but that is no big deal if you are going with the K2000. Also, you may need a DVD drive for installing software ($20).

Keep in mind, when building your own PC, don't install drivers from the disc, install them from the manufacturers site (you may have to use another PC to download them to a thumb drive). The drivers you need for your motherboard are chipset, USB3, and graphics drivers. Watch these videos on how to build a PC, they are phenomenal:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Good luck on your build. My final question is do you have peripherals (mouse, keyboard, monitors)?

Thank you so much. Yes we have the keyboard, mouse, monitors) Take care...

 

[Jad Chaar]

Thank you so much. Yes we have the keyboard, mouse, monitors) Take care...

So what did you decide on? The K2000 or K4000? Also, dont install drivers form discs (restated from before)!