Hello,

I am Tanel. From Estonia.
I am planing to build new PC due the fact that my old PC is not so good anymore.
This is what i have at the moment:

CPU Type HexaCore Intel Core i7, 3333 MHz (25 x 133)
Motherboard Name Asus Rampage III Extreme (1 PCI, 1 PCI-E x4, 4 PCI-E x16, 6 DDR3 DIMM, Audio, Dual Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394)
Motherboard Chipset Intel Tylersburg X58, Intel Westmere
System Memory 6135 MB (DDR3-1333 DDR3 SDRAM)
DIMM1: Corsair Dominator CM3X2G1866C9D 2 GB DDR3-1333 DDR3 SDRAM (9-9-9-24 @ 666 MHz) (8-8-8-22 @ 592 MHz) (6-6-6-16 @ 444 MHz)
DIMM3: Corsair Dominator CM3X2G1866C9D 2 GB DDR3-1333 DDR3 SDRAM (9-9-9-24 @ 666 MHz) (8-8-8-22 @ 592 MHz) (6-6-6-16 @ 444 MHz)
DIMM5: Corsair Dominator CM3X2G1866C9D 2 GB DDR3-1333 DDR3 SDRAM (9-9-9-24 @ 666 MHz) (8-8-8-22 @ 592 MHz) (6-6-6-16 @ 444 MHz)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (3072 MB)
Audio Adapter Realtek ALC889 @ High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Adapter Realtek ALC889 @ Intel 82801JB ICH10 - High Definition Audio Controller

Disk Drive OCZ-VERTEX2 ATA Device (111 GB, IDE)
And Cooler Master Cosmos S PC case.
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/Cosmos_S/ [www.techpowerup.com]


And graphics card i have is Nvidia 780ti



Programs that i use:

zbrush (uses a lot of ram and cpu power)
Maya (uses a lot of ram and cpu power)
Houdini (uses a lot of ram and cpu power especially with simulations)
Substance Painter
Substance Designer
Mari (Uses a lot of ram)

and time to time i play. (World of Warcraft, World of Tanks, Hon, and some other games)

Goal is to build new PC that is good in rendering but same time i am able to play on max settings latest games.

I do not want xeon cpu-s as the base clock they got is too low.
And most Intel parts are overpriced.

Ryzen seems to be good
If you look at those motherboards
https://geizhals.eu/?cat=mbtr4&sort=p [geizhals.eu]


As i understand correctly Houdini Mantra is CPU based rendering
But regarding flip fuids and pyro will it work better if pc has more ram and more cores (example threadripper) ?

That is a bad build, don't bother building a DDR3 machine. Your next build should be DDR4. Make sure the motherboard can use up to 64Gb of DDR4. You don't have to start out with 64Gb but looking ahead it is nice to have the expansion option later on. You may want to abandon an Intel based build as well, depends upon your budget. You can get more cores using Ryzen processor for less money. Yes you want more cores, for rendering and simulation.

I just bought this machine and it works great with Houdini. 8 cores, 16 threads.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/476927/Celestrium_GXM7201I_Desktop_Computer [www.microcenter.com]

I already had a 1070GTX so I installed that card too for dual GPU rendering. I also upped the memory to 48GB and still came in under $2,000,00.

What you see above is what i have at the moment at home.

I was planing to build Threadripper system.
to x399 platform.

Here are x399 motherboars that are available:
https://geizhals.eu/?cat=mbtr4&sort=p [geizhals.eu]

and now looking at CPU named as Threadripper
http://www.amd.com/en/products/ryzen-threadripper [www.amd.com]

Was plaing to get AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ 1950X Processor
Specifications # of CPU Cores
16Cores Threads 32 version with Base Clock Speed 3.4GHz, Max Turbo Core Speed 4GHz
Total L1 Cache 1.125MB
Total L2 Cache 8MB
Total L3 Cache 32MB
Unlocked (this means i can overclock it)
CMOS 14nm
PCI Express Version
PCIe 3.0
Default TDP / TDP
180W
Max Temps
68°C

And was planing to get atleast at start 64 gb DDR 4 memory

Interesting…wasn't aware of the Threadripper.

@Cdn NewEgg the equivalent in price Intel is the i9-7900X. But it only has 10 cores( 20 threads ).

Looks like for a 64Gb rig Threadripper is the choice.

However, if I want a 128Gb rig, this seems to be a grey area as far as what the end cost will finally be.

Just doing a brief search seems to indicate that if I want 128Gb with a Threadripper rig I need to use LR_DIMM memory - which I can't seem to find listed in newegg at all ( but maybe LR is just a sub-class spec of DDR4 and I haven't searched well enough ).

I've come across other posts that indicate LR-DIMM is expensive, and that there might be latency issues.

So it seems ( until I do more searches on the matter ), that I might lose the savings on the cpu in the memory department.( for a 128Gb rig )

Assuming the comparable DDR4 for the 128Gb i9 rig would be less than the needed memory for the Threadripper 128Gb rig.

I'm not ready to put together a new rig yet, but if the memory difference is big enough, it might be worth my while to consider the 18 core i9 coming out later this year.

You don't need LR-DIMMs to get 128GB on the Threadripper platform. It's the same DDR4 setup as X99/X299… 8x16GB modules.

Where do you get this info? I thought I read that on AMD site; Perhaps it was for more than 128Gb?

Are the X99/X299 chipsets synonamous and exclusive to how much memory can be utilized?

I thought there was the added factor of whether the specific cpu can also limit how much can be utilized.

In my most recent build considerations for intel rigs, I've gone to the intel site for the cpus in question and always find the info on how much memory can be utilized for that specific chip in addition to what motherboard I may want to choose.


Edit:

Ok so I went back to AMD site and they don't actually list the upper limit.

But I did find the source for what I was thinking and I believe I misinterpreted what they said.

Seems they support 1 TB of Ram ‘only’ if you use the 128Gb of LR-DIMMS….but since I am in no way considering that much Ram..lol…

…then I really should consider a 128Gb rig around a Threadripper; on price point.

I preordered a 1950X and I am going with 128 gigs of RAM right out the gate. I remember issues with updating ram modules from a different lot. Just to be sure I contacted G.Skill and here was the reply.

Q: I am building a system with 64 Gigs of your Trident Z RGB with plans for purchasing another 64 gig Kit. Do I need to purchase then all from the same lot? OR is it fine to add it later, I want to start with a 4X16gb Kit and see how the workload goes.

A: Hello

Yes, ideally only a single kit of RAM should be used in each system. When using two separate kits, the rated specs are no longer guaranteed. Some times they may not work together at all, and other times you may need to run them at a lower speed. Neither of which we feel the user should do, especially when working on a high performance build.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

I preordered a 1950X and I am going with 128 gigs of RAM right out the gate

I think that's a good plan; That's what I am going to do.

My current rig is 2 years old.

Got it initially with 16GB with plans to get more if I got into something that could use more.

Then I discovered Houdini..and yep could use more.

So I tried ordering memory twice from newegg (Gskill). And after much time with tech support going through bios settings/updates, cmos resets, different slots/ different ram amounts, etc. None would work other than my existing memory.

Then I went back to where I got my rig from and ordered more memory of the same type (Corsair) - and still won't work.

And this wasn't about matching my existing memory - It was pulling out the old memory completely and just using the ‘new’ memory.

Also talked to both support at Gigabyte and Gskill - all confirming the type of memory I was choosing should work.

Seems like I got a ‘fluke’ of a board in terms of memory I can or cannot use.

So like you…I think my next rig is going to be what I want it to be upfront from the start.

That is generally my experience as well. We all think we will upgrade at some point but in reality there is always some hiccup that prevents that intention.

It is best to verify that the ram you have installed is indeed the same as the ram you actually purchased. I have experienced vendors selling ram at one spec yet it comes up as another when you install it into the motherboard. Try a free program like CPUID to verify ram speeds after installation. Also become familiar with your motherboard bios. Some features may not work with mis-matched ram chips, such as dual channel.

I have had good luck with Corsair ram.