Best Bang For The Buck Rendering GPU

Hardware Build a PC
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  • Edit I was planning on 4790k. I tried to squeeze a 6-core in but there's no way.

Hey guys, so I'm building a workstation for a friend with a budget of about 1200$

I'm familiar with PC's and everything but I'm just not exactly sure what to look for when it comes to Quadro's and FirePro's and such. Is it worth it to spend some cash and get a decent one or just buy a gaming GPU.

I understand 1200$ is not much headroom but I figured I'd ask the forum.

Keep in mind this is Canadian, so godamn part prices xD

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Honestly, the best way to answer this is if you first tell us what parts you plan to use, and what his/her focus is for the pc.

Will it be gaming primarily, will it be professional work, editing, streaming, etc? Also what resolution will this be used for, 1080p, 1440p, 1600? (4k will not be viable at 1200 usd)

If you are still considering parts, answering the above questions will make things easier. Cpu/mobo may not be as important if just gaming only, as gpu will matter more, but if trying to do intensive programs, the cpu will be quite important as a baseline.

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a Sapphire R9-290X Vapor X would be a good card for open CL rendering.
But it depends a bit on the software your buddy is using for rendering, Because some applications work realy well with open CL, But others work better with Cuda Nvidia.

However, i think if you do allot of rendering, a decent cpu could make more sense.

2 Likes
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+1

Generally a more beefy CPU will help in rendering over a wider course of programs unlike GPUs.

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It will be a workstation. As I know he does 1080p mostly. I already told him 4k will not be possible for 1200$

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@Mysteryangel has a major point. Do you know the programs he uses, or plans to use?

For the pricepoint and the 4790k:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xmYbZL

Had to go 970 due to the price point, if you can budget an extra 100, the 290x suggested by misteryangel is good as well.

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Yes he uses Adobe so I was hoping Nvidia for CUDA support. And my build is similar but I can't use that because it's american. Canadian prices are a little higher so it's hard to get those parts for 1200$

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If he's using CC or higher, get AMD if you can. If you can get a 290X for $300 it'll smoke anything Nvidia can offer at that price. Some effects aren't accelerated with OpenCL, but it really doesn't matter in the real world. Make sure you get a non reference cooler though.