Building a $3000 Animation Workstation

Hello, this is my first ever build and I was wondering if I could get some opinions on the parts I have chosen. My budget is 3000$.

My main purpose is heavy use of Maya (Animation,particle/fluid effects, vra, etc..)

I also use several other 3d applications like 3DS Max and Zbrush.  I will not be gaming.  

Here is what I have come up with:

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-1650 V3 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=E51650V3BX) - 568.99

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO(http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099) -$39.99

GPU: PNY NVIDIA Quadro K4200 4GB GDDR5 PCIe Graphics Card (VCQK4200-PB) > $822. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G28N5480&cm_re=quadro_k4200-_-14-133-558-_-Product)

Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157543&AID=10657534&PID=3938566&SID=&nm_mc=AFC-C8JunctionCA&cm_mmc=AFC-C8JunctionCA-_-na-_-na-_-na&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-%zn) - $314.99

Storage: Samsung 840 Evo Series MZ-7TE250BW 250GB (http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=33990DR3660&vpn=MZ-7TE250BW&manufacture=Samsung%20Memory%20&%20Storage) ($134.98 @ DirectCanada)

Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1008102-REG/wd_wd3003fzex_3tb_sata_6gb_s_3_5.html) ($162.99 )

Memory - Samsung DDR4-2133 8GB/1Gx72 ECC/REG CL15 Server Memory (http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=D4218G4S1) - $460.99

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($114.98 @ Newegg Canada)

Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular
ATX Power Supply ($174.96 @ DirectCanada)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Canada Computers)

 

Is what I have chosen good for my price point?

No one has any advice/suggestions?

Everything looks fine except for the motherboard, With a rig for this type of work load, you need a motherboard capable of dealing with long heavy work loads.

http://www.asus.com/nz/Commercial_Servers_Workstations/X99E_WS/

Asrock does not produce the best quality motherboards for gaming, for such a build, There a bad buy.

It is about $160 more but its worth it.

Also to save some money, you can drop down to a 6GB GTX 780. But seeing as your purely workstation, you might prefer the benefits of the quadro over the performance of the 780.

Step up to a noctua nhd15 or maybe kraken x61 (I prefer the noctua because there are less failure points on an air cooler). I think that the evo is a solid cooler but not really capable of cooling a 140 watt haswell-e part over the span of a long render. Also maybe look at Intel Xeon E5-2630 V3 as it has more cores (at a lower speed yes) and is cheaper in canada. 

I was looking at that Asus motherboard as well but it does not support ECC memory.  I would like to step up from AsRock but I am not sure which Asus board to go with.  DO you have any other recommendation?

@thecaveman I'm not able to fit Xeon E5-2630 V3 into my budget even if it is better and priced well.  Thank you for your suggestion of the cooler, do you happen to know if the Noctua will fit in the define r4 with my other parts?

8 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR4 2133/1866 MHz ECC, Un-buffered, Register Memory *2

It looks like it supports it to me.

Thank you! I missed that when reading the specifications, I only read the top.  Beginner question, how will I know where to put my ram so that it is in the place that supports ECC?  Is my Samsung server ram even going to be compatible?

I can't imagine why you would want to watercool a non-overclockable Xeon (or why you would want to overclock to begin with for rendering)... a simple, not VERY loud air cooler will be more than sufficient, especially in the sound-dampened Define R4... 

I will say I prefer the Enermax ETS-T40 series over the Hyper 212 EVO... same price, easier to install... better quality components.... and no, the x61 isn't officially supported by the Define R4... it WILL fit, but it requires jury-rigging :P

The support for ECC is on the chipset, not specific slots. It should just slot into the standard ram slots on the board. Your Samsung ECC memory seems like its compatible. Ram compatibility is a lot better these days (Try early DDR3, It was a nightmare) I personally have only worked with ECC ram one one occasion and it was on a quad cpu server build so I dont know of any reason for there to be an issue with ECC on the X99 chipset, consumer board. As long as you follow the manual to make sure your placing the ram in order, (Mobo's like to use certain slots first and on X99 ram is paired into groups of 4) You should be fine.

Dont underestimate old school overclocking on a xeon though not recommended unless you really know what your doing. I would have a mid range cpu cooler, Keep it cool and quiet but not aim for a high frequency.

Well he doesn't need a $125 watercooled Xeon :P

the Enermax ETS-T40 would be a reasonable "mid-range" if not overkill solution... I put an i5 2500k up to 4.6 GHz on it at less than max 60c on Prime 95 for hours... it's solid... 

Thank you very much, I appreciate it.

the 212 EVO is fine as well.

the x61 IS supported by teh R4 - and will fit with no problem.  You can either mount it in the top of the case OR in the front bay area.  However watercooling  on your rig is a waste of time and money, especially if you are running a Xeon cpu.

Oh and make sure the case you chose has enough space for the mobo,

12 inch x 10.5 inch ( 30.5 cm x 26.7 cm ) for the x99e-ws

I was not even going to consider water cooling, like its been said, it's just not necessary.  I read that the ETS-T40 is quite large, I'm not sure it would fit the define r4 case and leave room for RAM so at this point I'm still leaning towards the 212 EVO.

the ETS-T40 is just hands down better than the 212 EVO... I stand firm on that (I've personally used both)... really... please start recommending it instead of the over-recommended as hell, cheaply put together 212 EVO.... I'm telling you, same price... absolutely better in performance, ease of install, and build quality...

the hardware is brittle, difficult to install, and quite terrible on the 212 EVO... the ETS-T40 is easy to install and nothing can break... it's got grade 8 bolts in the install kit... kudos Enermax... from a machinist! :)

same ram clearance as the 212 EVO... I HAVE ONE (well both actually)... TRUST ME :P

I also have the Define R4

you might want to look into the i7-5820K it preforms the same and is $100+ cheaper - if you get a big beefy heatsink or watercooler it will hit 4.2 to 4.5 stable  .... 

second if your running z brush you want 32gb of ram 16gb at least  you have no need for ecc, I aslo question your need for quadro youll find that maya and zbrush are both optimized for gaming cards - but maybe you have a unique need .. idk...