To be honest I have been building computers since I was 6, Parents ran their own computer buisness so I was always learning, Keeping up to date with tech. Give me the parts, Ill have a computer built and ready to load windows (Or Ubuntu) in 30 mins. But one thing I havent had much experience in is building workstations and this time I want a workstation for myself. My current build is still better than average but I need to be able to view 70,000,000 poly's without it lagging at just 4,000,000 or having to wait 3 hours for a heightmap to render. I also game a lot along side the fact that im producing an indie game. Anyway
My current build
Windows 7 64Bit
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz
Intel DP45SG Motherboard
8GB's of DDR3 1333 Kingston Ram
GTX 560 (OC'd as far as I can get her going)
and 2 1TB HDD
As you can see my current build is about 4 years old. Still functions well. Plays BF3 at High but the cooling is terrible (Bad choice of case), The GPU gets up to 108 degrees C, The motherboard has been nothing but a pain and it was never designed as a workstation. There are 2 builds I have been looking at, Mainly 2 different motherboards/CPU's
Now I understand both are highly expencive and extreame builds but for someone with 3 1080 screens, sculpting at 70,000,000 poly's in mudbox and playing the top games, Will this get what I want? I only have experience with low to high computers so this is my first extreame build. Also first time water cooling of which I have no clue what brand for watercooler for 4 GPU's and 2 CPU's. I know all about wattage and such. Case I can sort out.
If you want a workstation, the dual xeons is the better bet. I think the 3970x is a waste IMO. Just a 3mb difference in L3 cache from a 3930k, and just 200Mhz clock speed diff. from a 3960x! Intel is really monopolizing the high-end market these days. And I don't know about that four-way SLI. Maybe you'd be better off with dual 690s, multiple-gpu configurations tend to be a head-ache, though some people get good results. What's your maximum budget? As for gaming, of course you would demolish almost any game, though you will run into trouble with games not fully optimized for multiple gpus yet. You should be fine as for the workstation part though, if you go with the dual xeons. As for the watercooling, I have no experience with those custom water coolers, so I can't say anything, but you could search in Google. There is a lot of advice out there.
And yes, this will get you what you want. Seriously, how much have you been saving? It seems like your buying a car! As per the CPU, I say dual Xeons. GPU, I think the dual 690s, if it fits in your budget, is a better option. Though you may want to do some research on them( quad 680s and dual 690s), see what people are using or prefer for workstations. And yes, you will be able to game at max settings even with 3 screens with any of the two configs. Be sure to get a powerful PSU though, gotta get some good juice flowin to your stuff. Oh, and a decent case, though I'm thinking you already have that down.
The reason I chose 4 way GTX 680's over quad 690's is down to power. With mudbox, it is highly GPU dependent and 4 way 680's are just better in processing power. I understand the problems with SLI and games but I have a 3 screen layout so having the extra power is handy. Giving me way better performance in games. Thanks guys :)
I would probably go with a 3930K for this build. Everything else looks good. You're going to need some serious radiators for water cooling though and a case that can support them. Here are some parts I would suggest:
CPU Block: XSPC Raystorm
Radiators: Alphacool NexXxos UT80
Pump or pumps: Swiftech MCP655
Reservoir: It's really your own preference, but I personally think the FrozenQ reservoirs are really cool.
GPU block: Not sure really...I'd do some research on it if I were you to see which is the best out there for your GPU. Anything from EK, Koolance, or BitsPower should work fine though.
Fittings: Monsoon Freecenter Compression fittings or BitsPower Compression fittings
Tubing: PrimoChill LRT
Coolant: distilled water or Ice Dragon coolant
Possible Cases: Case Labs TH10, Cooler Master Cosmos II, or Corsair 900D (if it ever comes out)
Ah, I see. I just remembered some youtube videos with quad-680s, and they were running pretty smoothly. As I said, remember to get a good PSU and case for good airflow, though 680s apparently run cool, especially the superclocked versions.
I have a large amount of cash comming in the near future and I live in New Zealand. I can get much of the products I need for cheap due to supplyer deals with my family buisness. Im hopeing for nothing more than $11,600 NZD but that could be tight with the Xeon build.
Link me to your new Zealand venders that you prefer and I'll post a build when I get home, man I love this phone, just disable rich text and bam TEKKEN syndicate on the go