Don't know if the upgrade is worth it...

[thatdudeguy]

Hey everyone, I'm in a pickle. I'm a 3D artist, and I do a lot of modelling and baking. Baking is basically taking a high poly prop (anywhere from a few hundred thousand to a few million polygons), and getting normal maps (magical textures that give the illusion that the 2000 polygon object on screen has 2 million polygons), as well as ambient occlusion maps (soft shadows around edges, corners and crevices). Now, from what I presume, normal maps as well as AO maps is just light calculation (lots of math).

 

I have the budget now to buy myself a nice cpu (thinking about either a 4690k or 4790k), and if I did decide to upgrade, I would also have to purchase a new mobo. All in all, it would roughly be a $500-700 upgrade. Now, I don't have a problem spending that kind of money, but I would need at least a 50% increase in performance to justify my purchase and not feel bad about myself before I go to bed every night. I know this is a very broad question, but in a way it's also specific. My game's run fine, and my fps is somewhat glorious. In UE4 and other engines, I have no problems or hiccups, but the fact is I don't play games all day, I make models that go in games. So I guess if anyone has any input, or some advice they could share on the matter, it would be greatly appreciated. Everything runs fine, it's just that sometimes I find I'm waiting 30-40 minutes for something to bake, that would normally take the computers at my school a minute (Xeon E5 2697 v2). Cheers

 

Also, the software I'm using to model is 3dsmax 2015 and using the render to texture tool.

 

Specs:
CPU - FX-6300 @ 4.6 GHz

GPU - GIGABYTE 280x

RAM - 16GB ADATA XPG 1866

OS - ADATA XPG SX910 256 GB
STORAGE - WD BLUE 1TB

[PlayStation 2]

If you're gonna upgrade, upgrade to an 8320E or a 5820k or higher. The performance gap won't be big enough to justify a 4690k or even a 4790k.

[Amazingasian]

Intel Xeon E3 1231V3 with a H97 motherboard is around $300 and is pretty good with your uses.

[ohJey]

Pause the video

 

https://youtu.be/Aztg0jOaI90?t=1m56s

 

This is for rendering video, but you get the idea

[Kobathor]

I've heard the i7-4790k is great for 3D modeling. It will definitely be better than your FX-6300, and draw less power, and be cooler. I don't know about a solid 50% increase, but I have no experience in modeling anyway. Just word of mouth.

If you have the money, I'd go for it.

[Br3tt96]

The Xeon would be your best option for price to performance ratio.

[airdeano]

depends on how long you want to wait versus how much to pay for it.

since it is a professional task, dallying with incremental steps makes no business

sense. the 5820k on the LGA2011-3 platform will equal or better you current

time lapse finishing.

5820k - 12 threads 3.3/3.6T to your Intel Xeon E5-2697 - 12 threads 2.7 already

experiencing.