building a workstation pc for a friend

[dreox]

So his budget is ~$600-$700 but he can go lower if needed. He is not looking to play any games so I don't think a GPU is needed. That said he will mostly use this for 3D modeling/rendering but I'm still not sure if he needs a GPU. He plans to use probably only 1 monitor, but I'm not sure and neither is he so I'll just update this as needed. Below is a probable build that I thought of on the fly so feel free to make suggestions. 

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qgqpxr
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qgqpxr/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($61.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial BX200 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($76.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($45.99 @ Amazon) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($18.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $554.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-20 00:30 EDT-0400

 

Note:  He also doesn't need the hyperthreading (I think, do you need it for this type of work?) and overclocking features of "K" series CPU's hence my choice. 

Note 2: I'm aware that there's no OS or peripherals, which is why the price is what it is and gave his budget some headroom.

[The Flying Sloth]

3D rendering definitely needs a GPU, that is why most rendering workstations cost a lot, because workstation GPU's like the AMD firepro or the Nvidia Quadro cards cost a lot. 3D rendering is also more RAM intensive so the higher amount of ram possible to get, the better. I would suggest taking a look at http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2844283/gpu-cpu-modeling-rendering-video.html

That link should give you some idea of what different purpose computers need.

Good luck on the build mate

[dreox]

1 minute ago, The Flying Sloth said:

3D rendering definitely needs a GPU, that is why most rendering workstations cost a lot, because workstation GPU's like the AMD firepro or the Nvidia Quadro cards cost a lot. 3D rendering is also more RAM intensive so the higher amount of ram possible to get, the better. I would suggest taking a look at http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2844283/gpu-cpu-modeling-rendering-video.html

That link should give you some idea of what different purpose computers need.

Good luck on the build mate

man I was hoping to make this a budget one. thanks for the info though mate.

[dreox]

3 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

3D rendering definitely needs a GPU, that is why most rendering workstations cost a lot, because workstation GPU's like the AMD firepro or the Nvidia Quadro cards cost a lot. 3D rendering is also more RAM intensive so the higher amount of ram possible to get, the better. I would suggest taking a look at http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2844283/gpu-cpu-modeling-rendering-video.html

That link should give you some idea of what different purpose computers need.

Good luck on the build mate

so I just did a brief skim through the thread and I just remembered that my friend is using AutoCad for architectural work. What should be the build now? The link you gave me is about a person who seems to be into game modelling. 

[The Flying Sloth]

I would suggest getting a secondhand Firepro card and if there is going to be any hardcore modelling go for 23GB RAM

[dreox]

14 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

I would suggest getting a secondhand Firepro card and if there is going to be any hardcore modelling go for 23GB RAM

I'll see what i can do. hopefully i don't have to resort to an expensive GPU.

[Moonzy]

here's a pretty decent build

Spoiler

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jmK3zy
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jmK3zy/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($72.33 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card  ($127.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $667.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-20 01:22 EDT-0400

4 core 8 thread cpu, a fairly decent gpu,

the only downside is no SSD, would get a 250gb one in the near future or if you can stretch the budget

 

edit:

managed to fit an ssd in :I

Spoiler

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yXNPyc
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yXNPyc/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.99 @ NCIX US) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.77 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card  ($127.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($58.99 @ B&H) 
Total: $708.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-20 01:26 EDT-0400

but if you want 16gb of ram

Spoiler

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Kpp2K8
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Kpp2K8/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($58.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.77 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card  ($127.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($58.99 @ B&H) 
Total: $649.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-20 01:27 EDT-0400

feel free to add an ssd but it would be overbudget

[dreox]

21 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

here's a pretty decent build

  Hide contents

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jmK3zy
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jmK3zy/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($72.33 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card  ($127.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $667.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-20 01:22 EDT-0400

4 core 8 thread cpu, a fairly decent gpu,

the only downside is no SSD, would get a 250gb one in the near future or if you can stretch the budget

 

edit:

managed to fit an ssd in :I

  Hide contents

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yXNPyc
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yXNPyc/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.99 @ NCIX US) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.77 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card  ($127.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($58.99 @ B&H) 
Total: $708.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-20 01:26 EDT-0400

but if you want 16gb of ram

  Hide contents

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Kpp2K8
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Kpp2K8/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($58.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.77 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card  ($127.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($58.99 @ B&H) 
Total: $649.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-20 01:27 EDT-0400

feel free to add an ssd but it would be overbudget

so I don't need a professional grade GPU like the one The Flying Sloth suggested?

[Moonzy]

6 minutes ago, dreox said:

so I don't need a professional grade GPU like the one The Flying Sloth suggested?

it highly depends on what you're rendering

what softwares are you using? will it benefit from CUDA or OpenGL?

[dreox]

 

14 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

it highly depends on what you're rendering

what softwares are you using? will it benefit from CUDA or OpenGL?

Well I'm not going to use this my friend is. I guess I'll just ask him tomorrow.

[Aditya0002]

1 hour ago, dreox said:

So his budget is ~$600-$700 but he can go lower if needed. He is not looking to play any games so I don't think a GPU is needed. That said he will mostly use this for 3D modeling/rendering but I'm still not sure if he needs a GPU. He plans to use probably only 1 monitor, but I'm not sure and neither is he so I'll just update this as needed. Below is a probable build that I thought of on the fly so feel free to make suggestions. 

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qgqpxr
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qgqpxr/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($61.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial BX200 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($76.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($45.99 @ Amazon) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($18.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $554.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-20 00:30 EDT-0400

 

Note:  He also doesn't need the hyperthreading (I think, do you need it for this type of work?) and overclocking features of "K" series CPU's hence my choice. 

Note 2: I'm aware that there's no OS or peripherals, which is why the price is what it is and gave his budget some headroom.

so , here are the minimum pc specs that is required mid range 3d rendering and modeling , yeah I have crossed the budget but you get more bang for the buck

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yqy4FT
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yqy4FT/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($60.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Mushkin Essentials 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Silicon Power S60 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($36.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: AMD FirePro W5100 4GB Video Card  ($323.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case  ($22.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA 400W ATX Power Supply  ($19.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $798.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-20 01:44 EDT-0400

[dreox]

1 hour ago, Aditya0002 said:

 

thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'll talk to him tomorrow and see what he thinks. get back to you later.

[The Flying Sloth]

The build suggested by Aditya is what I was getting at. if your friend can afford it go for it, if not do a 775-771 conversion and stick in an older Xeon, buld the rest around that. Good luck with the build.