Build Advice Build for University (3DS max, maya etc) Help needed

Hi all, I hope it is ok for me to post looking for advice on my build idea.

I am going into final Year of uni and need a powerful machine to run the programs and such that i will be using, mainly 3DS max, maya, photoshop, after effects. so lots of rendering etc.

I have a list of parts that I was thinking would make a good machine for this purpose and was hoping that someone could look at it and let me know if i am missing anything/is it all compatible for what i want it to do.

Power Supply, 500w Corsair 500CX: (is 500w enough?)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMP...1EJ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304253173&sr=8-1

Motherboard: ASUS-P8H67-M-EVO
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-P8H67-...1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1304270056&sr=1-1

Intel Sandybridge i5 2500 quad core processor: (no plans on overclocking so dont think i need the 2500k)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Sandy...8NNW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1304286593&sr=1-2

RAM is 2 of these sticks of 4GB
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/232760

Graphics Card AMD ATI FirePro V4800: (As far as i am aware this is more tailored to what i am needing it for, rather than a gaming card)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-ATI-Fir...9VUS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304255307&sr=8-1

Processor Cooling:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Cool...1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1304254065&sr=1-1

Computer Case: (Any Better Cases out there for the same/similar prices?)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-Z7-P...NYGQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1304254204&sr=8-3

1TB Hitachi internal HardDrive: (possibility of later upgrading to an SSD when i get more money)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hitachi-Hds...1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1304253970&sr=1-4

DVD/CD re/writer 24x:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Liteon-IHAS...1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1304254020&sr=1-2

So working all this out i come to around £620-£630. I dont think i am missing anything.. i have thermal paste and sata cables etc so can anyone think of something i might be missing or have any other tips they can give me?

As for a monitor i have a 19" 1080p HDTV from Samsung that i plan on using however if this cant be used can anyone point me to a nice solution?

Thanks in advance for any help i get

Decy90

 

500W is plenty.

Motherboard, can't comment.

It may be worth your while getting the K series, as a lot of rendering programs were (and probably still are, though I'm a bit out of the loop) very/entirely CPU dependent, you can clock it up for these tasks, and return it to stock for normal usage.

A little light on the memory I feel, photoshop will eat as much as you throw at it, I had 8GB before one stick died and I had to RMA two sticks which were "lost in the post" and doing large transforms certainly doesn't feel as responsive and snappy as it did.

GPU looks good for Maya, outperforms my antiquated FX4600 by about a factor of 2! And yes, an enterprise card, either a FirePro or a Quadro are the way to go for Maya, though I think 3DMax gives you the option of OpenGL or Direct3D, which would allow you to run it with a Geforce/Radon.

A cooler's a cooler for sandybridge as far as I understand it, people have been reporting 4GHz on stock.

I really like the look of BitFenix's Shinobi but again, a case is a case. I splashed out on a sexy Lian Li, 'cause that mattered to me

You can pick up 2TB drives for £15-20 more than a 1TB drive, so why wouldn't you? Equally Photoshop does well with a fast dedicated scratch drive, so if you're going to be doing a LOT of work with PS, maybe a small SSD to dedicate to that end a 16/32GB sort of thing.

Not all DVD burners are created equal, but that one doesn't look like a lemon, so should be fine.

 

Can I ask why you won't overclock? You will need maximum CPU power.

 

It might work out cheaper if you purchase that lot from scan.co.uk, sadly you don't have the 25 posts needed to get free shipping from them.

I'd agree with Asura's comment of going for a 2TB drive, you can Never, Ever have too much space.

One little question, though: Windows? Or do you already have that?

I'd say that case will do you fine, you only need things like the Shinobi or others just for looks or ridiculous cooling performance.

If you're moving around a lot, however, the Bitfenix Survivor might suit you, albeit you'd have better luck going for a modular Power Supply to go with it because of the space restraints.

 

Here is a quick one I made up



It uses the P180 mini case so it's very compact, quite and very damn quick.

For the Gfx will you be using the features of the FirePro? or is it raw open Gl performance you need?
If it just raw performance you would be much better off with something like a 786mb 460GTX

The more ram the merrier.

 

If you're going for a non-K CPU, why do you need a P67 motherboard? Go for a H series instead, save a bundle of pennies and be no worse off on the build - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...e-20-(x16)-ddr3-2133(oc)-sata-3gb-s-matx-hdcp

You may even be able to squeeze an SSD in...

 

please please get a p67 board with a k chip, its only £2 more for a k chip, and a about the same amount more for a good p67 board from scan. Just post a few more times on here, I think you need 20 posts, then you get free shipping from scan

 

Yup.

It's a very small premium and pretty much idiot proof to overclock.

On second thoughts I would change the ram to the Corsair XMS3 ram so if you ever want to add in more they wont clash with the heatsink.

 

Get a Quadro, there far better in 3DS max and a likely as autodesk dev'd for nvidia hardware. Even a decent nvidia gaming card is pretty fast in 3DS as autodesk has allowed DX acceleration.

AMD ATI FirePro are good cards, but industry is still mainly Nvidia based and therefore software runs happier most the time.

 

Hi guys, thanks for all the responses, as far as I am aware 3DS max and unreal Dev kit will make up the most of it, so a lot of OpenGL work.

Taking all your points on board I'll prob keep the p67 and get a K chip for the slight extra, and possibly switch to a Quadro card for the work. Can these cards be crossfired in the future with a Radon or Geforce? I guess I will be overclocking after all!

I think I was going with one TB for now as I have a few external hard drives all ready in the house and plan on getting an SSD card at some point too so didn't think id need more, or at least will get more when I can!

Does anyone know if my 19" series 6 Samsung 1080p TV will suit as a monitor? and I only have a basic optical mouse atm, is there any tailored towards my type of work or will this do to keep prices down?

Thanks again, great to see so many responses to a first time poster!!

 

Sorry for the double post but I really like the look of this, had never heard of scan.co.uk before but this seems like a great price including the SSD!

 

I've found nvidia quadro cards to work better with 3dsmax and autocad.

I'd also go for the k series processor incase you fancy over clocking in the future.

 

If someone was to recommend me a good Gaming card at a similar or less price to the one listed with HDMI out, what would be chosen, i'm thinking i might want to use this for gaming too.. What would be a good choice in Card? (Graphics cards aren't my strong point so apologies for the questions)

Thanks again!

 

Sorry for another double post but hopefully this one gets moderated in time to be answered..
Todays Deal of the day on scan.co.uk has the following for £515 inc. VAT:

Coolermaster CM 690 II Lite, Black, Mid Tower Case w/o PSU
600W Be Quiet BN117 Straight Power E7, 80 PLUS Bronze, 89% Eff', 120mm Fan
Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, 1155, Sdy Bridge, QuadCore, 3.3GHz, GPU 850Mhz, 6MB Cache, 95W, Retail
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4-B3, Intel P67 Express, S 1155, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 2133, SATA 6gb/s
1TB Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.9ms, NCQ
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, XMP, 1.50V
Pioneer DVR-S19LBK 24x DVD±R, 12x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, RAM x12, SATA, Black, Retail Labelflash

Surely it would suit me going for this and then just buying a Graphics card separately, or would i still be best to wait and buy the components ive originally set out?

I think the £515 of that bundle + 125 of the graphics card is £640, a bit more than my original spec'd build!

Any thoughts?