What computer to buy?

[Sci456]

Hi chaps

im looking to buy a new pc which will be used only for keyshot and solidworks, maybe inventor too. I like to create animations but due to my old computer the render time is unbearable. im currently getting 11fps using the camera.bip method.

Any tips? I have been looking on this website which lets you build a custom PC - http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/view/Pro-CAD-1000-pc/ I'm looking to spend upto

[Ruckus]

Looks like the end of post got cut off.  (It's happened to me before too)  Focus on the number of CPUs and the amount of RAM.

For a multi-threaded app like KS fast CPUs are good, but MORE CPUs is better.

If you're in the cell phone or product packaging business RAM may not be quite as important, but in the auto biz, 16GB of RAM is barely making it.  I will be specifying a minimum of 32GB for replacement machines next year.  More if I can get it.

A good graphics card is also a good thing to have, but it doesn't sound like any of your apps rely too heavily on that, so don't spend too much there.

Opinions will vary 

[Sci456]

thanks for your message, it does look like mine got cut off for some reason.

I was looking to spend upto

[DriesV]

You can't use special euro/dollar symbols on this forum.

Dries

[Sci456]

Ah! Thanks pal.

I'd be after spending 800-1000 pounds. It's really needed for creating animations

[Sci456]

What do you guys think of this?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/asus-essentio-cm6340-uk001s-desktop-pc-17392828-pdt.html

[DriesV]

What do you guys think of this?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/asus-essentio-cm6340-uk001s-desktop-pc-17392828-pdt.html

We have a very similar system -based on the same CPU- in our office. Scores around 50 fps in the KS camera bench scene (KS 3.3.33).
I think it's very good value for the money.

Dries

[Sci456]

Thank you for the feedback.

Do you think it would be OK for animations?

I currently get about 13fps but can't really picture the difference as I have nothing to compare it to.

[DriesV]

If you're being serious about animations, if it's going to be a big part of your workflow, I'd consider getting network rendering and maybe buy a pair of the machines that you mentionned.

Until December 2012 I was tied to an 11 fps (camera bench) system as well.
Since then, we have invested in additional rendering power (new workstations + network rendering). Now, we have the equivalent of +200 fps KeyShot performance. And that's with using just 2.5 machines.

Having vastly more render power DOES change the way you use KeyShot quite a bit. This has been my experience over the past 2.5 months.

Dries

[Sci456]

How long do you think something like this would take on the sort of set up posted above? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3caDa19PcA

[DriesV]

1 minute 40 seconds is a whole lot of frames to render (around 2500 to be precise).
Depending on quality and resolution it could take well more than 40 hours (1 minute per frame I consider a bare minimum for quality work).

So yeah, if that is what you want to do...I'd definetely get network rendering!

Remember that if a 50fps grade setup renders in 40 hours, a 200fps setup will get the same job done in just 10 hours.

Dries

[Sci456]

Good jesus, I had no idea they took so long!

Thanks for the feedback, may have to re-think.

[DriesV]

Good jesus, I had no idea they took so long!
...

Well that's why I've become a big fan of network rendering.

Just go buy that 3770 system for now! ...Then get network rendering and another box with the latest greatest i7 CPU half a year from now.
This is one of the great things about network rendering in my opinion: it's a very flexible solution to seriously expand render power. And it's just as intuitive to use and manage as KeyShot itself.

I also like the fact that you can set up your scene on a pretty lowly machine and then send a final render job to a much more powerful render farm.

Dries