TineChris

Thank you for the replies. My current i7 950 goes to 100% on all 4 cores at render time. I was wondering if a higher end GPU would take the CPU load, but from the comments and what I have read, no. I have decided to stay with the i7 processor family to ensure compatibility with all current and future desktop applications. I did step up to the i7 3930k (6 core), over clocked to 4GHz with liquid cooling.

I am posting on behalf of both myself and my girlfriend. I am the computer guy and she is the architecture student. I like to build my own PC?s and when she started using VW 2012 on her laptop with some performance problems, I said just load it on my workstation and all your problems will be solved. Normal use is fine for her most of the time, but rendering crushes my computer as the detail gets turned up. Being that my current build is 2 years old and she says it is no better than her new laptop, save screen size; I assume that she has challenged me. Challenge accepted! I was wondering if anyone would comment on my shopping list to see if (on paper) this looks like it will better handle VW and other design software she will be using (3DS Max, RevIT, etc.): MotherBoard: ASUS P8Z77 WS Memory: 32GB DDR3 2400 (overclocked to 2800) Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz (4.0 overclock) Quad-Core Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Display: SAMSUNG Series 9 S27B970D Primary Storage: SAMSUNG 830 Series 256GB SSD (OS applications) OS: Windows 8 x64 The new display is for both of us since I do video and photo editing as a hobby. The new 27? display will be flanked on each side by a 23? wide screen asus monitors in portrait mode for tools, pallets, and reference material. Secondary storage will be an existing 128GB SSD and data storage in on a 600GB VelociRaptor. I have 2 other 7200 RPM drives for Adobe Premier scratch disks and am not sure if VW2012 uses that concept or not. I feel good about this list for my needs, but I am still hung up on the video card for 3D work. I have been doing a lot of reading and the VectorWorks KB says get a workstation card, but the forms out there say stay with desktop graphics. So can anyone comment on the GeForce GTX 6xx vs. the Quadro 4000 from a real world perspective? The GeForce card is the top of the line desktop and $250 less than the Quardo 4000 which is mid-range on the Workstation side. I have readjusted my budget 3 times picking out parts for this new build, so at this point, I just care about getting maximum performance, knowing that more expensive does not always mean better. :grin: Thanks in advance