Unreal Engine 4 from Epic Games Inc is one of the most powerful and graphically rich creation engines around today. Powering huge titles such as Epic Games Fortnite, Lionhead Studios Fable Legends, CCP Games EVE: Valkyrie as well as enabling architects to use this engine to visualise their designs in a digital space. It is no wonder Unreal Engine 4 is getting a lot of developers attention.

Having exceptional graphical capabilities combined with an intuitive user interface and fantastic capabilities for creating Virtual Reality projects compatible with today's major VR players, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. It is easy to see why Unreal Engine 4 has become one of the most popular creative engines on the planet, however hardware recommendations are hard to come by. Therefore, even if you are a new beginner learning on this platform or if you are already an experienced developer, you may be asking yourself... What is the best computing hardware to get the most out of Epic Games, Unreal Engine 4?

The first place you may check would be the system requirements page published on the Unreal Engine website. But like so many software vendors these pages only tell you the minimum hardware you should consider using to run the software. It will not tell you what the optimum configuration would be.

So, what is the optimised computer configuration for Unreal Engine 4?

Most users wanting to develop a project with the Unreal Engine are usually wanting to create something visually stunning and therefore you may think that graphics will be the most important component. This is actually not the case. In fact, your processor will have a far bigger bearing on performance within the Unreal Editor.

When choosing your processor, you must consider how single-threaded or multi-threaded your application is. This means how many tasks your application can do at once. Individual task or single threaded tasks benefit from higher clock speeds whereas multi-threaded tasks benefit more from higher core counts. Unreal Engine 4 is predominately a single threaded application and therefore benefits from processors with less cores and threads as they tend to have higher clock speeds. That said certain areas of Unreal Engine 4 such as building lighting and compiling the engine from source are very highly optimised for multi-threading and therefore benefit greatly from more cores and threads.

When selecting your processor, you should consider your particular workload. If you are working on smaller products which do not require intensive building of lighting or compiling then you should select an Intel Core i7 with lower cores and threads and a fast clock speed as this will give you the very best performance in other areas such as FPS and viewport responsiveness. This option will also save you some money compared to the higher core count processor options. If the multi core aspects of Unreal Engine 4 are your bottleneck then you are best off going for an Intel Core i9 as these processors have a nice balance of multi core functionality and maintain very good clock speeds.

The next most important component for Unreal Engine 4 is your graphics card

Unlike other professional applications Unreal Editor does not use the GPU for any compute capabilities and solely uses your graphics card for display output to your screen. With this in mind a higher end graphics card will only benefit your frames per second (FPS) in your viewport, as well as in games.

Customers therefore may wish to focus their budget more towards their processor than graphics to feel the most benefits. We would recommend an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 or higher if you wish to build projects with the traditional rasterization process. These graphics cards are also more than powerful enough to power your virtual reality projects as well.

If you wish to build your projects with the very latest and newly supported ray tracing techniques, then we recommend the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics cards to ensure compatibility for this type of workload.

We are often asked if multiple cards in an SLI configuration is worth it for Unreal Engine 4? We find that this often introduces instabilities and these risks to productivity far outweigh and potential performance gains you may have. Therefore, we recommend a single card for general workflow with Unreal Editor however, if you are developing a game and wish to include SLI support you may wish to have a SLI configuration for testing but disable the SLI when not using it.

How much System Memory (RAM) is required?

The specific amount of RAM needed is highly dependent of your specific requirements. We generally find that 32GB is sufficient for most users. 64GB should be considered for anyone working with particularly large projects or those wishing to future proof their system.

Not having enough memory in your system can dramatically reduce performance as your system will have to go through a process known as "paging out" to your systems storage drive. These drives are far slower than your RAM and as a result your performance will be reduced. Having too much memory however will not improve performance and as RAM can be relatively expensive this money could be better allocated to improving your processor or graphics card. If you already develop projects using Unreal Engine we recommend opening your projects and viewing your memory usage within Windows Task Manager to determine how much system memory you require.

What Storage Drive Configuration is Best For Unreal Engine 4?

We recommend to our customers to use what is known as a Solid State Drive for their primary storage drive. These types of storage drives are dramatically quicker than a traditional Hard Disk Drive and users will notice a massive increase to their systems responsiveness and a reduction in project and operating system load times. They tend to be more expensive per GB than traditional drives and as a result we recommend they they are used solely for your operating system, applications and active project files.

We also recommend a slower traditional Hard Disk Drive as a secondary drive for long term storage. They have much greater total storage capacities at a more reasonable price. For those wanting the very best performance available then they should consider using the latest M.2 NVMe type Solid State Drives for their Operating System a second Solid State Drive for their project files and a large capacity Hard Disk Drive for long term storage.

It is one thing being able to build a powerful workstation that gives users all the performance you could possibly need. We do this at Workstation Specialists every day, but we don’t stop there. We know how irritating a noisy system can be and our customers shouldn’t have to put up with that. To make a quiet system seems like a simple concept but it is actually more complicated than you may think. With high performance comes high energy requirements and where there is energy there is heat. Trying to displace heat away from key components without making noise is a very big technical challenge. In this article we explain all the techniques we deploy to make our solutions as quiet as possible.

Choosing the Correct Cooling Solution for the CPU.

It is a common misconception that liquid cooled solutions are always quieter than air cooled however, this isn’t the case. Liquid cooled solutions have a pump built into them that circulates the liquid to and from the CPU that unfortunately will produce some noise. The radiator itself is also actively cooled by fans moving air through it, which again will unfortunately generate some noise. Therefore, a single air fan on a CPU can in fact be a quieter solution as there are less moving parts overall.

In certain situations, however, liquid cooled solutions can in fact be quieter than an air-cooled solution thanks to the larger radiators they provide. A larger radiator is more efficient due to its increased surface area used to cool your processor. This allows fans to run at a lower speed keeping your system quieter. As a result, during development of a new workstation we test all CPU’s on different cooling solutions to find the quietest solution for that particular processor. As a general rule of thumb less power-hungry processors require less cooling and therefore air-cooled solutions are the quietest option and as you move up the range, liquid cooled solutions become the best way to keep noise and heat to a minimum.

We Only Use High Quality Fans.

Selecting the correct fans for your workstation solution is vitally important. They not only need to be reliable, they also need to be able to move enough air at a high enough pressure to be able to cool your system adequately. Achieving this whilst remaining quiet can be a challenge, but we ensure all our fans strike a nice balance across all these factors. If ultimate quietness is key to you speak to our technical consultancy team to find out the very best fans for you.

Never Underestimate the Importance of PWM Fan Control.

PWM stands for Pulse Width Modulation which sounds like a fancy high tech system and the mechanics of it maybe, but the finished result is very simple. It enables our workstations to automatically monitor temperatures and as it gets hotter it increases its fans speed to aid in cooling. As it gets cooler the opposite happens as it slows them down to keep things quiet. The end result means that your systems fans are never going faster than what is necessary to keep your system stable and as there is only the minimum physical movement in fan speed this translates as a reduction of noise. This technique is common and you may have noticed your own computer doing it in the past but optimising this setting is essential to keeping your system as cool as possible and as quiet as possible.

Reducing Dust Build up as Much as Possible.

This one may seem a bit strange. You maybe thinking how does dust make my workstation louder? Dust build up can get into radiators making it harder for air to pass through them and therefore makes them less efficient at cooling. Components such as processors and graphics cards will get hotter and cause the PWM fans to work harder to cool the system. This all means faster fans speeds are required and more noise.

If dust can be reduced as much as possible then fans speeds can be reduced making for a much quieter workstation. We achieve low dust levels in our systems but employing a few techniques. Firstly, as mentioned above an optimised PWM fan profile keeps fans running as slow as possible which simply pull in less air and therefore less dust over time.

Next, we configure our workstations to have more fans pulling air into the system than exhausting out. You may be thinking that’s strange because we want to get dust out? It may sound strange but more intakes do in fact push more dust out the of your computer due to the positive air pressure it creates. Put simply, if there is more air moving into the chassis than the air being exhausted, air will be forced out from all the small holes and gaps in the case, pushing dust away rather than sucking the dust in. As long as your intakes are well filtered then this will dramatically reduce dust build up over time.

The final thing we suggest to customers is to regularly clean your system’s dust filters. All these techniques put together not only keeps your system nice and clean. It ensures it stays as cool, stable and quiet as possible for years to come.

Sound Deadening. Does What it Says on the Tin.

It is impossible to make a 100% silent system but that doesn’t mean you have to hear all the noise it creates. We line our chassis with specially designed sound deadening material which acts as a shield by absorbing the sound before it escapes the chassis and invades its surroundings. Anything that defends my ears from irritating humming noises sounds like a good idea to me.

Reduce Moving Components.

For those who wish to have an extremely quiet workstation we are able to configure the solution to have even less moving parts and therefore create even less noise. One simple solution is to remove your noisy optical drives and change mechanical Hard Disk Drives (HDD) for a silent Solid State Drives (SSD). Depending on the rest of your configuration we are also able go one step further and use a fully passive Power Supply that does not require a fan at all. Speak to our technical consultancy team today to find out the quietest configuration for you.

Remote Teradici Workstations.

By employing all the techniques we have described above we are able to provide our customers with some of the quietest professional workstation available today and ensure they remain quiet for years to come. We achieve this by employing several techniques to achieve one common goal. Stop components from moving as much as possible, which reduces noise. But still it is impossible to make a high-powered computer workstation 100% silent.

One solution to this problem however is simple. Remove the Workstation all together! Ok maybe not fully remove it but send it far away. By employing technologies such as those made by Teradici users can have their high-powered workstations set up far away from themselves and use a small silent thin client connected via your network or internet to control your system. See our full write of this solution for more information.

Maxon Cinema4D is one of the worlds most popular 3D design software applications available, empowering designers and giving them the creative freedom to turn their visions into a reality. The flexible, user friendly, yet powerful nature of Cinema4D has attracted all sorts of users including Architectural Designers, Visual Effects Professionals, Broadcasters or Games Developers. However, without the right computing hardware foundations users will not be able to get the most from Cinema4D and will find that they are working either inefficiently or can’t work at all. This is incredibly frustrating for professionals so here at Workstation Specialists we strive to not only get professionals running smoothly but have the very best performance tailored to their particular workflow.

When considering Cinema4D from a hardware perspective it is important to take note of a few factors and think about how you are planning to use the software. Cinema4D is a feature rich application which can make it a difficult and daunting task selecting the best hardware to get the most out of each of these features. By following this guide you can direct your budget towards the areas that are going to benefit you most by reducing your bottlenecks and finding your perfect solution for MAXON Cinema4D.

Which Processor is best for MAXON Cinema4D?

When considering processor choice there are a quite a few different options on the market. Intel have two main ranges to consider, their Xeon and Core i series processors. Traditionally Intel Xeon has been targeted at the Workstation market as they were considered more reliable however, today the Intel Core i based processor are so close in reliability that they are a perfectly acceptable choice for a Workstation. What separates the two products today is that Intel Xeon may have more Cores and has the ability to build a solution with multiple CPUs. Whilst Intel Core i products generally have a higher clockspeed and are therefore faster at single threaded tasks.

Maxon Cinema4D is first and foremost a 3D modelling application and as this is a single threaded task then an Intel Core i7 or Core i9 processor with a high clockspeed such as those in our WS-X Frequency Enhanced Series workstations are ideal. If, however you are planning on performing many CPU based renders then dual Intel Xeon processors are more suited to these kinds of task as they are more multi threaded in nature. Our WS-E Enterprise Grade Tower workstations suit this requirement very well for an all in one solution. Alternatively, you could offload your CPU rendering tasks to a separate, dedicated networked render node. This is advantageous as you can tailor a system perfect for modelling workflows and offload the rendering tasks to another tailored solution for the rendering tasks therefore, no sacrifices need to be made to performance across your entire workflow.

AMD are now also making huge splashes in the Workstation pool with there Ryzen based processors. At the time of writing they have their Ryzen 7 and Ryzen Threadripper processors which are largely single threaded and therefore comparable to the Intel Core i7 and Intel Core i9 ranges respectively. They also have an Enterprise grade multi CPU option in the AMD Epyc range which takes on the Intel Xeon product range.

Similarly to when you are choosing a Intel processor you should select your AMD processor depending on the amount of modelling and CPU rendering you perform. If you have a predominantly modelling workflow you should select a lower core count and high clock speed processor, or for workflows containing more CPU rendering a high core count and lower frequency processor is ideal. Here at Workstation Specialists we often suggest either an Intel Core i9 or AMD Threadripper based systems as these processors offer a good balance capable of performing both tasks well.

NVIDIA GeForce Vs NVIDIA Quadro Vs AMD Radeon Pro WX Graphics for Maxon Cinema4D?

NVIDIA GeForce cards are always appealing due to the high-performance levels you get for your money. This does come however at a slight risk as they are not rated for long term intensive use and are not ISV certified with optimised drivers ensuring fully supported compatibility with MAXON Cinema4D.

NVIDIA Quadro and the AMD Radeon Pro WX range on the other hand are rated for rigours long term use and both have ISV certifications. For your primary graphics cards powering your modelling view ports then we would recommend one of these solutions even though the cost is higher than the NVIDIA GeForce alternative.

Is Multi-GPU Needed for MAXON Cinema4D?

If you are simply using Cinema4D to only perform modelling and CPU rendering tasks then a single Graphics Card will be perfect for you. If, however you are planning to take advantage of GPU rendering capable tools such as the now in-built AMD ProRender utility or an external plug in such as Chaos Group's VrayRT, then you will greatly benefit from multi GPU solutions.

In this case we do recommend NVIDIA GeForce cards for rendering task as the high-performance levels for relatively low cost suits this purpose well. Typically, we find the more cards the better as well as more cards will usually outperform a single high-end card. Therefore you will benefit by spreading your budget across many lower end cards cards, rather than a single high-end card but bear in mind this may limit upgrade options in the future.

We have many multi-GPU options here at Workstation Specialists from Frequency Enhanced Solutions to Enterprise Grade Xeon Workstations. Simply look for the model numbers ending in “G” for multi-GPU options. If you require even more GPU rendering performance consider our rackmount GPU server options for networked GPU rendering.

How Much System Memory Do I Need for Maxon Cinema4D?

Getting the right balance of memory is vital when configuring your system. Too little and this will seriously affect system performance however, having too much will give you no performance gains at all. Because memory pricing is relatively high, having too much memory could affect your budget stopping you from being able to afford an upgrade to your processor or graphics card.

We have found that Maxon Cinema4D doesn’t require huge quantities of system memory and that a lot of users would be fine with 16GB, although as a Workstation is a long-term investment and with software demands growing each year, we recommend 32GB to offer you future proofing. If you are working on exceptionally large projects or simply have the budget you may consider 64GB to guarantee your system will have no issues for years to come.

What Hard Drives Should You Get for a Maxon Cinema4D System?

For a modern-day computer workstation, users should get a M.2 NVMe Solid State Drive (SSD) as their primary hard drive to house their operating system and applications. This revolution in data storage technology has made traditional Hard Disk Drives (HDD) and the SATA protocol obsolete in terms of performance. Users will notice a massive improvement in the responsiveness of their system as well as better OS boot and application launch times. Users may consider a 2nd NVMe based drive as a scratch disk for working on there projects to further increase performance however, improvements over simply using the primary drive will be fairly negligible.

You may also wish to install a traditional Hard Disk Drive (HDD) for longer term storage of files as the price per GB of storage is much cheaper. Also, the capacities available in HDD format are much greater although you may consider this to be unnecessary if you are using networked storage back to a central server in your office or the cloud.

Want to Discover The Perfect MAXON Cinema4D Workstation For You?

If you are interested in discovering the very best computer workstation for your workflow within Cinema4D and under your budget contact our hardware specialists today. Alternatively check out our recommended solutions below.

Agisoft PhotoScan has many stages from 'Build Dense Cloud' to 'Build Textures', all of which require slightly different computer hardware to optimise the task. With that in mind it can be difficult to know what the optimum computer workstation configuration is.

Agisoft have stated their hardware requirements on their website and although this will get you going, they are aimed at the more entry level users and will not offer a higher performing and optimised experience. When running computing operations that may take several days or weeks to complete, optimisations are essential to any business.

Which Processor is the best choice for Agisoft PhotoScan?

When considering the right processor for a particular software there are generally 2 key factors to take into consideration, the frequency and the number of Cores / Threads that processor has. Applications are usually programmed in such a way that they favour one over the other however, in the case of Agisoft PhotoScan, different stages benefit from both these qualities so it is important to choose a well-rounded processor capable of both.

With this in mind the very best option to users would be a professionally overclocked Intel Core i9 processor, as this delivers a high clock speed in excess of over 4.00GHz with up to 18 Cores and 36 Threads at the time of writing. This combination means that no matter whether you are running a single threaded, frequency intensive task or a highly parallel, multi core focused task, your system will perform competently.

Alternatively you could look at an Intel Dual Xeon processor system configured with Gold 6136 CPU’s which has a larger Core count of 24 Cores and 48 Threads than the Intel Core i9 option. Whilst in some aspects of Agisoft these Xeon processors are quicker, due to the lower clock speeds of the Xeon processors, our tests have shown the Core i9 to be slightly faster and more cost effective overall.

Which Graphics cards should be used for Agisoft PhotoScan?

Whilst most aspects of PhotoScan will not benefit from your graphics cards (GPU), the “Build Dense Cloud” stage is GPU accelerated and is also the most intensive stage to the applications photogrammetric processes. With this in mind we recommend a system such as our WS-X1181G that is capable of running up to 4x GPU’s to dramatically reduce the overall processing times of your project.

When considering which graphics cards to select we advise the NVIDIA GeForce range for Agisoft PhotoScan. There is no specific reason why within PhotoScan NVIDIA Quadro cards are needed as there is no ISV certifications for either card and our tests have shown any driver optimisations NVIDIA Quadro may have do not overcome the cost saving that NVIDIA GeForce cards provide. Please however consider any other professional applications you may be running as well as these software packages may require NVIDIA Quadro graphics.

We have seen that Agisoft PhotoScan is very good at scaling on the GeForce platform and therefore it is beneficial to have multiple lower end cheaper cards working together in a system, than one very expensive GPU. For example at the time of writing 3x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 will cost in the region of £780ex.vat. This is similar to 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti, however the 3 lower end cards combined will far outperform a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti.

How much RAM do I need for Agisoft PhotoScan?

Getting the correct amount of System Memory (RAM) is vital when configuring your system for Agisoft Photoscan. Having too little can cause a major bottleneck in your system and dramatically increase your project completion times. On the other hand having too much will offer no performance gains and when considering the high costs of RAM at this time, your budget can soon get swallowed up when it could be better used increasing your CPU or GPU performance.

Agisoft have provided some very good resources online to calculate the amount of RAM you will require, which largely depend on the scale of your projects and the quality of the output you require. We typically find that 64GB is sufficient for most users and this can be comfortably provided by our WS-X frequency enhanced range of workstations however, if you plan on working on much larger scale projects with higher resolution images then consider our WS-E Intel Dual Xeon range of systems that are able to take much more RAM.

• Check out this document from Agisoft to help calculate your RAM requirements.
• Alternatively contact our consultancy team for assistance.

Data Storage Configuration for Agisoft PhotoScan?

In recent times pricing of flash based Solid State Drives (SSD) have come down to the point we recommend that all professionals select this option for their primary drive. Users should have their Operating System and Applications installed on this drive to give optimum performance. When comparing traditional Hard Disk Drives (HDD) to M.2 NVMe SSD’s they are worlds apart. By using an SSD you will notice your Operating System will be far more responsive, applications will load far quicker and overall you will find your user experience will be greatly improved.

That being said we do recommend a 2nd traditional HDD as well. The lower price per GB of storage these larger capacity drives provide make them very good options for long term data storage. Users may also wish to opt for an additional SSD to hold your active projects files such as your images, which will offer the same performance gains seen on your primary SSD, without cluttering your primary drive with active project files.

Conclusion

As Agisoft PhotoScan has so many stages to consider, for example some stages are CPU only whilst others are GPU accelerated it is difficult to determine the very best workstation for this program. In an ideal world you would perform different stages on different hardware solutions however this is not practical. With this in mind you should look for the most well rounded workstation solution available with multi-core capability, fast clock speed and multi-GPU compute capabilities.

From our current line-up of Workstation solutions we would suggest one of our WS-X Frequency Enhanced workstations featuring an Intel Core i9 processor & multiple NVIDIA GeForce Graphics cards whilst working on projects requiring under 128GB of RAM. If you require above 128GB of RAM then you should consider one of our WS-E Enterprise Grade Intel Dual Xeon based systems. If you would like to speak with one of our consultancy team to find out the perfect solution to fit your needs and budget please call +44 (0) 1332 280 380 or fill out the form below.

Recommended Computer Workstation for Redshift

So you are interested in finding the Holy Grail that is a workstation solution with the capabilities of producing stunning photorealistic GPU renders that don’t take an age to process. Don’t worry you are not alone and in this article I will be running you through all the hardware required to achieve this within Redshift.

To perform GPU rendering effectively you of course are going to need plenty GPU power but we aren’t going to start there. To achieve this you need a well-rounded, optimised solution that is capable of supporting a multi-GPU configuration. With this in mind let’s explore the options to find the perfect solution for you.

Processors for Redshift

When selecting a processor for your application usually the two key factors to consider are frequency and the amount of cores the processor has. In the case of Redshift there is also a 3rd. The amount of PCIe lanes the processor can support. This will directly affect the amount of Graphics cards you will be able to put in a system and the more graphics cards you can populate the higher GPU rendering performance you can achieve.

With this in mind an Intel Dual Xeon solution such as those in our WS-E2280G is a solid choice, as the 2 processors working together generally provide plenty of expandability to support at least 4 graphics cards. Beyond this your limitation becomes physical room in a tower chassis.

Another option is to use an Intel Core i9 however you must be careful as this solution as standard does not have the capabilities to support more than 2x graphics cards at full speed. However when combined with the right kind of motherboard such as an Asus WS X299 SAGE which contains additional technology, this can be stretched to support 4x graphics cards at full speed. This technique is well tried and tested and is exactly how we achieve such high GPU performance from our WS-X1181G workstation.

Redshift will not make use of many CPU cores in the rendering process and therefore the other key consideration should be a high clock speed (frequency). This will ensure that the system is very responsive with low loading times and snappy view ports. Additionally we have found via extensive testing that CPU clock speed has a direct effect on GPU performance. Therefore we advise you select a Xeon processor with a high clock speed such as the Intel Xeon Gold 6134 or an Intel Core i9 professionally overclocked from our frequency enhanced range.

How Much Power Does It Consume?

This will vary dramatically depending on the final specification you decide on. When considering the key items that will consume the power a single processor can run at up to 165W (core i9) or 205W (Xeon) and high performing graphics card can draw up to 250w each. This means a high power workstation with 4x GPUs could require at least a 1.5KW power supply leaving some headroom. Check the manufacturer tech specs of your components carefully to calculate the total power needed then select a power supply with a greater capacity to ensure your systems runs stably. Alternatively contact our consultancy team who can guide you through configuration that suits your needs.

Which Graphics Cards Are Best For Redshift?

Once you have a system configuration in mind with good foundations you can now consider GPU configuration to get the most out of your applications and budget. Redshift is only compatible with NVIDIA CUDA so sorry AMD fans this will not work for you (Check out AMD ProRender for a fantastic alternative).

As a general rule of thumb more graphics cards are better performing than a single higher end card and whilst GPU rendering. However, be careful that your scenes do not exceed the VRam (graphical memory) available on a single card else your renders unfortunately will not run. At the time of writing Redshift state 2GB VRAM is a minimum and 8GB or higher is recommended.

NVIDIA Quadro Or NVIDIA Geforce Graphics for Redshift?

Both these solutions will work just fine for Redshift. If this is your primary software being used on the system then we would recommend NVIDIA Geforce cards as you will receive higher performance for your money. If you are likely to be using other professional applications such as Autodesk 3D Studio Max OR Maya then Quadro is defiantly recommended for performance and stability.

Alternatively you could opt for a mixed configuration using the NVIDIA Quadro for the Display out and configuring your NVIDIA Geforce cards to do the compute side of GPU Rendering. Contact our consultancy team for more details.

How much System Memory Is Needed For Redshift?

The amount of RAM needed will vary from user to user depending on your project sizes. Not having enough will seriously impact on system performance however having far more than necessary will impact on your budget whilst not giving any performance gains. We generally recommend 32GB is correct for most Redshift users and should offer plenty of capacity to render even very complex scenes. You should also consider that other software applications you may be running require more memory. If this is the case rest assured our systems are capable of supporting enough memory to meet your needs.

Which Storage Drive Should You Get?

The highest performance drives available today are NVMe based Solid State Drives (SSDs) and these are generally all we recommend for primary drives. They are now very cost effective with high enough capacities for your Operating System and Applications. This ensures your system boots as quickly as possible, is as responsive as possible and your loading times are minimal.

You may choose to install a mechanical Hard Disk Drive (HDD) alongside the SSD as a longer term storage drive. Whilst much slower than a SSD they do provide users with much higher storage capacities at a lower price.

Recommended Workstation Specialists Solutions for Redshift

Here at Workstation Specialists we have developed 2x tower workstations specifically optimised and configured for GPU rendering workflows in applications such as Redshift guaranteeing you maximum performance for your budget. The WS-E2280G is an Intel Dual Xeon based workstation and the WS-X1180G workstation is an Intel Core i9 frequency enhanced workstation; both of which are capable of fitting 4x high performance graphics cards.

These solutions have been developed specifically to cope with the stresses that GPU rendering workflows put upon a solution, such as the high power requirements and having sufficient airflow to expel all excess heat from the system. Alternatively you may consider a networked GPU rendering approach, taking the strain away from your local workstation and outsourcing that to a remote dedicated GPU render farm. See our rackmount GPU-server options for more details.

We are now firmly in the age of greater computing intelligence, revolutionising industries and making things possible previously only imagined in Science Fiction. Automotive industries developing driverless cars, defence departments producing more complex drone technology, medical industries making breakthroughs in personalised care and tech giants developing Personal Assistants helping us with our daily lives. We truly are seeing an impressive and exciting time with new revolutionary products and services hitting the market all the time and it is all thanks to the dramatic increase in GPU performance of the last 5-10 years.

At the heart of these new technologies and to break it down to its simplest level a huge amount of data needs to be processed. Moving processing tasks for workflows away from the traditional CPU over to a GPU has made this possible. A server fitted with a single Tesla GPU is capable of delivering up to 40x higher inference throughput than a single-socket CPU-only server and we can now fit up to 10 GPUs in a single server. If you cluster multiple servers together then it seems the sky is the limit of computing power these days which is good news as deep learning developers are wanting to develop more complex services.

At the time of writing the NVIDIA® Telsa® V100 is the most powerful and advanced GPU in the world and at the forefront of these technical innovations. Based on the cutting edge Volta architecture the NVIDIA® Tesla® V100 can produce up to as much output as 100 CPUs.

Check Out How This Fantastic Technology Is Having A Real World Impact Today

NVIDIA Tesla V100 Document Downloads

3 Reasons To Deploy

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NVIDIA Tesla V100 Datasheet

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Workstation Specialists Systems Compatible With The NVIDIA Tesla V100

The HPC-R2220-U2-G8 server solution is a super-computing module designed and optimized for NVIDIA Tesla computing accelerators: V100, P100, P40, K80, M40. This 2U rack offers the ability to receive up to 8 double-slot GPU cards when the rest of the market offers 2U racks supporting up to 6 cards at best in a 2U format.

• High Performance Compute System
• Dual Intel Xeon E5 2600v4
• 8x Professional NVIDIA or AMD Graphics
• 32GB-1536GB DDR4 ECC Reg. Memory
• 2U Rackmount


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With more and more hardware options becoming available these days it can be a daunting task sieving through reviews and benchmarks to know exactly what you should be investing your hard earned money on to get the most out of your software. This is where our Recommended Computer Workstation series of posts are designed to break this down for you. In this post we are focusing on Autodesk’s very popular Architectural application Revit.

When deciding which Workstation is right for you the first factors to consider are how intensive are the models you design, whether you need to create photorealistic renders of these models, the form factor you require (i.e. desktop tower or mobile solution) and of course the budget you are working within. So let’s delve right in to the questions you need answering.

Which Processor is best for Autodesk Revit?

There has always been a lot of processor options available to Workstation user from the Intel Core i5, Core i7 & now the Core i9 range right through to the Enterprise Xeon and Dual Xeon option. To further complicate matters AMD have now made a big splash in the processor pool introducing their very competitive Ryzen, Ryzen Threadripper & AMD Epyc processors. So let’s have a look at what Revit benefits from to determine the perfect processor choice for you.

Revit traditionally has been a more single threaded application meaning a high frequency would be ideal but with each update the program is taking advantage of multiple cores and threads more and more. Vector printing, Autodesk Raytracer, Loading elements into memory and colour fill calculations are just a few of the types of processes that Revit performs across many cores. With this in mind we would suggest a processor that has a nice balance between cores and threads and frequency for your modelling tasks.

The Intel Core i7, Core i9 and AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors all fit this bracket well. When choosing between the Intel offering we would suggest considering your available budget. An Intel Core i7 8700K (6 Cores, 12 Threads) is in the region of £320 and the Core i9 7900X (10 Cores, 20 Threads) is in the region of £900 at the time of writing. So should you consider the AMD Ryzen Threadripper? It has 16 Cores, 32 Threads and is roughly £920 which looks very attractive compared to the Intel Core i9 but due to a lower frequency it is likely to be slightly slower than the Core i7 and Core i9 at modelling but faster at multi core processes such as rendering. Depending on the focus of your workflow this could be a very good option.

Which Graphics Card is best for Autodesk Revit?

As Autodesk Revit is a highly advanced piece of software and is often critical to businesses we would only recommend an ISV (Independent Software Vender) certified graphics card. AMD and NVIDIA both work closely with Autodesk to have their Radeon Pro WX and Quadro range of graphics cardsrespectively fully tested and optimised to work exceptionally well in the Revit environment. Selecting a mid-range card from either of these ranges such as an NVIDIA Quadro P2000, NVIDIA Quadro P4000, AMD Radeon Pro WX5100 or AMD Radeon Pro WX7100 should put you in good stead for most Autodesk users.

However for those who wish to take advantage of GPU rendering technology made available via third party rendering plugins such as Chaos Group’s VRay RT, then some more powerful multi GPU performance would be required. Check out our "Is It Time To Invest In GPU Rendering?" post for more information.

Other Key Components to Consider

To round off your new system to have a well-balanced configuration for a Workstation for Autodesk Revit you should consider the System Memory capacity and Storage Drives. We would recommend 16GB system memory for light users, 32GB for average users and 64GB for heavy users. Ideally you want to have enough memory so that it doesn’t fill up and page out to your hard drive as this will dramatically slow performance however, having too much can become costly and you will not see any performance benefits. Try monitoring your system resources on your existing system via utilities such as Task Manager whilst using your models on Revit to gauge a sufficient amounts of memory for you.

With regards to your Storage drives we would recommend two separate drives. Firstly a modern NVMe Solid State Drive which offers the very best performance available today for your Operating System and applications. This ensures your system in very responsive and loading times are kept to a minimum. We would also recommend a larger cost effective standard Hard Disk Drive for the storage of your data and files.

Want a Mobile Workstation For Autodesk Revit?

If you’d like the flexibility to work on your models whilst on the move then here at Workstation Specialists we have a range of Mobile Workstations to suit your needs. These options offer the same ISV certified NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics technology mentioned above, high performing Intel Core i7 processors, up to 32GB system memory and NVMe Solid State Drives with room to spare for a Hard Disk Drive for your data storage.

Professionals who render images whether they work within the VFX Industry, 3D CAD Design or Architectural Design are all well aware of the frustrations and costs lengthy render times can cause. Solving this issue with a dedicated render farm often is viewed as a daunting, highly technical and complex task.

This doesn’t need to be the case, read on to find out seven reasons dedicated Rendering Solutions such as those sold here at Workstation Specialists can slash rendering times and give companies the ability to complete more projects quicker, all whilst saving you money.

1) Increase Rendering Performance

This one may sound obvious but the more processing power you can throw at a rendering task to quicker that task can be completed. The details of this however are a little more complicated. CPU rendering is usually performed by splitting an image into sections and one section is calculated by a single CPU thread. Each of these sections can be calculated simultaneously and therefore the more threads you have the better.

Most people’s workstations have a single CPU containing within the region of 8 to 20 threads. Our dedicated render nodes are based on Intel Dual Xeon Processor technology meaning 2 processors designed to have many Cores and Threads specifically for these types of workflows. For example a single render node at the time of writing can be fitted with up to 88 threads which is significantly higher than your average design workstation.

2) Scalability

The concept of a farm means that many machines can be pulled together to work on a specific tasks. The age old adage that "many hands make light work" is just as true for computers as it is for people. With a networked render farm many systems can be configured via simple render managment utilities on your workstation to split the task between them. Therefore with the same concept of more Cores and Threads increase performance. Combining many systems together now makes the sky the limit in terms of rendering power.

3) Keep Working Whilst You Render

One of the key frustrations people face when performing local renders, is that whilst a render job is in operation your workstation is working so hard, performance on other tasks drops to the point it makes the system unusable. This often means that your design application simply will not function leaving you with only one option. Make a cup of tea and wait.

With a networked render farm your workstation is left free of the rendering responsibility therefore unaffected, keeping you working and not waiting. Alternatively if you need that render as quickly as possible simply allocate your workstation the rendering job also and further increase you’re rendering output.

4) Optimise Your Modelling Workstations

If your workstation is no longer required for the rendering process then it can be optimised for the other aspects of your workflow which is usually 3D Design and Modelling. Unlike rendering this is a highly single threaded task and therefore the multi core systems that are good for rendering are not as good at modelling.

A Frequency Optimised workstation such as our WS-X range offers professionals the very best 3D Design and Modelling experience available today. With each core and thread optimised and professionally overclocked by our team of expert engineers to between 4-5GHz. This offers significantly better performance than your average workstation of around 2.6GHz-3.4GHz.

5) Smart Allocation of Rendering Resources

With a dedicated render farm on your network, resources will no longer have to go to waste. If you are part of a team that perform rendering tasks on local machines, then the processing power locked up in the other machines around your office are going un-utilised.

6) Remote Management

Although render nodes in a render farm are largely independent and once configured there is no need to interact with them directly. On occasion if you need to restart a node or change a setting the Workstation Specialists Render Node Range comes with hardware based remote management (IMPI) technology built directly in to the systems themselves.

7) Reliability

Reliability of your render nodes is of paramount importance. Without them you may miss deadlines or be unable to accept future projects costing your company money.

Our Enterprise grade Intel Dual Xeon render nodes are designed just for that. They are designed to run at 100% capacity 24/7 365 days a year which non specialised systems are simply not designed to do. In the unfortunate event a node does fail then our 3 Years full parts and Labour warranty has you covered, getting you back up and running as soon as possible.

The other advantage of a networks render farm is that due to it's multi node nature. If one machine fails then the farm still carries on rendering. It may lose some performance for a short time whilst that node is being fixed but the other nodes keep your business running and earning.

Conclusion

There are many benefits to dedicated networked Intel Dual Xeon based render farm such as increased performance, more efficient workflows, higher reliability and this is not to mention to reduction in users frustrations. If you are concerned that these are just for the big production houses then take a look the Workstation Specialists Deskside render node. These systems offer the same benefits as a traditional rack render node without the need for racks, air-con units or server rooms. Still not convinced that network rendering is right for? Why not try out our Render Node ROI Calculator below to find out how much time and money you could save.

Autodesk’s highly advanced 3DS Max visualization design software complexity offers a conundrum when choosing the best workstation configuration for this software. With its demanding 3D modelling functionality and need to output renders means the user requires both a highly fast GHz performance and many cores. Also with all the novel technologies coming up the ranks each day, it is tough to choose the perfect combination of components, such as: what capacity of ram do I need? Pro vs Consumer graphics cards? What type and how much storage will be sufficient for my 3D workstation?

So with all these complexities what is the very best workstation configuration for Autodesk 3DS Max?

CPU Cores Vs GHz

This is probably the hardest aspect to choose from when configuring your hardware for 3DS Max. In each of the CPUs, the frequency affects the number of operations a CPU core can complete in a second. This is something that modelling workflows rely heavily upon, therefore a higher clock speed is essential. On the other hand, the number of cores determines how many parallel computations can be completed at the same time. This is something that rendering workflows are massively accelerated by, however the tradeoff is usually with more cores means slower frequency and therefore lower modelling capabilities.

This produces a conundrum, how do I have good rendering capabilities whilst maintaining decent modelling capabilities? To resolve several issues, it can be achieved with a single machine and we recommended that you opt for professionally overclocked system with an Intel Core i9 processor. This gives the user as many as 18 Cores and 36 Threads with an optimized frequency which is fantastic for both modelling and rendering. Alternatively you could choose a high frequency Intel Dual Xeon Workstation with more Cores and Threads that will be better at rendering but will fall shortly behind the Professionally Overclocked system for modelling performance.

The ideal solution however is to opt for a multi system approach. Choosing a low core count WS-X professionally overclocked system for your modelling tasks and a separate, dedicated rackmount or deskside rendering solution means you no longer have to choose between the two processes. Model on your workstation and simply submit the rendering job over your network for incredibly quick results. With this solution you can easily add additional render nodes in the future to further increase your rendering performance in a cost-effective manner.

System Memory/ RAM

It is very important whenever someone needs to build or buy a custom 3D workstation to get the RAM configuration correct. The amount of RAM you have directly affects your system’s performance either positively or negatively. However, all this depends on the size and complexity of the 3D scenes you are working with.

In some instances, the data sets require an enormous amount of system memory. If you do not have enough then the system will use the much slower mass storage (Hard Drive or SSD Drive) to compensate, which dramatically reduces performance. Thus, in such cases, a system with higher capacity RAM can deliver proven results with maximum benefits. Therefore on the one hand it is recommended to have plenty of RAM to avoid this without going too far, as unused RAM offers no performance gains.

We recommend that a 16-64GB of RAM will be quite sufficient for handling most 3D Studio Max user’s workflows. If you have opted to get 2 independent systems for modelling and rendering them we suggest both your modelling workstation and render node should have the same amount of memory to avoid any unnecessary performance problems.

Graphics Card/ GPU

Deciding which graphics card will be the most suitable for you is also an important factor in Workstations for 3D Studio Max. There are many graphics card options out there with two major giants producing professional graphical options, namely, the NVIDIA Quadro and AMD Radeon Pro WX graphics card ranges. The same 2 companies further complicate things by offering their consumer ranges, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX and AMD Radeon Cards. Applications such as 3DS Max, among many others, require crisp, high fidelity graphics output that does not produce 'glitches', which the AMD Radeon and NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics cards cannot provide.

A mid to high-end NVIDIA Quadro or AMD Radeon Pro WX graphics card will not suffer from these issues and are therefore both great choices. This is because they have been through an incredibly stringent Independent Software Vendor certification process by Autodesk themselves, the drivers have been optimized for maximum performance within 3D Studio Max, the cards themselves have a considerable amount of onboard memory & in the unlikely event you do have an issue both NVIDIA/AMD and Autodesk will directly support you in finding a solution.

Storage/SSD

We all know the SSDs are more expensive than a normal hard disk drive. But with this additional cost, SSDs bring many performance benefits to the storage of your data. For the opening and saving of scenes, replacing a normal hard disk with a SSD will dramatically reduce the time incurred while performing any operation. For a faster performance rate, you can use the M.2 NVMe SSD such as the Samsung 960 EVO or Samsung 960 PRO series. Hard disks will take considerably longer to perform operations such as reading and writing data while SSD (Solid State Drives) will perform it several times faster.

When choosing the very best hardware configuration for Autodesk 3D Studio Max there are many factors to consider. Whether it’s choosing a dedicated modelling system accompanied by render farm or an all in one workstation solution. Following the principles of this guide will deliver you a well-rounded hardware solution. Alternatively why not contact us here at Workstation Specialists today to get a quote for your perfect workstation specification, tailored around you today?

When it comes to 3D design, only a few are unaware of Dassault Systemes® renowned SOLIDWORKS application. It enables users great functionality to create 3-D or even 2-D designs, permits efficiency driven collaboration and even lets you run a simulations on your designs based on practical conditions before you start to engineer your physical parts. It is no surprise then, that due to the cutting edge features of SOLIDWORKS, the application is one of the world’s most popular among engineers.

SOLIDWORKS is a fantastic 3D design software package however, we want to remind you that for it to perform optimally, you need a workstation with just the right specifications. So what characteristics does the perfect SOLIDWORKS workstation possess? To give you an idea of the precise hardware that will compliment your SOLIDWORKS application and enable you to reap all of its benefits to the maximum level, we have composed a list of characteristics the best SOLIDWORKS workstations possesses, so let’s jump to matters of importance.

CPU Frequency Over Cores:

Processors with many cores are in fashion nowadays. These processors typically contain a larger number of cores contained on a single chip. What people often forget is that because of the nature of tasks SOLIDWORKS is used to fulfil including the rebuilding of models, SOLIDWORKS runs better on a workstation with a lesser number of fast cores. This occurs because modelling is largely a linear process.

Since SOLIDWORKS largely makes use of a single core, it is listed under the category of ‘frequency based applications’. This means that an ideal SOLIDWORKS Workstation should possess a fewer number of cores and a higher frequency. However, some processes within SOLIDWORKS such as rendering or simulations often use a greater number of cores. These processes amount to exceptions, though and SOLIDWORKS dominantly works the best with systems that have a faster clock speed and fewer cores. Since SOLIDWORKS is a single threaded application, we highly recommend ‘professional overclocked' systems because that will optimise its performance regardless of the task at hand.

System Memory/ RAM:

It is crucial to ascertain the right amount of Random Access Memory (RAM) you need. This largely depends on the nature of the task you are performing. Data sets get larger as your product design incorporates a greater number of parts or a higher level of complexity. To deal with these huge data sets that come with your model design, you need larger RAM. Tasks such as simulation also require larger RAM.

To perform complicated calculations you need to load larger data sets and, consequently, you need a larger RAM capacity. Now, what happens if your RAM does not meet the mark? Hard drive caching might occur which will result in a greater amount of time being incurred to load data sets. This results in a waste of time, energy and costs. To prevent glitches and delays, we highly recommend using SOLIDWORKS with at least 16 GB of system memory. This would ensure that your data sets load onto the application smoothly so you can perform basic computations without wasting a large amount of time. Having 16-32 GB of memory would ensure that you can run SOLIDWORKS in combination with other applications too.

Graphics Card/ GPU:

Deciding which graphic card to make use of is important as well. Should you make use of Professional NVIDIA Quadro or AMD Radeon Pro WX graphics? Yes, complicated tasks like RealvView, Wire Frame View and Relative View obviously require more refined graphics so even if you have heard that ‘gaming' graphic cards (like Nvidia Geforce or AMD Radeon) work, they will likely cause graphical glitches and make some features of the application such as Realview Graphics inaccessible. This is why you need to be very specific about the graphics card you use.

NVIDIA Quadro cards or AMD Radeon Pro WX are both great options because they have a great amount of on board memory, have optimised drivers to run well on SOLIDWORKS and are fully ISV certified by Dassault Systemes®. You need to pair up these Graphic cards with the right CPU for them to function effectively. You also need to find the right Graphic driver software to use with your SOLIDWORKS application. Generally, a NVIDIA Quadro card or AMD Radeon Pro WX would be able to cater to most of your modelling, designing and rendering tasks because of their enlarged memory capacities, professional application optimisations, ISV certifications and superior graphics specifications.

Storage/SSD:

We are aware of the fact that SSD's are expensive, but they are very helpful if you have to load large amounts of data. When opening and saving assemblies are concerned, replacing a mechanical hard drive with an SSD would remarkably reduce the time spent performing these operations.

Whether you choose an SSD or not depends largely on your budget, but if you want to make your SOLIDWORKS workstation the best it can be then, you should pick Fast M.2 NVMe SSD storage device. The fantastic reading and writing capabilities of these Solid State Drives are known to make it easy and quick to open assemblies for SOLIDWORKS users.

What If I Use Many Applications?

One of the advantages of building a well thought out workstation compatible with SOLIDWORKS is that its utility is not exclusive to SOLIDWORKS only. If you choose to switch, remember that most applications in the same category are a lot like SOLIDWORKS so you can use the same workstation with applications from the CAD category like Inventor, Catia and Creo to name a few.

Our expert sales team are able to weigh out the task and specifications you need to find the perfect SOLIDWORKS workstation for you and your company. Businesses that have found compatible tailored hardware are able to get the the very most applications such as SOLIDWORKS have to offer. So if you want see SOLIDWORKS running at its full potential, get a tailored SOLIDWORKS workstation today.