PC Tech Thread

I also don't know what I'm talking about for 3DS Max.
Still, I done a Google, then rambled some..

Having a look at
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/AutoDesk-3ds-Max-2017-CPU-Performance-823/
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/AutoDesk-3ds-Max-2017-GeForce-GPU-Performance-816/

Reckons the 6700K is a very good CPU for the price. It's multi core but not massively so (and 3DS doesn't scale well to loads and loads of cores). But the single core performance is also good. Better than a 6700 (4GHz vs 3.4 for the 6700).

1080 doesn't look much faster than a 1070. But that's probably down to drivers somewhat, so you'd probably see the 1080 pulling away (very slightly) as everything matures.

I doubt a 256GB SSD is going to be any different to a 512GB SSD unless they've got a lousy model in one or a great in the other.

Maybe worth checking on the Dell what the motherboard is and whether you can upgrade memory easily. Some boards only have 2 slots (so you'd have to throw away the 2x8 rather than just buying 2 more)

All that lot said, both machines will be quick.

My home machine is a 3770K with 32GB RAM and a 980Ti. It's old now and it still flies for just about everything.

Looking at the benchmarks in those links it seems like there's only really a few % between the top end systems.
So Zoostorm will definitely be faster. But not much. Certainly not 50% faster. Depends how much £500 is to you over the course of its lifetime.

(oh, and unless you're a pro and need the support then don't worry about the Quadro cards. They're spendy and not much faster than the 1070/1080 cards. You're paying for the support you'd get from 3DS and it being industry standard, rather than the price/performance.
Just looking at that Quadro card on the Dell refurb you mentioned it seems woeful compared to a 1080
http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-Quadro-K2200-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1080/2839vs3603)