Advice on Parts for a 3D/2D Animation and Graphics Computer

AsaHane · Oct 6, 2013

Hellooo out there...

So I have never built a computer before and am in need of a bit of advice... I have family who can help out with the actual building of the machine though, so mostly I just need advice on parts and accessories for the type of machine I need.

I need a desktop computer that can handle 3D and 2D rendering and animation as well as video production and Adobe Photoshop/Autodesk Maya type products. Also, I intend to upgrade it periodically as my skills improve with the above mentioned things. Plus my budget is a bit limited at the moment.

So, budget is around $1100 at the absolute max, and "upgradable" parts would be appreciated (like less RAM and hard drive space, stuff I can eventually add to or easily switch out.)

I have a small case and a mid-tower case laying around which I can gut and replace. Have a tablet as well, and already have a good-sized monitor with an HD socket.

Any advice on parts would be appreciated! A shopping list would be doubly appreciated

Thanks everyone!

smorizio · Oct 6, 2013

i look on parts picker start with an 8350 cpu and a 990fx mb.
use the case you have if it an ax case of good size.
put in a 750w bronze rated power supply and 8 or 16 gigs of standard 1600 ram. then use a 128g samsung evo ssd as the os drive 99.00
and a 2g sata hard drive 100.00.
with the rest pick up the fastest gpu you can. Im not posting gpu as amd dropping some newer ones this week and may be better then older amd gpu now.

c3h8 · Oct 6, 2013

Professional Software like Autodesk's suites don't like most consumer hardware.
Using only Newegg (lazy/convenience)

Intel Core i7-4770S (N82E16819116902) $309.99
ASRock H87M Pro4 (N82E16813157384) $82.99
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (N82E16820231422) $69.99
NVIDIA Quadro K2000D VCQK2000D-PB (N82E16814133484) $409.99
RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-530SS (N82E16817152028) $49.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit (N82E16832116986) $99.99
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB (N82E16822148840) $69.99
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA (N82E16827135204) $19.99
Subtotal: $1,112.92 (Drop/Scavenge the optical drive to get it under)

The processor is faster for most tasks, and benchmarks higher for your specific tool set.
I went with the 4th Generation offering because of the new Quick Syn feature which essentially is hardware video encoding.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-4770k_9.html#sect0

Motherboard is mostly based on personal preference, ASRock boards have excellent driver/support disks bundled with them and the typical manual, my experience has been VERY positive with their products. 4 DIMMs (Memory) allow for future expansion, and the Second PCI Express x16 does as well.

8Gb of Ram in a 2x4Gb configuration leaves you with a pair of chips to take full advantage of dual-channel speeds, and can be expanded to 16Gb if needed (motherboard must have 4 dimms, as one provided does)

Quadro K2000D - This was the most powerful Nvidia chip I could fit in at your price point, the "D" set is an improvement over the K2000 in the same way the "Ti" in Nvidia's desktop line is (More stream processors). You will want to go with a professional card given your listed set of activities/uses. I took the recommendation off Autodesk's supported card list. MOST CONSUMER DESKTOP CARDS ARE NOT SUPPORTED, this is a true workstation card.

The rest of the components are based on price. The Raidmax power supply scored well in reviews with modularity as a feature. Working with a modular power supply is much nicer than the alternative and a spoil worth investing-in, especially if you want to use the build to learn from. Windows 7 Home Premium was chosen as Professional would be more expensive. I, personally, find Windows 8's (metro) UI to be a miserable experience; before you consider Windows 8 as an option I HIGHLY suggest you visit a retail computer store and try it on a demonstration computer. It most definitely is not for me. The Hard drive was the cheapest 1TB 7200RPM drive I could find, and the optical drive was the same.

As for upgrading- more ram if you need it, an SSD (reload and install the OS/Software to the SSD), or accessories related to your activities. You might consider a non-tactile interface like Leap's Motion or a 3D Mouse (Gyration)...

slsPCs · Oct 6, 2013

Do not use above mentioned i7-4770S - just leave the S and you are fine. Or take a Xeon E3-1230v3, this is nearly the same but cheaper.
Do not use 2x4GB. Definitely use only 8GB dimms. You can take one in the beginning and should abgrade to two dimms of 8GB as soon as possible. After that you can upgrade with another 2x8GB for a total of 32GB - you'll benefit from RAM with your software.

The Seagate Barracuda is fine - but you will need more of them, at least one more as soon as possible. And you'll need an SSD as soon as possible. The disk setup is really very important:

http://ppbm7.com/index.php/tweakers-page/84-disk-setup
http://ppbm7.com/index.php/tweakers-page/83-balanced-systems

A good psu between 300W and 400W will be fine, it should have 1 PCIe.

c3h8 · Oct 6, 2013

Yeah, oversight on my part, go with the i7-4770 (non S) for the same price. The i7 will give you Hyper-Threading and the Quick Sync.

The 2x4GB or 8Gb DIMM choice should be made based on target ram size (16 GB or 32 GB) as only the 8Gb DIMM choice will give you the ability to reach a theoretical 32 GB

AsaHane · Oct 9, 2013

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

Now I've got a clearer picture of what I need!

Cheers!

manofchalk · Oct 9, 2013

c3h8 :

I see a big problem with that rig.
Never go for a RAIDMAX power supply, they are a budget brand that is known for putting out cheap and unreliable units.
Just for reference, I have used that PSU as an example to others of a bad unit before, and heres why.
- No 80+ Certification, which means you have no idea how efficient it is or how stablethe voltages are.
- No Active PFC as can be seen by the 120v-240v switch on the back. This is a basic feature even on budget PSU's.
- Dual 12v rails means that you must be careful where you place load.
- Total wattage of the 12v rails is 444W, nowhere near its advertised wattage.
- While not necessarily bad, gimmicks like LED fans are typically used to sell these junk PSU's.

In short, there are much better PSU's you could get.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013&Tpk=xfx%20550

c3h8 · Oct 9, 2013

@manofchalk Price point was a major concern in selecting a power supply, the $50 price point was maximum... see budget considerations.
RAIDMAX is a budget brand, though their products can be quality or bad. You need to look at the reviews.
The product I selected was chosen with the understanding that it had an overwhelmingly positive review (4/5 with several thousand reviews)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026 in an alternative from much more reputable brand

manofchalk · Oct 10, 2013

Newegg reviews aren't a reliable source, most users simply plug the thing in, see that it works and then gives it 5 stars. Few people have the knowledge of what makes a good PSU, and even fewer have the means of testing it.

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Advice on Parts for a 3D/2D Animation and Graphics Computer

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c3h8

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slsPCs

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AsaHane

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c3h8

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