Opinions on Build (For 3D work)

Jullith · Aug 2, 2014

I'm looking into building a computer, primarily for 3D (Animation, Modelling, Rendering, Simulations) and 2D (Photoshop) work with the occasional game. I've a budget of around £800-900, but right now I'm pushing £1000 which I would prefer not to hit.

I've come up with 3 possible builds and would appreciate some opinions/suggestions as to which would be the best.

Build 1:
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard: ASUS Z97-A
RAM: 8GB Kingston Hyper-X Fury (1 x 8GB)
GPU: 2GB GeForce GTX 750 Ti graphics card
Hard Disk: 120GB Kingston V300 SSD
Secondary Hard Disk: Seagate 1TB 3.5" SSHD
Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO

Build 2:
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97-HD3
RAM: 8GB Kingston Hyper-X Fury (1 x 8GB)
GPU: 2GB AMD Radeon R9 270X
Hard Disk: 120GB Kingston V300 SSD
Secondary Hard Disk: Seagate 1TB 3.5" SSHD
Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO

Build 3: (Better GPU at the expense of the cooler and an extra hard disk)
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97-HD3
RAM: 8GB Kingston Hyper-X Fury (1 x 8GB)
GPU: 2GB GeForce GTX 760
Hard Disk: Seagate 1TB 3.5" SSHD
Cooler: Titan Universal CPU Cooler

Thank you!

iceblitzed · Aug 2, 2014

get an h97 motherboard since z97 are meant for overclocking and your cpu isnt meant to . also spend the extra 15 or so euros on a reliable ssd such as the crucial mx100

TechCIDLC · Aug 2, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£236.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£104.39 @ Aria PC)
Memory: AMD Entertainment Edition 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£116.59 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£79.50 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.20 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card (£113.70 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£44.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£93.63 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £867.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-02 16:18 BST+0100

Better build overall. Also, the CPU is overclockable, and 16GB of RAM that you will definitely benefit from.

Jonathan Tyer · Aug 2, 2014

Use the build listed in the post above, but switch to a GTX 760

Ytyoussef · Aug 2, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£201.57 @ PC World Business)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£65.45 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.18 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£55.79 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£201.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case (£59.15 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£80.90 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.98 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£80.72 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £874.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-02 16:29 BST+0100

The Xeon is basically the i7-4790 without an iGPU which you won't be using.

You're not getting an overclockable processor, so you can get an h97 motherboard.

I also chose to put a much more powerful GPU, which has performance similar to the GTX 770, you could also go with the 770.

There's also an excellent power supply in that build, one of the best.

And there's a case and windows license within the budget.

Jullith · Aug 2, 2014

TechCIDLC :

Thank you! I should have mentioned it in my first post, but I also need the OS, a Monitor and a Wi-Fi Adapter included within the budget and adding that on comes up to over £1000. Are there any alternatives in your build that could bring the price down while keeping the performance at a similar standard?

sora · Aug 3, 2014

Jullith :

TechCIDLC :

Thank you! I should have mentioned it in my first post, but I also need the OS, a Monitor and a Wi-Fi Adapter included within the budget and adding that on comes up to over £1000. Are there any alternatives in your build that could bring the price down while keeping the performance at a similar standard?

You could easily remove the SSD as it is not really needed at all (unless you want faster boot times). Also, the stock cooler would do fine if you do not mind the sound of the stock fans.

Ytyoussef · Aug 3, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£201.57 @ PC World Business)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£65.45 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.18 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£201.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case (£59.15 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£80.90 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.05 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£79.98 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor (£125.09 @ Scan.co.uk)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£11.99 @ Aria PC)
Total: £930.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-03 13:23 BST+0100
There you go, the build has a monitor, windows and wi-fi adapter.

sora · Aug 3, 2014

Ytyoussef :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£201.57 @ PC World Business)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£65.45 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.18 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£55.79 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card (£201.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case (£59.15 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£80.90 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.98 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£80.72 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £874.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-02 16:29 BST+0100

The Xeon is basically the i7-4790 without an iGPU which you won't be using.

You're not getting an overclockable processor, so you can get an h97 motherboard.

I also chose to put a much more powerful GPU, which has performance similar to the GTX 770, you could also go with the 770.

There's also an excellent power supply in that build, one of the best.

And there's a case and windows license within the budget.

I heard that the R7 260x outperforms the 750Ti.

Ytyoussef · Aug 4, 2014

The one in my build is an r9 280x it is much more powerful than a 750 ti

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Opinions on Build (For 3D work)

Jullith

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sora

iceblitzed

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TechCIDLC

Honorable

Jonathan Tyer

Honorable

Ytyoussef

Distinguished

Jullith

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sora

Splendid

Ytyoussef

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sora

Splendid

Ytyoussef

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