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JoshAdler

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Oct 6, 2014
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Hey,

I am completely new to Building a computer, but have a few friends that will be helping. I work as a 3D animator and would like to build a solid machine for home use and rendering. For animation I use Autodesk Maya, I will be rendering at home, but nothing too crazy with heavy textures or anything. I keep it pretty clean and simple. I also do quite a bit of After Effects Work and video editing on the side.

Looking for your input and around 1500-1700 as a budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($357.50 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.79 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-Pro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($154.99 @ Memory Express)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($167.98 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($82.89 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.95 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($396.25 @ Vuugo)
Case: Corsair 450D ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($127.21 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.95 @ Vuugo)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($36.99 @ NCIX)
Keyboard: Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($14.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $1585.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-06 11:09 EDT-0400
 
Solution
logainofhades
I would go with the 4790k and Z97 board. The ram heatsinks are too tall for that cooler. Paying more than necessary on PSU. Changed the SSD for a less expensive, but still good one, with a little more storage capacity. WD blacks are a bit overpriced.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($364.98 @ Newegg Canada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.79 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($164.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($171.98 @ Amazon Canada)...
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snowctrl

snowctrl

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Sep 10, 2013
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On the face of it you've specced a good system.

You might wanna consider a Quadro card over a Geforce - you will sacrifice some power (or pay more money) but it will give you 10bit colour (that you may consider important if you ever get into colour grading) and optimised drivers for use in Maya.

Do read round peoples experiences using your chosen GPU in Maya and whatever editing app you're using. It's worth looking at what cards are certified for your key programs.

I would also say that if this is a system that you're going to be relying on to earn a living, you're probably better buying from the likes of Workstation Specialist, from whom you'll get a warranty - the point is, if the system misbehaves, rather than having to waste money-earning time working out what's wrong, you just ring them up to fix it for you, which is enormously less stressful (take it from me!!)
 
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martinch

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Mar 21, 2014
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Personally, I'd go for the i7-4790K (4.0GHz) over the 4770K (3.5GHz) - if you don't plan to overclock, it's faster, and if you do, the 4790K is supposed to have better thermal interface material, so should run cooler (plus, it's only $2 more). That would mean you'd want a Z97 motherboard, which adds another $50 though (although if you went for the Z97-Pro Wifi, you could lose the $37 Wifi card).

I take it you've discounted the Haswell-E platform (i7-5820K) as being not-suitable (I don't know if Maya uses the GPU, or is multi-threaded)..?
 
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logainofhades

logainofhades

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Apr 27, 2009
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I would go with the 4790k and Z97 board. The ram heatsinks are too tall for that cooler. Paying more than necessary on PSU. Changed the SSD for a less expensive, but still good one, with a little more storage capacity. WD blacks are a bit overpriced.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($364.98 @ Newegg Canada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.79 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($164.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($171.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($76.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.98 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($396.25 @ Vuugo)
Case: Corsair 450D ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($87.99 @ Canada Computers)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.95 @ Vuugo)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($36.99 @ NCIX)
Keyboard: Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($14.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $1566.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-06 11:22 EDT-0400
 
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snowctrl

snowctrl

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Maya will use all the cores you can throw at it when rendering, so Haswell-E is definitely worth it if you wanna spend the extra cash

I run a 6-core 4930K, which is one of the chips the new Haswell-E is superseding
 
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snowctrl

snowctrl

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Put your build together in PCpartpicker and it will give you an estimated power use - that way you may find you can step down to a less powerful PSU and save some cash - or step up to a more efficient one for the same money...
 
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J

JoshAdler

Reputable
Oct 6, 2014
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4,510
Throwing a wrench into the gears here for a better build...My buddy has a 750w gold PSU, and 2TB of ram so if I eliminate that I can go 6 cores:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($415.98 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.89 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme3 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($219.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($259.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($82.99 @ Canada Computers)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card ($409.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Corsair 450D ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Memory Express)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.95 @ Vuugo)
Keyboard: Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($14.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $1573.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-07 12:19 EDT-0400
 
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logainofhades

logainofhades

Titan
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Apr 27, 2009
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The GTX 970 is faster than an R9 290, and costs less.
 
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