New/1st Computer Build and Need advice on AMD vs NVIDIA

Worick · Mar 4, 2016

Hey Everyone

I am looking to build my first computer. I will be using it for video editing (Premiere Pro and the rest of the Adobe Suite), Auto-cad(mainly Revit), and future animation, 3d modeling work.Most of this will be for school work. I would also like to have it run a few PC games like Halo Wars 2 for windows 10.

Timeline of when I plan to build: I don't NEED to build right now and will probably wait till the middle of Summer to start.

Budget: I can spend up to $350 on a graphics card, but I do not want to go overkill when i could have gotten a $200 gpu and been fine.

Other Components: I will be purchasing a Xeon E3-12xx V5 model and a compatible motherboard. I will be using a 1080p monitor.

My main issue is whether I should go with a GTX 970 or R9 390 or if those will be overkill and should go down the tiers to cheaper alternatives. I also heard the next waves of gpus will be announced soon and maybe I should wait and see what comes out next?

What are yall thoughts and opinions on what I should do?

Ryan_78 · Mar 4, 2016

Wait for what could mrs out next the Polaris and pascal GPU. Hy then, there might be. A significant proce drop in the 980 or 970 and other high end cards, so you can get a good price they come out this summer

Worick · Mar 4, 2016

Ryan_78 :

Have any idea by how much the prices usually go down upon release of the next gen?

Eximo · Mar 4, 2016

The prices generally do not go down significantly. They simply wait for the stock to disappear. New products will appear at MSRP or close to it. When the aftermarket boards and coolers start to show up, then you start to see price competition, but again, only on the new products.

Very rarely will AMD completely re-price a set of GPUs to maintain sales. Nvidia tends to not do this.

coozie7 · Mar 4, 2016

Gaming performance between the GTX970 and R9 390 is similar, either will be very capable at 1080 rez. There is many, many, MANY threads discussing the pros and cons of them both here and elsewhere. Have a read.

All those applications will benefit immensely from a fast graphics card-they'll run happily enough on slower hardware but if you're going to run large simulations/designs/renders then a faster card will greatly improve your throughput.

Yes, as Ryan_78 says both Nvidia and AMD are releasing new chips this year; Pascal from Nvidia and Polaris from AMD but no solid release dates have been announced yet.

I suggest you open an account on Partpicker and 'pencil in' a base build so you'll have one to hand come build time and add a suitable graphics card come build time.

A few suggestions:
There's nothing like having a glitch destroy your portfolio and ongoing projects, HDDs are getting really cheap so consider using two in a mirrored array, or using an external backup drive, rather that relying on just one system drive, failures are rare but that's little consolation if something takes out your entire body of work.
It's surprising how annoying and intrusive a noisy system can be, adding a few quiet case fans or selecting a noise dampened case really does make living with the system so much nicer.
With your uses, aim at 16Gb of RAM, 8Gb is fine for gaming but can be quickly used up when video editing or 3D modelling.
Don't go cheap on the power supply, it's the bedrock your system is built on, aim for quality here, not price, a good unit of 520-600 Watts will be plenty for your intended system.
All the current CPUs like fast memory but you'll have to balance price/performance here, extreme performance comes with a often hefty price premium!

Eximo · Mar 4, 2016

+1 for noise dampening cases. They are great for muffling the higher pitched noises if you have decent hearing.

Worick · Mar 5, 2016

coozie7 :

Gaming performance between the GTX970 and R9 390 is similar, either will be very capable at 1080 rez. There is many, many, MANY threads discussing the pros and cons of them both here and elsewhere. Have a read.

All those applications will benefit immensely from a fast graphics card-they'll run happily enough on slower hardware but if you're going to run large simulations/designs/renders then a faster card will greatly improve your throughput.

Yes, as Ryan_78 says both Nvidia and AMD are releasing new chips this year; Pascal from Nvidia and Polaris from AMD but no solid release dates have been announced yet.

I suggest you open an account on Partpicker and 'pencil in' a base build so you'll have one to hand come build time and add a suitable graphics card come build time.

A few suggestions:
There's nothing like having a glitch destroy your portfolio and ongoing projects, HDDs are getting really cheap so consider using two in a mirrored array, or using an external backup drive, rather that relying on just one system drive, failures are rare but that's little consolation if something takes out your entire body of work.
It's surprising how annoying and intrusive a noisy system can be, adding a few quiet case fans or selecting a noise dampened case really does make living with the system so much nicer.
With your uses, aim at 16Gb of RAM, 8Gb is fine for gaming but can be quickly used up when video editing or 3D modelling.
Don't go cheap on the power supply, it's the bedrock your system is built on, aim for quality here, not price, a good unit of 520-600 Watts will be plenty for your intended system.
All the current CPUs like fast memory but you'll have to balance price/performance here, extreme performance comes with a often hefty price premium!

Thanks for all the tips. I have this so far: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HkwJsY
Was already thinking of 16 gig ram and going for a 650 Gold psu.

Worick · Mar 5, 2016

Eximo :

I hadn't even considered the noise levels and might need to cough up some cash for a better case.

coozie7 · Mar 5, 2016

Looks like a sensible build for your uses, just bear in mind my points about backing up your work, if this school work is leading up to a University course and possible career you should get into the routine of backing up both your current projects and portfolio on a regular basis, either through an external HDD/DVD drive or by using a mirrored array of two internal HDDs.

Several companies make noise dampened cases that aren't 'that' much more than normal ones and take it from an old timer; There are few things as distracting and annoying as a noisy system when you're trying to concentrate.

The MSI GTX970 you have chosen is one of the best rounded graphics cards available but hold off on the build as long as you can; Pascal and Polaris are coming and may be released before you actually start the build in summer...Keep an eye on the tech sites for news!

Worick · Mar 5, 2016

coozie7 :

Luckily I had a professor that FORCED us to back or Revit building models all the time. I have a 3tb external drive that I use to back up and I will be waiting patiently

maxalge · Mar 5, 2016

Worick :

coozie7 :

Thanks for all the tips. I have this so far: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HkwJsY
Was already thinking of 16 gig ram and going for a 650 Gold psu.

Avoid the NEX series

MUCH better:

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=114120&vpn=220-P2-0650-X1&manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1516

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