Best desktop for semi-pro level game design, animation, video/photo editing for around $1,500?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

Steve082119

Commendable
Aug 21, 2016
15
0
1,510
Hey guys/girls,
I'm pretty good when it comes to working programs with a creative eye, but know next to nothing about hardware... Also I'm transitioning from an Apple mindset. I'd really appreciate any help/direction you'd like to provide!

I say that I'm semi-pro as to clarify that I'm not currently working in industry, but I am a digital artist who gets occasional commissions.

Programs I work with:

Adobe: Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom, After Effects, Premier Pro, Fuse
Autodesk: Maya, Mudbox, Meshmixer
Game design - Unity
Music production/sound design - Audacity or Reaper [I'm used to GarageBand, and don't know which DAW to move to]

Most demanding programs [I assume] are:

1] Unity - Game Design
2] Maya - 3D Animation
3] After Effects - 2.5D Animation/Video Editing/Effects
4] Premier Pro - Video Editing
5] Photoshop - Photo Editing

I know at this price range I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for my needs, so I hope in time I can upgrade parts!

Side note: I have 4k monitors, speakers, keyboards, mice, etc. already. Oh and I'll be interfacing with a Surface Pro 4 and Galaxy S7 for mobile [lighter] usage... Don't know if that helps to know.

Thanks for any help you're able to provide!

All the best,
Steven
 
Solution
Rogue Leader
Sort by date Sort by votes
A

Amashi

Commendable
Aug 19, 2016
30
0
1,540
You might be very happy when you realize that once you get away from Apple you'll be fine with even a low-end PC. It is literally true that you could put a better machine together for $500.00 than Apple offers for $2000.00.

That said, you need to tell us a bit more about what you do with these programs before we can make recommendations. I write Maya plugins, and if you use the most computationally intensive of my plugins you might do well to spend something like 2k on a motherboard/CPU combo alone. On the other hand, if you use Maya casually you could easily get by with an i3 and a cheap motherboard that cost well under $200.00 together.

So the main question is what do you mean by "semi-professional?"

EDIT: Reading this over it comes across as more hostile than I meant it to be, and not as helpful as I meant it to be. If I guess your needs correctly you'll be fine with a low-end gaming build, but you might want to bump the processor up to an i7 if rendering time is an issue for you. You could also skip having a separate GPU as long as you get a processor with integrated graphics and you only want to use the machine for work (and you don't need to use a renderer that uses the GPU.) But this really _does_ depend on what you do, which is what I was getting at.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Samer1970

Admirable
BANNED
Oct 23, 2014
1,729
1
6,460


gimmi a sec ...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
King Dranzer

King Dranzer

Splendid
Aug 16, 2016
5,046
318
29,140
Xeon E5-2620V4 GTX1070 build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2620 V4 2.1GHz 8-Core Processor ($407.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer i11 74.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($23.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus X99-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($106.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.40 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card ($429.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1501.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-21 22:46 EDT-0400

Most probably you will not be gaming on it.

This build is balanced to handle CPU intense work as well as GPU intense work. But I would still like to know what will be your main area of work and is it CPU or GPU intense.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

Amashi

Commendable
Aug 19, 2016
30
0
1,540


This is a nice build, but it's almost certainly overkill for the OP. I'm head of tech for an animation studio that does animation for AAA titles, web animation, and television commercials. _Nobody_ in the studio has that much CPU in a workstation. Serious renders get sent to render-farms.

Also I wouldn't put that PSU in the same machine as those parts, I think.

And if it were a pure work machine I wouldn't spend anything like that on a GPU without good reason. Most animators would actually be fine with integrated graphics. We tend to get decent cards for them, but not 1070 level cards.

EDIT: I was just installing some things for one of our animators the other day and noticed that her workstation had a 560 Ti in it. Kind of old, but she's still able to do top-notch work with it. Honestly, even that card is probably overkill for an animator.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Samer1970

Admirable
BANNED
Oct 23, 2014
1,729
1
6,460
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2620 V4 2.1GHz 8-Core Processor ($407.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2620 V4 2.1GHz 8-Core Processor ($407.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 74.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($13.80 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 74.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($13.80 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Supermicro MBD-X10DAL-I-O ATX Dual-CPU LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($301.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 75W 2GB Video Card ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($62.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Other: crucial 32G 4x8 dual rank rddr4 2400 ($211.00)
Total: $1658.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-21 23:25 EDT-0400

This is the best I can do ... 150$ more , you can add SSD later

Edit : need to Check heat sink compatibility .. give me a sec
 
Upvote -1 Downvote
A

Amashi

Commendable
Aug 19, 2016
30
0
1,540


Again this is ridiculous overkill. You have OP spending $1600.00 on a machine that is very unlikely to be any better for OP than a $600.00 machine would be. OP does not need Xeons. OP needs, at most, a low-end gaming build with a little less card and a bit more CPU.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Steve082119

Commendable
Aug 21, 2016
15
0
1,510
Hey everyone! Thanks for the replies thus far!

Everyone is asking to what capacity I hope to use this computer, and though I may not fully know the answer let me do my best. So this will be my primary computer. I don't have a render lab that I work with, so yes, I will be snail batching [as we used to call it in college when the computer rendered for a couple days straight]. I am not the biggest gamer, but I do love game culture, and hope to get more into game design, and perhaps even LP/stream. If the computer is able to handle gaming, best believe I'll take good advantage of it! In Maya [and AE] I'm really into working with physics and particle generation. I layer on heavy the effect/filters in Photoshop, and take full advantage of non-destructive workflows for collaborative purposes with my fashion/glamour photography team.

Feel free to ask any more question to better understand what I hope to build. I'm off to sleep for the night, but I'll be back tomorrow with some specific inquiries about the differences/advantages to the setups suggested so far. Thanks again, and keep the ideas/tips/info rolling! Really prish! :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

Amashi

Commendable
Aug 19, 2016
30
0
1,540
If you plan on gaming build for that. Even a cheap gaming machine will be overkill for Maya/Photoshop/AE/etc. at the level you'll be using them. If you wanted a pure work machine you could save some money by skipping the GPU entirely. But really it sounds like you want a gaming machine that you'll occasionally use for work. So just build a gaming machine that meets your gaming needs, and it will be fine for your semi-professional needs as well. You probably shouldn't build a 16 core Xeon machine though.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
King Dranzer

King Dranzer

Splendid
Aug 16, 2016
5,046
318
29,140


What he wanted to say is that he will be doing heavy rendering on this PC as he does not have the option to take his work to render-farm to get it done. He wants his PC to handle the rendering process as smoothly and quickly possible at his budget.

About gaming he is not a big gamer or game enthusiast. He is just a moderate one and want his PC to handle Games to some extent.

He also wants his build to be able to handle graphics intense processes.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

Amashi

Commendable
Aug 19, 2016
30
0
1,540


Well, I suppose one good troll deserves another. I was kind of laughing at the Xeon builds, but hey, it's the Internet. Very hard to know who is trolling and who is... let's just say 'not that bright.' You, for instance, are clearly trolling. And you should stop, because one of these days someone is going to take your advice and order a 16-core Xeon system so they can use Photoshop to edit pictures of their grandkids.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Samer1970

Admirable
BANNED
Oct 23, 2014
1,729
1
6,460


STOP speaking in the place of the OP . you already posted your opinion , you dont need to follow every build and repeat the same again making this thread messy .

not every one has render farms . and many people render at home .
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rogue Leader

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
Moderator
Dec 22, 2014
32,733
2,814
113,640
I have to agree with Amashi here, what the heck are you guys thinking? You hear 3D animation and immediately believe hes needs a rendering monster. What a colossal waste of money. King's build is somewhere in the range but a Xeon E5 is still far too much processor. Start with a basic i7 Build,

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.39 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card ($147.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.88 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1176.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-22 09:30 EDT-0400

When you get some money together buy yourself a Nvidia Quadro GPU which will help accelerate the programs you use.

I selected the GTX 950 because as of right now its good enough to start and its certified to use with Maya. The new 10xx cards are not yet certified.

EDIT: now if you want to spend the full $1500 drop the GTX 950 and buy one of the following cards:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BLTE7X0/?tag=pcpapi-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ECDW5NK/?tag=pcpapi-20

All of your software selections will benefit from the features of these cards and for what you are doing this is FAR better than a pair of Xeons. The pair of Xeons is great if you have 3 hours of Video you want to render fast, for everything else you want to do, its useless to you.

If you want to lean towards more playing games than a GTX 1070 would fit in the same price bracket, you would get some of the benefits of a Quadro, but not all of them. But it will game a lot better.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Samer1970

Admirable
BANNED
Oct 23, 2014
1,729
1
6,460
@ rouge Leader ,

you dont use oc in rendering machine , and you get ECC memory fo that and XEON .

I gave him the best he could get within HIS BUDGET ... this is not a waste of money , this is his budget . and I am sure he will be happy to have a rendering monster within his budget .

Had he asked for $1100 machine I would give him one .
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
King Dranzer

King Dranzer

Splendid
Aug 16, 2016
5,046
318
29,140


We did not provide this Xeon build after hearing 3D Animation but provided it for better video rendering and processing. The OP is lot into all this rendering processing and editing stuff and wants to have a build that can save him a lot of time for these time taking processes. I am not saying i7-6700K is bad for this stuff but it is suitable for person who is into gaming and does video editing and stuff occasionally. In this case his first priority is to get the processing done as quickly as possible in his budget, and should also be able to handle games to some extent. That's why I provided Xeon E5 and GTX1070 build which balances both aspects.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rogue Leader

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
Moderator
Dec 22, 2014
32,733
2,814
113,640


Hes not building a rendering machine. And he is better served with a Quadro GPU eventually for the work he is doing. Yes your build is going to encode a video faster, but for everything else he wants to do he is overspending on stuff he does not need. Premiere Pro benefits more from a good Quadro GPU than pair of Xeon processors.

You hear anything that vaguely relates to "rendering" work and immediately dump dual processor Xeons on it, it shows you clearly aren't reading his needs or understanding how this all works together.

When someone gives you a budget that doesn't mean you need to spend it all, especially if they give you a list of needs. heck its a bonus for them if you can save them some money and give them what they need.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rogue Leader

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
Moderator
Dec 22, 2014
32,733
2,814
113,640


Did you read his post? He didn't say gaming, he did say game design, you do not need the fastest most multi core thing possible for game design. Just getting into the business he is hardly developing Star Citizen. He is far better served getting a fast i7 based system and saving some money together to get a Quadro GPU which provides acceleration in the applications he actually uses. All of the apps he says he needs all recommend one to use many of their features and provide acceleration.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Samer1970

Admirable
BANNED
Oct 23, 2014
1,729
1
6,460


This is $1500 only .. performance per dollar I gave him is alot more ..

besides , he is using premier pro and Maya 3D .. I wish I could add a Quadro , but the best for him under $1500 budget is more cores and a GTX 950 ...

we dont disagree by the way , but each of us have a different standard .

If the OP asks me to give him a lower Budget one , I will Glady do :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rogue Leader

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
Moderator
Dec 22, 2014
32,733
2,814
113,640


No you didn't give him more performance per dollar because if you look at what I updated to my post there are 2 Quadro cards that accelerate Maya and Premier pro within the $500 range, so if he drops off the GTX 950 hes right within budget.

Dual Xeons for his purpose is a waste of money, It will not help him at all with what he would be doing while at the computer, only with when it needs to render video. He has a very diverse set of programs, that are all accelerated by Quadro cards, so its worth dropping down the CPU to something good enough to get that benefit. And the 6700k will still render better and faster than whatever he is using now. Its better to be able to generate the content better, on the work side. Once he can do that he maybe will have a job and access to a system that can do the rendering for him.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Samer1970

Admirable
BANNED
Oct 23, 2014
1,729
1
6,460


his purpose is not clear yet ... let him decide , he knows the kind of rendering he is going to do.

He can still add Quadros to the Dual Xeons later if he wishes .

let him decide whats best for him .. he has 2 wonderful machines to choose from :) , your way or my way :)

Have a nice day.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Samer1970

Admirable
BANNED
Oct 23, 2014
1,729
1
6,460


That $400 Quadro will not give the same performance per dollar in rendering . we are talking about 16cores / 32 threads vs 4 cores / 8 threads . sorry I disagree . at the same price point The dual xeons are better performance per dollar.

and if he chooses to render in 4K , he will need those cores .





 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rogue Leader

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
Moderator
Dec 22, 2014
32,733
2,814
113,640


You're talking about ONE task vs everything else he says he is doing.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom