$2000 PC Build Suggestions

[K M]

Hey,

I'm looking to buy a new desktop as my current computer cant do what I need it to. The programs I will be using are:

- Revit

- ArchiCAD

- Lumion

- 3DS Max/Vray

- Photoshop

and gaming.

I already have a monitor so that wont need to be purchased.

Like it says in the title my budget it $2000AUS.

I was hoping to purchase from a site like http://www.newegg.com or similar that does shipping to Australia.

 

Thanks for any help!

[RyderSK]

pcfoo.com/2014/12/Workstation 2014/ By Dimitris from this forum.

 

 

 

$2000 (or around there) CG Workstation – Q3-Q4 2014

 

Processor Intel i7-5820K Hex Core 3.3GHz

6 Cores, 12 Threads @ 3.6Hz Turboboost

Motherboard Asus X99-A LG2011-3

Cooling Corsair H110 CLC

GPU Asus STRIX GTX970 4GB

Memory 32GB Crucial DDR4 2400 (4x8GB)

System Drive Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB

Storage Drive WD Black 1 TB 7200rpm SATA

Case Fractal Design Define R4 (old)

Power Supply Cooler Master V550 80+ Gold

Operating System Windows 7 or 8.1 Pro 64-bit

 

 

Since we're in Q1 2015 you can already swap Define R4 for R5, slightly newer version.

 

I also swapped 840 EVO to 850 EVO, since it can be bought at equal or lower price, but has slightly better performance, but much longer longetivity.

 

Also Fractal Design has since introduced their own water cooling Kelvin, which comes with quieter fans and pump compared to Corsair. The system is far superior in my opinion due to acoustics and makes rounds of excellent reviews everywhere (might be perhaps issue to get in AU though, then skip suggestion) .

Alternatively you can save some money and get equally perfect air cooler Noctua NH-D15, capable of high overclocking of your CPU, without any compromise to the above mentioned water systems.

 

1TB is bit conservative and unless you own file server or NAS, 2TB is safer choice. Your Steam games library...takes some space.

 

The above should make perfect system for CPU rendering (Vray), GPU utilizing (Lumion) and gaming.

Edited January 12, 2015 by RyderSK
Added links to Newegg

[Tommy L]

I just used pcfoo.com using the $1400 unit for reference to build 2 workstations. They perform great, I think Ill put secondary graphics cards in them (GTX970) and that will bring them to about $1800.

[ryannelson]

I'm close to pulling the trigger on Dimitris $2000 build (it'll be about $2600 in CDN at NCIX). I'll probably go for the Noctua air cooling though, very similar performance to the Kelvin watercool system but you can actually BUY the Noctua haha. Is the 5830 worth the extra money?

[RyderSK]

I'm close to pulling the trigger on Dimitris $2000 build (it'll be about $2600 in CDN at NCIX). I'll probably go for the Noctua air cooling though, very similar performance to the Kelvin watercool system but you can actually BUY the Noctua haha. Is the 5830 worth the extra money?

 

NH-D15 can catch up to Kelvin S24, but falls behind behind S36, but that already needs dedicated case (Fractal Arc vs Fractal Define). Doesn't matter that much for 6-core though as it does for 8-core, which would end up running quieter at top overclock (4.5+ GHz). But yes, after further checking looks like this won't reach outside of Europe any soon.

 

Do you mean 5930k ? Not really, unless you're looking for Tri/Quad-SLI of GPUs because of its more PCI lanes. It's either 5820k for reasonable workstation, or 5960X for no compromise, no money sparred. It also looks based on some users, that 5820k on average overclocks slightly better than 5930k, not sure how much that runs true.

[ryannelson]

Yes i mean the 5930K! That's good to know. For the foreseeable future, I'm sure I'd be fine with a single GPU. The D14 got really good reviews and the D15 is stacking up as an excellent predecessor.

[K M]

Thanks for the replies. Awesome find Juraj.

So I will be purchasing most of the parts though I will changing a few things.

First I'm going to upgrade to the 'WD Black 2 TB 7200rpm SATA' instead of the 1T.

The power supply will be upgraded to 700W so any future upgrades like another graphics card is supported.

And I will be using the air cooler 'Noctua NH-D15' as I'm not confident using water cooling, seeing as this is my first build and any overclocking I do will be minimal if at all.

Because my budget is already over $2000 what do you think of downgrading to 4x4gig (16gig) instead of 4x8gig (32gig) or RAM? This will put me back on budget and allow me to upgrade by buying another 4x4gig later on if I feel 16gig isn't enough.

What do you guys think of these changes and would it be best to just spend the extra $200 for the extra RAM??

Thanks

[RyderSK]

If you're budget conscious you can make few sorts of optimization.

 

You can for example swap 512GB SSD for 256GB SSD. I have far more expensive workstations, and I've been fine with 256, which is sweatspot if you use it purely for software, but keep your files on other disk/network. The 512GB does afford the luxury to also keep probably few (one or two at best) projects with files there (which you would have to archive to other disks anyway after finishing them), but well it comes at cost.

 

Going for 16GB ram is fine, but it's more convenient to simply buy 2x8GB. You're not really loosing any significant performance for your line of work at all. Whether you need 32 or 16 depends on your current needs, you should know best how you fare right now. 32GB enable quite a freedom of mind even if your scenes are that big as it lets you multi-task better.

 

Noctua can keep your 5820K in high overclocking (4.2+ GHz) very safely at good temperates (

 

As for 700W, let's go over power-consumption of your Workstation, mostly everything outside of CPU+GPU can be quite negligible these days so you can add 80W for all of them (

 

5820K- can got from idle 75W up to 340W (link) at 4.3GHz overclock.

GTX970 from idle 75W it can reach under full load 280W (link)

 

Neither gets utilized 100perc. simultaneously though, so the 550W is suggested by Dtolios is fine given average use by regular user, although for maximum performance potential, going higher can be preferable.