Buying/building my first desktop computer

Hello everyone.

Since about a year ago I have started doing CG visualization at work. Just small product renders and more recently some interior renders. Hopefully I will be doing a lot more interior renders in the future as we are hoping to replace studio photography with just 3d renders. Because I also like to do some architectural visualization at home as a hobby I am looking for a good desktop machine to work on. Right now I am working on an old laptop which is about to die on me.

I hope to get some good advice from you guys because I am a complete noob at the technical aspect of computers. I don't have a clue as to what is important. And I have never build my own machine.

At work I mostly work with Maya, Mental Ray, Photoshop and Indesign. At home I however would like to start working with 3ds max and Vray as these programs have a lot more support when it comes to architectural visualization.

My budget is 1500 euro's. With that money I need to buy everything including a screen, keyboard and mouse.

I appreciate your help.

Hi Marti,

What's your pc at work? Can you specify the components? Are you happy working on that pc? What kind of monitor would you like? Where will you buying your stuff from? Would you like to have a new laptop or rather have a desktop?

 

My budget is 1500 euro's. With that money I need to buy everything including a screen, keyboard and mouse.

 

I appreciate your help.

1 HGST Ultrastar A7K3000 2TB, SATA 6Gb/s (HUA723020ALA640/0F12455)

1 Crucial MX200 250GB, SATA (CT250MX200SSD1)

1 Intel Core i7-6700K, 4x 4.00GHz, boxed ohne Kühler (BX80662I76700K)

1 Corsair Vengeance LPX schwarz DIMM Kit 32GB, DDR4-2400, CL14-16-16-31 (CMK32GX4M4A2400C14)

1 ASUS Strix GeForce GTX 970 OC, STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort (90YV07F0-M0NA00)

1 ASUS Z170-A (90MB0LS0-M0EAY0)

1 Dell UltraSharp U2417H, 23.8" (210-AHJK)

1 be quiet! Dark Rock 3 (BK018)

1 Phanteks Eclipse P400 anthrazit mit Sichtfenster (PH-EC416P_AG)

1 EVGA SuperNOVA G1 650 650W ATX 2.3 (120-G1-0650-XR)

1444€ without shipping cost. You can choose a simple set of keyboard/mouse.

Hi Joel,

My PC at work is a Dell precision T5810

Intel® Xeon® CPU E5-1650V3 @ 3.50 GHz

32 GB Ram

Nvidia Quadro K4200

Dell U2412M 24"

I am pretty happy with this PC. It works fast and render times are decent. But as I stated earlier I don't have great understanding of the technical aspect of my computer. I don't know if it is a good/optimal build for what I am doing with it. I know I should spend some time on improving my knowledge on this.

I do however know that I want a desktop as it think it will be more powerfull than a Laptop.

I haven't thought about where I am going to by the parts from. I'm Dutch so buying parts from the Netherlands would be ideal but importing it from another country is no problem.

Thanks for the replies guys. I haven't got time to check out your suggested build Nikolaos but I hope I will be able to this weekend.

At work I have a Dell precision T5810

Intel® Xeon® CPU E5-1650v3 @ 3.50 GHz

32 GB Ram

Nvidia Quadro K4200

I am pretty pleased with this computer. I works fast and render times are decent. Though I don't really have a good understanding of what all the individual components do. I really should learn more about the technical part of a computer.

As for your question about wether I want a laptop or a desktop...I really want a desktop as I think it can be more powerfull than a laptop. I also don't really need it to be portable.

As for where I want to buy parts from...I really haven't given that much thought. I live in the Netherlands so buying stuff from my home country would be nice, but it importing it from somewhere else is not a problem either.

Hi Marti,

What's the monitor you use at work? And are you happy with it? Or do you prefer something different?

And I suppose the desktop will be placed on your desk? Would you like to have a particular colorscheme, like red/black, white/black, black/red/white, blue/black, all black, black/green, etc. Have a look at this guy channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Thramkar/playlists

Would you like to have a case with a window?

And would you like to have a small pc or can it be somewhat larger? And how much storage do you need for all of your files?

And do you game?

Nikolaos has posted a good setup, which would be great. If you reply on my questions, i will see if I can post a tailored setup for you.

Oh I forget to mention my monitor. It's a Dell U2412M. It's really good monitor. Sharp and nice colors. It's 24" wich for me is a perfect size. I also have a second screen but that's just an old Dell 1907FP wich I primarily use for internet and menu's. At the moment I don't really need a second screen at home. It can be added in the future.

The desktop is going to placed on a desk but I don't really care for a color scheme. It's not going to be placed in the living room so it doesn't need to be pretty. Also the case doesn't need to have a window I guess? Is a window just cosmetic or does it have purpose?

The size of the pc doesn't matter either as I got plenty of space.

I do game but I haven't played pc games in ages so I doubt I am going to play games on my pc. I'll probably stick to my xbox.

If you could post a setup as well that would be nice.

If you don't really need a monitor then you could either switch to a X99-5820K (or 6800K) combo, or you could buy a better gpu.

The side window is very useful imo. I personally can't live without it any more and it's not only for aesthetic reasons. Most motherboards and gpus have led indicators and most mid/high-end motherboards have a debug led which is very useful especially when you're setting up a new system. I even want to keep an eye on how much dust there is inside my case, or on how many fans are really working, or if there is a motherboard capacitor with a bulged appearance, and even if there is a leakage in my AIO cooling system (I could carry on adding reasons).

Here is a 2011-3 alternative build without a monitor.

1 HGST Ultrastar A7K3000 2TB, SATA 6Gb/s (HUA723020ALA640/0F12455)

1 Crucial MX200 250GB, SATA (CT250MX200SSD1)

1 Intel Core i7-6800K, 6x 3.40GHz, boxed ohne Kühler (BX80671I76800K)

1 Corsair Vengeance LPX schwarz DIMM Kit 32GB, DDR4-2400, CL14-16-16-31 (CMK32GX4M4A2400C14)

1 ASUS Strix GeForce GTX 970 OC, STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort (90YV07F0-M0NA00)

1 ASUS X99-A/USB 3.1 (90MB0L90-M0EAY0)

1 Phanteks Eclipse P400 anthrazit mit Sichtfenster (PH-EC416P_AG)

1 Cryorig A40 Ultimate (CR-A4B)

1 EVGA SuperNOVA G1 650 650W ATX 2.3 (120-G1-0650-XR)

Oh I think you misunderstood me. I was replying to Joel's post were he asked me what monitor I use at work. That is the Dell U2412M.

At home I still need a new monitor.

So the window is very usefull. That are some good reasons to have one. So I'll take a case with a window. I will check these builds over the weekend. Thanks for the help

If you are going to spend a lot of time rendering scenes, then the 2011-3 would be a much better platform to invest in. It'd be much more upgradable in the future. Adding a monitor in the build above (we could make some slight adjustments and shave off some €s) would bring the cost at around 1700€. It's an exceedance over budget that you should consider imo.

Hi Marti,

do you think it is possible to strech the budget towards 2000? You can then go for a six core processor like Nikolaos suggested with his second setup. The six core processor will give you the same renderperformance as the pc at your work. Do you think that it is a good enough gain for spending more cash?

If not and you want to stay below 1500 then your best bet is to go with a 4 core with hyperthreading, like Nikolaos suggested with his first setup. It will be a very good and fast system and an excellent allround system. Only downside is rendertimes will be slower than your pc at work, like 15-20% slower. If you decide to overclock the 4 core cpu (setup 1 Nikolaos posted) the rendertimes will be close to your pc at work,depends on the overclock. If you go for a six core cpu (setup 2 Nikolaos posted) rendertimes will be, as mentioned, the same as the pc at work. And if you overclock the six core rendertimes will be surely shorter as the pc at work, depends entirely on the overclock. Remember, overclocking will increase the power consumption off the pc, especially a six core.

You said you didn't care about looks? Have to ask you, are you sure? Because you will be staring at the thing for the next couple of years.

Can you assemble your own pc or would you rather have the shop built it for you? Letting the shop build will ad costs of course.

Do you have a copy of windows?

And how silent you want your pc?

2000 will be a bit too much. Stretching my budget to 1700 might be possible. Render times don't have to be as fast as they are at work as I can render during the night or during the day when I am at work. It will be a hobby computer and maybe some small freelance work so It doesn't have to be top notch.

In the coming days I hope to check out the builds you have suggested.

I still don't care about looks as the computer will not be placed in a room where I have to look at it when I am not working on it. I rather spend the little bit of money I have on more important things.

I also need a copy of windows as I doubt that I can transfer the Windows 7 copy on my laptop. (I haven't yet checked if this is possible)

I will assemble the pc my self although I have never build one before. But with the help of this forum and google it shouldn't be too hard (I hope)

The pc shouldn't be too loud but I am not too concerned with it.

Oke Marti, just one more question. How much ram will you be using? 16 gb or 32 gb? After you answered this I will post some different setups and you will stay below 1500 euro's for the complete pc including peripherals.

I would like to go for 32 gb ram.

I can stretch my budget to 1700 euro max.

Thanks for your time...it is much appreciated

You can also do a cheap Xeon workstation which will be cheaper than 6700k but still twice as powerful in rendering. The Xeons only go up to 3.3Ghz in single-threaded frequency, but don't fool yourself thinking you will notice any further improvement after this that is truly noticeable. Rendering is all that matters.

You can look at my guide ( link ) and simply add GPU of your choice.

Oke Marti, this is what you should.

Go to tweakers.net and make an account. Go to forum and start a new topic with the same questions you asked here. The guys over there might point out some things that we have missed here. And that's it. Good luck! And goodbye!

No, just kidding. But do make a topic at tweakers.

Below are some setups. It up to you to make a choice. And do check out Nikolaos and Juraj's setups as well. They both know their stuff.

I previously had a setup that would stay below 1500 all in. It would have a Asus Z170-P D3 motherboard with some older 16gb ddr3 ram (ram speeds for modelling and rendering are far less important than for gaming). This would get me somewhat above 1000 euro's. But eventually I decided to go for a newer motherboard with ddr4 ram. This will add up in cost. Too bad.

Below a pc build around the i7 6700k processor. And the theme is black and white and grey. Sorry, I refuse to do an ugly setup.

CPU:Intel Core i7-6700K Boxed

CPU-cooler: Scythe Fuma

To match the black and white colorscheme cpu coolers from Thermalright or Cryorig would be an option as well, but the Fuma is not so big and cools pretty good and you have an option to add a third fan.

MOBO: MSI Z170A SLI Plus

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT BLS2C16G4D240FSC

GPU:Asus STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5

CASE: NZXT S340 Wit

SSD: Crucial BX200 480GB

This one would match the colorscheme better:

Samsung 850 EVO 500GB

Power Supply: Seasonic M12II Evo 520W

This Seasonic is a good power supply, however the fan is audiable when the system pulls more than 200 Watts. I would personally go for this Corsair RM550x Or this Corsair RM750x

HDD: If you need one look at a Western Digital Blue.

The total build cost will be around 1200 euro's.

Oke Marti, as you can see, the processor, the motherboard, the video card and the ram are adding up in cost.Below I point out how you can lower the overall price.

-Cheaper ram: try to buy 16 gb first and keep an eye on the memory usage. You can always add more memory later.

-Forget the overclocking: Now you can get yourself a cheaper processor.

Intel Core i7-6700 Boxed

You can get yourself a cheaper motherboard.

Gigabyte GA-B150-HD3P

And get yourself a cheaper cpu cooler.

be quiet! Pure Rock

-Overclock on the cheap:

get yourself this Intel Xeon E3-1230 v5 Boxed

and this ASRock Fatal1ty E3V5 Performance Gaming/OC

and do this

-Get yourself a second hand video card: https://tweakers.net/categorie/49/videokaarten/aanbod/#filter:q1bKTq0szy9KUbJSMjc3UNJRKkhMTw3OrEpVsjI0MNBRKqksSC1WsopWSlSKrQUA

And now the peripherals:

OS:Microsoft Windows 10 Pro NL 64bit OEM

Monitor: Dell P2416D Zwart

Mouse: Logitech Corded Mouse M500

Keyboard:Logitech K120 (Internationaal)

Total cost around 350 euro's.

And below is a setup with a six core processor:

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K Boxed

CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D15

MOBO: Asus X99-A/USB 3.1

RAM: Crucial CT4K8G4DFD8213

or crucial ballistix sport (cheap) or kingston hyperx fury (pretty)

CASE: Fractal Design Define R5 Zwart

with no window for extra silence

Power Supply: Corsair RM750x

or another good power supply Super Flower Leadex Gold 750W Zwart Both power supply's will easily last you eight years.

SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB

Pc is very quiet. Total cost around 1150 euro's.

And once again for the video card try to get a second hand.

Try to buy your hardware from Azerty or Afuture. They also offer a assembly service, which is handy. In case something is wrong, like a defective motherboard, they can solve the problem instantly, saving you the rma process.

https://www.afuture.nl/klantenservice/86/assemblage.html

https://azerty.nl/8-255-7517/azerty-pc-montage-1-jaar-garanti.html

Someone recommended this videocard:

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 GAMING X 8G

Can anyone tell me the difference between this card and the one Nikolaos recommended:

Asus STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5

Wich one is better and why? I am trying to get a better understanding on the differences between videocards.

The 1070 is newer (actually just launched), notably more expensive and of course faster.

The 970 is its " predecessor ", but remains pretty relevant and costs roughly half what most 1070 cards are today - depending on which country you live/shop from.

After discussing a new build on Tweakers I now have the following build:

Intel Core i7-6700K Boxed

Gigabyte GA-B150-HD3P

Asus STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5

Seagate Desktop HDD, 1TB

NZXT S340 Colour Edition Red/Black

Crucial CT2K16G4DFD8213

Corsair CX450M

Samsung 850 EVO 250GB

Dell Ultrasharp U2515H Black

Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

Logitech K120 Keyboard

Logitech M90 Mouse

For the GPU they only advised me to wait for the new GTX 1060 with 6GB

I would like to hear opinions from you guys.

This build perfectly fits my budget so it would be perfect.

I probably will buy this PC:

Intel Core i7-6700 Boxed

Gigabyte GA-B150-HD3P

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 G1 Gaming 6G

Seagate Desktop HDD, 1TB

NZXT S340 Colour Edition Zwart/Rood

Dell Ultrasharp U2515H Zilver, Zwart

Microsoft Windows 10 Pro NL 64bit OEM

Logitech K120 (Internationaal)

Logitech M90 Mouse

Crucial CT2K16G4DFD8213

Corsair CX450M

Samsung 850 EVO 250GB

Any last opninions?