3ds Max Budget Rendering Build - Suggestions.

[vikneshvijayakumar]

Build 1 - http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hvqWhM

Build 2 - http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nDN2yc

 

I am from India. You can visit Snapdeal, Flipkart or Amazon.in for Indian price. Since these sites announced next week (12-17 OCT) for big discount offers I will be buying most of the parts from these sites.

 

This will be used for heavy photoshop and moderate 3dsmax with vray rendering (Arch- Interiors and Exteriors) for some 3 to 5 years.

 

Que 1 - Should I go for a build with i7 6700k and no GPU or i5 6500 and 750ti?

 

Que 2 - DDR 3 or DDR 4? Since I will be using this for many years should I go for DDR4 which will be the standard in the coming days?

 

Will buy an SSD in the near future. I am a bit constrained on budget. So, please suggest any builds for 3d around $680 or 50k Rupees.

[RyderSK]

You chose quite low budget for rendering machine, even low-spec one, so you will be choosing between quite few tough compromises.

But first thing first...do you already have a case and CPU cooler ? If not this will account for another 100+ dollars.

 

Not having even low-end discreet GPU can be punishing, but having lack of CPU rendering power is more. After all, the lack of GPU will only affect your comfort of work, and not too drastically since 3dsMax fails to utilize viewport acceleration properly anyway.

 

The different between i5 6500 a i7 6700K is simply too big (it's almost twice faster) when in comes to rendering power and thus higher CPU should take precedence. You can always buy GPU later, just like SSD.

 

The i7 6700K has HD Graphics 530, which is substantially slower than IRIS 6200 found in previous Broadwell generation....but even then I think Skylake is better choice as future platform overall.

 

Regarding DDR3 vs DDR4 which you can choose with Skylake (but beware Skylake only takes DDR3-L (low-voltage) version), I would again say go for DDR4, you can already find good deals on it.

 

Do not buy 1TB HDDs, the price difference is too small not to skip to 2/3 TB. It's hard to work with 1TB.. After you'll buy SSD some day later, you will utilize this as your project&asset disc and keep your new SSD as system disc. But for now your HDD will have to function as both, and for that you need some capacity.

[vikneshvijayakumar]

You chose quite low budget for rendering machine, even low-spec one, so you will be choosing between quite few tough compromises.

 

Forgot to mention that I am a Photoshop professional, but learning 3ds max as a personal interest. So I didn't want to spend much on that since I won't deal with millions of poly's or animations. I want to build some high-end photoshop machine that will also do some good rendering.

 

first thing first...do you already have a case and CPU cooler? If not this will account for another 100+ dollars.

 

No, I don't have any. I will buy a case from a nearby dealer, but I have no idea about coolers. Any suggestions?

 

Not having even low-end discreet GPU can be punishing, but having lack of CPU rendering power is more. After all, the lack of GPU will only affect your comfort of work, and not too drastically since 3dsMax fails to utilize viewport acceleration properly anyway.

 

The different between i5 6500 a i7 6700K is simply too big (it's almost twice faster) when in comes to rendering power and thus higher CPU should take precedence. You can always buy GPU later, just like SSD.

 

The i7 6700K has HD Graphics 530, which is substantially slower than IRIS 6200 found in previous Broadwell generation....but even then I think Skylake is better choice as future platform overall.

 

So the i7 build is the better option between the two?

[RyderSK]

(the i7) is much better solution if the primary purpose of the workstation is rendering, because for that you need mostly multi-threaded performance.

If the primary purpose was 2D work in Adobe Suite, then discreet graphic card would be more beneficial since the suite is quite well accelerated by GPU.

 

So you pretty much have to do a compromise what is more important for you. But with faster CPU, you can always add GPU later, which would be much cheaper solution than replacing CPU.

 

Regarding coolers, I am not much versed in the lower-budget spectrum....perhaps someone else will know which one is the best for the buck in performance category.

[Nikolaos M]

It would be better to wait a little to raise the right budget, in order to build yourself a decent workstation. With 680$ you'll have to make big compromises like: no ssd, cheap case and an entry-level psu etc.

 

This is what I think you should aim at:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.99 @ B&H)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.89 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Asus Z170-K ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($122.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.33 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($96.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $997.15

 

Raise another 300$ and you'll have a pretty decent system. You can start off without a gpu, like Juraj said, and add a better one in the future. That would lower the cost by 100$. Of course, prices in your country might vary.

[joelmcwilliam]

If you can afford an i7 just go for it, man. You won't regret it. But I would pair an overclockable cpu with a motherbord that's meant for overclocking (z170)

 

Since you will be using the pc mainly for photoshop, well you won't be needing the most powerfull cpu. Any modern cpu will do just fine in photoshop. So you can save some serious cash here. What's you current pc? What's you monitor?

 

Below is a good site were hey have valuable info about what a cpu does in ps (photoshop). Just scroll.

 

https://www.pugetsystems.com/all_articles.php

 

U can use ps with the internal gpu of the cpu without any problem, so no need to buy a gpu.

 

When you start modelling in 3d, try the igpu of your cpu and see how the modelling goes. You can always buy a gpu and just click it in the mobo.

 

Personally I would get a seasonic power supply unit. They have good psu's for a decent price.

 

As for a cpu cooler, just go with what is popular. Only if you're planning on serious overclocking then you will be needing a big ass cpu cooler. Some good ones for a decent price: Scythe Mugen/ Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO/ Gelid Solutions Tranquillo Rev.2

 

And yeah, just buy a ssd. Even if it is a 250 gb. Or buy a M.2 stick and just plug it in the mobo.

 

As for the colour scheme, this is how I would personally do it: an asus black/gold/silver mobo, green ram sticks, white cpu cooler (Thermalright Macho Rev.B), black and white psu (Seasonic M12II Evo 520W)

[vikneshvijayakumar]

It would be better to wait a little to raise the right budget, in order to build yourself a decent workstation. With 680$ you'll have to make big compromises like: no SSD, cheap case and an entry-level PSU etc.

 

Yeah, its pretty low for a workstation. But I am just learning 3ds Max and not a professional. My current build is too old and I wanted to build a new one in which Photoshop will be running most of the time. I also use 3ds max in my free times. So I wanted the new build to work best with Photoshop and somewhat better with 3ds max too.

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.99 @ B&H)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.89 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Asus Z170-K ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($122.99 @ SuperBiiz)

 

I am going to use this only for working and I won't be overclocking anything. So, I think I can replace i7 6700k with i7 6700, and Z170 K with H170 Pro (or) H170 Pro Gaming, without a cooler.

 

Case: Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)

 

Fractal design is not available in my place. Nearby dealer suggested Antec GX300 Case and Antec VP500PC PSU.