3D/Arch Viz + Video Editing pc build 2000 € (tower only)

[hakrek]

Hey everybody, this is my first post at cgarchitect. It's admittedly a bit long so *please*, bear with me.

 

I am about to go for a ~2000 € pc build (tower only) that will be used for:

1. Architectural Visualization/3d rendering workflow (Rhinoceros, Revit, 3Ds Max, some Cinema 4D, Vray, Autocad, Photoshop, and the Adobe Creative Suite workflow like Illustrator and InDesign)

2. Video editing workflow (Premiere Pro for editing and After Effects for compositing and DaVinci Resolve for Coloring)

 

***absolutely no gaming, I don't game at all*** only other uses: surfing the net, office etc. plain stuff.

 

I 'll be working just as much in both workflows/fields, but if you should put and emphasis/priority on one as far as parts picking is concerned, it would be the arch viz/3d rendering one.

Having been a mac user for some years now, I admit I am a bit confused to return to the pc world so I would like to ask for your help.

 

The parts I am considering up to now are these (feel free to question them):

 

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (because I am a silence freak and it has a good looks/value/performance balance)

CPU: Intel Core i7 5820K, (I've seen around on the web that there's not much point investing in the 5930K, especially if you OC the 5820K a bit). I d' love to hear if you have a different opinion.

Motherboard: I really need your help here. X99 Chipset I guess, but what? emphasis on future to-be-standard interfaces connectivity (USB-C, Thunderbolt 3.0) a must. I feel I'm leaning towards Asus. It should have enough slots for a potential SLI for GPUs and a future SSD(when oh when) or HDD RAID expansion.

RAM: Has to be 32GB (4X8 please), DDR4, I suppose @>2000Mhz, 2400 is ok? How much does that matter by the way? Also ECC or Non-ECC since it's workstation? I'm confused about that. Kingston,Crucial,Corsair or what else?

GPU: I guess that's a pretty debatable issue on the net when it comes to $$$ and arch viz rendering and correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the general feeling from reading around (except some occasional voices) that there's also no point in going for a specs equivalent "workstation" Quadro (it's only about the drivers and "support") when you can get the same from a gaming card such as an Asus Strix GTX 980 (say at 4GB). I might be starting a fire with this question, but please, do enlighten me. Also comment on the SLI issue, since it's not clear to me whether it can be useful or pointless for the programs I mentioned above, i think i 've read that for 3ds max its useless.

Cooling: Air or Liquid? I get contrasting opinions on this one. Again, "silence is golden", for me. Corsair H100i/H110, Noctua NH Series, NZXT Kraken X61 are some potential choices I've seen.

Storage: Obviously an SSD for system/scratch, whatever fits in the total price bundle, either Samsung/Sandisk, preferably M.2 (samsung 850/950?) in the 500GB-1TB range.

Backup HDDs: I was thinking to start off with the system SSD, and later go into this as an upgrade, with a couple of TBs in RAID 0. If you believe you can fit something *reliable* in the price, please suggest it!

PSU: Also has to be as quiet as possible, i have no idea how many Watts, maybe one of these? > http://www.custompcguide.net/10-most-quiet-power-supply...

 

OS: Windows 7 Professional, (Home only supports 16 GB RAM), by the way, is there a reason everybody seems to be sticking to 7 and not go 8? I do think it's a bit early to adopt 10 anyway. What do you guys think?

 

Wireless/wired Network adapters: depends on which motherboard model I choose, right?

 

That's pretty much it. I've probably forgotten a few things but anyway.

Looking forward for your input and answers people!

 

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

p.s. this should probably be in the beginning of the post, but I know that the Intel Skylakes are out, yet the top line is not out yet. Since it's also a different motherboard chipset than the 2011-3, would it be reasonable to go for a lesser grade Skylake than the 5820K Haswell-E, so as to keep the motherboard in a future upgrade, once the new generation's top line is out?

[joelmcwilliam]

CASE:

 

Fractal design make nice cases. This is a personal choice.

 

Other nice cases:

 

Antec p100/p280/p380

Cooltek w2

Cooler Master Silensio 652s

Corsair 540/760t/780t/450d/550d/650d/750d/900d

Fractal design arc midi r2/arc xl/r5/xl r2/define s

Inwin 901

Nanoxia Deep Silence 2/3

NZXT H440

Phanteks Enthoo Evolv/luxe/primo/pro

Silverstone Fortress ft02b/ft05

 

CPU:

 

Bang for the buck cpu

 

MOBO:

 

Try not to worry to much here. Just buy a board that has every connectivity you need. And yes, asus makes good boards with good fan control in their bios. If you find a board to your liking just do a google search and maybe try to buy the board somewhere local, so in case of failure you know where to go. Try to not overspend on the mobo. Get a bang for the buck mobo. Expensive mobo's won't let your software work any faster.

 

RAM:

 

If I need new ram I just go to the site of kingston or crucial, use there online match motherboard calculator and pick the ram that I like. No need to get the highest clocked ram. The extra ramspeed you just won't notice, so wasted money. Just buy a bang for the buck ram and you are good. No need for ecc ram.

 

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/ECC-and-REG-ECC-Memory-Performance-560/

 

GPU:

 

Get a bang for the buck like a gtx 970. A used gtx 760 or gtx 770 is fine too.

 

COOILING:

 

If you go liquid corsair has some nice coolers. If things get loud you will have to replace the stock fans by (corsair) silent fans. However noctua has some big ass air coolers that are quiet/silent and do cool just as good. It's just up to you to make up your mind and visualize of how you want you machine to look like.

 

SSD:

 

Just get a bang for the buck SSD. No worry's here.

 

PSU:

 

Nice psu's:

 

Be Quiet dark power pro 10/11 series

Corsair HX i series

Corsair RMx series

Super flower leadex gold series

 

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980_10.html#sect0 (done with very power hungry cpu)

http://uk.hardware.info/productinfo/benchmarks/6/3d-chips?tcId=370&specId=16565

 

OS:

 

It's just you own personal preference. They are all fine.

[Nikolaos M]

Hi πατριώτη, και χρόνια πολλά!

 

Let me suggest what I would consider buying, if I was to spend 2K€ in a workstation like this, taking into account, of course, all the programs you mentioned and their orientation in hardware use:

 

1 x Western Digital WD Blue 1TB, 64MB Cache, SATA 6Gb/s (WD10EZEX)

1 x Samsung SSD 950 Pro 512GB, M.2 (MZ-V5P512BW)

1 x Intel Core i7-5820K, 6x 3.30GHz, boxed ohne Kühler (BX80648I75820K)

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

1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 970 ACX 2.0, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort (04G-P4-2972)

1 x ASRock X99 Extreme6/ac (90-MXGWR0-A0UAYZ)

1 x Fractal Design Define S mit Sichtfenster, schallgedämmt (FD-CA-DEF-S-BK-W)

1 x NZXT Kraken X61

1 x Super Flower Golden Green HX 650W ATX 2.3 (SF-650P14XE (HX))

 

The list was made in Geizhals, Germany, and the total cost is around 1880€ without shipping of course.

 

Some comments on what you wrote.

 

Your work is mainly cpu heavy, so the s2011 is the right platform to stick with. It's also widely upgradable and it's going to be more in the near future, especially now that we're waiting for the new broadwell-E processors to appear in the market.

 

No need for dual gpus and sli configuration, for the moment. It only offers performance boost in gaming. And, as you mentioned already, no need for professional gpus in your case.

 

Buy a good cooler and oc your processor. A 4.2-4.3GHz with the 5820K is easy to achieve, with a little study of course, and would pump up your cpu's performance quite a bit.

 

This motherboard has a WLAN too without being too expensive. An Asus Pro or the Deluxe would be my first choice but it's the Samsung 950 you asked that raised the cost significantly. Go for it anyway. It's the fastest consumer ssd in the market right now. Why not building you new system on it?

 

As for the chassis, I really love that one because it has only what's really needed in a modern workstation, except if you plan to use multiple old hdd's (it only has 3x3.5" bays), and it's a great case for AIO cooling systems.

 

ANd last the OS. I'm sticking with W7's for the moment. Most problems are solved. The 10's are still a bit buggy, from what I hear.

 

I h