Striking out on my own

[dustinowens]

Hey guys, long time reader here getting ready to separate from my current company and start my own studio. I'm leaving with full blessings from my current company and the option to purchase the PC that I've been using for the past couple years. The question that I have is do I buy the PC that I've been using (3yrs old specs below) or would I be better served by buying something new for the same cost or less?

 

Current PC - Offered selling price $1500

- Video Card: Nvidia Quadro M4000

- Processor: Intel i7 5930K @ 3.5 ghz

- Ram: 64 gb 2133mhz (not sure of the actual type)

 

I know that's a monster video card but I also know I can get a lot for $1500 in a desktop these days.

 

Thanks for the input guys!

[Nikolaos M]

1500$ is enough for a mid range WS. What's the software you're using? And which renderer are you using for the final product?

[dustinowens]

1500$ is enough for a mid range WS. What's the software you're using? And which renderer are you using for the final product?

 

My bad for not including that info in there.. kind of important to the question... I'm using 3D Studio max with Vray

[John Dollus]

3-5 years is about EOL these days for someone competing in the open market so it's pretty close to the red zone right now. You can spend the same amount of money on a new desktop that will provide you better upgrading options over the next 3-5 years to stay competitive and maximize your investment.

It's important to note that software licenses (including the OS that's installed on your work system) are often not transferable from corporation to individual so you will have zero support or upgrade options after you buy their old hardware.

Vray will run you $470 for an annual license plus on-demand cloud rendering at about $5-$10 per image using their service. Max is $195 per month and Photoshop is $10-$53/month depending on which package so make sure to factor in those basic expenditures on day one.

[dustinowens]

3-5 years is about EOL these days for someone competing in the open market so it's pretty close to the red zone right now. You can spend the same amount of money on a new desktop that will provide you better upgrading options over the next 3-5 years to stay competitive and maximize your investment.

It's important to note that software licenses (including the OS that's installed on your work system) are often not transferable from corporation to individual so you will have zero support or upgrade options after you buy their old hardware.

Vray will run you $470 for an annual license plus on-demand cloud rendering at about $5-$10 per image using their service. Max is $195 per month and Photoshop is $10-$53/month depending on which package so make sure to factor in those basic expenditures on day one.

 

I've got the software part of it all nailed down already so the $1500 is just for the hardware. That's about what I was expecting to hear on the EOL part. This is a great workstation but I kind of get the feeling that I could build something just as good, if not better for that kind of cash or close to it at least. Unfortunately, it appears that the links inside the stickies for new pc builds are out of date or broken. I'm not afraid of building my own, I used to do it all the time in another life, lol, but I am very much out of the loop as far as what's actually available anymore. Do you have any suggestions as to where to look? It would be nice to find a base model build that I could tweak for my own needs.

[Nikolaos M]

PCPartPicker Part List

The specific air-cooler is fairly new, but it's the best air-cooler ever tested to date. So, I would insist on that.

The cpu will be more than twice as fast in Vray rendering compared to the 5930K.

The 1660Ti would be more than enough for max viewports ect.

 

https://benchmark.chaosgroup.com/cpu?id=5380&search_string=3900

[Francisco Penaloza]

If you are going solo, I would recommend at least trying to get a second machine for rendering only. I know you can send to cloud rendering for large prints or animations but, never the less there is always the main advantage in having a second machine rendering test while you keep working.

I am not sure if paying $1500 for an older machine is a good choice, you can buy pretty good machines on eBay for $800 or less.

If I have that budget I would rather build a new machine with more cores, such a RYZEN.

The Quadro M4000 is an aging video card for today's standard, it is pretty good if you do CAD work but for anything interactive, it will slow down considerably, besides you can buy a used one for a lot cheaper.

 

The machine that Nikolaos would be a better investment for that price tag.

Later on you could invest in a better video card such an RTX 2070 or similar.

[dustinowens]

PCPartPicker Part List

The specific air-cooler is fairly new, but it's the best air-cooler ever tested to date. So, I would insist on that.

The cpu will be more than twice as fast in Vray rendering compared to the 5930K.

The 1660Ti would be more than enough for max viewports ect.

 

https://benchmark.chaosgroup.com/cpu?id=5380&search_string=3900

 

Thanks a ton for putting this together. This looks like exactly what I need! I appreciate the time it took you to toss this together. One question, do you have a 2nd choice for coolers? It looks like that Zalman air cooler is going to be difficult to find. Nothing on Amazon right now nor in google shopping.

[Nikolaos M]

Yeap, it's fairly new to the market. Not available yet.

If you can stretch the budget a tiny bit, go for a high end AIO, like this one https://pcpartpicker.com/product/2RdFf7/nzxt-kraken-x62-rev-2-982-cfm-liquid-cpu-cooler-rl-krx62-02

The 3900X runs hot while rendering, and even top air-coolers can't keep up with its heat. So, a safer choice for rendering would be a beefy AIO.

[dustinowens]

Yeap, it's fairly new to the market. Not available yet.

If you can stretch the budget a tiny bit, go for a high end AIO, like this one https://pcpartpicker.com/product/2RdFf7/nzxt-kraken-x62-rev-2-982-cfm-liquid-cpu-cooler-rl-krx62-02

The 3900X runs hot while rendering, and even top air-coolers can't keep up with its heat. So, a safer choice for rendering would be a beefy AIO.

 

Ok, one last post here and I think I'm going to be ready to pull the trigger. I ran across another PC build that has a bit lesser processor but better video card. When compared side by side, would you still suggest going with the Ryzen 9 build or the Ryzen 7 build? I guess I'm slightly concerned about the heat coming from the 9. I put the high end AIO in the build as you suggested... Also, I have windows 10 pro 32/64bit added to both of these builds but I also have a free copy of Windows 7 Pro at home. Would you recommend sticking with 7 or going up to 10?

 

Ryzen 9 - https://pcpartpicker.com/list/RWBzXv

 

Ryzen 7 - https://pcpartpicker.com/list/sZzXV7

[Tim Holmes]

absolutely go windows 10 -- windows 7 is EOL and now unsupported DO NOT tempt that particular problem -- particularly if your business is depending on it

 

TIM

[John Dollus]

Ok, one last post here and I think I'm going to be ready to pull the trigger. I ran across another PC build that has a bit lesser processor but better video card. When compared side by side, would you still suggest going with the Ryzen 9 build or the Ryzen 7 build? I guess I'm slightly concerned about the heat coming from the 9. I put the high end AIO in the build as you suggested... Also, I have windows 10 pro 32/64bit added to both of these builds but I also have a free copy of Windows 7 Pro at home. Would you recommend sticking with 7 or going up to 10?

 

Ryzen 9 - https://pcpartpicker.com/list/RWBzXv

 

Ryzen 7 - https://pcpartpicker.com/list/sZzXV7

 

I'd go for the RTX vid card chipset and the Ryzen 7. Also, win10 for the same reason mentioned above. Maintaining updated vid drivers will be very important.

[Amen]

Have you decided yet? I would go for this https://geizhals.de/?cat=WL-1461526.

If you have a better budget get a 3970x. you would not need any rendernodes.

 

One other thing about cooling. I am using a Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 on the 3970x threadripper and I do not go above 65° C when rendering.

Just beware you need lower profile ram or at least 185mm space for the 14cm fans in your case.

[dustinowens]

Thanks every one that helped with their input on this! I decided to go with the Ryzen 9 build except I did swap out the single 1.5tb crucial ssd for the Samsung EVO 500gb ssd and a 4tb Toshiba drive. I kept with the lesser video card in the Ryzen 9 build since, as long as I'm doing CPU rendering I should be leaps and bounds above what I'm using right now and, when my budget permits again, I can always upgrade the vid card down the road if I needed to.