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3D modeling and gpu rendering desktop

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Hi community!
I decided to get hands on buying and building my own desktop pc. Sadly, after googling and youtubing a lot, I'm finding out that it's not that easy haha.
I've seen similar posts so I'll try to go straight to the point.

I work with 3ds max (modeling and some particle simulations) and vray cpu right now. I want to move to gpu rendering asap (be it vray, octane, redshift or whatever), mostly thinking on product animation, and forget about cpu rendering.
I also use photoshop very often, some after effects to do some minor compositing and adding tracked text, and (and this is an absolute must) I want to be able to use unreal engine with real time ray traced reflections.
No gaming
at all. And I would be using a 1080*1920 22" screen.

I can't share a number for the budget because prices here are very fluctuating. EDIT: TODAY, as long as the economy doesn't blow up again in my country, the following setup is something between 1500usd, using a 3060ti, and 1900usd, with a 3080

So, this is what I have in mind

-Cpu Ryzen 5 5600x
-Gpu rtx 3060ti or 3080 because of increased vram (this is the only part in which I'd consider spending up to an extra 300usd)
-Mother rog strix x570 e gaming
-RAM CORSAIR 2x16GB 3200MHZ Vengeance LPX
-Ssd 1tb M.2 Nvme Falcon Adata
-Psu gigabyte g750h 750w gold

My general idea with this build was to get a reasonable single-core performance and a strong gpu performance.
I'm not sure if this setup makes sense. Is the motherboard okay?
Are 750w okay for the psu in the case of the 3060ti? I've read that I should aim to 80% capacity when working. Is that correct? I also know nothing about psu models beyond that gold is better and I shouldn't go cheap on psu.
And regarding ram and storage I have absolutely no idea. I mean, I know that I want 32gb and a fast 1tb disk (I aim to use 2x2tb hdd WD Elements for storage and backup). But, once again I know nothing about brands and models.
Do you have any suggestions to improve the setup or any critical issues that should be fixed?

Laptop Thinkpad yoga 14 20fy002us
I5 6200u
Gpu geforce 940m 2gb vram
8gb ram

This new setup would be a HUGE jump
Feel free to roast the new setup 😅
Thanks in advance!

Manuel
 
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Alex Glawion

Alex Glawion

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High single core performance and strong gpu performance is how I prefer it. There really is no reason to get a bunch of cores if your main render engines are or will be gpu based.

You could get away with a b550 Motherboard such as the MSI Tomahawk B550, though the x570 e-gaming is ok.

If you'll go with the 3080 I'd suggest to go with the 850W PSU to be on the safe side. See if you can find a good one from beQuiet, Corsair or seasonic with a high efficiency as those tend to be among the best.

Your RAM and Storage Choices look good. I prefer the XPG series from Adata, but it might come at a slightly higher cost.

What kind of CPU cooler are you aiming for? I can suggest the beQuiet Dark Rock Pro 4.

Looks good to me so far! :)
 
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Hey Alex. Thanks for answering. I've done some intensive reading after seeing your comment and I have some questions.

You could get away with a b550 Motherboard such as the MSI Tomahawk B550, though the x570 e-gaming is ok.

Just checking if I understood everything I've read. Things I would be missing if I go for the b550 Tomahawk instead of the x570 e-gaming and some comments on each point:

- 2-way SLI (just learned what this is) // As Vram is my main concern I won't be using multi gpu for a long time so I don't need this feature by now, right?
- 2 PCIe x16 instead of 3 // I'm not sire of O got this right. That extra PCIe x16 would only make sense for a multi-gpu build, or if I plan to be constantly moving huge amounts of data/files, right? So, again, I don't need it
- No on-board wifi // I don't care
- PCIe 3.0 instead of 4.0 between cpu and chipset // Is it possible that this will bottleneck the build's viewport and gpu rendering performance by a noticiable amount?
- less USB ports // I can live with it

Are all of this points correct?

I find the Tomahawk to be way cheaper, even here in Argentina, so, if what I just said is okay, I'll definitely go that way. I suppose it sure has a solid building quality.
Will I be able to add and extra internal ssd or hdd to this build?
Also, I didn't know up until now that the 5600x's stock cooler was not enough so I'd be more than happy to save those extra bucks on the motherboard for the cooler you suggested 😁


Your RAM and Storage Choices look good. I prefer the XPG series from Adata, but it might come at a slightly higher cost.

I know nothing about ram and storage so I'll keep this suggestion in mind and check prices and stock.

I learned more about computer hardware in the last 3 weeks or so than in my entire life 😂

EDIT: I've also read something about a BIOS update that I'll need to do in order to be able to use Ryzen 5000 series that I didn't fully understand. Is it hard to do?
 
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Alex Glawion

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Dual GPU is pretty neat when doing gpu rendering. No need for SLI or NVLINK, you can just add in a second gpu and see your rendertimes half. Personally, I'd want to keep the option to add a second gpu in the future, even if you pay 50$ more for a better motherboard now.

You should be comparing a b550 to a higher-end x570 board such as the MSI Unify x570 or Asus WS Ace x570. These actually have decent pcie bandwidth on the second or even third pcie slot. You can run 3 gpus on the Ace at x8 pcie speeds, or two on the Unify at x16, x8.

You can run GPUs at pcie3 speeds without any issues or slowdowns. There aren't any gpus out yet that would need the speed of a pcie4 x16 bandwidth.

You can add sata hdds, and sata ssds, I think up to 6 to both b550 and x570.

Most boards should already ship with the new bios that supports 5xxx series cpus, if it does not, you can do a bios upgrade through the motherboard if it supports this.
 
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, I'd want to keep the option to add a second gpu in the future, even if you pay 50$ more for a better motherboard now.
Totally agree. Do you have any other motherboard models to recommend? MSI Unify x570 or Asus WS Ace x570here are $500 :) :) :) :) :) (yes. that's two zeros) more expensive. Probably they're simply not being imported here so the price skyrocketed for those.
Thanks!
 
Jerry James

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Totally agree. Do you have any other motherboard models to recommend? MSI Unify x570 or Asus WS Ace x570here are $500 :) :) :) :) :) (yes. that's two zeros) more expensive. Probably they're simply not being imported here so the price skyrocketed for those.
Thanks!

Yikes. That's horrendous. Check for X570 Aorus Pro or the ASRock X570 Taichi prices in your region :)

Edit: I usually don't recommend the X570-E because it's not good value. But in your region...it might actually be. Can say for sure only once I know the price difference for the above two boards :D
 
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It is horrendous indeed 😐

X570-e Gaming Rog Strix Asus $240

GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Pro (WIFI) $240

ASRock X570 Taichi $650 (Unify x570, is that you again?)

So I should go for the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Pro?
 
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Jerry James

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It is horrendous indeed 😐

X570-e Gaming Rog Strix Asus $240

GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Pro (WIFI) $240

ASRock X570 Taichi $650 (Unify x570, is that you again?)

So I should go for the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Pro?

Wow, in that case, go X570-E. I asked you about the Aorus just to check how much a cheaper board costs (for reference, MSRPs are $269 for the Gigabyte and $330 for the ASUS, iirc). Run towards that ASUS X570-E Strix as fast as you can.
 
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Thanks a lot guys! I'll stick to your recommendations 💪

Cheers

PS: In case you're curious, here I explain, in a very rough manner, why do we find those prices here.

it complicated but, basically, there are two local currency (ars) to usd exchange ratios at the same time, but only certain activities have acces to the lower one.
So, for some products (I guess the x570-e Gamming is one of them) you can find this odd situations where (and this is just a guess) retailers buyed at a lower ars to usd exchange ratio and that allows them to keep prices, when payed in local currency, lower than what I'd be paying if I (or any regular person) buyed directly from the US.
That being said, the equivalent to 240 usd, if we consider the practical, and higher, exchange ratio (the one that I and most people have access to), is still a huge amount of money. You can almost rent a decent size house in the city for a month.
 
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Hey guys. Me again. Do you think the setup with your recomendations (mostly worried about be quiet dark rock pro 4) will fit inside a be quiet pure base 500dx case? Also, is a case like that worth it or would I be spending in something not so important?
Thanks!
 
Jerry James

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Hey guys. Me again. Do you think the setup with your recomendations (mostly worried about be quiet dark rock pro 4) will fit inside a be quiet pure base 500dx case? Also, is a case like that worth it or would I be spending in something not so important?
Thanks!
Case choice is mostly up to you and your regional availability. No reason to overspend as long as the case you pick is compatible with all your components and has decent airflow.
 
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Thanks for answering Jerry. Would you say that the mentioned case would be overspending?
 
Jerry James

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Thanks for answering Jerry. Would you say that the mentioned case would be overspending?
Can't say for sure as it varies by region. Around me, beQuiet! stuff is super expensive. What are other options in the same price range around you? Check for prices of mid-tower mesh cases like Cooler Master's TD500 and Lian Li's LANCOOL II Mesh as you're just going to be using a single graphics card.
 
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Sorry for such a delayed answer. Last weeks were crazy. Those two models are not available here 🙁
I'm planning to eventually get a second GPU so I'd rather leave that door open.
Is there any way to check if my setup will fit inside a particular case without having it in my hands?
 
Jerry James

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Sorry for such a delayed answer. Last weeks were crazy. Those two models are not available here 🙁
I'm planning to eventually get a second GPU so I'd rather leave that door open.
Is there any way to check if my setup will fit inside a particular case without having it in my hands?
There are ways. You'll just have to look at clearances and hardware physical specifications to see if they'll fit. If you just want to check whether you can add another graphics card to your setup, a rough way to go about it would be to count the number of removable PCI-E slot covers on the case.

1613288770434.png
This beQuiet! case, for example, has 7 of those covers. If you're considering blower models, you'll need to allocate one pair (2) for each additional graphics card. For newer RTX 3080 and 3090 triple-slot cards, you'll need 3 per card.
 
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Okay. That's some good info. Thanks as always Jerry!
I already bought some components. I'll keep you updated 😁
 
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Well, I already have a CPU, a freakin cool motherboard a massive be quiet DR P4 cooler AND...



In the last few weeks GPUs prices went up to prices I never thought I would see (not even here). And they were already high as f.
I'm so frustrated and pissed off... 😑


Soooo I'm considering a second hand cheap GPU to use it as a place holder and keep it that way until prices get NOT SO unreachably high.
My options seem to be a gtx 960, 970, a 1030, a 1050, a 1050ti or a 1060. Anything beyond that is just too much money for something that I'll replace asap. Of course, no GPU rendering for me for a long time.
I have a Ryzen 5600x CPU, Rog Strix x570 e gaming motherboard and 32gb of RAM, as I was planning. Are there any possible incompatibilities between any of these components and the before mentioned GPUs besides an obvious bottle necking? Should I have any specific precautions when shopping any of those GPUs? Would you advice me to do things differently?

Thank you for reading
 
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In fact I didn't check any small ones. I'll give them a try. Thanks for the advice!
 
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