Freelance machine spec (3D generalist)

[bloggins]

Hi,

Firstly thanks for the info on this site I don't think I could tackle all this without it! I'm building a desktop PC for freelance work - largely 3D work and GPU rendering in blender 50% of the time but also throws in motion graphics, video editing and realtime/vr dev via unreal from time to time. Usual photo editing etc on the side.

List of mainly used software by importance:

Blender (3d modelling, animation, physics simulation, heavy use of geometry nodes, GPU rendering only. Often complex scenes and high res textures)
After Effects
Unreal 5
Substance Designer & Painter
Premiere Pro
Photoshop
ZBrush
Houdini

Secondary to this is gaming and VR gaming using oculus and wireless link - don't want it to influence the build too much but would be interested to know if there's anything to consider performance-wise

So far I've arrived at the below to fit a £3k budget:

Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor
be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Asus ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Seagate IronWolf Pro 4 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Asus TUF GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card
Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair RM1000x (2021) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

Any thoughts on the above spec would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Ben

 

[Jerry James]

be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler

Switch out the cooler to something like either a 360mm AIO liquid cooler or something like a Thermalright Peerless Assassin or Noctua NH-D15 for better thermals and lower noise levels.

Asus TUF GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card

Honestly, the RTX 4080 is priced very ... unattractively in most regions. I'd just recommend springing for an RTX 4090 if you can find one. And what's the price difference between the two in your region?

Blender (3d modelling, animation, physics simulation, heavy use of geometry nodes, GPU rendering only. Often complex scenes and high res textures)

Houdini

If these include any extensive use of core-heavy things like particle effects, etc., you might find better value on the AMD side. If not, your pick of CPU and motherboard will work just fine

 

[bloggins]

Hi James thanks for the info, all really useful.

I think you're right about the GPU, fairly sure I'll upgrade to a founders edition 4090 since it's only around £300 more by the looks of it.

Also tempted by the i9 13900k if that would fit the rest of the build? The vast majority of my work needs single core performance so think I'd benefit from it. Sounds like it's a hot one though so will definitely look into your cooling suggestions

Thanks again

 

[Jerry James]

Sounds like it's a hot one though so will definitely look into your cooling suggestions

Sure is, yep. But we've found the Core i9 13900K to not offer THAT noticeable of an uplift over the Core i7 13700K in most workloads that would warrant dealing with all that heat. Plus core-heavy workloads end up guzzling a ton of power.
If you want to up core counts, a Ryzen 7000/5000 (depending on budget) system is the way to go.