Is this PC build good for 2D and 3D animation?

[Luka Palmer]

CGDirector.com Parts List: https://www.cgdirector.com/pc-builder/?=6LRx5

CPU: Intel i5 10600k 4.1GHz 6-Core Processor ($267.66)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S ($59.95)
Motherboard: MSI Z490-A Pro ATX LGA1200 ($159.99)
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1660 6GB - EVGA XC Gaming ($349.66)
Memory: 16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200 C16 ($70.99)
Storage PCIe-SSD: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB NVME M.2 Solid State Drive ($79.99)
Power Supply: Corsair CX Series CX550M 550W ATX 2.4 Power Supply ($79.99)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($98.99)
Total: $1167.22

I'm doing a bachelor of animation next year, is this build good enough for 2D and 3D animation?

 

[Jerry James]

At that price, yep this is a great build. Another option is to get a Ryzen 5 5600X for $300 (if you can find one in your region at that price) and drop the motherboard to something in the $100-120 range to stay within budget. It'll perform a bit better than the Intel part. Let me know what price you're able to find a 5600X for in your region, and if it's reasonable, I can suggest a motherboard to go with it.

 

[Luka Palmer]

Thank you Jerry, all of these parts are slightly more expensive for me as I live in Australia but are still within my budget. The Intel CPU costs $400 in my region, whereas the Ryzen is only slightly more expensive at $470. I'm definitely happy to pay a bit extra if the Ryzen will perform better than the Intel part. Please let me know which motherboard you would suggest.

 

[Jerry James]

It IS better, but I'm not sure it warrants a $70 price bump, to be honest. Seems a bit too steep for me. For your studies, you could probably also make do with a Ryzen 5 3600 (if you can get it for a good price) and then swap it out for a 5600X or something if/when you start working on more complex scenes with more layers. We should have cheaper options then. At the moment, I'd put the money saved towards an RTX 3060 Ti (if you can find one).

The Intel processor is a good choice, but the only issue would be the future upgradability. If you get into any sort of core-heavy work down the line, the maximum you can upgrade to on the Intel platform would be a 10-core processor, while AMD would allow for up to a 16-core drop-in upgrade.

 

[Luka Palmer]

Okay, thank you for the advice!