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My first PC Build

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Sean

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Hey,

I'm looking to upgrade from my old mac and get into my first PC. I work in animation and use mainly Cinema 4D with Redshift and After Effects. I'm getting into some Houdini too.
My budget can stretch to around $6000 so as to future proof the PC as much as possible. If I end up spending less, I'd like to have the ability to upgrade in a few years.
I am in New Zealand. This is the build I am looking at, but some parts are not available:

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

CPU: AMD Threadripper 1900X 3.8GHz 8-Core Processor ($289.99) - (not available)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 ($79.90)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X399 Aorus Pro ATX TR4 ($279.99) - (not available)
GPU: Nvidia RTX 2060 6GB - Asus Turbo ($578.49) - (not available)
GPU #2: Nvidia RTX 2060 6GB - Asus Turbo ($578.49) - (not available)
GPU #3: Nvidia RTX 2060 6GB - Asus Turbo ($578.49) - (not available)
GPU #4: Nvidia RTX 2060 6GB - Asus Turbo ($578.49) - (not available)
Memory: 128GB (8 x 16GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4-3200 C16 ($679.99)
Storage PCIe-SSD: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB NVME M.2 Solid State Drive ($129.99)
Power Supply: EVGA Supernova 1200 P2 80+ Platinum Power Supply ($349.99)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99)
Total: $4223.80


A friend of mine with similar needs who is also in NZ has just bought this build:

NZXT H710 Premium Matte White Edition ATX MidTower Gaming Case
Tempered Glass, CPU Cooler Supports Upto 185mm,Video Card
Supports Upto 413mm, 280mm Rad Supported, 7X PCI Slots, Front
2XUSB3.0, 1XType C, HD Audio, NO PSU
Part #: CHANZX071011

Gigabyte Geforce RTX 2080 SUPER WindForce 8G GDDR6

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X 24 Cores / 48 Threads,Socket sTRX4,
UNLOCKED up to 4.5Ghz Precision Boost Freq, 128MB Total Cache,
280W TDP, PCIe 4.0, Compatible Heatsink Required, AMD TRX40
Based Motherboard Required,
Part #: CPUAMD03960X

Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360 RGB (TR4) All in One Watercooling
with 3 X RGB 120MM fan - MAX TDP 300 W Designed for AMD 2nd/3rd
Gen Threadripper
Part #: WTRCLM70360

G.SKILL Trident Z Neo RGB F4-3600C16D-16GTZN 16 GB RAM (2X
8GB) DDR4 3600MHz, CL16 1.35V Desktop Memory, 16-16-16-36
Optimized For AMD Ryzen 3000 CPUs And AMD X570 Motherboards.
Part #: MEMGSK41602

Gigabyte AORUS TRX40 AORUS MASTER EATX For AMD Ryzen
Threadripper TR4. 8XDDR4 DIMM, 3X M.2, 4XPCIE X 16, 1XPCIE X1,
7XUSB, 1XType C, Dual Lan, Wifi Ax+ BT, Internal I/O: 2XUSB 2.0,
2XUSB 3.2, 1X Type C, 2X 12V RGB Header, 2X 5V A-RGB Header
Part #: MBDGBM35913

Crucial BX500 240GB 2.5 inch SSD SATA 6.0GB/s , up to 540MB/s
Read, 500MB/s Write, 7mm,
Part #: HDDCRU20240

Cooler Master MWE 750W 230V 80Plus White PSU MEPS Approved
86/88/85, Low Noise, 3 Year warranty
Part #: PSUCLM1751


The second build is all parts that are available in New Zealand. Would this be a good fit for me? Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Sean.
 
Alex Glawion

Alex Glawion

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Hey Sean,
Yes those parts are a great fit. If you can get your hands on a RTX 3070 or RTX 3080, that GPU would be better value than the 2080 Super. Those new GPUs were released recently though, so they might not be available yet in your region.
 
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seanfred

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Thanks so much for the reply. I'm very much out of my depth here, but keen to get into a PC to speed up my work in 3D animation.

The RTX 3080 is available, so I'll go for one of these.
It seems there is a shortage of Threadripper CPUs and possibly the corresponding motherboard. I've heard that Threadripper is the way to go. Is there a worthwhile alternative or should I be holding out for one of these?

I also came across this build and was keen to get your thoughts:


CPU Intel i9 10900KF 10 Core Max Turbo Frequency 5.3 GHz

Cooler 360MM Radiator with RGB CPU Liquid Cooler

Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix Z490-E LGA1200 M-ATX Motherboard

RAM 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3600Mhz Super High Speed Heatsink Cool Dual channel

SSD 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD

HDD 2TB 3.5" SATA3 Internal HDD

GPU GeForce RTX3080 8GB DDR6X Graphic Card

CASE Deepcool Macube 550 Full Towel

PSU 700W PSU 80+ GOLD

OS MICROSOFT WINDOWS HOME 10 64BIT ENG

WIFI Wireless AC and Bluetooth



Many thanks in advance,
Sean.
 
Jerry James

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If you're running a 10900K and an RTX 3080 in a single system, I'd definitely recommend going for a higher wattage power supply. As for the build, it depends. If you plan on adding more GPUs to assist with renders, Threadripper is the way to go. Is this a render node or are you also going to be working on it?
If it's the latter, wait for Ryzen 5000 to launch tomorrow before making a purchase.
 
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seanfred

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Thanks for all the advice so far. After a bit of back and forth to find what parts are available, I've ended up with these parts:

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X

ASU26108 ASUS ROG ZENITH II EXTREME ALPHA

Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB 32GB RAM 8 X 16GB

Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB

1 x EVG3080 EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 Ultra Graphics Card 10GB

EVG16900 EVGA SuperNOVA 1000W G5 80+ Gold Full Modular Power

NZX071011 NZXT H710 Premium Matte White Edition ATX MidTower

Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360 RGB (TR4) All in One


Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated before I make the purchase.
The budget has been stretched out a bit, so I'm hoping to get a machine that I'll be happy with for a few years to come.

Thanks again,
Sean.
 
Alex Glawion

Alex Glawion

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The great thing about Threadripper is that you can add up to four GPUs in the future. It also has a lot of cores, but seeing that you are doing redshift rendering mostly, this doesn't make a difference really. Threadrippers aren't the fastest in active work performance, and fall behind the newest Ryzens quite a bit, but they are great allround CPUs in the HEDT space.

As always there will be better cpus releasing at some point, but if you need this kind of HEDT performance now, get it now :)
 
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seanfred

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Thanks again for this insight. I'm well out of my depth, but I'm learning.

After your advice, I'm now looking to swap out the Threadripper and motherboard for a Ryzen 9 5900X and a compatible motherboard. It seems that the Threadripper might be overkill and I can get a cheaper build that suits my needs.

I was looking at these options for motherboards:

ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII DARK HERO X570
ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (WI-FI) X570


Or I could go for the Ryzen 5800X with
ASUS ROG STRIX X570-E Gaming

Will the rest of my components work with the Ryzen 5900X setup?

Many thanks again in advance for the invaluable advice.
Sean.
 
Jerry James

Jerry James

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I was looking at these options for motherboards:

ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII DARK HERO X570
ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (WI-FI) X570


Or I could go for the Ryzen 5800X with
ASUS ROG STRIX X570-E Gaming

Will the rest of my components work with the Ryzen 5900X setup?

Many thanks again in advance for the invaluable advice.
Sean.

I'd lean towards the Dark Hero if budget is no issue. The MSI X570 Unify is one of the best value X570 motherboards for high-end users so you could consider that one as well. From a feature POV, there's really not much of a difference at the top end of the product stack. Any specific features you need? Like 10G LAN or Wi-Fi, etc.?

As for the rest of your components, swap out the cooler for one that supports the AM4 socket. The one in your build only supports TR4 :)
 
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