New to PC as longtime pro Apple user - Motion Graphics - Advice Please

[simon8]

I've been using Apple for close to 15 years, and while I'm fine with transitioning to Windows OS, I'm a bit lost on how many variables there are for custom PC's, so looking for some help, please.

- What's your Budget?
My Budget is around $4,000 but I of course wouldn't mind being below, to half that.

- What are your main workloads and secondary workloads?
Typically most of the work I do is digital painting in Adobe Photoshop, but I also do motion graphics and my main workloads for that are in Adobe After Effects, and using 3D FX plugins like Trapcode Form. I also am considering getting into Cinema4D and VR, for part of the reason moving to PC.

- Are you looking to upgrade the PC in the near future?
Not in the near future, but in the future.
So far I've had a new computer around every 5 years. I like to get something awesome with the options to upgrade, but mostly stick to something solid so I don't have to be thinking about changes and can focus more on work.

- What country will you be shopping your parts in? Canada

I need to be able to operate two monitors. One is a Wacom Cintiq, and the other an HD monitor.

I like the looks (and price) of what's on this suggested build for a Motion Graphics PC.
Seems like it would already be double as good as my current 2015 MacBook Pro.

CGDirector PC & Workstation Builder - CG Director

The CGDirector PC-Builder lets you quickly find the best Computer Parts for your PC & Workstation Build. Use cases include 3D-Modeling, Animation, Video-Editing, Motion Design and more.

www.cgdirector.com

Then going up in budget significantly I have an option like this:

CGDirector PC & Workstation Builder - CG Director

The CGDirector PC-Builder lets you quickly find the best Computer Parts for your PC & Workstation Build. Use cases include 3D-Modeling, Animation, Video-Editing, Motion Design and more.

www.cgdirector.com

Now for both, I'd consider trading CPU for a newer AMD like the Ryzen 9 5900X , or of the new ones.
Is it worth the wait?

I wonder how much I'd really notice the difference between those two build options, especially considering the big price difference.
I'm guessing the biggest difference will be noticed in rendering speed?

Any ideas or thoughts on this are much appreciated.

 

[Alex Glawion]

Your workloads scream for a high clocking cpu and not necessarily one that has many cores. The new Ryzen 5xxx series are great for this. They are hard to come by right now but stock is expected to be back in a week or so hopefully.

I'd say it's well worth the wait to get your hands on a 5900X.

Beware that the 2nd build you linked, right now has a very inflated price on the 2080Ti. This GPU should be at around 1100$ (its at 2k$ currently). That said, we don't recommend getting the 2080Ti anymore, but rather the RTX 30xx series of GPUs. The same problem here unfortunately, bad stock. So while these are recommended, there is almost no shop you can buy them at right now.

Here's an updated list that would be great for you, but you'll have to see where you find the cpu and gpu:

CGDirector.com Parts List:

CPU: 5900X 12 Core (should be at US$549.00)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.Black ($99.95)
Motherboard: MSI Tomahawk x570 ATX ($285.40)
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3080 10GB (should be at US$699.99)
Memory: 64GB (4 x 16GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200 C16 ($313.13)
Storage SSD: Samsung 860 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.99)
Storage PCIe-SSD: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 2TB NVME M.2 Solid State Drive ($249.99)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx Series RM750x 750W Power Supply ($140.53)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 ($142.99)
Total: $4126.97

Hope this helps!

 

[simon8]

Thanks much for the info Alex.

For clarification on some of these components.

The Storage SSD: (Samsung 860 EVO 1TB 2.5") would be used for running OS and applications, correct?
While the PCIe-SSD would be used for project space and cache, correct?

Also, since the GPUs and CPUs suggested aren't very available, I'm assuming that this motherboard is able to have something in there temporarily then upgraded once other components are available?

 

[Alex Glawion]

Yes you should use the fastest drive for your project files, and have the os/apps reside on the standard sata ssd, as they don't need as much performance.

You can temporarily get any kind of amd ryzen cpu and any kind of pcie gpu as they all run fine with that motherboard.

 

[simon8]

Great, thanks!