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Upgrading my VFX/3D Rendering Workstation

cgiserban

Hello everyone,

 

I am planning to upgrade my workstation almost completely, around mid-October and I wanted to make sure I am taking good decisions about it. I did quite a bit of research, however, I don't know all the subtleties and I might miss something. I already own the peripherals, storage, an RTX 2080 which I am happy with and I will not upgrade, as well as a PSU (Seasonic Focus Plus+ 650 Watt Gold which I am not entirely sure if it is enough for the rig). The rest of the parts, including the case, I would like to acquire:

 

Budget (including currency): up to £1300

Country: UK

Programs that it will be used for: Maya - Blender - Houdini - Renderman - Arnold - V-Ray (generally 3D/VFX packages and render engines).

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X

This seems to be a beast for its price (£650). Will the next gen maybe beat this big time or there won't be much competition at this price? I consider compromising from other parts for better CPU performance, if that's a possibility, but I am not sure I can find anything better at the moment. I also thought about the prices which might reduce even more on the new gen release, but I am not entirely sure about the dynamics of the tech industry around such releases.

 

RAM: Corsair 163301 Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4 3200Mhz

 

AIO: NZXT Kraken X63 280mm

 

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix X570-F

This is a component that I am not particularly sure about. Looking at reviews, I saw that the x570 competes with the b550 at this price, but my knowledge is a bit limited in what provider to pick / how I would benefit from either of them more than another. ROG seemed to be one of those with great reviews. Would you recommend something else?

 

Case: Here I am not sure yet. I saw multiple options, the most interesting ones being Fractal Meshify C , Lian-Li Lancool II and BeQuiet Pure Base 500DX. I have little to no interest into the whole RGB thingy and I care about raw performance, so if you would be able to guide me a bit with this one it would be great.

 

What would you recommend and what would you change?  

 

 

Thank you,

Serban

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hi and welcome to the forum.

by mid october we'll know what sort of prices and performance to expect from zen 3 and whether it's worth waiting for/paying for.

the rest of the build looks fine. the strix mobo is good, all the three case options you picked are good as well.

for the cooler, I'd go for the arctic freezer II 280 if you can find it. it has similar performance to the kraken, for half the price.

as for ram, see if you can find a 3600c16 kit.

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31 minutes ago, cgiserban said:

What would you recommend and what would you change?  

If you can wait, then wait for the release and subsequent reviews and benchmarks for Zen 3, from the usual suspects:

 

LTT - for watching Linus drop it on day one (destruction testing A++)

Gamers Nexus

Jayztwocents

 

etc

 

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39 minutes ago, cgiserban said:

[snipped and condensed]

 

Programs that it will be used for: Maya - Blender - Houdini - Renderman - Arnold - V-Ray (generally 3D/VFX packages and render engines).

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X

RAM: Corsair 163301 Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4 3200Mhz

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix X570-F

This is a component that I am not particularly sure about. Looking at reviews, I saw that the x570 competes with the b550 at this price, but my knowledge is a bit limited in what provider to pick / how I would benefit from either of them more than another. ROG seemed to be one of those with great reviews. Would you recommend something else?

 

Case: Here I am not sure yet. I saw multiple options, the most interesting ones being Fractal Meshify C , Lian-Li Lancool II and BeQuiet Pure Base 500DX. I have little to no interest into the whole RGB thingy and I care about raw performance, so if you would be able to guide me a bit with this one it would be great.

As boggy77 said, you want to aim for 3600MHz RAM with a CL as low as you can afford/find. 16 is common, 14 is expensive and may ultimately not benefit you much for your expected use.

 

The 3950X is a beast, and will absolutely do what you want, and more. Remember: there is always something better that's going to come out. However, as we are so close to the launch of Zen 3, you should wait on this - if only to see the pricing impact.

 

Motherboard wise, as this is a workstation, and probably not going to be overclocked (much), you could just get whatever is affordable given the RAM spec change above. If the X570 and B550 are the same price, then take the X570, but the B550 is fine. As for brand - all the big names, it tends to come down to little differences like having USB-C front panel connections. Worth spending some time comparing specs for these little things, as the main functionality is going to be the same.

 

As for case... that's a really subjective choice. Beyond making sure it has the functions you need or want (USB-C front etc), it down to what you like the look of, ultimately. I also hate RGB, and I tend to go for Fractal Design cases that have no side window, like the XL R2 (currently housing my main server).

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1 hour ago, boggy77 said:

hi and welcome to the forum.

by mid october we'll know what sort of prices and performance to expect from zen 3 and whether it's worth waiting for/paying for.

the rest of the build looks fine. the strix mobo is good, all the three case options you picked are good as well.

for the cooler, I'd go for the arctic freezer II 280 if you can find it. it has similar performance to the kraken, for half the price.

as for ram, see if you can find a 3600c16 kit.

Thank you so much for your fast reply and truly useful advices! I will definitely consider both the cooler and the 3600mhz ram!

 

24 minutes ago, TehDwonz said:

As boggy77 said, you want to aim for 3600MHz RAM with a CL as low as you can afford/find. 16 is common, 14 is expensive and may ultimately not benefit you much for your expected use.

 

The 3950X is a beast, and will absolutely do what you want, and more. Remember: there is always something better that's going to come out. However, as we are so close to the launch of Zen 3, you should wait on this - if only to see the pricing impact.

 

Motherboard wise, as this is a workstation, and probably not going to be overclocked (much), you could just get whatever is affordable given the RAM spec change above. If the X570 and B550 are the same price, then take the X570, but the B550 is fine. As for brand - all the big names, it tends to come down to little differences like having USB-C front panel connections. Worth spending some time comparing specs for these little things, as the main functionality is going to be the same.

 

As for case... that's a really subjective choice. Beyond making sure it has the functions you need or want (USB-C front etc), it down to what you like the look of, ultimately. I also hate RGB, and I tend to go for Fractal Design cases that have no side window, like the XL R2 (currently housing my main server).

Great to hear your suggestion as well, @TehDwonz! It seems to be a must to upgrade the ram sticks which I will definitely do! I need to have a look into it!

 

When it comes to the CPU, I will wait and see what happens at release with both 3rd and 2nd gen prices. After seeing what happened with 3080 my only concern would be not even having a chance to buy one by December or something like that hahah!

 

Thanks for the motherboard and case advice as well. I will check what the differences are between multiple brands and how that would impact my workflow. 

 

One last thing: Will the 650W PSU that I have enough for my system or is a bit too little? 

 

PS: I love the look of your case, maybe I should take it into consideration. 

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2 minutes ago, cgiserban said:

I will check what the differences are between multiple brands and how that would impact my workflow. 

gamers nexus (youtube channel) has great in depth reviews of cases airflow and noise levels. from what I remember, those three cases are good in his reviews, but you might want to check for yourself.

3 minutes ago, cgiserban said:

Thanks for the motherboard

as for motherboard, there are plenty of x570 boards with bad power delivery that can;t handle a 3950x without overheating. the strix-f is a good board, if it doesn't have all the features you need, let us know what you need or what other boards you're considering and we'll advise on how suitable they are for your build.

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7 minutes ago, cgiserban said:

One last thing: Will the 650W PSU that I have enough for my system or is a bit too little? 

cpu draws 150W, gpu 250W, rest of system 100W. so you're fine with 650W

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26 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

cpu draws 150W, gpu 250W, rest of system 100W. so you're fine with 650W

Oh that's great!

I will come back if I find something concerning the motherboards, as you recommended! 

Thanks for your help!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey! The big day is coming for the AMD release and I came back with 2 questions that I had after investigating what you guys recommended me!

 

1) I realized that it is quite hard to find 3600mhz ram memory that is within my price range. I would like to get 32gb at around £150. It seems like the crucial ballistix used to be a good price and quality but they are all sold out. For me, the 32gb are of big importance, considering that I will be rendering big scenes that need to fit within more than 16gb of memory. In the same time, I could not find a lot of reference of how this difference between 3200/3600mhz influences render times ( i could only find fps comparisons). What would you recommend doing? Should I get 16/24 gb at 3600 / hope the cheaper 3600 come back in stock or just go for the 32gb 3200mhz? 

 

2) The next one is about the AMD release, or better said, the history of these releases, as I think my question might be hard to predict.. Will we get an option with 16 cores at the same release, and if so, will it be available at the same time as the others? I am just curious, knowing that when I was chasing the 3950x last year, it was always hard to find comparing to the 3900.

 

Thank you again :) !  

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