First Time PC build - AFTER EFFECTS / C4D - OCTANE

[teejco]

Taking the leap from Mac to PC and feeling a bit overwhelmed with all these choices. Got a couple builds going on PC part picker, but now I need to narrow it down.

Mainly I do a hybrid of audio, video, and animation in after effects, but would also like to transition into more GPU heavy 3D - Likely C4D + Octane

Any specific recommendations or even just generally how I should spread my spend to maximize would be great. Any good links for beginners building their first PCs or resources are cool too.

Budget is ideally 5k for everything including mouse, keyboard, and monitor ... etc (recommendations for those are appreciated as well) 

Current spec
15.4-inch macbook pro (2880 x 1800)
2.5 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB

Friends suggestion :
[https://pcpartpicker.com/user/teejco/saved/#view=ZvWbhM]

[boggy77]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 3.5 GHz 16-Core Processor	$737.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	$79.90 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard	$299.00 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$159.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$199.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate BarraCuda Compute 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$219.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card	$1234.00 @ Amazon
Case	Fractal Design Meshify S2 ATX Mid Tower Case	$159.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	be quiet! Straight Power 11 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$119.90 @ Amazon
Case Fan	ARCTIC P14 PWM PST (5-pack) 72.8 CFM 140 mm Fans	$35.99 @ Newegg
Monitor	LG 27UK650-W 27.0" 3840x2160 60 Hz Monitor	$399.99 @ B&H
Keyboard	Corsair K68 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard	$99.99 @ Amazon
Mouse	Corsair HARPOON RGB PRO Wired Optical Mouse	$28.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$3775.70
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-20 13:15 EDT-0400

 

[Guest]

Hi

 

Websites like Puget Systems have lots of good info on Workstation builds. You might get some idea of what the best hardware is to suit your needs.

 

https://www.pugetsystems.com/solutions/index.php

[Kirky2k15]

why do you need 128GB of ram and why 2x 2080s?

 

Why not one 2080ti?

[Zando_]

4 minutes ago, lee32uk said:

Hi

 

Websites like Puget Systems have lots of good info on Workstation builds. You might get some idea of what the best hardware is to suit your needs.

 

https://www.pugetsystems.com/solutions/index.php

^^^ This. Puget is excellent, they both sell workstation builds, and actually bench them and compare masses of hardware, and put those numbers and explanations up for everyone. 

[Gamer Schnitzel]

sorry but your friend is an idiot for recommending you 2 graphics cards. please wait for people to help you here and ignore his suggestion. if you have a reason for it then cool but otherwise he's probably just not very good and figured that 2 cards are gonna look "kool".

 

I'd also change the thread title and include those programs you are planning to use to peck the interest of people who actually know more about builds revolving those programs.

[teejco]

Sorry new to the forum and the way I logged in while confirming my email then hitting post I didn't see the pin. 

 

1. Budget & Location

Ideally around $5k USD including mouse, keyboard, monitors ... etc 

2. Aim
Mainly a work computer for 90% after effects, 10% C4D (3D rendering). But would be nice to be able to game as well.

Eventually looking to transition to GPU rendering in Cinema 4D

3. Monitors

Open to suggestions but leaning towards dual over superwide. AE needs height over width to better manage layers, but I could adjust my layout.

4. Peripherals
Suggestions for mouse / keyboard / OS would be great as well

5. Why are you upgrading?

Currently on a macbook pro and It just cant keep up anymore. 4k footage and animation are extremely slow when the scene gets complex, and im looking to get more into 3D so PC seems like the only option. 


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@boggy77
This is great, can you explain a bit more on NVME vs SSD? All I know is one should be regular storage and one should be the "working files drive" Alot of the time when I finish a project I backup to dropbox so I dont need crazy storage on hand, what you suggested 2-4 TB would be great. 

@lee32uk 

Heard good things about pudget, ill check into that a bit more. BUT what are your thoughts on prebuilt machines vs building your own? I really don't know anything about hardware so maybe it's time I bite the bullet and learn if im gonna get serious about this career path? Just feeling overwhelmed by choices I know nothing about. 

 

@Kirky2k15

So from my understanding AE uses tons of RAM to preview as you are working in the file, but again im a beginner when it comes to this side, I know much more about the software workflow. 

 

Totally open to suggestions on cards but I don't even know the difference between regular, ti, super ... etc 

 

^ I do think that Cinema 4D + octane can use multiple cards for rendering and I would love to have something that can render complex animation, particles ..  etc

 

@Gamer Schnitzel

 

I want to eventually transition to GPU rendering, likely with octane. I think multiple cards means faster realtime preview and rendering? 

 

 

 

 

[teejco]

Another note from some friends : 

Hey man! That ram setup is good and will do the job but I would shoot for a higher memory clock speed if you can fit it into the budget. 3200mhz would be great.
For storage I would consider getting a bigger SSD or more storage in general. I would also consider getting an NVME drive and use it as an “active projects” drive.
For the gpus if you are planning on upgrading to 4 cards you will need to get cards that only take up 2 pcie slots. The cards you have now are 2.5 slot cards and you’ll only be able to fit two because of the fat heatsink and fans. There’s basically only two cards you should consider. I’ll link those in a sec. 
also we just got that mobo for a a PC and found out the hard way that it’s a special form factor (ATX-XL or something like that) that’s slightly bigger than the standard ATX size. Make sure the case you get can fit it.

 

ASUS GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11G Turbo Edition GDDR6 HDMI DP 1.4 Type-C graphics card (TURBO-RTX2080TI-11G) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GK2LWDL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_oWsDEbPM8EWN6

EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Xc Hybrid Gaming, 11GB GDDR6, Hybrid & RGB LED Graphics Card 11G-P4-2384-KR https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MGZJP77/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1WsDEbAMXDRDH

 

 

[boggy77]

Hi @teejco, so nvme drives are generally about 6 times faster than sata ssd drives, which in turn are about 6 times faster than normal hdds. With your budget, i've included a very fast nvme to keep your os, software and current projects, and a sata ssd for other projects. You can add a hdd as well for mass storage.

As for ram, in my build i've included 3600c16 ram, which is the optimal speed for ryzen 3000 series. 32gb should be enough for 4k video editing. For 8k, you'll need 64, but that's easy to upgrade as you can just add another of the same kit.

As for gpus, some programs can indeed take advantage of extra gpus. The question is whether you really need it. If you're building this workstation for a professional studio where every second of extra rendering mean hundreds of dollars lost, then sure, go for 2 or 4 gpus. If you're building it for yourself and you work as a freelancer that makes some money out of it, but wouldn't notice the difference between waiting for 7 minutes and waiting for 10 minutes for a render that currently takes an hour on your mac, then don't follow your friend's advice, as you don't need to spend more than 3k on this.

The build i make has the best consumer cpu and best consumer gpu currently on the market. For anything better, you need to go into professional stuff, that is at least twice as expensive.

[Guest]

13 hours ago, teejco said:

Sorry new to the forum and the way I logged in while confirming my email then hitting post I didn't see the pin. 

 

1. Budget & Location

Ideally around $5k USD including mouse, keyboard, monitors ... etc 

2. Aim
Mainly a work computer for 90% after effects, 10% C4D (3D rendering). But would be nice to be able to game as well.

Eventually looking to transition to GPU rendering in Cinema 4D

3. Monitors

Open to suggestions but leaning towards dual over superwide. AE needs height over width to better manage layers, but I could adjust my layout.

4. Peripherals
Suggestions for mouse / keyboard / OS would be great as well

5. Why are you upgrading?

Currently on a macbook pro and It just cant keep up anymore. 4k footage and animation are extremely slow when the scene gets complex, and im looking to get more into 3D so PC seems like the only option. 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@lee32uk 

Heard good things about pudget, ill check into that a bit more. BUT what are your thoughts on prebuilt machines vs building your own? I really don't know anything about hardware so maybe it's time I bite the bullet and learn if im gonna get serious about this career path? Just feeling overwhelmed by choices I know nothing about.

I would say have a word with Puget if you are based in the USA. That way you will get a good idea of the best system. No offence to anyone on here, but if you are spending $5K you want to get it right.

 

https://www.pugetsystems.com/contact_expert.php

 

You can still build your own if you want, once you know what the best options are. 

[teejco]

@boggy77

A big part of it is being compatible to upgrade if I need so this is definitely helpful. Sounds like eventually I could just get another card down the road if I get more heavily into 3D.

 

And yea, anything shorter than a 3hr render on my laptop would be a huge upgrade for me.

 

You're at $3775, but is there any particular area I could spend my reminding $1000 ish for better all around performance? I budgeted for 5k and my goal is to write it off on my taxes anyways. More cores and faster GHz? More RAM? 

 

@lee32uk

Absolutely, its the most money ive spend on basically anything so I really want to maximize my budget

 

 

 

Really just want to get to the point where I can preview what im working on in close to full quality / real time, that has been my single biggest holdup. Renders I usually just leave overnight. 

 

 

[boggy77]

30 minutes ago, teejco said:

@boggy77

A big part of it is being compatible to upgrade if I need so this is definitely helpful. Sounds like eventually I could just get another card down the road if I get more heavily into 3D.

 

And yea, anything shorter than a 3hr render on my laptop would be a huge upgrade for me.

 

You're at $3775, but is there any particular area I could spend my reminding $1000 ish for better all around performance? I budgeted for 5k and my goal is to write it off on my taxes anyways. More cores and faster GHz? More RAM? 

 

@lee32uk

Absolutely, its the most money ive spend on basically anything so I really want to maximize my budget

 

 

 

Really just want to get to the point where I can preview what im working on in close to full quality / real time, that has been my single biggest holdup. Renders I usually just leave overnight. 

 

 

you could get a 1000w PSU to make sure that you can handle andother GPU if you decide to throw one in and a second monitor if you use 2 monitors. you could go up to 64gb ram but as I said, it's not needed unless you do 8k video editing.

[teejco]

Cool, im gonna rebuild this on PC with the updated power supply and +1 monitor maybe ram and see where that puts me. 

 

Any advice on OS. Home or Pro? 

 

Anything else im missing? 

[teejco]

*getting notes from a friend

 

Looking at the monitor this has AMD freesync, but my friend said I should be cognizant of G-sync compatibility?

 

Can this card utilize that? 

[boggy77]

20 minutes ago, teejco said:

*getting notes from a friend

 

Looking at the monitor this has AMD freesync, but my friend said I should be cognizant of G-sync compatibility?

 

Can this card utilize that? 

i picked the monitor with the best colour accuracy there is, apart for the very expensive $4000 ones. nvidia cards now work with freesync monitors so that isn't a problem. you can buy a 4k high quality monitor for editing, like the one i have in my build and another 1440p 144fps gsync for gaming if you want.

in terms of OS, I really don't know what the differences are, but you can buy cheap keys on ebay

[teejco]

@boggy77

Cool, gonna send this around for any final notes but I think im getting close! 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/teejco/saved/cNXYgs

[boggy77]

1 hour ago, teejco said:

@boggy77

Cool, gonna send this around for any final notes but I think im getting close! 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/teejco/saved/cNXYgs

not the G3 psu, get this instead

Corsair HX Platinum

the rest looks good, enjoy!

[teejco]

@boggy77

 

Got a bit of wiggle room, was wondering if I should go up to 64gb ram?

 

Should I get 2 x 32s / 4 x 16s? Specific recommendations for this build - https://pcpartpicker.com/user/teejco/saved/#view=cNXYgs

[teejco]

@boggy77

 

*getting notes from a friend

 

Looking at the monitor this has AMD freesync, but my friend said I should be cognizant of G-sync compatibility?

 

Can this card utilize that? 

 

Not sure what the difference is

[boggy77]

7 hours ago, teejco said:

@boggy77

 

Got a bit of wiggle room, was wondering if I should go up to 64gb ram?

 

Should I get 2 x 32s / 4 x 16s? Specific recommendations for this build - https://pcpartpicker.com/user/teejco/saved/#view=cNXYgs

if doing 4k video editing, 32gb are enough. if doing 8k video editing, go for 64. if you go down this route, get 2x32. 

Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 64 GB

 

7 hours ago, teejco said:

Looking at the monitor this has AMD freesync, but my friend said I should be cognizant of G-sync compatibility?

freesync monitors have been compatible with nvidia cards for a few years now.

the gsync alternative is 3 times more expensive. given your budget, you may want to go with it anyway

Acer Predator X27 Pbmiphzx

[teejco]

@boggy77

 

Thanks for all your help so far. 

 

Got the cpu, cooler, ram, and nvme installed and now I’m prepping the case. Any tips to optimize fan setup? 
 

I have the 3 that came with the Meshify s2 + the 5 pack you recommended. Should I use them all, and if so what directions? Looks like the case supports 9 total.

 

 

[boggy77]

intake front and bottom, exhaust back and top. install as many as possible

[teejco]

@boggy77

 

cool getting ready to do a post test, another question was which DDR4 slots should I use? 

 

I went with with the 2 x 32s

 

 

[Guest]

The Ram looks fine as you have it. 

[teejco]

@lee32uk cool thanks!

 

Next question,

 

The graphics card has two 8 pin inputs and one 6 pin input. 

 

The corsair 1000x power supply has slots for 6+2 PCIe & 4 + 4 CPU.

 

Is this the correct cable? - PCIe 8 Pin (6+2) cable 

 

Should I use one for the 2x8 and another for the 6pin and have excess unused?