My first PC build - Graphic design workstation and a little bit of gaming (€1500ish budget)

[Guess_Woohoo]

Budget (including currency):

€1500ish

 

 

Country:

Italy

(I know, I know, the PcPartPicker list I'm going to send has 'Germany' set as country. For some reason, if I set 'Italy' as the country, PcPartPicker presents only amazon.it as marchant. In this way the build would be way more expensive compared to what I would really spend. You also can refer to the german version of PcPartPicker for the prices, it's quite realistic)

 

 

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for:

Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign and Clip Studio Paint;

Light video editing;

Games (??).

 

 

Other details:

Hello, LTT Forum!

 

It was unexpected but... it's time for me to build a PC!  

Long story short, I'm a graphic designer and I'm going to update my equipment with a new Wacom Cintiq Pro 24.

Sounds awesome, right? Yeah... since you don't realize that my laptop (a proud "old" Inspiron 7559) doesn't have an USB-C port (with DP Alt Mode), a Display Port or an HDMI 2.0 port. As confirmed by Wacom support, this would affect the 4k and the refresh rate, killing one of the main feature of this machine.  

So? This is stuff I work with, so I said to myself "Let's do it! Let's get a computer too!" At first I thought about buying a new laptop. But great laptops are expensive and, all things considered, my DELL is still okay: it's enough for the few times I have to work on the go. Since I am forced to do this, at least I want to buy the best possible hardware for the budget... a desktop looks like the way to go!

 

After a few weeks of study, asking a lot of advices, watching hours of video tutorials on youtube (thanks, LTT YouTube channel!) and reading stuff on the web (thanks, LTT Forum!)... I think that now I can, finally, put some parts together to build a machine that actually turns on!

 

The machine I'm looking for will be mostly a graphic design workstation.

Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign and Clip Studio Paint are the programs I'll mainly use. Working with really high res image files, with tons of layers. I need a machine not scared to manage heavy multitasking with these, a bunch of Firefox tabs open, maybe a video playing in the background and with at least 2 screens plugged in (one 4k, the Wacom Cintiq Pro, and one 1080p).

Also, I'd also love to be able to do some decent gaming. Not at extreme framerates, the Wacom's 4k panel can't handle more than 60MHz and neither the random 1080p screen I got can. (*)

Ah, I'm slowly understanding how it works and I'm sure I want to experience the thrill of overclocking, one day.

 

Here's the build:

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor  (€417.99 @ Mindfactory)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  (€99.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS MASTER ATX AM4 Motherboard  (€335.48 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  (€151.67 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Western Digital SN750 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (€89.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€60.49 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB GAMING OC Video Card  (€239.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Corsair 275R Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case  (€77.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€99.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1573.22

 

Also, my plan is to add another 2x16gb kit of RAM as soon as possible if necessary (I work with really RAM-eater programs).

(*) And, in an year or two, to upgrade the GPU and buy a more gaming-adequate screen... to boost the gaming performances!

 

What do you think?

 

Thank you!!!

[Mateyyy]

You're overspending on the CPU and especially on the motherboard. Photoshop is mostly single-core reliant, so the 12 cores of the 3900X really won't make a whole lot of a difference.

If you really need 64GB of RAM:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	€287.99 @ Mindfactory
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black 55 CFM CPU Cooler	€69.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 AORUS PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard	€175.80 @ Mindfactory
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	€222.99 @ Amazon Deutschland
Storage	Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	€139.99 @ Amazon Deutschland
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB OC Video Card	€228.00 @ Amazon Deutschland
Case	Corsair 275R Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case	€77.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
Power Supply	Corsair RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	€102.26 @ Amazon Deutschland
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	€1304.83
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-08-08 20:22 CEST+0200

At the same time though, throwing a 3900X in this list would still be cheaper than your list, so you could go that route if you want. Again, it won't help much if at all when it comes with photo editing, but with video editing it might help, at least with export times.

[Slottr]

I would push for at least a 1TB SSD, especially if you use a lot of plugins for the adobe software

[Guess_Woohoo]

23 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

You're overspending on the CPU and especially on the motherboard. Photoshop is mostly single-core reliant, so the 12 cores of the 3900X really won't make a whole lot of a difference.

If you really need 64GB of RAM:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	€287.99 @ Mindfactory
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black 55 CFM CPU Cooler	€69.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 AORUS PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard	€175.80 @ Mindfactory
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	€222.99 @ Amazon Deutschland
Storage	Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	€139.99 @ Amazon Deutschland
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB OC Video Card	€228.00 @ Amazon Deutschland
Case	Corsair 275R Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case	€77.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
Power Supply	Corsair RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	€102.26 @ Amazon Deutschland
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	€1304.83
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-08-08 20:22 CEST+0200

At the same time though, throwing a 3900X in this list would still be cheaper than your list, so you could go that route if you want. Again, it won't help much if at all when it comes with photo editing, but with video editing it might help, at least with export times.

 

Matey, this is exactly one of the comments I was waiting (and hoping) for, thank you!

 

In fact, what I did was trying to build a decent system around the best CPU my budget could afford (knowing that, with RAM, it's the most important thing for the programs of my workflow)... but yeah, sometimes the doubt 'Maybe I'm exaggerating with the CPU?' popped out.

But as I told, I'm really a newbye and I was sure to going to make a lot of... newbie's mistakes!

 

And the motherboard, well... the mobo, as someone that just started to understand how this things works, is probably is one of the most "I'm-not-really-sure-of-what-I'm-doing" things.

I was considering the more priced mobo in order to have something that could handle OC with no problem, also considering the uprades I plan to do in the future.

Again, newbie's mistakes!

 

Yes, maybe at this point I can consider starting with a little more RAM... and maybe get a better GPU?

 

I just have one more question, do you think that the hard drive isn't worth it (just for storage)? I saw you take it off, but a lot of space is a thing that I really need.

 

23 minutes ago, Slottr said:

I would push for at least a 1TB SSD, especially if you use a lot of plugins for the adobe software

 

For sure I'll consider it, now!

[Mateyyy]

Just now, Guess_Woohoo said:

Matey, this is exactly one of the comments I was waiting (and hoping) for, thank you!

 

In fact, what I did was trying to build a decent system around the best CPU my budget could afford (knowing that, with RAM, it's the most important thing for the programs of my workflow)... but yeah, sometimes the doubt 'Maybe I'm exaggerating with the CPU?' popped out.

But as I told, I'm really a newbye and I was sure to going to make a lot of... newbie's mistakes!

 

And the motherboard, well... the mobo, as someone that just started to understand how this things works, is probably is one of the most "I'm-not-really-sure-of-what-I'm-doing" things.

I was considering the more priced mobo in order to have something that could handle OC with no problem, also considering the uprades I plan to do in the future.

Again, newbie's mistakes!

 

Yes, maybe at this point I can consider starting with a little more RAM... and maybe get a better GPU?

 

I just have one more question, do you think that the hard drive isn't worth it (just for storage)? I saw you take it off, but a lot of space is a thing that I really need.

Don't get me wrong, the X570 Aorus Master is very solid, but especially in this kind of a build it's just unnecessary, and you'd be much better off putting the extra money elsewhere. 

The B550 Aorus Pro I picked, for instance, can handle even a 3950X with PBO (a sort of automated overclocking provided by AMD) just fine, and will also provide support for upcoming Zen 3 CPUs.

 

If you need more storage, by all means you can throw in a hard drive in there. They're still good enough for mass storage, if speed is not a priority.

[Guess_Woohoo]

1 minute ago, Mateyyy said:

Don't get me wrong, the X570 Aorus Master is very solid, but especially in this kind of a build it's just unnecessary, and you'd be much better off putting the extra money elsewhere. 

The B550 Aorus Pro I picked, for instance, can handle even a 3950X with PBO (a sort of automated overclocking provided by AMD) just fine, and will also provide support for upcoming Zen 3 CPUs.

 

If you need more storage, by all means you can throw in a hard drive in there. They're still good enough for mass storage, if speed is not a priority.

 

Yes, the hard drive will serve just for mass storage.

 

As for the rest, it's all very clear. Thank you again!