Workstation build for 3D rendering

[Lorkhan420]

Budget (including currency): preferred ~ 3.5k USD/ Max 4k USD 

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Main focus of the build would be for 3d modelling/rendering with some animations with mid to high poly count. I would primarily be using DAZ 3D Studio and Blender to model and animate, (most of the work will be done in Blender, DAZ is just a part of my workflow), GIMP for making touchups on finished renders. I would be rendering through Blender with the AMD ProRender plugin. Using DAZ and Blender because I can't afford the costs associated with other programs as well as familiarity with them, (in addition to the assets available through DAZ are a bonus so I don't have to feel like I'm constantly reinventing the wheel or lacking in the inspiration department).   

Other details: 

Just for clarification my current PC will still be my daily driver for when I'm not working on renders and animations (I won't be able to use the workstation while it's rendering), so I won't be reusing the parts for the new PC.

Current build:

MB: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI)

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600

GPU: XFX Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB THICC III Ultra

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16

PS: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 750 W 80+ Gold

 

Planned build Workstation v.1: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/mHrH9r

 

I intend to upgrade storage as needed, would like to eventually have dedicated storage to backup my projects and work. I have all of my peripherals and case fans already. I may do some video editing on the machine as needed but my current pc will still be used for most of my other work and gaming. 

 

My concerns/questions: 

The GPU selection, I'm not familiar with Gigabyte, (as in I've never owned one of their products) but chose it based on budget concerns, would prefer to use XFX as my current GPU has been excellent but that would put me over with the way the market is now.

 

RAM choice, based on this info I found in this thread on reddit I'm not sure how to get the desired 64gb of ram for the build.

 

 https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/s8elik/4_sticks_ram_vs_2/

 

Cooling, I'd like to stick with air cooling if possible as I've never used water-cooling, but not sure if the NH-D15 with the case fans in a positive pressure setup would be sufficient, as I don't know what temps to expect and am unsure of the best cooling solution, and tbh having another point of failure in the system intimidates me a bit especially when there's water involved.

 

I'd like to stick to AMD products as I'm not a big fan of Nvidia or Intel, plus I want to take advantage of smart access memory and use both the cpu and gpu for rendering with ProRender.

Not sure how to bring the budget down any further as I already made some concessions I'm not exactly thrilled with, but any help in that department would be appreciated. 

Also any additional advice to questions I probably should have but lack the knowledge to ask would be more than welcome.

 

I'm not trying to get into a debate as to why, since I made this post for assistance on my build, but I have my reasons as to why I won't purchase a Nvidia GPU. I'm aware of the difference in performance and the lack of support that comes with that choice and I'm fine with that decision. 

 

Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. Thanks in advance.  

 

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by Lorkhan420
clarification

[Somerandomtechyboi]

14 minutes ago, Lorkhan420 said:

Current build:

MB: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI)

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600

GPU: XFX Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB THICC III Ultra

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16

PS: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 750 W 80+ Gold

 

Planned build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/mHrH9r

Bruh you can reuse everything other than ofc the cpu, rams, and cooler

 

Dark hero is for subzero overclocking only, completely useless when running it on ambient cooling, even more of a paperweight when left stock

 

Those are m.2 sata not nvme, prefferably go for a cheaper drive like the inland platinum or z330

 

Ram config is garbage as it stresses the crap out of the imc, go for a 2x32 kit instead

 

Fullprice for windows is a terrible idea, cheapkeys sites like scdkey sell em for 20$, for that particular site theres a 30-40% disc with a code at the intro of tech yes city vids

[jaslion]

Nvidia is far superior for 3d rendering when using the ray tracing cores. It can be multiple times faster than amd currently. Smart access memory is also available on nvidia they just call it resizable bar.

 

I really recommend nvidia over amd here.

 

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/bb7Pxs

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($699.00 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Scythe FUMA 2 51.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($169.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX500 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($174.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB LHR 10 GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING LHR Video Card  ($1685.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case  ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 PST 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans 5-Pack  ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $3562.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-01-20 13:40 EST-0500

 

This is about 500$ cheaper but a lot better.

 

You really don't need such an expensive board it doesn't do anything extra for you

The ssd setup is configured as the 980pro as the main work scratch drive and then whatever ssd for more storage.

4000d has far better airflow just add fans hence the 5pack of great fans

You can add the 6800xt but it will be worse in any rendering task than the 3080.

5950x instead of 5900x because it's in budget easily.

Cooler is enough you can get better but this is fine and quiet.

Psu plenty enough for the system no need for 1000w.

No windows because go on ebay and get one for 3$.

2x32gb kit so you can upgrade more easily.

 

Is the other build meant to stay whole? Otherwise you can recycle a decent bit from there.

 

 

[Dr0idGh0sT]

Here is an edited list: 

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/s6kLrD

 

Motherboard is still overkill, But with this one you are getting better features at least. Upgraded CPU and list is same price.

[Lorkhan420]

Thanks for the advice! You guys gave me some stuff to think about and more to research but working on v.2 now.

 

@Somerandomtechyboi I didn't realize those weren't NVME thanks for pointing that out. I would reuse parts but I still need my current PC for everything else.

Oh and I didn't intend to pay full retail for windows, that's just in the list as a reminder to myself so I don't forget. I didn't know that about that MB, that's good to know. Mainly picked that board because I don't want to have to update the bios for the CPU, but I have an alternative that should be fine now that also addresses the concerns I had about RAM thanks to @Dr0idGh0sT, thanks for the recommendation for the Asus ProArt X570 MB and the NVME drives. 

 

@jaslion I appreciate the advice, I edited my post for clarity's sake concerning that. I'm aware of the performance gains, just would rather improve on what I'm currently working with and stay within the confines of AMD products, (not for any fanboy reasons, just really don't like NVidia as a company due to their business practices and don't want to support them as a customer.) I looked at the scythe but I'm just concerned about the temps at full workload and less concerned about noise. I would go with an AIO for performance reasons, but too worried about the consequences of it failing. But I'm open to any suggestions concerning cooling. Couldn't really find any good resources that covered cooling solutions for the 5900x/5950x for my use case.   

 

Had a couple new questions now as well:

 

I know crossfire isn't a viable option any longer as far as gaming goes, but is it useful for rendering and animation? I know it would split the pci lanes from x16 in a single slot to x8 in two but I really don't know what effect that would have on my workload. Any help or direction to resources would be appreciated. 

 

In the system builder it has: " Note:The G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory operating voltage of 1.45 V exceeds the AMD Zen 3 CPU recommended maximum of 1350 mv+7% (1444.5 mv). This memory module may run at a reduced clock rate to meet the 1350 mv voltage recommendation, or may require running at a voltage greater than the AMD recommended maximum." Is this something I should be concerned with, and what kind of effect would it have on the other components and it's performance? There is a DDR4-4000 CL 18 that runs at 1.4 V with timings at 18-22-22-42, would that be a better choice?

 

Also should I consider oc the cpu? I saw in a gamers nexus that they had it running at 4.6 ghz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72AHENDeTEI&t=1356s

unsure what kind of cooling solution they used or how they tweaked the settings to achieve that just didn't know if maybe it was something I should look into or risking.

 

Based on your suggestions https://pcpartpicker.com/list/nRm8Tn this is currently what I'm looking into as far as a v.2 goes and it's still within budget. Still have some research to do though. Thanks for your help so far, I appreciate it.

 

 

[jaslion]

1 hour ago, Lorkhan420 said:

 

Had a couple new questions now as well:

 

I know crossfire isn't a viable option any longer as far as gaming goes, but is it useful for rendering and animation? I know it would split the pci lanes from x16 in a single slot to x8 in two but I really don't know what effect that would have on my workload. Any help or direction to resources would be appreciated. 

 

In the system builder it has: " Note:The G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory operating voltage of 1.45 V exceeds the AMD Zen 3 CPU recommended maximum of 1350 mv+7% (1444.5 mv). This memory module may run at a reduced clock rate to meet the 1350 mv voltage recommendation, or may require running at a voltage greater than the AMD recommended maximum." Is this something I should be concerned with, and what kind of effect would it have on the other components and it's performance? There is a DDR4-4000 CL 18 that runs at 1.4 V with timings at 18-22-22-42, would that be a better choice?

 

Also should I consider oc the cpu? I saw in a gamers nexus that they had it running at 4.6 ghz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72AHENDeTEI&t=1356s

unsure what kind of cooling solution they used or how they tweaked the settings to achieve that just didn't know if maybe it was something I should look into or risking.

 

 

 

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cxcYcb

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($699.00 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($89.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($192.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Team T-Force Cardea Zero Z330 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Team T-Force Cardea Zero Z330 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda Pro 10 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($295.44 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB GAMING OC Video Card  ($1329.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro Tempered Glass ATX Full Tower Case  ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($108.78 @ Other World Computing)
Total: $3680.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-01-20 20:59 EST-0500

 

Crossfire does not at all come in to play when using multi gpu to render. Crossfire is for games only. Blender will just see 2 cards and start using 2 cards. But that is also the only software that will

 

Faster mhz is not better. Since this is cl18 ram it's basically just as fast if not slower than the previous cl16 3600mhz ram. BUT and there is a big BUT here. Amd ryzen does by far the best with 3600mhz ram. The reason for that is because the memory controller runs at 1800mhz. So with ddr4 3600mhz (ddr is double data rate so divide 3600/2 = 1800) you run 1 to 1 which is the best case you can have. Anything slower or faster will perform worse as one of the parts will have to wait for the other which causes an interrupt which then causes a slight dip in performance.

 

Very oversimplified but basically tl;dr 3600mhz ram good all rest not. Want lowest cl rating too. Under cl16 diminishing returns

 

Oc no leave it be it will already boost well enough on it's own.

 

Changes I made:

 

Board: you are overpaying for features you are not using and will never use on that double expensive asus creator board no point in getting it.

Ram: Explained it

Cooler: it's black fits better with the theme same performance as a nhd15 more than fine fuma 2 is too also keep it cool

 

Case I would urge you to change as there are many better new cases now for that price the enthoo pro is already 5 years old and has been replaced by better stuff.

[Lorkhan420]

Thanks @jaslion I'm assuming the G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory won't cause any damage to the system since you didn't mention if it would or not. I hadn't planned on OC'ing but I know there are certain processes, like physics simulations and particle effects that run better on single core at higher speeds and some that can take advantage of multiple cores so I wasn't sure if it would be worth looking into for versatility's sake. I'm looking into a couple cases now, only picked the enthoo because that's what my current pc is housed in and it was real easy to build in, has plenty of storage expansion, good air flow, and cable management features, but on the downside it doesn't afford a lot in the way of connectivity with the front io as there aren't any type c ports and only two usb ports. The Tuf x570 board works well for what I use my current board for but I have a few issues with it. For me it doesn't have enough fan headers and they aren't all in great places for cable management, the rear io doesn't have all the features I'm looking for as even in my current build I need dongles to increase my connectivity options, (I have a three monitor setup as well as my drawing tablet and other peripherals I use in my workflow.) On top of that due to where my office is I can't currently run an ethernet cable to my pc and have to use Wi-Fi and even if I could it only has 1 1gb/s ethernet, Wi-Fi 5, 1 usb 3.2 port, and just won't due in the long term. After this build is done my next steps will be to build a server that I can store my files to and work from, and as my business grows I plan to start working on a small render farm once i have the resources to do so. So one of the problems I've been researching is how to network that all together at reasonable transfer rates so I'm still probably going to go with the proart board for more than a few reasons and I probably will be using more of that boards features as it'll make things easier down the road, plus it's still within my budget, I saved up for nearly two years for this build so I'd rather spend a little more now than a whole lot later on. I appreciate your advice. I'm probably going to finish up my parts list by the end of next week and order the parts. I'll send a picture of the finished build here once I get it all put together. Stay safe everyone and thanks for your help, can't wait to make some art. 

[Lorkhan420]

Parts are ordered and I should have them by next weekend, a little over budget with shipping but nothing too bad  https://pcpartpicker.com/user/zeitgeist420cubed/saved/XxsJnQ

I'll update this post with the finished build once everything gets in and I have it put together. Thanks again @jaslion@Dr0idGh0sT@Somerandomtechyboi

[brob]

3 hours ago, Lorkhan420 said:

Parts are ordered and I should have them by next weekend, a little over budget with shipping but nothing too bad  https://pcpartpicker.com/user/zeitgeist420cubed/saved/XxsJnQ

I'll update this post with the finished build once everything gets in and I have it put together. Thanks again @jaslion@Dr0idGh0sT@Somerandomtechyboi

 

The list is marked private. 

[Lorkhan420]

38 minutes ago, brob said:

 

The list is marked private. 

Didn't realize, should be visible now. Thanks for pointing that out.