Rendering Build Version #15

[vibeit]

Part	Type	Store
		PCPartPicker
CPU	AMD RYZEN 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor	323.25
Cooler	Stock	0
Motherboard	Asus PRIME X370-PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard	88.43
RAM	G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	119.88
SSD	Kingston SSD Now UV400 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	50.88
HD	Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	48.89
GPU	Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Mini Video Card	334.89
Case	Corsair crystal 460x	139.99
PSU	EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	78.98
Optical	Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer	18.99
OS	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit	139
Monitor	Asus VP228H 21.5" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor	109.99
Keyboard	Logitech K740 Wired Slim Keyboard	59.89
Mouse	Razer DeathAdder Chroma Wired Optical Mouse	49.96
Case Fans	Cooler Master SickleFlow (Red) 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan	5.89
	Corsair Air Series AF140 Red 66.4 CFM 140mm Fan	13.48
	Corsair Air Series AF140 Red 66.4 CFM 140mm Fan	13.48
	Total	1595.87

 

This is a 15th version of a build I'm planning. Right now I'm debating whether to go with 2 RX 480 on crossfire or 2 of the GPU listed on the table on SLI. But for the initial build, I will only buy one card and buy the second card down the road. I won't be overclocking the GPU and CPU but only the RAM since this mobo requires an overclock to reach the 3200 MHz clock speed. But is it better to buy a 2666 RAM and go 32 GB already or should I prioritize RAM speed/capacity when it comes to rendering? I plant to use Blender Cycles for rendering.

[scottyseng]

40 minutes ago, vibeit said:

-snip-

I would double check your rendering engine / make sure it supports Nvidia or AMD GPUs. Sometimes the renderers are CUDA only for GPU. Most production software doesn't utilize crossfire / SLi either. For rendering, the engine doesn't really care about it, it'll use the GPUs regardless if crossfire / SLI is enabled. I do think the 480 has a good bang per buck though. I'd personally go for the 1070, but my renderer (Vray) is CUDA focused.

 

I would also recommend more RAM vs faster RAM since this doesn't seem to be a majorly gaming oriented build. I think it's difficult to get over 3000 MHz RAM speeds on ryzen (Though I hear this is getting better with BIOS updates).

 

You are aware that the case doesn't have any optical bay slots right? Why the optical disk drive?

 

I also recommend getting a EVGA G2 or G3 PSU if possible. It does cost a tad bit more though.

 

As a owner of several sickleflow fans, I'd only recommend them if you are using them for airflow only. Quality control is iffy as well with LED lighting (I owned six, only one has all four LEDs actually light up...). You might consider the JetFlo fans or corsair LED AF series of fans instead.

[vibeit]

Blender Cycles does have a shaky support for AMD GPU's so I think I will go for Nvidia cards just to be on the safe side. And yes the case doesn't have an optical drive, what I'll do is I will only plug the optical drive temporarily during OS installation and disconnect it afterwards. If not, I'll just use a CD image of Windows on USB.

 

For the RAM, I am tempted to go for capacity but I'm also thinking of gaming while rendering something in the background. So I'll have to settle for a RAM that will be good for both. For the fans, no wonder they were cheap. I'll take your suggestion.

[scottyseng]

7 minutes ago, vibeit said:

Blender Cycles does have a shaky support for AMD GPU's so I think I will go for Nvidia cards just to be on the safe side. And yes the case doesn't have an optical drive, what I'll do is I will only plug the optical drive temporarily during OS installation and disconnect it afterwards. If not, I'll just use a CD image of Windows on USB.

 

For the RAM, I am tempted to go for capacity but I'm also thinking of gaming while rendering something in the background. So I'll have to settle for a RAM that will be good for both. For the fans, no wonder they were cheap. I'll take your suggestion.

Yeah, that's what I remembered when reading about Blender's rendering engine...Hopefully more renderers will play nicely with AMD GPUs in the future though.

 

I would really recommend getting a USB 3.0 drive and using that to install windows. It's far faster as well. I used to do optical disk install 2-3 years ago but stopped because I got tired of dealing with DVD scratches. I also got a external DVD reader for those weird pesky laptops that don't boot from USB for whatever reason.

 

Hmm, yeah, you'd want to balance the RAM capacity vs speed. Or get 16GB now and add more in later.

 

I'm happy you managed to find a Ryzen motherboard though. They've been hard to find lately. I had to settle for a 5820K build for a friend who couldn't wait for ryzen motherboards to come in stock...

 

Yeah, I had bought the sickleflows back in 2010. I think only three worked out of the box, LEDs and all. After I'd say about 3 months, two of the three had half LED (Only two of four LEDs worked / started to flicker randomly). Something about how cooler master did the wiring for that fan series was bad. They seemed to have learned their lesson and came out with the Jetflo fans which are far better (loud though on the high speed).

 

But yeah, if you don't need LEDs, the Be Quiet Pure Wings / Silent Wings 2 are great quiet fans.