Architecture Student PC

[Cyankeesfan]

Greetings All,

 

I am an architecture student who realized that my current laptop, a Gigabyte P35k-CF1, which has served me well for the past 3 years, is now a limiting factor in my productivity, so its time for an upgrade. 

 

My workload involves 3D modeling, 3D rendering, 2D graphics, occasional video editing and uses the following software:

 Autodesk Revit

Autodesk AutoCad

Adobe Phototshop

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Premire

Adobe Sketchup

Lumion

 

I am also planing to start using Rhino and VRay this fall and possibly ArcGIS in the future.

 

My priorities/objectives with this system:

 

1. Functionality - If it doesn't increase performance in at least one of the software programs listed above, or doesn't improve multitasking performance (something I often do), then it probably isn't worth it to me. I generally don't have time to play games, so please don't cite improved gaming performance as a reason for selecting a particular component (but on the rare occasion that I do get to play a game, it will probably be Fallout 4, Civ V or VI, Rocket League or Elder Scrolls 6 if it ever comes out - all games that should be run just fine on high settings at 1920x1200 with the hardware required for my workload.)

 

2. Reliability - I really can't afford to be troubleshooting my system when I have a deadline thats approaching. If I overclock, it will only be a little so I don't risk instability issues.

 

3. Upgradability/"Future proofness" - I have two years left in undergrad and am likely to spend two more years in graduate school for Urban Planning so I would like this system to last me that long for intensive work. 

 

4. Silence - My current laptop would ramp up the fans to obnoxious levels whenever I was rendering, using Revit for a while, or playing games and there is not much I can do about it, so that's something I want to change when I have a desktop.

 

With those criteria in mind, this is the part list I have selected: Architecture Student Build

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1700 - A somewhat controversial choice, but it is what I believe to be the best compromise between single and multi-threaded work loads as well as price/performance ratio

 

CPU Cooler: BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 3 - I've had my eye on this cooler for almost as long as I've been interested in PC Hardware or watching Linus Tech Tips (in fact, this build, is my adaptation of the $2000 Silent Workstation Build Linus did four years ago!) Although it may not outperform all AIO liquid coolers or beefy heatsinks, but it looks the best to me, and performs well enough to do overclocking if I ever want to and looks awesome. (I do know that I will have to request an AM4 bracket from BeQuiet)

 

Case: Fractal Design Mini C (w/window) - Again, I have loved Fractal Design Cases since first seeing one, then they released an mATX case, and I feel like it is the perfect size to not have a lot of wasted space, but still have lots of juicy airflow. The window may be contradictory to the objective of silence, but if I'm going to spend this much on a PC, I want to be able to see the hardware

 

Motherboard: ASUS B350 A/CSM AM4 - My least confident selection. Its mATX and AM4 and ASUS, so it will work, but I don't know if its the best option so suggestions are certainly welcome

 

RAM: 32GB 2400 DDR4 Corsair Vengence LPX - Adobe products eat about as much RAM as you give them, so the more the better; also I do a lot of multitasking so extra RAM helps out there too. The 2x16 configuration will allow me to expand to 64GB if need be in the future

 

Video Card: 6GB GTX 1060 - Again, another debatable decision; I definitely don't think that any Quadro I could afford (even used) is better than a GeForce series card in this price range  ($300-$350). Lumion does use the GPU to render and VRay has a GPU render option, but I don't know if it's wise to spend more money on the GPU when I can render using an 8 core CPU. 

 

Storage: Samsung 850 Evo 500GB SSD and 2TB WD Black HDD - Pretty mundane and balanced storage solution

 

PSU: Seasonic G 550W - Semi-modular, 80+ Gold efficiency, and highly rated by Jonny Guru

 

Peripherals: 

 

I already have a Logitech G602 mouse (which I love), a Dell U2415h 1920x1200 IPS monitor (which I like so much that I want a second one and a dual monitor arm, but thats not quite in my budget at the moment), and a K800 Logitech keyboard.

 

 

Budget: $1500 USD

 

I plan to place my order within two weeks so that I can have it assembled, tested, and set up as well have time to RMA any broken parts if necessary before I go back to school.  My country of residence is the United States and my preferred retailers are Newegg and Amazon, but am open to other retailers or Ebay if the price is lower.

 

If you've made it this far, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this post and greatly appreciate any advice or comments that you have to offer

 

EDIT: Im also looking for suggestions for a wifi adapter (I will used a wired connection most of the time, but there will be times when thats not an option). And does anyone know when "Back to School" or end of summer sales start at Newegg or other retailers? I know they currently have Early back to School and the usual daily deals, but I'm looking for the optimal time to buy.

 

UPDATE 08-13-17: I have purchased all the parts except for the processor, extra fan, and wifi adapter (but I will be doing that very soon) and the other parts should be arriving this week with the exception of the AM4 bracket from BeQuiet which I was told would take 10-14 days! Unfortunately, even if all my other parts arrive before the bracket, I won't be able to test anything because I don't have a CPU cooler and all of the "X" series of Ryzen chips don't come with one. On the upside, I got 2666mhz RAM for the same price as I had expected to get 2400mhz, a free copy of Rocket League with the 1060 Strix, and other sales so that's great!

 

I will update again once all the parts come in. 

[seon123]

Do you have a specific budget in mind?

[Dargenfire]

Just now, seon123 said:

Do you have a specific budget in mind?

 

7 minutes ago, Cyankeesfan said:

Budget: $1500 USD

 

[seon123]

1 minute ago, Dargenfire said:

 

 

I'm fucking blind

[Brooksie359]

Well the only thing I could think of that you may want to consider is maybe going with the r7 1700x if you are already buying an aftermarket cooler and you don't plan on overclocking or overclocking much. The price of the r7 1700x has come down alot so it's a lot better deal now especially if you won't overclock. I personally like the r7 1700 more and would overclock it but for your usecase I could definitely see the 1700x serving you well with its higher clocks. Also it is note worthy that the 3.7 ghz boost advertised by the r7 1700 is only on two cores and not all 8 so there is a pretty bid difference between a factory 1700 vs 1700x.

[Brooksie359]

Also I would like to mention that you should be able to keep a r7 1700 at 3.7 Ghz on all cores pretty easily without getting any stability issues. I know I just finished my last year of college and had bought the r7 1700 at launch to help with my senior design project. It involved alot of ansys and solidworks which was very heavily multi-threaded in what I was doing. The thing was rock solid with an overclock at 3.7 Ghz and didn't experience any crashing issues. It's one of the main reasons why I only overclocked it to 3.7 rather than 3.8 or above because ryzen seems to spike the voltage needs at 3.7 Ghz so you can get 3.7 with not alot of voltage or heat. I mean I could probably be stable at 3.7 Ghz at lower than 1.25v but I kept it at that because it's a pretty safe voltages for that overclock.

[Damascus]

Looks dope man, fractal makes some insanely quiet fans as well so that's a plus.  If you want, Arctic has a fully passive gpu cooler would work like a charm on a 1060.  I recommend getting the cheapest 1060 6gb and one of these slick looking coolers.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00RVAEI1E/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501391213&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=passive%2Bgpu%2Bcooler&th=1&psc=1

[Cyankeesfan]

8 hours ago, Brooksie359 said:

Also it is note worthy that the 3.7 ghz boost advertised by the r7 1700 is only on two cores and not all 8 so there is a pretty bid difference between a factory 1700 vs 1700x.

I did not know that, thank you - I will now seriously consider buying the 1700x ( after all, its only about $30 more than the 1700).

 

8 hours ago, Brooksie359 said:

Also I would like to mention that you should be able to keep a r7 1700 at 3.7 Ghz on all cores pretty easily without getting any stability issues. I know I just finished my last year of college and had bought the r7 1700 at launch to help with my senior design project. It involved alot of ansys and solidworks which was very heavily multi-threaded in what I was doing. The thing was rock solid with an overclock at 3.7 Ghz and didn't experience any crashing issues. It's one of the main reasons why I only overclocked it to 3.7 rather than 3.8 or above because ryzen seems to spike the voltage needs at 3.7 Ghz so you can get 3.7 with not alot of voltage or heat. I mean I could probably be stable at 3.7 Ghz at lower than 1.25v but I kept it at that because it's a pretty safe voltages for that overclock.

That is very reassuring! Like I said, whether I get the 1700 or 1700x, I may still overclock it a little bit, I just don't plan to max it out

[Cyankeesfan]

7 hours ago, Damascus said:

Looks dope man, fractal makes some insanely quiet fans as well so that's a plus.  If you want, Arctic has a fully passive gpu cooler would work like a charm on a 1060.  I recommend getting the cheapest 1060 6gb and one of these slick looking coolers.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00RVAEI1E/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501391213&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=passive%2Bgpu%2Bcooler&th=1&psc=1

I didn't even know those existed, thats so cool! Maybe I'll pick one up in the future, but for now, I'm hoping the stock cooler is quiet enough.

[Damascus]

3 hours ago, Cyankeesfan said:

I didn't even know those existed, thats so cool! Maybe I'll pick one up in the future, but for now, I'm hoping the stock cooler is quiet enough.

Try and get one with a fanless mode then, maybe a Strix?   Though when you spend that much it's cheaper to get the passive cooler.

[Cyankeesfan]

A Strix card would be ideal because silence is important most of the time, but I'm sure there will be times when I need all the power I can get and will be able to accept fan noise for performance. As of right now, Amazon has a 6GB Strix 1060 for $325 which is so tempting...

[Cyankeesfan]

Okay, so I have all the parts except the AM4 bracket from bequiet and it just occurred to me that I don't have enough fan headers. I have one 4 pin CPU header, 1 4 pin Chasis header and an RGB fan header (which i thought could be used for fan power but, it can't). So I have 2 PWM fan splitters, but I have a couple concerns about using them: first, there are actually 5 fans in the system because the dark rock pro 3 has two, but they are already joined into one 4 pin connector, and second will I be able to control all of these fans still? The rear fan and 2 CPU cooler fans are PWN, but the two front included chassis fans are only 3 pin. 

 

Thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated before I start building hopefully on Tuesday if the bracket arrives.